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Jun 2, 2015They’re occasionally manic and often rambling, but nevertheless they offer brutally honest and undeniably fascinating glimpses into his life and worldview.
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Jun 1, 2015This is easily Sun Kil Moon’s most demanding album, with song structures that match the ballsy tangentiality of the lyrics.
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UncutJun 3, 2015In the china shop of his last five years' work, this LP is the bull. [Jul 2015, p.70]
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Jun 2, 2015Somehow, Kozelek’s faith in his audience, his correct assumption that they will hang on every word of his poetry is a remarkable kind of confidence that makes music so indulgent on a surface level equally generous in a different light.
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MojoJul 6, 2015Aching, poetically quotidian observations permeate Universal Themes. [Aug 2015, p.89]
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Q MagazineJul 1, 2015Universal themes absorbs and moves far more than it frustrates. [Aug 2015, p.113]
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Jun 12, 2015No off-hand detail is spared, from the date nor the full title of the television show he’s watching to the back-to-back-to-back illnesses plaguing his friend.
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Jun 11, 2015Universal Themes has the makings to be one the year’s most intriguing collections of songs yet.
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Jun 10, 2015Hs brilliant musicianship and guitar playing combined with his fascinating storytelling skills ensure that his music is as poignant and life-affirming as ever, and the album is yet another success in his remarkable catalog.
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Jun 9, 2015This is a remarkable, compelling record that hits the heights of the heavenly poetical but also dredges the deep dark of cruelty and meanness that flashes through us all at times (though through Kozelek more than most it would seem).
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Jun 5, 2015Things appear quieter for Kozelek this year, and the magic of Universal Themes is in the telling.
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Jun 12, 2015It’s hard to move past this when there’s so much going on but, whether we expect to like it or not--which mostly translates to whether we expect to be able to put up with him or not, we owe it to Universal Themes to try. Despite his behaviour, it's still a great album.
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Jun 3, 2015Universal Themes covers so much ground, it can’t help but live up to its name.
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Jun 15, 2015It’s often difficult to know whether these songs are rushed and off-the-cuff, or whether they are in fact meticulously planned.
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Jun 5, 2015Universal Themes is still overwhelmingly heart-on-sleeve, human; if it's not universal in the specifics, then it is in the way it rawly depicts experience.
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Jun 1, 2015Kozelek veers between wry, pissed-off, and ruminative expression without ever really settling on any of those. While that means Universal Themes never reaches the same highs as Benji, it does allow the listener to become fully immersed inside Kozelek's head, which is an alternately terrifying and hilarious place to be.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 29 out of 40
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Mixed: 9 out of 40
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Negative: 2 out of 40
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Jun 9, 2015
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Jun 2, 2015
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Jun 3, 2015