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Biography
Refimprove|date=December 2008Infobox musical artist | name = Sparklehorse| image =Sparklehorse, Linkous, Transilvania live, Milano, Italy, 2007-05-22.jpg| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| origin = Richmond, Virginia|Richmond , Virginia , United States|U.S. | genre = Indie rock , lo-fi | years_active = 1995–2010| label = EMI ( Capitol Records|Capitol , Parlophone , Odeon, Astralwerks ), Slow River, Devil in the Woods| associated_acts =| website = http://www.sparklehorse.com/ Official website| current_members = Mark Linkous Scott Minor| associated_acts = Danger Mouse , David Lynch , Sol Seppy | past_members = Sparklehorse was an United States|American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous .
History
Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995) featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success. In 1996, while touring Europe with Radiohead shortly after the album's release, Linkous consumed a combination of anti-depressants, valium , alcohol , and heroin in a London hotel room. http://www.harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm? article_id=4606 HARP MagazineUnconscious and with his legs pinned beneath him for almost fourteen hours, the resulting potassium build up caused his heart to stop for several minutes after his body was lifted up. The ensuing surgery almost caused him to paralysis|lose the use of both legs and left him wheelchair -bound for six months.
Good Morning Spider (1998) was recorded following this incident. CriticsWho|date=July 2009 have conjectured that Linkous's brush with death inspired the sombre tone of the album, though Linkous stated that much of the material on GMS had already been written. One song which did result from it is "St. Mary", which is dedicated to the nurses at the eponymous hospital in Paddington where Linkous recuperated.
2001 saw the release of '' It's a Wonderful Life (album)|It's a Wonderful Life , featuring appearances by Tom Waits , PJHarvey , Bob Rupe , Vic Chesnutt , Nina Persson and Dave Fridmann . Whereas much of Vivadixie... and Spider were recorded solely by Linkous on his Virginia farm, the new album was a more collaborative work. Linkous expressed his satisfaction with the overall sound of It's a Wonderful Life , while also claiming that he would have preferred to include more experimental and instrumental material.cite web|last=Laurence |first=Alexander |url= http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2010/03/sparklehorse-2002-interview-mark.html |title=The portable-infinite: Sparklehorse 2002 interview (Mark Linkous RIP) |publisher=Portable-infinite.blogspot.com |date= |accessdate=2010-05-01
On September 25, 2006, Sparklehorse released their fourth album, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain , collaborating with DJ Danger Mouse , Christian Fennesz , and Steven Drozd . This album featured the radio release "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" and a remastered version of "Shade And Honey", which Linkous originally wrote for Alessandro Nivola to sing in the 2003 movie Laurel Canyon (film)|Laurel Canyon , as well as a virtually unchanged re-release of "Morning Hollow," the bonus track from ''It's a Wonderful Life .
In 2008, Sparklehorse recorded a cover of the song "Jack's Obsession," from '' Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas for the official compilation album Nightmare Revisited . In 2009, Sparklehorse teamed up with Danger Mouse and David Lynch in the project Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul|Dark Night of the Soul .
In 2009, Linkous teamed up with electronic ambient music|ambient-music artist Christian Fennesz to create In The Fishtank 15 , a wafting album EP of dreamy atmospherics and glacially beautiful experimentation. The last four live shows, Linkous did together with Fennesz during a European tour that was held during October 2009.
Joe Tangari describes Linkous's songs as "defiantly surrealist ...with all manner of references to smiling babies, organ music, birds, and celestial bodies . In fact, some of the lyrics are so surreal that it's hard to imagine they're even metaphor s for anything."cite web|url= http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21943/Sparklehorse_Its_a_Wonderful_Life |title=Pitchforkmedia.com |publisher=Pitchforkmedia.com |date=2001-09-30 |accessdate=2011-04-18 Many of these references are literary or from a variety of rock music sources. http://www.sparklehorse.org/refs.html Sparklehorse.orgdead link|date=April 2011
Linkous committed suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee , on March 6, 2010, thus ending the band's 15-year-long run.Sisario, Ben (March 7, 2010). http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/the-singer-songwriter-known-as-sparklehorse-is-dead-at-47/ The Singer-Songwriter Known as Sparklehorse is Dead at 47. New York Times
Discography
Albums
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (August 1995, UK Albums Chart|UK #58)
'' It's a Wonderful Life (album)|It's a Wonderful Life (June 2001, UK #49)
Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (September 25, 2006, US Heatseekers #11, UK #60)cite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 518
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul|Dark Night of the Soul (with Danger Mouse ) (2009, UK #32)
In the Fishtank 15 (with Fennesz ) (September 2009)
"Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "Rainmaker" (February 1996, Modern Rock Tracks|US Modern Rock #35cite web|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p168241/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes |title=Sparklehorse > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles|publisher=allmusic |date=2010-03-06 |accessdate=2010-05-01)
"Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "London" (February 1996, UK issue)
"Hammering the Cramps" / "Spirit Ditch" (April 1996)
"Rainmaker" / "I Almost Lost My Mind" (August 1996, UK Singles Chart|UK #61)
"Come On In" / "Blind Rabbit Choir" (February 1998)
"Painbirds" / "Maria's Little Elbows" (July 1998)
"Sick of Goodbyes" / "Good Morning Spider (session version)" (October 1998, UK #57)
http://www.readthehook.com/Stories/2002/02/28/heSparklesTheSadAndBeautif.html "He sparkles: The sad and beautiful world of Mark Linkous" 2002 interview in the Hook weekly
http://www.harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm? article_id=4606 August 2006 interview, Harp Magazine
http://subculturemagazine.com/interviewdetails.php? id=38 October 2006 interview, Subculture Magazine
http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/1492 Interview with LeftLion Magazine
http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/04/01/ex-post-facto-sparklehorse-dreamt-for-light-years-in-the-belly-of-a-mountain/ Tribute Piece in Crawdaddy& #33; Magazine
Sparklehorse Category:Musical groups from North Carolina Category:Music of Richmond, Virginia Category:Musical groups from Virginia Category:American indie rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1995 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Astralwerks artists
