Music Library: Mark E. Smith, Mark Eitzel, Mark Knopfler, Mark Kozelek

Mark E. Smith - The Post Nearly Man (1998).  If, like me, you were hoping to pick up an album of MES, the estimable leader of The Fall, rambling out his fractured poetry while found sounds and electronic beats fade in and out, well then, mister (because are there any ladies who would fit that bill?), this is your lucky day.

Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining (1996) and Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby (1998).  I only have a couple of Eitzel's solo albums, but I always have meant to pick up more.  The former of these is a near-jazzy effort, perfect for the gray Sunday afternoons of the soul.  The latter is a more up-and-down album, although mostly down, which fits Eitzel's general melancholia.

Mark Knopfler - "Cannibals."  Not much of a fan of the Dire Straits nor this song.

Mark Kozelek - Rock 'N' Roll Singer (2000) and What's Next To The Moon (2001).  I really like Kozelek's music.  When he was the lead of the Red House Painters, he played slow, moody music that occasionally erupted into near-epic VU-inspired feedback.  Solo, he played slow, moody, mostly acoustic music that exploited his tendencies to reinterpret other people's music into Kozelek-style songs.  With Sun Kil Moon, he plays slow, moody music that sounds a lot like the Red House Painters and Kozelek solo.  Fortunately, I like Kozelek's sound.  These albums, his only two solo albums (there's actually a third that collects both of these along with two other tracks, but it doesn't really count) mostly feature the music of AC/DC.  I mean the earlier one, an EP, has three originals and one John Denver cover along with the three AC/DC songs while the latter is a full album of AC/DC songs reconceived as slow, moody tracks.  Kozelek somehow connects with Bon Scott's inner sad folkie, and it's pretty amazing.