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- September 2006
- Rating: 6/10
Sparklehorse is Mark Linkous,an enigmatic guy from North Carolina whos battled severe depression, andhas 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 2001sironic Its A Wonderful Life is not exactly alt-country, but as nearas you’re probably going to get. In addition to some steadily beautifulhaunting ballads, complete with FX tweaking, which make up the bulk of thealbum, theres jarring rock blasts.
Ghost In The Sky/Its Not So Hard beef things up for a while, thoughthey feel (pointless) impulsive and gratuitous, instead of some kind ofgenuine creative intention. Ambling along, the majority posses an etherealambiance, bolstered by some studio wizardry which adds to the unique listeningexperience, perfectly captured on Getting It Wrong.
More accessibility happens on perkier Shade And Honey and BeatlesesqueSome Sweet Day: both would make a good singles as intros to Linkousoff-beat music. The sparseness of Return To Me provides the jewel inthe crown.
Elsewhere, wholesome scratchy lightweight rock ballad Mountain adds a bitof rasp, turning out to be the sharpest song of the lot, even if it concludesin some cacophonous confusion. At seven minutes long, snoozy MorningHollows limping duet with Sophie Michalitsianos is the sonic landscapefor relaxation purposes, as is the protracted title track.
Weblinks:Sparklehorse.com /Astral Works.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Dont Take My Sunshine Away
2. Getting It Wrong
3. Shade And Honey
4. See The Light
5. Return To Me
6. Some Sweet Day
7. Ghost In The Sky
8. Mountains
9. Morning Hollow
10. Its Not So Hard
11. Knives Of Summertime
12. Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain.
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.