Elly Roberts reviews
Sparklehorse: Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain
Distributed by
Capitol
- September 2006
- Rating: 6/10
Sparklehorse is Mark Linkous,
an enigmatic guy from North Carolina who’s battled severe depression, and
has been out in the wilderness for the best part of half a decade.
Lured, in part, due to collaborator Danger Mouse, his follow-up to 2001’s
ironic It’s A Wonderful Life is not exactly alt-country, but as near
as you're probably going to get. In addition to some steadily beautiful
haunting ballads, complete with FX tweaking, which make up the bulk of the
album, there’s jarring rock blasts.
Ghost In The Sky/It’s Not So Hard beef things up for a while, though
they feel (pointless) impulsive and gratuitous, instead of some kind of
genuine creative intention. Ambling along, the majority posses an ethereal
ambiance, bolstered by some studio wizardry which adds to the unique listening
experience, perfectly captured on Getting It Wrong.
More accessibility happens on perkier Shade And Honey and Beatlesesque
Some Sweet Day: both would make a good singles as intros to Linkous’
off-beat music. The sparseness of Return To Me provides the jewel in
the crown.
Elsewhere, wholesome scratchy lightweight rock ballad Mountain adds a bit
of rasp, turning out to be the sharpest song of the lot, even if it concludes
in some cacophonous confusion. At seven minutes long, snoozy Morning
Hollow’s limping duet with Sophie Michalitsianos is the sonic landscape
for relaxation purposes, as is the protracted title track.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.