Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood

Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood is the eighth studio album by the American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, self-produced by primary recording artist Mark Kozelek. The album was released on 17 February 2017 on Caldo Verde Records.[2] It is a double album and comprises 16 tracks in total, being Sun Kil Moon's longest album to date.

Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 17, 2017[1]
RecordedAugust 2016
Genre
Length129:48
LabelCaldo Verde
ProducerMark Kozelek
Sun Kil Moon chronology
Jesu/Sun Kil Moon
(2016)
Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood
(2017)
30 Seconds to the Decline of Planet Earth
(2017)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.6/10[3]
Metacritic65/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]
Consequence of SoundC[6]
Drowned in Sound7/10[7]
Exclaim!5/10[8]
Loud and Quiet8/10[9]
Paste7.6/10[10]
Pitchfork6.5/10[11]
Rolling Stone     [12]
State4/5[13]

Upon its release, Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album currently holds an average score of 65, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

In a positive review for Chorus.fm, Aaron Mook writes, "Common as Light and Love is strange and flawed and beautiful all at once, sometimes all within the span of one eight-minute song," concluding, "regardless of general spottiness, Kozelek is still capable of creating moments of true beauty and unique insight."[14]

Track listing

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Disc One
No.TitleLength
1."God Bless Ohio"10:36
2."Chili Lemon Peanuts"8:58
3."Philadelphia Cop"10:47
4."The Highway Song"7:55
5."Lone Star"9:13
6."Window Sash Weights"6:29
7."Sarah Lawrence College Song"5:13
8."Butch Lullaby"8:33
Disc Two
No.TitleLength
9."Stranger Than Paradise"12:23
10."Early June Blues"7:16
11."Bergen to Trondheim"7:49
12."I Love Portugal"7:58
13."Bastille Day"5:38
14."Vague Rock Song"7:08
15."Seventies TV Show Theme Song"7:29
16."I Love You Forever and Beyond Eternity"6:13

Personnel

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  • Mark Kozelek – composer, instrumentation, photography, producer
  • Steve Shelley – drums, percussion
  • Nick Zubeck – bass guitar, composer, keyboards
  • Forrest Day – saxophone
  • Will Chason – recording, mixing
  • Nathan Winter – engineer, mixing
  • Brian Azer – design

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 157
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 190

References

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  1. ^ Monroe, Jazz (February 15, 2017). "Listen to Sun Kil Moon's New Album Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Breihan, Tom (February 15, 2017). "Stream Sun Kil Moon Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood". Stereogum. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood by Sun Kil Moon reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Reviews for Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood by Sun Kil Moon". Metacritic. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Simpson, Paul. "Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood – Sun Kil Moon". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Schaults, Janine (February 20, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon – Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  7. ^ Miller, Kellan (March 7, 2017). "Album Review: Sun Kil Moon – Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  8. ^ Feibel, Adam (February 22, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon: Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  9. ^ Delaney, Woody (February 23, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon: Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Hayden, Mack (February 28, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon: Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood Review". Paste. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  11. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (February 28, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon: Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  12. ^ Hermes, Will (March 3, 2017). "Review: Sun Kil Moon's 'Common' Is a Stream-of-Consciousness Epic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  13. ^ De Blaca, Grace (March 9, 2017). "Sun Kil Moon – Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood". State. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  14. ^ "Sun Kil Moon – Common as Light and Love are Red Valleys of Blood". chorus.fm. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sun Kil Moon – Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sun Kil Moon – Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
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