Music review: Mark Kozelek | The Finally LP

On his latest album The Finally LP, Mark Kozelek compiles a collection of material written by other artists, bookended by two previously unreleased instrumentals. Included here are delicate renditions of songs by bands like AC/DC, Low, Husker Du and Dom Leone, among others. Kozelek’s relaxed finger picking interspersed throughout, he offers stripped down acoustic-folk meanderings as foundations for his haunting baritone - a drawl of a voice that cuts delicately across the intimate settings provided in this, and each of his other albums as the frontman for Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon.

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Send in the clowns - a track from The Finally LP

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Throughout these particular tracks, it is easy to detect their raw production - creaking chairs and unpolished vocal tunings dot the diverse, intentionally sparse landscape. Many of the songs end abruptly, as though part of a mix-tape put together by Kozelek himself. And in a sense, this album quickly reveals itself as a novelty compilation for those fans who would be willing to listen to Mark Kozelek sing nearly anything.

Strong outings on this record include a cover of the Stephen Sondheim song Send In The Clowns whose lyrics parallel the humbled, introspective nature of much of Kozelek’s catalog. The track is distantly trailed by Bedtime Lullaby, a short interlude from the children’s show “Yo Gabba Gabba,” which is a gem of layered vocal repetitions and a short, memorable melody line. At a minute and a half, the song lightly touches on Kozelek’s awareness of his own relaxed, rest-inducing songwriting style.

While interesting in their adaptations of a range of genres, the songs never quite escape a forceful smashing together that wasn’t originally intended on their inception. Nevertheless, the album continues Mark Kozelek’s haunting, beautiful style of consistent you’re-right-there-with-him intimacy, and flows together in its beauty of instrumentation and vocal craft. For an album with just over 30 minutes of music, and a few standout gems, this one is best left on repeat.

The Finally LP isn’t available on iTunes, but can be found on Kozelek’s website.

Reviewer: Jonathan Bukiewicz lives in downtown Chicago with his wife and their two kids. Presently, Jonathan works as a web coordinator at The Salvation Army’s USA Central Territory Headquarters. He can often be found sitting at his desk, drumming out a silent rhythm while bobbing his head to the sounds coming through his headphones. Spending as much time as he does out in the suburbs, sometimes he has to shed the reality of polos and khakis. On those days, he rides his bike.

Tags: music, Reviews

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