Peep Show in the Belly of a Mountain

Posted on 28th Sep 06 by Contributor | 0

Artist: Sparklehorse"""Album Review
Author: Antonio Jocson

Sparklehorse

Album review

With the new Sparklehorse album" "Dreamt for Light Years In the Belly
of a Mountain"" the first in five years" front"man Mark Linkous
assembles a collection of songs" half of which have been previously
released in one form or another. For example" Alessandro Nivola sings
"Shade and Honey" on the soundtrack of Laurel Canyon in which he also
stars. Dreamt has a sense of being cobbled together" a range that in
some ears might suggest unevenness" as though Dreamt did not quite
know what it wanted to be " pop" alternative" lo"fi indie truffle" or
whatever. Among the echoes of The Velvet Underground and John Lennon"
there are signature Sparklehorse pieces " hushed" trembling" narcotic
" like the aching and meditative 10"minute closing title track.

There is also an interesting trajectory to be found here. In Linkous"
previous work the tendency has always been toward vulnerability in
lyric and music. The irony of "It"s a Wonderful Life" is that the
life Linkous has in mind is one that is rent and flayed" vulnerable"
raw" and powerless. There was always the wish for some modicum of
peace" and there is never the guarantee that the wish will ever be
granted. "Bring me some luck little Junebug"" he pleads in "Junebug."
In "Sunshine" the one sure and ironic thing about the future is loss:
"There will come a time gigantic / waves will crush the junk that I
have saved."

In Dreamt" however" Linkous has burned through all of that
uncertainty and desolation" and now finds an optimistic confidence
reflected not just in star"reaching lyrics " "Some sweet day you"ll
be mine" " but also in some of most the aggressive" rocked"out power
strumming in his work to date like in "Ghost In the Sky." The guitar
work is as solid as granite and acts as a striking counterpoint to
the tenderly acoustic "Return to Me." It may be too early to tell"
but it shouldn"t surprise if Dreamt turns out to be one of those
transition albums " not a misstep by any means" but a necessary step
an artist needs to take in moving from one territory to another" the
way the style and palette of Picasso"s Rose Period serves as the link
between his Blue and Cubist periods.

Indeed" Linkous himself acknowledges that something is in transition.
"He"d grab some guitar parts from a certain song" filter it" put it
in some different timing" and put it into another song"" he said of
working with Danger Mouse in an interview with Billboard.com. "Don"t
Take My Sunshine Away"" the opening track in Dreamt" is a
concatenation of pop harmonies" airy vocoder lyrics" and rock guitar
that anticipate a different musical territory ahead. "We're
definitely going to do a proper collaboration at some point… maybe
something like Danger Horse." That would be one hell of an album" and
in line with other stunning collaborations: Calexico and Iron and
Wine" Sigur R"s and The Album Leaf" Elton John and Dolly Parton " I
shit you not. What we have in the meantime is a tantalizing peep
show" a little glimpse through a curtain slightly parted. Listen
closely. There is Linkous telling us to get ready.

Antonio Jocson