bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

MADELINE GRESSEL

Sings Christmas Carols 
Mark Kozelek
Caldo Verde

 
Mark Kozelek's album Benji (in his guise as Sun Kil Moon) is one of the best of this year, if not the best. Benji combined gently original melodies with an astonishing ability to tell stories that felt both specific and socially pressing. Riding the wave of that big success, Kozelek has released an album of Christmas songs for the season.
He opens the album with his classic finger-picking guitar work on  Christmas Time is Here. His pared-down style and gentle, bittersweet voice are a perfect match for the melancholy roster he's chosen, and the simple guitar-vocals combo add a timeless, sepia cast to the album that will appeal across generations: "Olden times and ancient rhymes/Of love and dreams to share."
He's still Mark Kozelek and underneath the lovely, classic melodies runs a current of existential hand-wringing. During  Christmas Time is Here, he muses, "I just don't understand Christmas, I guess", and a friend responds, "Mark, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and make it a problem". But the beauty of the album wins out, especially on O Come All Ye Faithful, which Kozelek sings in layered a capella, as in a Christmas choir. We talk a lot about good summer albums, but it's rarer to find an album that feels like a little candle in the darkness of winter. This is one of those albums, wrought in rich tones to wrap oneself in, like a cup of hot chocolate in the snow. It's a wonderful addition to the Christmas carol canon.


The gay Hong Kong Chinese men afraid to come out to their families, and why parents need educating to accept them

The 10 Hong Kong lifestyle stories you liked best in 2017, and some of our own favourites too

Alcohol deaths in baby boomers over 50 years old jump in the UK

It’s dog eat dog as China declares war on man’s best friend ... and his owner

LIFE

Album of the week: Sings Christmas Carols, by MarkKozelek

Lifestyle

Arts

Mark Kozelek's album Benji (in his guise as Sun Kil Moon) is one of the best of this year, if not the best. Benji combined gently original melodies with an astonishing ability to tell stories that felt both specific and socially pressing. Riding the wave of that big success, Kozelek has released an album of Christmas songs for the season.
