NoBle Beast/ Useless Creatures- 2009

Released in 2007, Armchair Apocrypha proved that hyper-literate singer/songwriter, genre-bending violin player, and peerless whistler Andrew Bird had found the perfect middle ground between his increasingly austere solo sets and the full-band grandeur of his days with the Bowl of Fire, a strategy he repeats with similar results on Noble Beast, his fifth full-length solo offering and second collection for the Mississippi-based Fat Possum label. Bird, a classically trained violinist since the age of four, has skillfully integrated nearly everything with strings on it into his repertoire since his conversion from the Weill and Brecht-heavy days of Music of Hair, Thrills, and Oh! The Grandeur to the semi-mainstream indie pop of The Swimming Hour, but it's his seemingly limitless capacity for manipulation of the violin that dominates Noble Beast. Opening cut "Oh No," a track that Bird began releasing sketches of months before the album's street date, may be his most successful foray into the murky world of the potentially commercial pop song yet, boasting a chorus that points directly at the Shins while maintaining the artistic integrity of the loop-happy, meticulous craftsman who fans have been watching evolve since 2003's Weather Systems. What follows is a typically eclectic batch of material that reflect Bird's own musical time line. Tracks like "Masterswarm" and "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" are proof positive that he hasn't completely abandoned his swing jazz roots, "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" could very well provide audiences with their first opportunity to "bust a move" at a show, while "Nomenclature"'s easy country-folk front half dissolves into a rear end that wouldn't seem out of place on a late-'90s Radiohead album. Throughout it all Bird rhymes -- sometimes to a fault -- like a history or biology professor ("From proto-Sanskrit Minoans to porto-centric Lisboans"), rendering many of the songs clever as opposed to emotionally resonant, but whatever romance he lacks in the textual medium he more than makes up for in melody. [The deluxe version of the album includes an impressive bonus disc of instrumental works, cleverly titled Useless Creatures, which features collaborations with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and jazz bassist Todd Sickafoose.] ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide listen GET "NOBLE BEAST" Get Bonus disc "useless creatures" in my opinion, "Useless" is my vote for LP of the year. of course i love instrumentals and i heard this before the LP. both are TOP NOTCH and i encourage buying them unless you are lazy or broke you can download. If so, please turn people on to him and not the download link. This is,as the kids say these days,"THE SHIT"! live from "Usless Creatures" http://www.andrewbird.net/

On Fillmore

When experimental Chicago-based duo On Fillmore came up with the title Extended Vacation they must have been imagining a getaway in the rain forest. For their fourth album (their third widely released one), bassist Darin Gray and drummer Glenn Kotche create a somber soundtrack by piecing together kitchen-sink hand percussion, jazzy walking basslines, and laid-back xylophone and vibraphone chimes all embellished with rustling brushes and animal squawks and chirps. These visceral jungle sounds that dominate the record sound authentic, as if they were captured on location in Africa, but in reality, they come straight from the throat of band pal DeDe Sampaio, who imitated bird chirps from the inside of a grain silo. Its an offbeat recording technique, indeed almost as weird as the albums concept but it all works surprisingly well. The experience is slow moving and slightly creepy in a provocative kind of way; accurately invoking what it might be like to listen to the Twin Peaks soundtrack while locked in a zoo cage. Chances are, Extended Vacation wont rope in fans of Grays and Kotches respective bands Wilco and Gastr del Sol, since its a far cry from alt-country or math rock, but those looking for something thats avant-garde but fairly easy to digest might find this minimalist mood piece strangely soothing. - Track List - 01. Checking In ( 2:16) 02. Master Moon ( 6:26) 03. Daydreaming So Early (11:05) 04. Complications ( 7:11) 05. Off the Path ( 1:55) 06. Extended Vacation (12:37) 07. Clearing Out ( 3:34) GET IT http://onfillmore.com/news.html

