Sparkelhorse albums

2001

It’s a Wonderful Life – 94%

It’s a Wonderful Life is Sparkelhorse’s masterpiece and one of the better albums ever made by a singer songwriter in the 21st century. It captures the fragility of life, many times in slow motion and often with fantastical effects. “Piano Fire” alone should get him into any valid rock hall of fame, with guest vocals by PJ Harvey sung in unison on the chorus that defy and conventional previous expectations, superb emotional resonance. Linkous has made his ballads a reliable work of art as well, “Gold Day” and “Eyepennies” are perfection. “Comfort Me” and “Sea of Teeth” are consistent reminders of why he is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. “Dog Door” breaks up any potential predictability with a Tom Waits guest vocals, a bacchanal of noises and found sounds. The whole record moves along and constantly surprises us, it is just about perfect.

-        Expand on this later

Best Songs: Piano Fire, Eyepennies, King of Nails, Dog Door, Gold Day

2023

Bird Machine - 86%

           When I think of Mark Linkous and his music I get nothing but fond memories. I'm not sure what he ever intended exactly, but he definitely had this ability to make the heart cry. This is a posthumous album, leftovers that were never fully realized from after his death in 2010 but completed by friends and family to the best of his vison. What is strange is how fully realized these songs feel, like a natural continuation of Linkous’s lo-fi journey. “Chaos of the Universe” is pitch-perfect mix of collective cool and meaningful melody; “Evening Star Supercharger” was something as relaxed and effortlessly flowing as his best ballads; where “Falling Down” will stop anyone in their tracks and bring you down to his plane of ‘deeply felt’ music.

                It’s been about 14 years since we have had any Sparklehorse music and we are unlikely to get any more, so I wanted this to be as good as it turned out to be- that’s true. A song like “Stay” is a perfect closer, only a minute and a half but powerful and in the vein of an old John Lennon ballad and manages to match his unique charm. The cover of Robyn Hitchcock’s “Listening to the Higsons” is a perfect analogy for Linkous’s entire career just like it was for Hitchcock- a song so repetitive, so simple, so catchy, so perfect…leaving us mad we didn’t think of it ourselves. Sparklehorse will forever be remembered for songs of similar quality.

Best Songs: Chaos of the Universe, Evening Star Supercharger, Skull of Lucia, Stay