Sparklehorse - Good Morning Spider (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Addictive melancholy and happy music

Erica | Illinois - United States | 10/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I heard "Pig" from a compliation cd that my boyfriend made for me. I listened to "Pig" several times over and over. It's a very addictive song. Then I borrowed the whole album and it took a few listenings before I wanted to listen to it over and over. Every song pulls at a different emotion. With "Pig" you just want to sing along with your inner rock star. Then "Painbirds" brings you're inner rock star back down to earth. "Sick of Goodbyes" is another song that you can't help but play over and over. At first, "Chaos Of The Galaxy/Happy Man" makes you want to skip to the next track, but you listen to it. You think it will finally get out of it's "tuning sounds" and onto something else, which is does and it ends up being a really cool track. It seems to be a good transition track from the first half of the cd to the second half. "Cruel Sun" and "Ghost Of His Smile" are in a similar vein as "Pig." "Hundreds of Sparrows" is an absolutely beautiful song that will be going through your head several times over to the point you want to listen to it again because you like it so much. Don't judge this album by the first or second listen, you have to let this album do it's work with you and you'll never forget the adventure!"

Beyond words....

04/14/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without question, one of the greatest rock albums I have ever heard in my 38 years on this planet, and I've heard many. Mark Linkous, the genius behind the name Sparklehorse, writes some of the most disquieting, yet profoundly beautiful songs ever recorded. His voice is soft and delicate, and he often distorts his vocals so that they sound as if they are being delivered over a megaphone or telephone. However, this affectation in no way detracts from the proceedings; in fact, it often enhances them, by imparting an otherworldy quality to his music. It would be enough that Linkous has the talent to write and perform his pop gems, but he also has the added talent of being a wizard in the studio. Although this album has been described as "lo-fi", "slow-fi", etc., make no mistake: this is a richly produced and sonically complex masterwork. Listen with wonder, to "Sunshine", where Linkous overlays a beautiful melody and gently sung vocal with diverse elements such as cellos, samples of humpback whales singing, and a telephone answering machine message from compadre Vic Chesnutt. It may sound like a mess, but in truth it is one of the most astonishing songs I have ever listened to. Think of Brian Wilson scoring a David Lynch film, and you may get some idea of the duality that is the essence of Sparklehorse. A true masterpiece."

Long live Mark Linkous, Blue Ridge genius

Erica | 03/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's Radiohead channeled through weird, experimental-era Tom Waits. Mark Linkous, the guy who is Sparklehorse, creates amazing records by picking up what most people would consider musical and lyrical detritus, shining it up and tinkering a bit with it, and then coyly presenting it to you right there under a foreboding, dark, dreamy canopy of stars ... probably right there in the hills of Virginia, where the guy is from.There are five or six tracks on Good Morning Spider that, when you strip away all the magic and creativity and loving craftsmanship, show how easy it would be for this guy to write the kind of hooky, chart-friendly, guitar-based rock songs that would probably get it more than one customer review every two months and might see the album selling better than No. 1,437, or whatever it was on Amazon's listings.But be glad that he doesn't go that route. Instead, Linkous drapes those gorgeous melodies with curious instrumentation and arrangements that exude a resigned sort of romantic grace, and he sings his image-laced lyrics in a whisper. It's almost like he's lying flat on his back in a lush green field after taking a bullet in the chest from a Civil War long-rifle, and all he can talk about is how beautiful the sky looks from his wounded, bloody perspective. Despite the guy's obvious emotional battles, he sings about birds and bugs, heaven and stars and dreams. Calling all purveyors of great pop music: Buy this record immediately. Let's work together to help save this guy's major label deal."

"Spider" sparkles

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 07/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alt-music one-man-band Sparklehorse veers between rock, punk and who-knows-what in "Good Morning Spider." In the sophomore album, Mark Linkous crafts a sonic extravaganza of brilliant music, strange and surreal and enticingly dark.

It starts off small in the opening minute of "Pig," then explodes into a rollicking staticky rocker. Following up are mournful laments like "Painbird" and "Sunshine," almost inaudible ballads "Saint Mary" and the funereal "Come On In," steady rock-outs like "Cruel Sun," and eerie panoramic sweeps "Good Morning Spider" and both halves of "Box of Stars." One of the strangest tracks is "Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man," which languishes in static for a few minutes before blossoming into a solid rock song.

Near-death experiences tend to change a person's life. In Linkous's case, it changed his music -- "Good Morning Spider" is warped by a near-death experience that almost killed him, and left him paralyzed for quite some time. So don't expect happy, perky music -- rather, Linkous seems to be exorcising his demons and experiences all in one swoop.

Like Neutral Milk Hotel, Sparklehorse makes the most of staticky guitars. It has a contemplative lo-fi sound, but is tinged with a few other things -- the bass, gravelly guitar and percussion are joined by violins, cello and organ, along with sweeps of static that give a surreal feel to this textured music. At times it's smooth, at times it's rough, but never ordinary.

His near-death experience shines through Linkous's songwriting, with lines like, "My bones wish to escape," the funeral tone of the children's-prayer-like "Come On In," and the wistful announcement that "All I want is to be a happy man." Even aside from the morbid beauty of these songs, his writing is evocative and entrancing: "A beautiful woman she rose/from the smoking waters of the lake/with a candle that burned in each palm..."

Rarely are so many beautiful songs linked together, and rarely is such raw emotion put into music. Sparklehorse's "Good Morning Spider" is a rare and treasured rock album, and deserves to be a classic."

Achingly Beautiful

MRT | Sarasota Florida USA | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know even Mark Linkous himself believes that "It's a Wonderful Life" is a more refined, cohesive effort than "Good Morning Spider." On this point alone, I won't argue. But, for me, there is no more tender and achingly beautiful cd than this one. Tracks like "Junebug", "Maria's Little Elbows" and, especially, "Hundreds of Sparrows" have a depth of spirit that cannot be conveyed in words. I find myself continually emotionally drawn to these songs like a moth to a flame. This is a gorgeous cd. Don't pass it up."

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