Benji (album)

Following the release of Sun Kil Moon's fifth studio album Among the Leaves in 2012, primary recording artist Mark Kozelek recorded and released three studio albums in 2013; a covers album entitled Like Rats released in February, and two collaborative albums of original material. The first of these, Perils from the Sea was recorded with Jimmy LaValle and released in April, and the second, Mark Kozelek & Desertshore, recorded with the band Desertshore, was released in August. The first track written for Benji was "Truck Driver", about his uncle who died in an aerosol trash fire. Kozelek had initially brought the song to Desertshore for possible inclusion on Mark Kozelek & Desertshore, but it was rejected by the band. Shortly after this, Kozelek's second cousin died, also in an aerosol trash fire, which inspired the composition of the song "Carissa". "I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love" was written following an argument between Kozelek and his mother, and features backing vocals from Will Oldham (as does "Carissa"). Benji's closing track, "Ben's My Friend", was the final track to be written for the album and is partly written about Kozelek's friendship with Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service vocalist and guitarist Ben Gibbard. Gibbard previously made a guest vocal appearance on the track "Lost Verses" on Sun Kil Moon's third studio album, April (2008). Kozelek noted, "I just felt like the album needed another track, so I scribbled down some stuff, vented a little about The Postal Service concert or whatever was on my mind that day. I presented it to [drummer] Steve Shelley in two different ways, a slow version and a fast version. He liked the faster one and we went with it." Album title The album's title is taken from Joe Camp's 1974 film of the same name, which Kozelek references in the lyrics to the song "Micheline". Kozelek stated: "I have this light, nice memory of going to see the movie Benji, at a Los Angeles movie theatre when I was a little kid, visiting my grandparents. This record is filled with so much darkness, I wanted to give it a light title, for contrast. Benji is a great movie, one of my favorites." ==Release==

On January 10, 2014, Pitchforks Ian Cohen issued the album's closing track, "Ben's My Friend", with the website's "Best New Track" award, writing, "'Ben's My Friend' [is] one of the funniest, warmest, and most revealing songs ever written about male friendship, especially the complications that arise in relationships where one guy's more successful." He also referred to Benji as a whole as the project's "best record to date". ==Reception==

Benji received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85 based on 30 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Kitty Empire of The Observer opined that Benji "might well be this difficult artist's most direct work, possibly the most devastating this career melancholic has ever penned" and noted that Kozelek "has nothing left to hide, or lose: the effect is utterly riveting." PopMatters Ryan Lathan felt that Benji was "nostalgic and intensely personal", "brilliantly-crafted" and may "possibly be the most beautifully candid record [Kozelek] has recorded under the Sun Kil Moon guise or any nom de plume." Spin's Garrett Kamps described the album as "a gob-smacking collection of bare-bones, gut-punch, all-in songwriting". while Stereogum ranked it as the third best. It also appeared on best of year lists from Pitchfork (number 7), Rough Trade (number 10), Drowned in Sound (number 14) and Tiny Mix Tapes (number 14), while NME ranked it at number 34. Benji placed at number 18 on The Village Voices year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Benji was recognized as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far, a list published by Pitchfork in August 2014. ==Track listing==

Musicians • Mark Kozelek – vocals, guitars, Portuguese guitar, bass guitar, xylophone • Steve Shelley – drums, percussion • Owen Ashworth – Rhodes piano • Will Oldham – backing vocals (1, 2 and 3) • Jen Wood – backing vocals (6 and 10) • Keta Bill – backing vocals (5, 7 and 8) • Chris Connolly – piano (10), additional Rhodes piano (8) • Forrest Day – horns (11) • Nathan Winter – additional drums (7) • Tim "Tiny" Lindsey – bass (11) Recording personnel • Mark Kozelek – production • Nathan Winter – engineering Artwork • Mark Kozelek – photography • Brian Azer – sleeve design ==Chart positions==