Mark Kozelek
Sings Christmas Carols
CALDO VERDE
7/10
Much as we annually give in to the sappy pleasures of traditional Christmas carols, there does seem a peculiar delectation in the occasional deconstructing of the “spirit” of said carols. 2014 finds holiday depressives in less surprising company, as Mr. Misery Guts himself, Mark Kozelek, has a go at some of our wintry faves. Fittingly, it opens with the Charlie Brown Christmas classic “Christmas Time Is Here”—with Kozelek even inserting himself into the role of that most eternally existential character. If there is one problem here, it’s that Kozelek’s way with haunting atmospherics is eschewed in favor of a purely stripped-down acoustic presentation. It all cheekily concludes with “The Christmas Song,” with its famous enumeration of all those things which “help to make the season bright.” This record will ne’er be one of them; but if your holidays, like most of us, tend to include moments of melancholy reflection, here’s your soundtrack. Let some things you dismay…