Speaking for Trees/ Willie Deadwilder extended

from 2005. Cat Power spends the day singing lonely songs in a bucolic meadow in this mysterious film directed by Mark Borthwick. DVD Speaking for Trees (directed by Mark Borthwick) includes an 18-minute out-take from the You Are Free sessions, Willie Deadwilder, with M Ward on guitar. It's a strange rambling love song - "This is a four hour song/And it will go on and on... /I don't care/I love to share/I love to sing along" - apparently about a couple who quit their trailer and hit the road to be happy, with "God on his side/No matter what", and then about Chan and some imaginary boyfriend who she is pleading with not to let her go - "I'm on the same side as you/I'm just a little bit behind". There are references in WD to Bob Dylan singing To Ramona, another long rambling love song on which this one is perhaps modelled, about another lover who is thinking of leaving - "I can tell you are torn/Between stayin' and returnin' ", but Dylan-being-Dylan is less than concerned, singing at the song's end "Everything passes, Everything changes, Just do what you think you should do / And someday maybe, Who knows, baby, I'll come and be cryin' to you.". This is a great product. DVD is THEE way to see the pre- dianetics Chan at her prime and the 18 minute "Willie Deadwilder" is perfect and hypnotizing. And HERE is the 18 minute live Willie Deadwilder.

Logs Are For Choppin'

“SPRING SPRUNG”

ED RUSCHA, “SPRING SPRUNG,” 2010. BABY BEN CLOCK MAINSPRING ON PHOTOGRAPH. COURTESY ED RUSCHA AND GAGOSIAN GALLERY thanks Sam

Tongue and the Boo

"the tongue" surfing and board by Dodge (and some Weber)

Electric Prunes - Release of an Oath (1968)

The second album on which composer David Axelrod and producer Dave Hassinger usurped the name of the Electric Prunes (the band which recorded "I Had Too Much Too Dream Last Night" had long since split -- their names and likenesses are nowhere to be found on this LP) is much less notorious than its predecessor, Mass in F Minor. This is a shame, because it's actually the better album by far. Mass in F Minor is a halting, muddy attempt at combining rock and classical instrumentation, an idea that's better explored on Release of an Oath (which is, according to the liner notes, based on a centuries-old prayer called the Kol Nidre). Songs like the liturgical "Holy Are You" and the mostly instrumental "General Confessional" combine swirling string and woodwind parts with heavy guitar and organ in a more organic and cohesive fashion than before. Musically complex and intriguing without being nearly as pretentious as a capsule description might indicate, Release of an Oath is a remarkable piece of early American progressive rock. Be aware, however, that it's quite brief even by '60s standards: the whole thing is over in 24 and a half minutes. ~ Stewart Mason (best track on LP. Dig the Earl Palmer riffing @ the2:50ish mark, as well as the incredible L.A. line-up) Personnel: Howard Roberts and Lou Morrell (guitar) Don Randi (keyboards) Carol Kaye (bass) Earl Palmer (drums) Tracks: Side 1 Kol Nidre (Axelrod) 4.14 Holy Are You (Axelrod) 4.05 General Confessional (Axelrod) 4.15 Side 2 Individual Confessional (Axelrod) 2.10 Our Father, Our King (Axelrod) 3.10 The Adoration (Axelrod) 3.48 Closing Hymn (Axelrod) 2.53 GET via

The Chris and Mikey Show

Not To Be Confused With "Dinner Music"

In 1958, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, one of the most popular jazz groups in the world, played 80 concerts in 14 countries during a three-month period. To salute the marathon road trip, the pianist/leader composed six songs for a new recording (which is now out on this CD). "Nomad" and "Brandenburg Gate" are the best-known originals but all of the other selections are equally enjoyable, featuring fine solos from Brubeck and altoist Paul Desmond. ~ Scott Yanow Live Recording Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York, New York on July 28 & 30 and August 23, 1958. Includes liner notes by Dave Brubeck and Howard Mandel. Dave Brubeck Quartet: Dave Brubeck (piano); Paul Desmond (alto saxophone); Joe Benjamin (bass); Joe Morello (drums). Producer: Cal Lampley. 01 Nomad 02 Brandenburg Gate 03 The Golden Horn 04 Thank You (Dziekuje) 05 Marble Arch 06 Calcutta Blues listen or GET this is not from the LP yet great none the less. Joe on fire! The LP is a must have. THIS IS NOT WONDER BREAD WHIITE DINNER MUSAK! (although i must say the whole lp is not great just certain tracks) Good west coast jazz! "In Eurasia" has amazing moments as Calcutta Blues with Joe playing with hands on skins. Beyond Bonham! highlights; Calcutta Blues, Nomad, The Golden Horn. (shades of soundtrack to "The Conversation")

