Why the Benji Love? - Music - Forums : Best Ever Albums

samistake2ice
General Grievous Angel

Gender: Male
Age: 37
Location: Houston

OK Hear me out. The subject was meant to be a little deceiving, but it's an honest question.

I was going to add this to "2014 album" thread, but thought it was deserving of its own.

There was A LOT of Kozelek love coming out of last year (deservedly so) and I'm curious to know, if anybody thinks that carried over to this year and thus partly the reason for the "Benji Love."

Among the Leaves (an album i haven't listened to) is currently 335th in its year 2012, with a rank score of 48. Is Benji just overall a better album?

At this pace, its very conceivable that Benji will be ranked as the best Sun Kil Moon album. Is it?

I think trends greatly influence charts (esp year charts). I think excitement (and release date) for M b v is partly the reason for its high score last year. Is it possible that albums released earlier in the year tend to benefit because of lack of competition?

What other albums do we think have been benefited by current trends that may not stick?

A bigger question. Does the concentration and volume of newer albums skew the accuracy of the BEA formula?

Just some fun questions for a Saturday Morning. (or whatever time it might be where you are)

Kiki

New albums are the only ones which should still be added. Albums more than 10 years which are still not added are probably not added for a reason. Sun Kil Moon are good and the album deserves the place.

Norman Bates

Gender: Male
Age: 51
Location: Paris, France

samistake2ice wrote:

if anybody thinks that carried over to this year and thus partly the reason for the "Benji Love."

The excitement may have carried over, but it's not the reason for the "Benji love". Have you listened to Benji?

samistake2ice wrote:

Among the Leaves (an album i haven't listened to) is currently 335th in its year 2012, with a rank score of 48. Is Benji just overall a better album?

It is, but you should still listen to Among the Leaves.

samistake2ice wrote:

At this pace, its very conceivable that Benji will be ranked as the best Sun Kil Moon album. Is it?

It's at least on par with Ghosts of the Great Highway, which you should listen to.

samistake2ice wrote:

Is it possible that albums released earlier in the year tend to benefit because of lack of competition?

At this time of year, i.e. February, obviously. Mind you, they tend to lose this benefit: at the end of the year, when people relase their year list, a more recent album is more likely to get to top 10 than a January album.

samistake2ice wrote:

Does the concentration and volume of newer albums skew the accuracy of the BEA formula?

I'm not sure about what you mean. Overall chart? If so, bear in mind that, if I'm not mistaken, Year Charts for 2014 don't count towards overall so far. So no.

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

I explained why I loved it in the 2014 thread, but I'll restate it here

Quote:

For me, Benji was one of the most beautiful, emotionally raw pieces of music I've ever heard.

I think the thing that got to me the most was how relatable it was, it sounded like it could happen to anyone. It sounded like Kozelek was just some guy, not this incredible songwriter or this well-known musician, he was just some guy who was reflecting on the chaotic nature of life. His cousin dies and he says that that just can't happen. "You don't just raise two kids, take out your trash and die". I've had a similar reaction to death, a close friend of mine died from a heart attack right on the spot. He was incredibly athletic, took great care of himself and died one day just playing basketball like he did all the time. He had athlete's heart, a condition where his heart was too big and just gave out. He was 32, married, and had a one-year-old son. And I remember sitting there and saying "That doesn't just happen. That can't happen. You can't spend your life being a good person, taking care of yourself, have a kid, start a new family and then just die. Just drop dead immediately out of nowhere." I think that's what hit me most about the album, how much I related to Kozelek's sentiments about life and death.

I think this album features a major theme of "why do bad things happen to good (or at least, not bad) people" and Kozelek handles it in an incredibly human way. He's not trying to develop this profound idea as to how life works, or why things are the way they are, he's just observing it.

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meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

samistake2ice wrote:

There was A LOT of Kozelek love coming out of last year (deservedly so) and I'm curious to know, if anybody thinks that carried over to this year and thus partly the reason for the "Benji Love."

I think it's only natural that I be the one to respond to this question. Perils From The Sea was my #1 record for 2013, and I also have Mark Kozelek & Desertshore very high on my 2013 chart (but for some reason it did not get nearly as much love around here-ranked 372nd in 2013).

Among The Leaves is also very very high on my 2010s chart, not far below Perils From The Sea. It's a great album, if a bit less consistent than Perils from the Sea

I think the end of the year chatter/praise for Perils From The Sea brought a newfound attention to Mark Kozelek from BEA members who otherwise wouldn't have listened. And with an album this great, a lot of members rally love what they found. Benji is similarly great, and as Kozelek seems to have a lot of new fans here, it's only natural for them to jump on the Benji bandwagon. it's a good thing. Kozelek deserves it. I just hope it results in everyone going back through the discographies of Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and Kozelek solo, because there's quite a few records that barely appear on any charts here despite being just as incredible.
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Precedent

Benji is "simply" a great album!

Puncture Repair

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Call me cynical.

Last edited by Puncture Repair on 02/08/2014 16:13; edited 1 time in total

samistake2ice
General Grievous Angel

Gender: Male
Age: 37
Location: Houston

an_outlaw wrote:

New albums are the only ones which should still be added. Albums more than 10 years which are still not added are probably not added for a reason. Sun Kil Moon are good and the album deserves the place.

Boy, I just couldn't disagree with this anymore. To think that there is NOTHING worth listening to, dating back further than 10 years ago thats not already on this site seems crazy.

Norman Bates wrote:

Have you listened to Benji?

I have and i really enjoy it, this thread wasnt meant to bash the album, as much as it was to have a look at the reasons some albums do well on this site.

Norman Bates wrote:

you should still listen to Among the Leaves.

doing it as we speak

Norman Bates wrote:

At this time of year, i.e. February, obviously. Mind you, they tend to lose this benefit: at the end of the year, when people relase their year list, a more recent album is more likely to get to top 10 than a January album.

Yes the new popular albums toward the end of the year will win out. but If you take 2 less popular albums I would argue that the one released early in the year would be ranked higher because it has more exposure due to low competition.

meccalecca thank you for introducing me to Kozelek

creator

Age: 36
Location: chicago

I have only heard three songs from Benji (Carissa, Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes, and Ben's My Friend), but I think they're three of the best songs that Mark Kozelek has released since Ghosts of the Great Highway.

I can't wait for my copy to arrive this week. Very Happy

meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

samistake2ice wrote:

meccalecca thank you for introducing me to Kozelek

It's my pleasure.

He's released so much great music, you could never run out.

ranked 417th in 2000, here's one that's been totally overlooked (even if it's primarily just a covers record)

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Rock 'n' Roll Singer by Mark Kozelek
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