Sparklehorse was an American
indie rock band from Richmond, Virginia, led by singer and multi-instrumentalist
Mark Linkous. It was active from 1995 until Linkous's 2010 death. Before forming Sparklehorse, Linkous fronted local bands Johnson Family and Salt Chunk Mary. Only one song, "Someday I Will Treat You Good", survived from these earlier bands to be played by Sparklehorse. Linkous said he chose the name Sparklehorse because the two words sounded good together and could be a loose metaphor for a motorcycle. At its inception, members of Sparklehorse included Paul Watson (banjo, cornet, lap steel and electric guitar), Scott Minor (drums, chord organ, banjo), Johnny Hott (Wurlitzer organ, percussion, backing vocals), and Scot Fitzsimmons (standup bass).
History
Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995), produced by
Cracker frontman
David Lowery (credited as "David Charles" on the record), 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.[6] Unconscious and with his legs pinned beneath him for almost 14 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
lose the use of both legs and, as a result, he needed to use a
wheelchair for six months and required dialysis for acute kidney failure.
Good Morning Spider (1998) was recorded following this incident. Critics have conjectured that Linkous's brush with death inspired the album's somber tone, but Linkous said that much of GMS had already been written.[citation needed] One song that resulted from his affliction is "St. Mary", which is dedicated to the nurses at
the eponymous hospital in
Paddington where Linkous recuperated.
In 1999 Sparklehorse performed at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.[7] 2001 saw the release of It's a Wonderful Life, featuring appearances by
Tom Waits,
PJ Harvey,
Bob Rupe,
Nina Persson and
Dave Fridmann.[8] Much of Vivadixie... and Spider were recorded solely by Linkous on his Virginia farm, but the new album was more collaborative. Linkous expressed his satisfaction with the overall sound of It's a Wonderful Life, which was engineered by
Joel Hamilton, while also saying he would have preferred to include more experimental and instrumental material.[9]
On September 25, 2006, Sparklehorse released its fourth album, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, collaborating with
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, as well as a virtually unchanged re-release of "Morning Hollow", the bonus track on It's a Wonderful Life.
In 2009, Sparklehorse teamed up with
Danger Mouse and
David Lynch on the project Dark Night of the Soul. Corliss et al. (2010) described Dark Night of the Soul as “spooky, beautiful, (and)... bittersweet...considering Linkous’ untimely death.”[10]
In 2009, Linkous collaborated with electronic
ambient-music artist
Christian Fennesz to create In the Fishtank 15, a wafting EP of experimentation and dreamy atmospherics. In October 2009, Linkous performed with Fennesz during a European tour.
"Spirit Ditch" / "Waiting for Nothing" (7", 1995, US)
"Hammering the Cramps" / "Too Late" (7", 1995, US)
"Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "Rainmaker" (7", February 1996,
US Modern Rock No. 35)
"Someday I Will Treat You Good" / "London" / "In The Dry" (7" & CD, February 1996, UK)
"Hammering the Cramps" / "Spirit Ditch" / "Dead Opera Star" / "Midget In A Junkyard" (7" & CD, April 1996)
"Rainmaker" / "I Almost Lost My Mind" / "Intermission" / "Homecoming Queen (Live On KCRW)" / "Gasoline Horseys (Live On KCRW)" (7" & 2x CDs, August 1996,
UK No. 61)
"Come On In" / "Blind Rabbit Choir" (7", February 1998, US)
"Dark Night Of The Soul" (with
Dangermouse featuring
David Lynch) on "NowHearThis!" (WORD Magazine CD issue 91) (September 2010)
"Listening To The Higsons" (
Robyn Hitchcock cover) on "Now Playing - 12 Tracks Of The Month's Best Music" (UNCUT Magazine CD issue 2023-10) (October 2023)