Light and Shadow

Purple Haze

The Inner City Magic to Southbound Rooms of Change

LYNYRD SKYNYRD - SKYNYRD'S FIRST: THE COMPLETE MUSCLE SHOALS ALBUM A brief history about these recordings (corrections of the Notes) After Larry Jungstrom (bass) called it quits and Bob Burns (drums) stepped back in late 1970, in came Greg Walker (bass) and Rick(y) Medlocke (drums, yessir) to take a chance. And how! Armed with a handful of demos (Quinvy studios, Sheffield, Alabama – 1991 CD box), Skynyrd is given by Jimmy Johnson (production, not guitar) a chance to literally “cross the street” and record at the Muscle Shoals studios, Sheffield, Alabama, from spring 1971 until June-July. They give it all they can, recording One More time, Lend A Helping Hand, Preacher’s Daughter (overdubbed around April, 1976 by Wayne Perkins on guitar, during Skynyrd’s “low” season –see band history), a stunning I Ain’t The One, Wino, Comin’ Home (overdubbed by Ed King on guitar and Billy Powell on keyboards in mid-1975 –see band history). After Medlocke and Walker leave in order to form the band Blackfoot (where Medlocke switches to guitar, successfully), Leon Wilkeson (bass) and Bob Burns (drums) come in to form the third line-up. Skynyrd at the beginning of the road to success. Skynyrd launches a second round of sessions in fall, 1971 in order to complete a prospective album. They record Gimme Three Steps (which will stay almost unchanged when released in 1973), Trust (an almost unchanged version will be recorded in November, 1975 and released in 1976, drummed by Artimus Pyle –see discography). This CD is A Must-Have… Remarkably, a good part of this Skynyrd’s First (augmented from the hurriedly released First… and Last from 1978 –see band discography & history) highlights the band as it was powered by Rick(y) Medlocke and Greg Walker – which is invaluable for whoever is interested in the band’s maturing and in the history of Southern rock in general. What would Skynyrd have become without Medlocke and Walker? Otherwise, the Muscle Shoals sessions produce early, raw versions (without keyboards yet) of Was I Right or Wrong, Free Bird, Simple Man, etc… which will be improved by the arrival of Billy Powell on keyboards in early 1973, under the direction of Al Kooper. Yes, This was Lynyrd Skynyrd. Submitted by Eric G. (France) Tracks : Free Bird - (previously unreleased, original version) One More Time - (original version) Gimme Three Steps - (original version) Was I Right or Wrong Preacher's Daughter White Dove Down South Jukin' Wino - (previously unreleased, original version) Simple Man - (previously unreleased, original version) Trust - (original version) Comin' Home - (original version) Seasons, The Lend a Helpin' Hand Things Goin' On - (original version) I Ain't the One - (previously unreleased, original version) You Run Around - (previously unreleased) Ain't Too Proud to Pray - (previously unreleased GET part 1 GET part 2 via From deepest Detroit with Marvin, Funk Bros. etc. etc., down to Stax with Al Green, Booker T, Willie mitchell (still inner city yet morphing of a more Southern sound) then onto Mussel Shoals. (at first basically a studio picking up the slack of overflow then getting her own sound and eventually getting way Southern Rock) my facts are rushed and maybe shady but these are certainly the top studios at the time for hit makers. Motown studios then Stax the Mussel Shoals. apologies for the mass i missed and the scatterbrain post. (it's early)

