Mark Kozelek
Little Drummer Boy Live

Mark Kozelek is simply one of the greatest American songwriters around. The Ohio native garnered considerable recognition in the '90s with the slow-core band Red House Painters, bringing this venture to an end in 2001. From that point on, his career oscillated between solo projects and his new band Sun Kil Moon, increasingly leaning towards classic rock, folk, and country. All of this is always characterized by introspective moments and a genuinely melancholic vein.

"Little Drummer Boy Live" is a double album that captures some of the most significant performances of our songwriter over a time span from 2003 to 2006. Released in 2006, the album was produced in a limited series (10,000 copies) for Caldo Verde Records, a label founded by Kozelek himself, and it collects the best of 15 years of an enviable career. Our artist presents himself in an extremely essential form. In fact, true to his tradition, the live performances set aside the musicians he usually employs in studio recordings, and he appears as the sole protagonist with vocals and classical/acoustic guitars, supported in several tracks exclusively by Phil Carney, an old acquaintance from the RHP, who doubles the presence on guitars.

The songs, stripped of any superstructure, present themselves to the listener in all their beauty and simplicity. In this context, the skill of the two instrumentalists shines through, forming a perfect duo, so in tune and balanced that they make every note seem indispensable to the final success of the tracks; and while the two paint melodies that take us to distant, unknown places, Kozelek's voice appears both majestic and fragile. His distinctive, warm, deep, engaging timbre seals that magma of sounds and words that gently insinuates itself into the ears of the fortunate spectators, creating an atmosphere that no technical/formal analysis could adequately justify.

Finally, it's worth considering that Kozelek doesn't limit himself, like almost all artists do, to slavishly reproducing his original songs. Each song is a chance for innovation, an additional creative outlet for the talented Ohio musician. Inside the concert, there are numerous changes in guitar tuning, in the relentless quest for the perfect sound that naturally fits each composition. The result of this process sees several tracks transformed, while even those that remain truer to their studio version shine with new light. In my opinion, many cases exist where these versions surpass the originals in beauty, "Michigan" and "Bubble" above all.

I cannot deny that I have doubts about the absolute value of this album (isolated, in short, from the previous discography). When I listened to "LDBL" for the first time, I already knew all of Kozelek's albums by heart, and this can't help but affect my impartiality. For this reason alone, I don't feel I can give the highest rating to such a splendid work. What I am sure of, in conclusion, is that this is the absolute best way to taste and appreciate the music of the American songwriter. That should be enough, at least to justify the curiosity for a listen.

The tracklist division is curious: 14 tracks on the first CD, 6 on the second.

A similar discussion could extend to Kozelek's other live releases. The latest arrival is recommended, "Lost Verses Live," which adds to the setlist the gems of that masterpiece "April". Played and recorded, moreover, with a care and precision superior to all the other "siblings."