6. Universal Themes / Sun Kil Moon

Discordant, subversive, and urgent, Universal Themes is unlike any other record of the year, part acoustic diary, part middle-aged rap diatribe.  It just may be Mark Kozelek's first punk effort, as Sun Kil Moon's seventh album and follow-up to the universally-acclaimed Benji hits his audience square between the eyes.  There are no punches pulled, only thoughts and feelings that Koz is compelled to share, barbed and beautiful.

It is fruitless to compare the record to the incomparable Benji, although the hyper-realism that saturated last-year's best album is taken to its logical extreme on Universal Themes.  Starting with 2011's Among the Leaves, Koz's lyrical transition from painstaking poet to narrative diarist has been one of the most remarkable aesthetic transformations in songwriting, producing stunning, autobiographical songs like "Gustavo," "Somehow the Wonder of Life Prevails," "Carissa," "Jim Wise," "Micheline," "Ben's My Friend," and others.  Unvarnished and undeniably honest, Koz's new approach seems to have reached its unfiltered endpoint with Universal Themes, leaving no experience unfit for writing or singing about.

Dying possums, heavy metal concerts, HBO shows, Italian stagehands, Michael Caine, the price of knit hats, friends with cancer, concert memories, lazy cats, fried catfish, Rob Zombie, Ohio State and Alabama football fans, books about Maurice Ravel, chocolate chip pancakes, and cashiers at gas stations, just to name a few subjects, are all worthy of mention in Koz's unfurling observations.

Because most of the songs sprawl out for ten minutes each, I have highlighted my favorite moments below (with my link going directly to the specific part in the song).

• "The Possum":  Koz and his friends take some pics backstage and notice their middle-aged guts protruding.  Laughing ensues.  Laughing and laughing and laughing and laughing.
• "The Possum":  The curly-cued, classical guitar notes underpin Koz's spoken word, having just seen the possum take its last steps.  Then the percussion kicks in for serious introspection:  I want to grow old and to walk the last walk / knowing I too gave it everything I got.  As Koz's thoughts find their mark, he twists his notes into Modest Mouse-level strangeness.
• "The Possum":  Church bells rang that day.  I remember hearing them in the afternoon just as we left / He had to have heard them too.
• "Birds of Flims": A stunning lyrical achievement and arguably the year's finest narrative songwriting.  Koz chronicles his experience on the set of Paolo Sorrentino's film in Flims, Switzerland, and then his transition back to the States, where he no longer can hear the sound of the birds that haunted him in the mountains.  The guitars are just about perfect too.
• "With a Sort of Grace I Walked to the Bathroom and Cried": The buzzing punk guitars and Mark's unhinged vocals, influenced by his ailing friend in Ohio.  It is arguably the least pretty thing he has written, but the confusion and heartache is open and notorious.
• "Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues": In his first-ever kiss-off song to the music press, Koz still takes time to gather himself with a 90 second acoustic interlude.
• "Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues":  I'll tell you another story here about a tough Columbian kid named Jimmy.  Koz spins a yarn about a young man consigned to dead fighter heaven, before launching into his final assault, a vicious series of verbal left hooks.
• "Little Rascals:" The haunting, acoustic arpeggios throughout the track.
• "Little Rascals:" Koz gives a shoutout to Salt Lake City, where he played and had a good time.  The closest The D Man will ever get to being mentioned in a song.
• "Garden of Lavender:" Koz sings that his heart is drawn to the small out of the way things. A short time later, the song transitions to a sublime, dreamy sequence, triggered by just such an event: I see the big orange tabby cat / getting warm on the cover of the laptop.  
• "Garden of Lavender:"  The cinematic spoken word that ends the song, where Koz recalls a show he played at Shepherd's Bush in London.
• "Ali/Spinks 2": Last night we watched fireworks along the Mississippi . . .
• "Ali/Spinks 2": The closing dream sequence is a knockout (intended).
• "This Is My First Day I'm Indian and I Work at a Gas Station": Another great transition after Koz encourages an Indian clerk at a gas station. It's a nice spring day, April 19th / And the flowers are in bloom and I did yard work until my arms turned pink / And my girl broke my laptop while making the bed / She went right to Best Buy and bought another because she felt so bad.