2006, Astralwerks / Emd
Sparklehorse does something I like, but I don’t exactly like the way they do it.
The songs start off conventionally enough, and then they get crazy with noise. Either that, or they start off crazy with noise and then turn into conventional pop songs. Regardless, there is some good writing here, and I don’t think any Sparklehorse album is a washout. Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain is full of dreamy beauty, lightly-strummed guitars, and some Flaming Lips tricks Wayne Coyne hasn’t even tried yet. However, I think that Sparklehorse’s Linkous may have tried a touch to hard to achieve the “I threw all this together and look what a genius I am” vibe. But Hell, who can blame him? The last track alone is worth your time. Tears were shed, friends.
B+
A few infos for fans and not so fans :
- Morning Hollow was already available as a hidden track on It’s a Wonderful Life
- Dreamt for Light Years … was included as a bonus in the european edition of It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s was called Marine then.
- Someone told me that there had been a previous (alternate) version of Shade and Honey. I don’t know if that’s true.
- The band had been playing Ghost in the Sky on their It’s a Wonderful Life support tour.
I think it’s a good record. But it’s already been beaten by the recording of their live performance with Fennesz imho.
Hey Pierre, Which live performance is that?
Yeah, I think this album’s great, but
I’d still give it a B as well.
It’s A Wonderful Life is just fantastic.
.. I recognized that secret track.
I can’t wait ’til he collaborates with
Nina Parsson again. I like her voice.
And about this album, I love Danger Mouse’s
production. I love the crisp drum loops and such.
I hear these guys liked working together so
much they have some future projects
Sparkle Mouse and/or Danger Horse.
That’s awesome.
And yes, thanks for that live set which
was more cohesive than I would’ve thought.
(I have the 2nd album and have heard the
first, but am not yet well-versed in them).