Proneman and The Dude

Get Carter

Excepting only the work of the great Lalo Schifrin, Roy Budd's Get Carter was the best theme in the lucrative world of spy/gangster/heist soundtracks from the late '60s and early '70s. Underpinning the tense strength of director Mike Hodges' film about a hit man turned avenging angel, the film's main theme ("Carter Takes a Train") is a paranoid, hallucinatory title that deftly played up the menace of Michael Caine's character. Interested parties who've only heard the legend of Get Carter, however, may not find much else to interest them; those who've seen it can carry a bit more, but most of these tracks are titles to a film, and don't escape the period feel. The fine collections Rebirth of the Budd or Buddism are both better purchases toward understanding the brilliance of Roy Budd. -John Bush, allmusic.com GET IT via Zamboni

Smug in the wooly cotton brains of infancy

AWAKE!! Shake dreams from your hair My pretty child, my sweet one. Choose the day and choose the sign of your day The day's divinity First thing you see. A vast radiant beach in a cool jeweled moon Couples naked race down by it's quiet side And we laugh like soft, mad children Smug in the wooly cotton brains of infancy The music and voices are all around us. Choose they croon the Ancient Ones The time has come again Choose now, they croon Beneath the moon Beside an ancient lake Enter again the sweet forest Enter the hot dream Come with us Everything is broken up and dances. by, JM

SWELL MAPS : John Peel Session October 1978

Blam! Near enough wet myself when I found this - afterall, it's only the first Swell Maps Peel session innit? I've always been a bit dubious as to the viability of das Maps as a live act - there are virtually NO field recordings out there for perusal & the scant few mins of live stuff I have heard have either been wilfully shambolic or so shoddily recorded that their actual performance was difficult to decipher - but this session'd appear to offer some evidence to the contrary. Captured on tape with few (if any) posthumous embellishments, this terrific post finds 'em ripping through their legendary debut 45, some Marineville-era highlights & the hard-to-find "International Rescue" with a couple of brief interjections from Our Lord Ravenscroft to boot. I do wish more folk would include Peel's twixt song banter when uploading his sessions to the 'net - half the enjoyment of listening to these tasty little time capsules is hearing His Holiness fumbling his mispronounciation of the bass player's surname or (almost inevitably) cueing the track up at the wrong speed isn't it? Anyway, for the record, this debut session was recorded on 16th October 1978 with the classic Nikki, Epic, Jowe & Biggles line-up & respect is due to Nuzz Prowling Wolf for sharing it. Incidently, another Maps' Peel session (their second) was included on Rough Trade's posthumous Whatever Happens Next, a 2xLP comp of outtakes, rehearsal tapes, live inserts & other ephemera which Mute unfathomably overlooked when they remastered the band's back catalogue for The Grey Area in 1999 ("I Am The Greatest Plumbing" & "Sheep Dip" are both particular favs of mine). Fortunately, you can grab yourself a copy here c/o Wilfully Obscure. Their third, final Peel set continues to elude me, cue much gnashing of teeth, etc. God knows why somebody hasn't stepped in & compiled all three onto a handy CD - people are gagging to hear this stuff afterall.. GET all via ... if you are a new one to Swell Maps I highly recommend their release Jane From Occupied Europe as a starter. Get it from Zoltar's Revenge here. Peel sessions, as always, for the already addicted ones.

