RIP Mark Linkous ... of Sparklehorse

[Mrs. Peel]

If you click on my user name to get to my profile there's an option to email at the bottom.

[Gobias Industries]

Ditto for this guy. Like Mrs. Peel, go through me profile. Many thanks in advance.

 

I am on my second listen, and I really like this record. So naturally I want to listen to this away from a computer and see how it is.

[okp greg]

What bull. Any labels wonder why we hate them. Jen You shoulda got it from me when I was over! haha.

[Calexico]

I agree with you on that. I feel no real need to understand films like Mulholland Drive or Inland Empire. I just like to experience them as you would a piece of art or photo. Lynch is an artist first and foremost.

 

 

I adored Inland Empire, I had no idea what it was about really but just the assault on the senses and the complete strangeness of the movie was something to be cherished in these days of blockbuster tomfoolery.

[m_to_the_c]

Wow, listening to this now. Less beats than a typical Danger Mouse production (think the slower stuff on Beck's "Modern Guilt")

 

What an odd fate to the most anticipated album of the year. Anyone actually planning on buying the CDR-infused packaging? This could either be a marketing ploy, or the official death rattle in the throat of major label musics.

[okp greg]

http://pitchfork.com/news/35373-more-dark-...-soulemi-drama/

 

Previously on Dark Night of the Soul: Due to a legal dispute with EMI, there will be no official release of the album portion of the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse/David Lynch CD/book project. However, you can now buy the Dark Night of the Soul art book, featuring Lynch photos and a blank CD-R that you can use "however you see fit."

 

But the drama doesn't end there. Yesterday, EMI ordered YouTube to take down a short trailer for the DNOTS project, which features David Lynch photos and no music from the actual album. According to a Danger Mouse spokesperson, "What EMI pulled from YouTube is a 15 second clip of David Lynch's photographic images from Dark Night of the Soul. It's perplexing why they had it removed and questionable that they even had the right to censor it." Perplexing indeed!

 

You can still watch the video in question at the official DNOTS site. (EMI have yet to return our request for comment.)

 

We're hoping an EMI bot programmed to remove copyrighted material on YouTube did this, because who would knowingly fuck with David Lynch? They've seen Lost Highway, right?!

[Sir Stewart]

This is getting Lynchian.

[echo]

Don't judge a book by the cover

Unless you cover just another

And blind acceptance is a sign

Of stupid fools who stand in line

Like E.M.I...

[Wild Frank]

Well it looks like 'Dark Night of the Soul' is finally getting released this year.

 

http://pitchfork.com/news/38084-danger-mouse-buries-beef-with-emi-idark-night-of-the-souli-to-be-released/

[Sir Stewart]

Finally! This is great to hear - love the album and can only imagine what the accompanying Lynch book will add to it.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Good to see DNOTS getting an official release. I already ordered the poster, CDr, though. If this has nice packaging, I'll buy it, 'cuz the album is outstanding.

[Wild Frank]

Good to see DNOTS getting an official release. I already ordered the poster, CDr, though. If this has nice packaging, I'll buy it, 'cuz the album is outstanding.

Without wanting to sound like a music snob but I kind of liked the fact that was was unreleased. It would have gained a mythical status if it had remained so. The book/cdr's are now impossible to get hold of.

 

Great album though. Not sure what Mark Linkous is up to at the moment. I would love a regular 'Sparklehorse' record.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Awful, awful news.

 

I considered Linkous one of the very best musicians out there. This is damn depressing to hear.

[mpolak21]

Statement from the family: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today,” reads a statement from his family. “We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.”

 

Still trying to find the right words, It's a Wonderful Life is one of those perfect albums for me. This is a damn shame.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

He really had that balance down between pop and weirdness. As well as the balance between beauty and depression. Such a talented guy. I put him up there with my very favorite musicians. Between the Sparklehorse albums and DNOTS, there aren't many artists I listened to more the last year. This has really hit me hard.

[mpolak21]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btmycg_Pq4E

 

With rocks in my dress

And smoke in my hair

I walked into a lake

To get some sleep down in there

 

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come to comfort me?

 

With minnows in my belly

And deep in my veins

The breath-robbin 'lightning

Was making diamonds of rain

 

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come to comfort me?

 

Dreamed I was born on a mountain on the moon

Where nothing grows or ever rock

I dreamed that I had me a daughter

Who was magnificent as a horse

 

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come to comfort me?

Won't you come?

[Wendy]

Wow, so sad to lose such a great talent. I was unaware of his history.

 

Prayers for his family and friends for the sorrow they must endure.

 

 

from Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/06/sparklehorses-mark-linkous-takes-own-life/

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous has committed suicide, his publicist confirms to Rolling Stone. Best known for his acclaimed work with Sparklehorse, who released four albums of imaginative ambient psych-folk, Linkous also produced Daniel Johnston’s 2003 album Fear Yourself and collaborated with Danger Mouse on Dark Night of the Soul. His exact age is unknown, but he was in his forties. “It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today,” reads a statement from his family. “We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.”

 

Linkous’ dramatic, lush music often came from a place of pain. In 1996, Linkous actually died for two minutes after ingesting a dangerous mix of Valium and antidepressants while on tour in the U.K. behind Sparklehorse’s 1995 debut Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. He recovered, but the incident left him crippled — he laid unconscious for 14 hours, cutting off circulation to his legs. He suffered a heart attack when medics attempted to straighten his legs, and underwent seven surgeries to save his damaged limbs. But after the incident, he recorded 1999’s Good Morning Spider, 2001’s It’s A Wonderful Life and 2006’s Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain. “For a while there, I was really scared that when I technically died — which I guess I did for a few minutes — that the part of my brain that allowed me my ability to write songs would be damaged,” he told Rolling Stone in 1999.

 

Linkous most recently teamed up with Danger Mouse and director David Lynch on Dark Night of the Soul, a multimedia project that was tied up in legal issues with EMI; just this past week, Danger Mouse and the label resolved their dispute and agreed to let the album come out as it was originally intended.

 

Linkous’ publicist confirms he was nearly finished with a new album that was due on Anti- Records.

 

[Ghost of Electricity]

This is horrible news. I always admired his ability to transport you into a parallel universe, to create a sonic alternative reality which was, as per his song, beautiful and sad. I hope he has found peace.

[Good Old Neon]

Well this just sucks.

[M. (hristine]

Happy trails Mark. I'm going to miss you so.

[Calexico]

It's an awful shame all right. I think that it is the fact that someone takes their own life that makes it even sadder. When a person does that, even if you don't know them personally, it always seems to hit that bit harder.

 

So sick of goodbyes...

[M. (hristine]

The reaper has been working overtime on musicians these past months.

[Leo]

This one really hurts.

His music moved me more than most.

Crushing.

[LouisvilleGreg]

I was always proud to say that Sparklehorse were from Richmond when I lived there, though they rarely played shows there, it was certeinly an event when they did. Not to go off topic too much, but I've been up close and personal with suicide on multiple occasions in my life and it's such a totally devastating thing to have to go through. I can respect someone's right to do so, as I'm a big proponet of free will, but I speak from experience when I say it's without question the most self-absorbed action a person can ever commit. So, why I am saddened by this news, I'm more angered for what I know his family and friends are dealing with, it's a pain that really never goes away.

[solace]