Sparklehorse, essentially a vehicle for Richmond, Virginia’s Mark Linkous, never achieved huge acclaim over their 15-year career, but they were a critics’ favourite and were well enough recognised to avoid being considered a “cult” band. Linkous was ever a tortured soul. A drug habit, developed well before Sparklehorse sprang into being, bedevilled much of his short life, he had tried his hand at stardom in LA in his band The Dancing Hoods in the 80s but when that came to nothing he returned to his native Virginia to lick his wounds and recuperate. A chance meeting with David Lowery of Cracker (who had recently moved to Richmond) led to a songwriting collaboration on ‘Sick Of Goodbyes’ which appeared on Cracker’s “Kerosene Hat” album. That led to Sparklehorse being signed up to Capitol Records, their first album “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” was produced by Lowery under the pseudonym of David Charles and released in 1995.
Initially the omens were good. The album was well received, especially in the UK and they were booked to support a Radiohead tour over here in 1996. However, in the midst of the tour Linkous suffered a catastrophic accident; a combination of drugs caused him to collapse in his hotel room, cutting off circulation to his legs. Fortunately he was discovered but had to be hospitalised and undergo a lengthy bout of therapy to walk again. While he recovered, the band never really did and, although the following albums are all quite excellent, that initial buzz had gone.
Linkous went on to record three more Sparklehorse albums along with collaborations with Danger Mouse and Fennesz but he suffered from bouts of depression and in 2010, just a few months after the suicide of his friend Vic Chesnutt, Linkous shot himself.
The manner of his death inevitably casts a shadow whenever one listens to Linkous’s songs these days. It’s all too easy to see portents as he variously ranges from grungy rockers to delicate threads while his lyrics, often opaque, often scary, tend to exist in a special Sparklehorse universe, a space inhabited by ghosts, unsettling visions and a David Lynch-like dreamscape (Linkous and Lynch eventually got to work together). His lyrics are never straightforward, sometimes nightmarish and while some of the songs have a Beatles’ like transcendence to them (wonderful melodies with oodles of mystic keyboards and chiming guitars) others are lo-fi and some are just downright strange.
For this top ten I’ve forgone the posthumous album, “Bird Machine”. Assembled from works in progress, it is a worthy addition to the canon and worth listening to but it is a postscript. I’ve also avoided the album Linkous recorded with Danger Mouse, “Dark Night Of The Soul”. On this album he had numerous luminaries appear with him but, in my estimation, it fails to capture that fragile heart of darkness which is at the epicentre of his best songs.
Number 10: ‘Weird Sisters’ from “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (1995)
Shakespeare, Creedence Clearwater Revival and death all jostle for attention on ‘Weird Sisters’. A sludge-fuelled rhythm, like Neil Young after way too many honey slides, drives this dark and disturbing song which has feral undertones. There are images of people with daggers in their backs trying to escape mayhem as they race across a lawn while millionaires tumble down staircases. It’s a song which, like all of Linkous’s, is open to interpretation – he was never one for a straightforward narrative. I’ve always felt it was an oblique nod to the Manson Family murders, the weird sisters being the female members who would “creepy crawl” the mansions of the Los Angeles hills.
Number 9: ‘Sunshine’ from “Good Morning Spider” (1998)
‘Sunshine’ comes across as if Linkous was composing his own threnody, an ode to his own death as he sings “I lay down on the grass and let the insects do their thing.” It’s an excellent example of how he assembled his songs with its incredibly attractive yet simple backing adorned with weird sound effects. It’s almost like a lullaby, swathed with psychedelic undertones via the dreamlike keyboards and ambient warbling.
Number 8: ‘Sad & Beautiful World’ from “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (1995)
‘Sad & Beautiful World’ is Linkous stripped naked. The repetition of the title over a mournful country-rock backing finds him already conflicted, the contradiction between sad and beautiful unable to be reconciled. Depression can reduce people to feeling that they are mere observers, unable to act and not in control of their destiny. When Linkous sings, “Sometimes days go speeding past, sometimes this one seems like the last,” he seems to exist in that metaphysical twilight zone.
Number 7: ‘Saint Mary’ from “Good Morning Spider” (1998)
This might be the most autobiographical song in the Sparklehorse canon. It was written in the wake of his near-fatal accident while he was a patient in London’s Saint Mary’s Hospital. Here he sounds at his most vulnerable, at the mercy of his attendants and nurses, while yearning to get back to his familiar territory. The simple melody, the lonesome plucked guitar and slight string arrangement all add to the pathos.