Bach's Bottom

Recorded in 1975 and 1976, shortly after Big Star broke up during the fractious, drug-addled sessions for their final album, the songs on Bach's Bottom were similarly left stranded at the time, although four of them did eventually show up on the 1977 Ork Records EP Singer Not the Song. Released well after the sessions, Bach's Bottom (a punning title on Chilton's first band) is a mess. As a mess, it's a less-glorious mess than Sister Lovers, which manages to sound spooky and haunted and decadent and rocking as often as not; these 15 songs mostly just sound like drunken, sneering rambles. (All three versions of the lumbering jam "Take Me Home and Make Me Like It" sound like they're on the verge of total collapse, and not in a good way.) On the other hand, that actually fits songs like "Free Again," the most obviously Big Star-like tune here, and the storming cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," so parts of the album actually work. And of course, it has "Bangkok," possibly Chilton's finest post-Big Star single, so it's close to necessary just for that. But Bach's Bottom is strictly for the hardcore Chilton fan, as it's one of his most willfully difficult and impenetrable records. by Stewart Mason Take Me Home and Make Me Like It [Version 1] Chilton, Davis, Deluca ... 2:55 (Every Time I) Close My Eyes [Version 1] Tiven 1:57 All of the Time Aldridge, Chilton 2:47 Free Again [Version 1] Basile, Canfora, Chilton ... 5:06 I'm So Tired, Pt. 1 & 2 Banks, Lennon, McCartney 2:58 Free Again [Version 2] Basile, Canfora, Chilton ... 2:17 Jesus Christ Cessna, Chilton 2:54 Singer Not the Song Jagger, Richards 2:04 Summertime Blues Capehart, Cochran 2:37 Take Me Home and Make Me Like It [Version 2] Chilton, Davis, Deluca ... 6:58 (Every Time I) Close My Eyes [Version 2] Tiven 1:46 Bangkok [*] Chilton 2:00 Can't Seem to Make You Mine [*] Saxon 2:46 Walking Dead [*] Chilton 2:58 Take Me Home and Make Me Like It [*] GET ... a great little time piece in Alex's career. Living in NYC, being "scummy" and still putting out classic power pop yet with a hard edge of East Village influence. something for every fan to own. there's another one that gets confused with this LP release called 1970. this is a comp., not an LP by Alex. (although Bach's on CD sounds like that too with all the different versions yadda yadda.. where is the love for the intended idea of the conceptualized LP?)

The Dude( of dog)

turn it up!

Alex Chilton Died

can't believe it. Sounds like a song in itself. story

Lines and Dots

Sunken Treasure

While Wilco's debut, A.M., spread its wings in an expectedly country-rock fashion, their sophomore effort, Being There, is the group's great leap forward, a masterful, wildly eclectic collection shot through with ambitions and ideas. Although a few songs remain rooted in their signature sound, here Jeff Tweedy and band are as fascinated by their music's possibilities as its origins, and they push the songs which make up this sprawling two-disc set down consistently surprising paths and byways. For starters, the opening "Misunderstood" is majestic psychedelia, built on studio trickery and string flourishes, while "I Got You (At the End of the Century)" is virtual power pop, right down to the handclaps. The lovely "Someone Else's Song" borrows heavily from the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," while the R&B-influenced boogie of "Monday" wouldn't sound at all out of place on Exile on Main Street; and on and on. The remarkable thing is how fresh all of these seeming clichés sound when reimagined with so much love and conviction; even the most traditional songs take unexpected twists and turns, never once sinking into mere imitation. "Music is my savior/I was named by rock & roll/I was maimed by rock & roll/I was tamed by rock & roll/I got my name from rock & roll," Tweedy sings on "Sunken Treasure," the opener of the second disc, and throughout the course of these 19 songs he explores rock as though he were tracing his family genealogy, fervently seeking to discover not only where he came from but also where he's going. With Being There, he finds what he's been looking for. --amg preview all tracks if yer a wuss. GET disc 1 GET disc 2 downloads VIA SHALLYBOY'S MUSIC my cents; there are so many things to say about this MUST HAVE LP that i will let others carry all the weight. except for this; Being There is a balls out power pop record! Littered with the ghosts of Big Star and Replacements. I was actually listening to this album as two separate discs and it works that way as well a a single cohesive flow of 76 minutes. This is most definitely a classic. as far as favorites, i will not say but no fan of American music should be without this record. They certainly changed when Jay Bennett left but still a great band. Just different. For sure they loosened up after that and a label fiasco. (I Am Just Trying To Break Your Heart) The band can really do little wrong. You are missing out if you do not experience this masterpiece. And Pop???? Listen to "Red-Eyed And Blue" here complete with the Spectorish Sleigh bells and build up into a chorus of WHISTLING!!! Oh yes, look around in the supermart when Sitting In The Dock Of the Bay plays and how many can't help but whistle along. A Bold move by Wilco and genius, i think.

Fearing Minds Would Be Blown....

This photo has been censored Due to EXTREME Shredding.

