April

Took about two complete spins but I have to say Mark and crew have bottled lightning somehow and equaled (or nearly so) the amazing predecessor, GHOSTS OF THE GREAT HIGHWAY. This is a slightly more low-key album and, like GOTGH, they somehow evoke the album cover art in the music itself. This is a dark, somber affair but not at all lacking in humanity. In fact, the music is just gorgeous, a lilting, drifting waltz through longing and, well, the ghosts that haunt us all. This is NOT car music per se but more late-night solitary listening. Put it on, darken the lights, maybe pour a frosty Guiness and let the gentle music enrapture your mind, body and soul. Great work and easily one of the five or ten best albums I've heard this year.

Whoah. I did not expect to be this impressed, or smitten, with a Sun Kil Moon release. I loved Ghosts of the Great Highway, but April is a step away from Ghosts, somehow more mysterious and ethereal. I can't stop playing this CD. "Tonight in Bilbao" (both versions) is unusually beautiful. "Moorestown" actually gets me a little teary. I find most acoustic guitar music bland and same-old same-old, but I love the slightly unpredictable structures to the songs on April. Wistful, sentimental, mellow, but way too hearty and complex to call "easy listening," April is perfect music for lazy summer days. The bonus CD alone is worth the price.

"April" is an album which defies easy classification. When asked by my friends to describe it I find myself at a loss. The best I usually come up with is "Folk Rock," yet that doesn't begin to accurately describe the dynamic of thee album, encompassing the dark melancholy of "Heron Blue" or the brighter tones of "Harper Road." Indeed, the variety and range of songs contained on "April" is my favorite part. Each song is a new step on a journey that you will enjoy from beginning to end. In addition, Kozelek's voice contains a raw emotion lacking in much of today's music and serves as a refreshing breath of fresh air.Perfect to listen to on a warm spring day while working or relaxing. "April" manages to be both soothing and engaging at the same time.Favorite Song: "Heron Blue"Least Favorite Song: "Like the River"

Although I've read rave reviews about Mark Kozelek's music over the years, I've never taken the plunge until purchasing this CD. While I admire the subtle beauty of the music, it tends to wear you down. Almost all of the songs have the same sound and feel. This is true even within each track, many of which are excessively long and repetitious. Most of the songs have either clean electric or acoustic finger-picked guitar lines repeated hypnotically. With almost no discernable choruses or bridges, the tracks meld into one extremely long slumber. Occasional contributions from the drummer or bassist are so minimal you'd think they were being paid per note within a very tight recording budget. There are a couple of distorted electric guitar numbers with strummed chords to help break up the monotony a bit, but even those songs have a sameness about them. There is a bounty of dark beauty here and some nice vocal harmonies, but at 11 songs and 74 minutes, the album asks a lot of the listener. Set this one aside for dark still nights and deep obsessive thoughts. These are the places from where the music is conjured.

Great CD. No defects or flaw in quality. Sun Kil Moon often has a mesmerizing quality to it that makes you long for something you can't quite put your finger on.

lonely, lovely, haunting, a tiny bit dragging in some places, but overall a mood piece of great wonder. Worth buying and listening to.

This is in my top five records all time.

April is a very pleasant expierence from start to finish. Its an album to put on and mellow out with. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to see more from Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek.

I generally hate the description but this album is a slow burner. The previous Sun Kil Moon album "Ghosts of the great highway" is in many respects a much more accessible and conventional album and contains the brilliant openers Glenn Tipton, the wonderous "Carry me Ohio" (the acoustic version is equally immense) plus the greatest song Neil Young never wrote "Salvador Sanchez". April alternatively has a very slow, incremental and meandering quality about it. Mark Kozelek is not going to be rushed. Three songs either exceed or touch 10 minutes and are all the better for it.When I first bought April I played it a couple of times and must admit that that it did seem somewhat repetitive. All great albums however "reveal" themselves to you with the passage of time and perseverance. The subtleties and nuances emerge; quiet background melodies catch your ear and the songs burn deep. Lost Verses is an example. Mark Kozelek has penned one of his greatest compositions here as good as anything by the Red House Painters and matching the brilliant Katy's Song. The lyrics are achingly beautiful as he rises from bed and contemplates leaving a relationship"Came out from under her warm sheetsInto the brisk late OctoberIf only for one last hopeI wanted my time with you to be over"It leads to a journey around San Francisco reflecting on the things that we all deeply care about; family, relationships, nature, the changing seasons and more. Then at 8 minutes the song pauses and turns in a joyful and uplifting guitar solo which is absolutely perfect. Further delights follow with Moorestown, Tonight in Bilbao and the Unlit Hallway which has the god like genius of Will Oldham on backing vocals. Heron Blue has a beautiful guitar work and is almost medieval with its folk underpinnings while the 10 minute "Tonights the sky" has a backing riff that checks Crosby, Stills, Nash and Youngs "Ohio" and charts another broken relationship (Kozelek's speciality) where he discovers "powers unrelenting, that pulled us apart".Ultimately April will not be everyone's cup of tea, try it on Spotify and see whether you like it. Its tone is as wintry as Bon Iver's "For Emma" and its sombre epic ballads are as far removed from the charts as is humanly possible. Mark Kozelek writes music for grown ups, for contemplation and reflection. I suspect he cares not a jot if it sells or not. Indeed "hurrah" that his Caldo Verde record label issues all his work and obcessives may wish to note that there is a epic live album "Lost Verses" which contains most of the best songs from April and "Ghosts" often superior to the album versions. If you want "sun and fireworks" get the superb Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion or Grizzly Bears more thoughtful "Veckatimest". Alternatively on those times when you want to engage both your head and your heart "April" provides a melancholy yet very warm answer.

Für mich ist "April" das beste Album Mark Kozeleks seit "Ocean Beach" (mit den Red House Painters). Von tranceartiger Schönheit und aus einem Guss, wird die Skip-Taste hier nicht benötigt; was ich von manchem seiner dazwischen liegenden Werke nicht so unbedingt sagen kann. Eines meiner Highlights im Musikjahr 2008!

great album

Dopest dope.

Zwar zunächst eine defekte CD erhalten, aber das Team von unique place hat umgehend geholfenund war sehr zuvorkommend. Danke!