Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols

Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols
Studio album by Mark Kozelek
Released November 4, 2014
Genre Christmas, folk rock
Label Caldo Verde
Producer Mark Kozelek
Mark Kozelek chronology
Benji
(2014)Benji2014		 Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols
(2014)		 Universal Themes
(2015)Universal Themes2015

Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols is a Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek. It was released on November 4, 2014, through Kozelek's own record label, Caldo Verde Records.

Background

All songs were recorded by Mark Kozelek in November–December 2013 in San Francisco. The album was announced in December 2013.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Exclaim!8/10[3]
The Independent[4]
NME7/10[5]
Pitchfork6.8/10[6]
PopMatters7/10[7]

Upon its release, Sings Christmas Carols received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 76, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews.[2] Exclaim! critic Cam Lindsay wrote: "While Sings Christmas Carols could provide any miserable person some relief at Christmastime, it also works nicely for anyone who loves these songs to hear someone other than Michael Bublé or Justin Bieber sing them."[3] Andy Gill of The Independent stated that "it's the gap between his character and the songs’ sentiments that gives this album its curious appeal."[4]

Barry Nicolson of NME commented: "The Sun Kil Moon frontman may revel in the role of indie-rock’s great white grinch, but as Sings Christmas Carols proves, he’s no more immune to the spirit of the season than his furry green counterpart was."[5] Pitchfork critic Mark Richardson noted: " It’s just voice and guitar throughout, but Kozelek’s nylon string work is consistently engaging, even as he falls back on some of his go-to fingerpicking patterns."[6] Maria Schurr of PopMatters compared the album to Sun Kil Moon's 2014 album, Benji, describing it as "an album that operates in places and moods we may not always feel comfortable venturing into or putting on, but works wonders for personal and spiritual growth."[7]

Track listing

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Christmas Time Is Here"Lee Mendelson, Vince Guaraldi 
2."Do You Hear What I Hear?"Gloria Shayne Baker, Noël Regney 
3."2000 Miles" (The Pretenders cover)Chrissie Hynde 
4."O Come, All ye Faithful"traditional 
5."O Christmas Tree"traditional 
6."Away in a Manger"traditional 
7."O Little Town of Bethlehem"traditional 
8."God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"traditional 
9."Silent Night"Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr 
10."The First Noel"traditional 
11."I Believe in Father Christmas" (Greg Lake cover)Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield 
12."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"traditional 
13."What Child Is This?"traditional 
14."The Christmas Song"Bob Wells, Mel Tormé 

Personnel

  • Mark Kozelek – performance, production, photography
  • Joshua Raoul Brody – piano (14)
  • Nathan Winter – engineering
  • Brian Azer – design

References

  1. ↑ Minsker, Evan (December 9, 2013). "Mark Kozelek Announces Christmas Album That's Out Late Next Year". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Sings Christmas Carols - Mark Kozelek". Metacritic. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Lindsay, Cam (November 10, 2014). "Mark Kozelek - Sings Christmas Carols". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Gill, Andy (December 19, 2014). "Mark Kozelek, Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols, album review: The Grinch who learned to love the festive period". The Independent. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Nicolson, Barry (December 19, 2014). "Mark Kozelek - 'Sings Christmas Carols'". NME. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Richardson, Mark (November 6, 2014). "Mark Kozelek - Sings Christmas Carols". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Schurr, Maria (November 11, 2014). "Mark Kozelek: Sings Christmas Carols". PopMatters. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
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