2001: A Spiritualized Odyssey

About the Project On 10 September 2008 The Almighty Sound finally released their much anticipated film project, '2001: A Spiritualized Odyssey'. The project takes the video and subtitles from Kubrick's masterpiece 1968 film and gently lays Spiritualized's incredible catalog underneath for a truly amazing viewing experience. "What we wanted to do was to take a piece of film and a completely unrelated body of music and to sync them up to each other while maintaining the integrity in both works as stand-alones," said PXL in an interview. "After months of work, we think that's what we got." (for details on how to obtain your 5.1 Surround Sound version of the film, email us at pxl@thealmightysound or visit www.thealmightysound.com Why '2001: A Space Odyssey'? "'2001' worked because it's a film that isn't dialogue-driven. If you watch the film in its original state, you can plainly see that music inherently plays a larger role in the film time-wise than does the dialogue. The film's content and cinematography also lend themselves very well to this type of project." Why Spiritualized? "Spiritualized has been a favorite band of ours for a long time. We have a great deal of respect for the work they do and the manner in which they convey that work to the world. They were a natural choice because of the content of their music, but also because stylistically the music they make is so cinematic in nature as well." How much editing was done? "The film was not edited at all except for the starting point. We had to delay the beginning of the film by about 1 minute and and 28 seconds to accomodate a titlecard and make it match up with the first track. The rest of the film is completely unmanipulated. "The music was a little bit of a different story. Some cuts were made, some splices and a few time-stretches, but we really strived to maintain the core elements of each song as they were originally intended to be heard by the band. All of the edits were meant to be entirely transparent and anyone who can tell they're there is either lying or is a member of Spiritualized." How will people be able to view the finished product? "Those who want to see it immedeatley can view it on this website here or on Google Video in its entirety, or on The Almighty Sound's YouTube page [see LINKS] for individual songs. Those that are more concerned with fidelity and quality of both audio and video can download the DVD through the BitTorrent Network." What formats will people be able to download through BitTorrent? "We will have a dual layer DVD-Video iso available for those that wish to see and hear the film in higher quality. That disc image will be able to be mounted in a virtual drive or burned to disc for viewing in home players. These downloads will be available to download for free. "Other, more compressed formats will also be available for download, as well, such as a good quality DivX file and even a mp4 rip for iPod video and iPhone." What kind of compensation will The Almighty Sound receive for this project? Are you being paid by Warner Bros. (owners of Kubrick's film) or by Sony BMG/Arista (Spiritualized's record label)? "None. Zero. We only wanted to express the ideas of synergy that we had about this film and these songs. In the process we hope to turn fans of one into fans of the other. It would be cool, though, if those companies got together to include this score as an extra on the commercial DVD. "In the spirit of exposing folks to this music and the film, we would like to encourage those that view the film and like it to go out and purchase a copy of Kubrick's films and all of Spiritualized's albums. Both are worth your time and money. If you enjoy it, please help to support them. They worked hard on these things, far harder than we did." Does The Almighty Sound have any other sync projects planned in the near future? "No. This was too much work for no money to continue doing this on a regular basis. We have to move on to something even a little profitable. Don't get me wrong, we've had other ideas, brainstormed a few things, but for now we're writing a new record that should be out by New Year's Day 2010. "We are, however, planning several improvements to '2001 vs. SPZ' including correcting errors in the subtitles, making them easier to read, normalizing the audio levels from track to track, adding menus and the trailer, and even an option to play the film in 5.1 surround sound. We hope for it to be completed in early 2010." For information on how to get your copy, e-mail us at pxl@thealmightysound.com taken from Jason's personal new blog @http://spiritualizedlive.blogspot.com/ my cents; i would like to know Jason's review of this as the trailer, to me, just looks like a music video rather than art piece. (of which i know J. would have liked) this clip does work well. i still need to watch the complete film as it is all on you tube.

High Tide Glide and Tiki Dude

P.T. cleaning his plate to the shore.

