"I love his songs… it's like opening your eyes underwater
at the bottom of a stream. You go, 'Look what's down
here!'"
- Tom Waits.
After his team up with PJ Harvey on "Piano Fire" Mark Linkous'
music really clicked for me when I heard the radio edit of "Happy
Man." I was the modern rock music director of my college radio
station (and an emotionally needy one at that). Naturally, that was
it. I picked up anything with his name attached, albums,
soundtracks, EPs; it made tolerable how I felt about whichever girl
wouldn't talk to me, whichever dream job I was never going to get.
It didn't/doesn't offer catharsis for any of those but it does
gives dignity to any honest feeling of dejection.
Linkous made me realize sadness could be fiercely hopeful. Maybe
I'm romanticizing the past, maybe I'm not looking hard enough but
no other artist I know today can create that same sensation.
The music of Sparklehorse is the best heartbreak I've ever
known.
Dark Night of the Soul is GO!
The news that Dark Night of the Soul will see the light of release day is a bittersweet boon to indie rock lovers in light of Linkous' death.
While there's no official release date yet (though it's expected
soon) you can still stream the entire album where it made its
official debut:
NPR's music page.
(left to right: David Lynch, Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse)
BUY