Last December, Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek announced that he would be releasing a Christmas album titled Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols, and he was not joking. Today, Kozelek shared the album's opening track, a cover of Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The track is typical Kozelek, who accompanies himself on fingerpicked classical guitar and turns the lighthearted, jazzy original into something more somber. As if the whole thing was not strange enough, however, Kozelek also re-enacts some of the cartoon's dialogue, playing the role of Charlie Brown himself and getting an unidentified friend to read Linus's lines.
You can check out Kozelek's version of "Christmas Time Is Here" over at Pitchfork.
Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols is set for release Nov. 4. You can check out the album's tracklist here:
1. Christmas Time Is Here
2. Do You Hear What I Hear
3. 2,000 Miles
4. O Come All Ye Faithful
5. O Christmas Tree
6. Away in a Manger
7. Silent Night
8. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
9. What Child Is This
10. I Believe in Father Christmas
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. The First Noel
13. The Christmas Song
Sun Kil Moon's most recent album, Benji, was chosen by Music Times as one of the best albums released so far in 2014. You can check out our complete list right here.
You can check out Sun Kil Moon's upcoming tour dates here:
11/7/14: Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/9: Chicago, IL @ Park West
11/11: Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
11/28: Reykjavik, Iceland @ Frikirkjan Church
11/30: Stockholm, Sweden @ Sodra Teateren
12/1: Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
12/3: London, UK @ St. John at Hackney Church
12/4: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
12/6: Tel Aviv, Israel @ Barby Club
12/8: Leuven, Belgium @ Leuven Het Depot
12/9: Dublin, Ireland @ Dublin Button Factory
12/10: Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
12/12: Aarau, Switzerland @ KiFF
12/13/14: Geneva, Switzerland @ La Gravierre (Antigel Festival)
1/31/15: Orlando, FL @ Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
