Album of the Week : Sparklehorse – It’s a Wonderful Life
Sparklehorse, never ever ever to be confused with Rubyhorse, released their/his third album It’s a Wonderful Life back in 2001. After recording the first two albums completely on his own, Mark Linkous figured he might as well get some other musicians involved before cabin fever devoured him forever.
Up step Tom Waits, PJ Harvey and Nina Persson (The Cardigans) to help create this truly wonderful album. Although mostly slow paced, a growing feeling of warm optimism seeps through this record from start to finish with the lyrics, like the previous two albums, remaining as ambiguous as ever. Surreal they might be but where Tom Waits had his one legged dwarf imagery Mark Linkous creates his own zoological paintings
“I wore a rooster’s blood when it flew like doves I’m a bog of poisoned frogs”
“I’m the dog that ate your birthday cake”
The more energetic “Piano Fire” raises the tempo, thanks to the help of a certain Polly Jean Harvey, temporarily allowing “Sea of Teeth” to come in around the back and punch you straight in the kidneys.
Mr Waits eventually pops up on “Dog Door” which, in truth, could have appeared on his later album “Real Gone”.
The strange, eerie, low-fi mood continues perfectly throughout the album until the apt un-finale-like thirteen minute fade out of “Babies on the Sun”. An album you will not hear on the radio but even if you did you can’t help but feel that this is, from start to finish, meant to be played continuously, as a whole so that you can hear all the subtle twist and turns that would be lost on single listens. i.e. an album
Tracklisting
- “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”
- “Devil’s New”
- “Comfort Me”
- “Babies on the Sun”
