Sparklehorse


Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band from Richmond, Virginia, led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous. It was active from 1995 until Linkous's death in 2010. Before forming Sparklehorse, Linkous fronted local bands Johnson Family and Salt Chunk Mary. Only one song, "Someday I Will Treat You Good", survived from these earlier bands to be played by Sparklehorse. Linkous said he chose the name Sparklehorse because the two words sounded good together and could be a loose metaphor for a motorcycle. At its inception, members of Sparklehorse included Paul Watson, Scott Minor, Johnny Hott, and Scot Fitzsimmons.

History

Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, produced by Cracker frontman David Lowery, was a modest college radio success. In 1996, while touring Europe with Radiohead shortly after the album's release, Linkous consumed a combination of anti-depressants, valium, alcohol, and heroin in a London hotel room. Unconscious and with his legs pinned beneath him for almost 14 hours, the resulting potassium build-up caused his heart to stop for several minutes after his body was lifted up. The ensuing surgery almost caused him to lose the use of both legs and, as a result, he needed to use a wheelchair for six months and required dialysis for acute kidney failure.
Good Morning Spider was recorded following this incident. Critics have conjectured that Linkous's brush with death inspired the album's somber tone, but Linkous said that much of GMS had already been written. One song that resulted from his affliction is "St. Mary", which is dedicated to the nurses at the eponymous hospital in Paddington where Linkous recuperated.
In 1999 Sparklehorse performed at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. 2001 saw the release of It's a Wonderful Life, featuring appearances by Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Bob Rupe, Nina Persson and Dave Fridmann. Much of Vivadixie... and Spider were recorded solely by Linkous on his Virginia farm, but the new album was more collaborative. Linkous expressed his satisfaction with the overall sound of It's a Wonderful Life, which was engineered by Joel Hamilton, while also saying he would have preferred to include more experimental and instrumental material.
On September 25, 2006, Sparklehorse released its fourth album, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, collaborating with Danger Mouse, Christian Fennesz, and Steven Drozd. This album featured the radio release "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" and a remastered version of "Shade And Honey", which Linkous originally wrote for Alessandro Nivola to sing in the 2003 movie Laurel Canyon, as well as a virtually unchanged re-release of "Morning Hollow", the bonus track on It's a Wonderful Life.
In 2008, Sparklehorse recorded a cover of "Jack's Obsession" from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas for the official compilation album Nightmare Revisited.
In 2009, Sparklehorse teamed up with Danger Mouse and David Lynch on the project Dark Night of the Soul. Corliss et al. described Dark Night of the Soul as “spooky, beautiful,... bittersweet...considering Linkous’ untimely death.”
In 2009, Linkous collaborated with electronic ambient-music artist Christian Fennesz to create In the Fishtank 15, a wafting EP of experimentation and dreamy atmospherics. In October 2009, Linkous performed with Fennesz during a European tour.
Linkous died by suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 6, 2010, effectively ending the band. In 2023, Bird Machine – the Sparklehorse album Linkous was working on at the time of his death – was completed by Linkous' brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Melissa Linkous, and released on 8 September.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
  • Good Morning Spider
  • It's a Wonderful Life
  • Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
  • Dark Night of the Soul
  • ''Bird Machine''

    EPs

  • Chords I've Known EP
  • Distorted Ghost EP
  • ''In the Fishtank 15 EP''

    Compilations

  • Chest Full of Dying Hawks
  • ''Stained Glass Tears''

    Singles

  • "Spirit Ditch" / "Waiting for Nothing"
  • "Hammering the Cramps" / "Too Late"
  • "Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "Rainmaker"
  • "Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "London" / "In The Dry"
  • "Hammering the Cramps" / "Spirit Ditch" / "Dead Opera Star" / "Midget In A Junkyard"
  • "Rainmaker" / "I Almost Lost My Mind" / "Intermission" / "Homecoming Queen " / "Gasoline Horseys "
  • "Come On In" / "Blind Rabbit Choir"
  • "Maria's Little Elbows" / "Painbirds" / "Wish You Were Here" / "Haint"
  • "Sick of Goodbyes" / "Good Morning Spider "
  • "Sick of Goodbyes" / "Happy Place" / "Happy Pig " / "Shot A Dog" / "Gasoline Horseys "
  • "Gold Day" / "Heloise" / "Devil's New" / Maxine"
  • "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" / "Ghost In The Sky" / "Knives of Summertime"
  • "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" / "Galveston"
  • "Ghost in the Sky" / "Marigold"
  • "Knives of Summertime" / "Caroline"

    Various artists compilations

  • "Heart of Darkness" on "Dear Charlottesville"
  • "Heart of Darkness" on "Cowpunks"
  • "Sad & Beautiful World" on "Boys Soundtrack"
  • "West of Rome" on "Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation"
  • "Hammering The Cramps" on "Chicago Cab Soundtrack"
  • "Hammering The Cramps" on "Mmmmm..."
  • "Wish You Were Here" on "Come Again"
  • "Wish You Were Here" on "chEMIstry: A Hundred Years Of EMI"
  • "Maria's Little Elbows" on "The MOJO Machine Turns You On – Let MOJO Take You There"
  • "Hey Joe" on "Unconditionally Guaranteed"
  • "Sad & Beautiful World" on "Dreamworld: Essential Late Night Listening"
  • "Happy Pig" on "Unconditionally Guaranteed 2000.8"
  • "Galveston" on "New Sounds Of The Old West Volume Three"
  • "Shade And Honey" on "Devil In The Woods Magazine 3.3"
  • "Little Fat Baby" on "19-Track Guide To The Month's Best Music"
  • "It's A Wonderful Life" on "Laurel Canyon Soundtrack"
  • "Go" on "The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered"
  • "Dark As A Dungeon" on "Cash Covered – Tribute To Johnny Cash"
  • "Wish You Were Here" on "Lords of Dogtown: Music from the Motion Picture"
  • "Painbirds" on "Across The Great Divide: Music Inspired By The Band"
  • "Shade And Honey" on "The Playlist / October 2006"
  • "Shade And Honey" on "Love Will Tear You Apart – Tracks Of Hurt, Pain & Despair"
  • "Jack's Obsession" on "Nightmare Revisited"
  • "Dark Night Of The Soul" on "NowHearThis!"
  • "Listening To The Higsons" on "Now Playing - 12 Tracks Of The Month's Best Music"

    Guest appearances on Cracker tracks

  • "Eyes of Mary" on "Garage D'Or"
  • "Rainy Days and Mondays" on "Garage D'Or"

    Filmography

  • Southern Man: Sparklehorse
  • ''This is Sparklehorse''

    Legacy

In March 2020, Spin magazine wrote that Linkous was more respected by his peers, such as PJ Harvey, Nina Persson and Tom Waits, than recognized by the record-buying public.