38. Jesu/Sun Kil Moon - “Wheat Bread”

Sun Kil Moon is back yet again to grace this list with his presence. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “a seventeen minute song… come on, bro!” – and you’re right, or at least to an extent. It’s a lot to take in, and if the meandering flow of Kozelek’s stream of consciousness isn’t your thing, then this is like being stuck within a bad dream. You know, the type where there seems to be an invisible barrier between your body and mind, filtering your thoughts and stretching them out through time. You want so badly to speed up and escape or reach some desired destination, but it’s no use, all you can do is struggle forward as if caught within the viscous clutches molasses. This jam is that feeling incarnate – but hey, maybe you’re like me and you’re fond of molasses, or maybe life really is all about the journey, not the destination, and you need to learn how to calm the fuck down.

Just kidding (but really, learning how to relax and pursue something outside the strict realm of capital is an important practice). Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that creating an entertaining seventeen minute song is quite the accomplishment. Kozelek’s stream of consciousness takes you for a journey. It’s no lazy river, repeating over and over ad infinitum until you’re so bored you can no longer stand it. It’s more like a mountain stream, full of various textures, exploring different landscapes, and eroding random paths as it descends from beginning to end. Kozelek has a way of turning the commonplace thoughts and experiences of everyday ennui into relatable and compelling moments of swelling emotion and unsuspecting philosophical clarity. You never know where it is going to go next. Is he going to harangue against child molesters? Is he going to talk about his dislike of wheat bread? Who knows. Nothing is off limits. It’s raw. It’s real – and most importantly, its enjoyable. It speaks to that underlying current of humanity we all commune with on some deeper, spiritual level – the shared experience of sentient thought, from the important and transformative to the base and mundane. We can all relate on some level. Kozelek simply provides the accompanying soundtrack.