SPARKLEHORSE It's A Wonderful Life LP RARE

$

85

SPARKLEHORSE

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Brilliant third album from the late Mark Linkous aka Sparklehorse and the most collaborative to date features appearances by Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Nina Persson (of the Cardigans,) Adrian Utley (of Portishead,) Joan Wasser (of the Dambuilders.) Produced by Linkous, Adrian Utley (of Portishead) and Dave Fridmann (of Mercury Rev.)

Devil In The Woods, DIW#45

LP is in exceptional condition and has never been played.

Condition:
     disc: NM
     cover: NM

Along with the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, Sparklehorse crafts strangely beautiful — and beautifully strange — music inspired by down-to-earth sounds as well as spacey experimentalism. But where the Flaming Lips are lovably loopy and Mercury Rev is arty and wry, Sparklehorse wraps deep-seated, often uncomfortable emotions in layers of metaphors and static. However, the group's third album, It's a Wonderful Life, is its most open and direct work yet. Whether this has anything to do with the fact that this is reportedly singer/songwriter Mark Linkous' first substance-free work is arguable, but regardless, it's a noticeably more focused effort. Though it lacks Good Morning Spider's sprawling brilliance, it's possibly Linkous' most effective, and affecting, collection of songs. It's also his most collaborative album, with co-producer and Mercury Rev alum David Fridmann adding just the right amount of warmth and weirdness and the Cardigan's Nina Persson and PJ Harvey contributing backing vocals... Persson's sweetly empathetic voice shines on "Gold Day" and "Little Fat Baby," while Harvey's passionate style fits "Piano Fire" and the brooding ballad "Eyepennies" perfectly. Driven by burbling keyboards, drum machines, acoustic guitar, and piano, and populated with spooky, homespun images of babies, teeth, nails, and horses, most of the album consists of gently unsettling ballads like the title track and "Apple Bed." Edgier, poppier songs like "King of Nails" and "Comfort Me" don't sound out of place... The album's sweet, yet too strange to be conventionally uplifting songs like "More Yellow Birds" and "Babies on the Sun" convey It's a Wonderful Life's message best: Even at its weirdest, just being alive is pretty wonderful. Needless to say, so is the album.

Information from allmusic.com

Side A

It's A Wonderful Life

Gold Day

Piano Fire

Sea Of Teeth

Apple Bed

King Of Nails

Eyepennies

Dog Door

Side B

More Yellow Birds

Little Fat Baby

Devil's New

Comfort Me

Babies On The Sun

Maxine (vinyl only bonus track)

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