Number 6: ‘Shade & Honey’ from “Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain” (2006)
‘Shade & Honey’ is one of Linkous’s warmest songs. On the face of it it’s a love song played fairly straightforwardly, burbling keyboards and glistening guitars driving the melody while his vocals are relatively unadorned, not whispered or howled. As ever however, the lyrics go way beyond that.
Number 5: ‘Hundreds Of Sparrows’ from “Good Morning Spider” (1998)
‘Hundreds Of Sparrows’ is another one of Linkous’s love songs, cloaked in a wonderfully melancholic manner with timbrous strings adding to the mood over an all too short two and half minutes. Here he is both affectionate and loving, counting the hairs of his lover’s head but still afraid of calamity with seemingly loveable hummingbirds posing a possible threat. Meanwhile his transcendental admission that “I’m so sorry my spirit’s rarely in my body, it wanders through the dry country” is an indication of the alienation which haunted him throughout his life.
Number 4: ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ from “It’s A Wonderful Life” (2001)
The opening title song of the third album, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ found Linkous travelling his familiar path. There’s mention of a horse of course, although the horse is outdone when he sings later in the song of a “dog who ate your birthday cake.” It is a dreamlike reverie and while the title inevitably reminds one of that James Stewart Christmas film it’s more akin to the work of David Lynch, especially the eerie soundscape of “Eraserhead”.
Number 3: ‘Gasoline Horseys’ from “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (1995)
‘Gasoline Horseys’ is the closing song on the debut album and it’s perhaps the best example of Linkous’s approach to recording. It’s lo-fi and raw, sounding both ancient and modern, scratchy and close up as he modulates the sound. Aside from that it seems to be an ode to his love of motorcycles (his gasoline horses), albeit suffused with images of dread. While the album version is of course superb, I’d recommend you also listen to a live version recorded live at The Fleece & Firkin which was released on the “Distorted Ghost” EP and which is available on Youtube.
Number 2: ‘Homecoming Queen’ from “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (1995)
‘Homecoming Queen’ was my introduction to the weird and wonderful world of Sparklehorse. The first song on the debut album ‘Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot’ it opens with Linkous singing “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.” A familiar line of course but then Shakespeare failed to mention that the horse would be “rattling on magnetic fields.” Set over a spindly arrangement of wandering guitars amidst sub-sonic ambient sounds, Linkous almost whispers the words, an early indication that he often subjected his voice to a variety of effects, rarely singing straight to microphone. As for the words, they are typically opaque, there’s mention of that horse, sparklers make an appearance and the titular homecoming queen finds her teeth ground down and her crooked spine becoming more brittle, indications of ageing while the closing words, “absorbing back down to dirt like a sponge” might be a premonition of her grave.
Number 1: ‘Painbirds’ from “Good Morning Spider” (1998)
If a song can be described as almost unbearably perfect, then ‘Painbirds’ must come into consideration. It soothes as much as it disturbs. The pulsing rhythm allied to a melancholic fluted trumpet is deliriously inviting, sounding almost as if Chet Baker was playing with Neil Young, but the stark lyrics contain a premonition of evil to come with echoes of Tennessee Williams in its mention of threatening sub-tropical climes. Written in the wake of his accident (which required many months of rehabilitation while learning to walk again), most folk assume the song is about the chronic pain experienced by Linkous. If that is indeed the case, the fact that he managed to translate such suffering into such a beautiful song is both admirable and quite heartbreaking.
Nailed this Mr Kerr but what about Eyepennies …
Good catch, it almost made the cut along with Junebugs but thems the rules, 10 only. Of course, we could fill the comments with a host of others.
Obviously not much love for the final two LPs, but Eyepennies and More Yellow Birds are easily among Linkous’ best, and Mountains and Knives of Summertime surely could have warrented a mention.
A nice list and article, and obviously as a fan I’m thrilled whenever *anything* about Sparklehorse or Mark Linkous pops up somewhere. “Almost Unbearably Perfect” would be a great title for a Sparklehorse “best of” album. I can see how Dark Night Of The Soul would be seen as a “side project” but at the time it came out I was quite thrilled to get any kind of new Sparklehorse music, and Mark’s spirit flows throughout that album, even with guest lyricists and singers. I also would have included Bird Machine – posthumous, yes, but it really feels to me like a true Sparklehorse album, and “Evening Star Supercharger” is one of his greatest songs, imo.