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9.1
76653
9.1 |
A.V. Club
Lives up to the promise of its vague title. It’s a document that allows you to come away from it with any number of different messages and poignant observations of your own
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9.1
76593
9.1 |
Consequence Of Sound
This is easily Sun Kil Moon’s most demanding album, with song structures that match the ballsy tangentiality of the lyrics
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9.0
76682
9.0 |
Uncut
Epic, strange meditations on death, love and hard work. Print edition only
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8.4
76732
8.4 |
Paste Magazine
Kozelek’s faith in his audience, his correct assumption that they will hang on every word of his poetry is a remarkable kind of confidence that makes music so indulgent on a surface level equally generous in a different light
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8.0
76883
8.0 |
Spin
People around Kozelek are breaking down, and he’s discovered that the principal act of earthly defiance is staying vertical, breathing and infamous. That’s as universal a theme as can be
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8.0
76893
8.0 |
NME
Granted, every song is essentially a man reading his diary over frayed, weather-beaten guitar, but Kozelek spills his guts with immense artistry and opens up about everything
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8.0
76897
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
It’s a great, moving epic of an album that reverberates for hours after each listen
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8.0
76562
8.0 |
The Skinny
The warped homespun wisdom of Kozelek in full flight ensures his soaring, perambulating muse is never entirely out of reach
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8.0
77016
8.0 |
PopMatters
Thankfully, the most universal of themes is one that he’s perfected throughout his career: life is inevitable, life is mundane
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8.0
77504
8.0 |
Q
Absorbs and moves far more than it frustrates. Print edition only
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8.0
77512
8.0 |
Mojo
Listening can feel just a little like eavesdropping on a wracked internal dialogue. Print edition only
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7.6
77024
7.6 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
What would be complete tripe in the hands of anyone else will flourish in his, and Universal Themes finds itself book-ended by masterclasses in off-kilter but accessible structure
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7.5
76715
7.5 |
Pretty Much Amazing
Covers so much ground, it can’t help but live up to its name
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7.5
76928
7.5 |
Beardfood
The stories are there, as honest and frank as ever, and life lessons can be garnered from each scattered tale of circumstance
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7.0
76718
7.0 |
Exclaim
Overwhelmingly heart-on-sleeve, human; if it's not universal in the specifics, then it is in the way it rawly depicts experience
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7.0
76586
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
While that means Universal Themes never reaches the same highs as Benji, it does allow the listener to become fully immersed inside Kozelek's head, which is an alternately terrifying and hilarious place to be
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7.0
77083
7.0 |
musicOMH
It is very difficult to separate the artist from the art when the artist makes his art so contingent on the every detail of his own life and existence
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6.0
77341
6.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
Universal Themes didn’t change my life. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth its while
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6.0
76560
6.0 |
Time Out
From someone who has always had to keep his emotional depth-sounding from tipping over into self-parody, ‘not bad’ is not great
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6.0
76561
6.0 |
The Observer
The mumbled splurges of Kozelek’s non-rhyming narrative come so thick and fast that it’s hard to keep up
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6.0
76945
6.0 |
Pitchfork
It feels claustrophobic, a world drawing in on itself and getting smaller and smaller
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6.0
76803
6.0 |
Gig Soup
An album that rejects the motion of traditional song structures and constantly intrigues the listener
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6.0
76642
6.0 |
Spectrum Culture
Mark Kozelek doesn’t retreat; he just does whatever he feels like doing
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5.5
76644
5.5 |
The 405
Rather than analyzing the social impact of spree shootings or mercy killings or the death of family members, Kozelek has decided to sing a lot about spending time at concerts and having fun, interspersed with sad moments of reflection
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4.5
77018
4.5 |
Under The Radar
Over loose and heavily repeated musical motifs, he explores such universal themes as watching HBO, clearing up that he doesn't actually hate Nels Cline and cats
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3.5
76818
3.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
This is a twenty-five year career, condensed into a seventy-minute fuck you to anyone who ever cared
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