Death of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous

This weekend, we learned the sad news that Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous had taken his own life. The New York Times reports that Linkous shot himself in the heart in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 47. Mark Linkous was born on September 9, 1962 in Arlington, Virginia, to Gloria Hughes Thacker and Frederick Linkous. He had three brothers: Matt, Paul, and Daniel Linkous.Many members of his family were coal miners by trade, and Linkous chose a career in music in part to avoid working in mines. His parents divorced before he was 13. Shortly after graduating from high school in the early 1980s, Linkous moved to New York City, where he co-founded the band Dancing Hoods. The band featured Linkous on guitar and vocals, Bob Bortnick on vocals and guitar, Don Short on drums, and Randy Mendicino on bass.[10] In 1984, the group released a self-titled EP; a year later, they released an album titled 12 Jealous Roses on Relativity Records, which received a number of positive reviews. The Replacements and The Del Fuegos were also vocal fans of the band after the release of their first record. In 1996, while supporting Radiohead on the first Sparklehorse tour, Linkous overdosed on alcohol, Valium and antidepressants and possibly other substances in his London hotel room. Rendered unconscious by the combination of drugs, he collapsed with his legs pinned beneath him, and remained in that position for almost fourteen hours. The resulting potassium buildup caused his heart to stop for several minutes after his body was lifted up. He was treated at St Mary's Hospital, London. Subsequent surgeries saved both legs but left him wheelchair-bound for six months; his legs never fully regained their original strength. 1999 saw the release of Good Morning Spider; some of the album's songs dealt with Linkous' accident in London and subsequent rehabilitation, namely "St. Mary". In 2001, Sparklehorse released It's a Wonderful Life, which featured contributions from Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, John Parish, Nina Persson, Vic Chesnutt, and Dave Fridmann. In 2006, Sparklehorse released Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain in September 2006. In the late 2000s, Linkous recorded an album titled Dark Night of the Soul with the producer Danger Mouse, the director David Lynch and ten other musicians. It was released on the Internet in May 2009, as was a book of photographs by David Lynch to accompany the music. Though long-delayed due to legal problems, it will be officially released in 2010. At the time of his death, his manager confirmed that Linkous "had completed most of the work for a new Sparklehorse album", was in the process of moving to Knoxville, Tennessee, and was working on setting up a studio where he planned to finish the record. wiki; It's A Wonderful Life Gold Day Piano Fire Sea Of Teeth Apple Bed King Of Nails Eyepennies Dog Door More Yellow Birds Little Fat Baby Comfort Me Babies On The Sun GET. Pitchfork Review/ rating 7.7 Focus can be a difficult thing to maintain in art. Once you've begun creating something, it's easy to find yourself off on some tangent you never saw coming. It takes a certain amount of discretion, and often, a certain amount of objective distance, to decide which roads to continue down and which ones to abandon. In music, this is, of course, where producers come in. Their job is essentially to stop the artist from getting carried away with a questionable idea and to moderate decisions about direction and material. Past Sparklehorse efforts have been plagued by a certain lack of focus. This doesn't mean they weren't good records-- in fact, 1998's Good Morning Spider was something of a creative triumph, even in spite of its general disorganization. That said, though, hiring an outside producer (not to mention fully ridding himself of all drug habits) seems to have done Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous a great deal of good. Superproducer Dave Fridmann has developed a certain Midas Touch over the years, imbuing nearly every album he works on with a distinctive sonic character, and It's a Wonderful Life has his fingerprints all over it. The most focused Sparklehorse effort yet, the album flows along with the grace of a river occasionally stirred by a rapid or two. The half-songs and quickly squelched ideas of Linkous' past releases are absent in favor of fully fleshed pieces stuffed full of mellotrons, optigans, orchestrons, and sundry humming keyboards. Only once is its flow is only badly disrupted. (We'll get to that in a second.) The majority of It's a Wonderful Life brims with electro American gothic ballads and fuzzy purees of lo-fi and hi-fi aesthetics. There aren't really any out-and-out rave-ups like "Pig" or "Happy Man," but a few of the mid-tempo numbers display enough bite for commercial radio play. (I'm asking too much, aren't I?) "Gold Day" snags the ear with a concise melodic hook and some snazzy mellotron flutes. And Linkous' defiantly surrealist approach to lyrics is in full effect here, with all manner of references to smiling babies, organ music, birds, and celestial bodies. Joe Tangari, September 30, 2001....cont.here me 2 cents. A really good songwriter, performer and lyricist, it seems most did not translate to recording.(a familiar thing) not a complete LP i like all yet certain tracks are very good. (should have done singles only)