[.ca] Its A Wonderful Life (Ltd.Ed)

From Amazon.com:
Like Neil Young on the finer moments of Tonight's the Night, Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkous nails the lonesome-man dirge to the wall on this third long-player. Along with his kindred contemporaries (and guest musicians) Mercury Rev and Grandaddy, Linkous makes little secret of his worship for the Neil Young vibe, and he takes it in a direction that Young has never fully realized. It's a Wonderful Life's sweet melodies sound as if they were recorded on corroded tape, with fragility inherent both lyrically and musically; yet this is the least psychotic, and most cohesive Sparklehorse album to date. Linkous and his mates also benefit from appearances by Tom Waits, Cardigans crooner Nina Persson, and the most effectively used guest of all, PJ Harvey, who bites hard on one of the CD's few static rockers, "Piano Fire." Other highlights include the almost-fit-for-radio "King of Nails," the piano ballad "Sea of Teeth," and the hidden bonus track (eight minutes into track 13), "Morning Hollow." Linkous moans on the title track, "I'm a bog of poison frogs / It's a wonderful life / It's a wonderful life." Get the feeling that this might not be for everybody? Thank God for that. --Chris Paul Carter

don't hesitate:
If you liked the last two Mercury Rev & Flaming Lips albums then don't hesitate ... this one is for you. Also check out the little-known outside of Oz band, Augie March (a sort of poetic folky rock) who are also quite brilliant! Oh, and although the Dog Door song has had its critics and I didn't like it at first either, now I think it actually breaks the sleepy mood quite well ... but don't worry, the mood reverts to type quickly after!

Wonderful "Life":
How does one follow up a modern indie classic, such as Sparklehorse's "Good Morning Spider"? In the case of "It's a Wonderful Life," they just keep on going. This album is more mellow and polished, but Mark Linkous's songs still ring with melancholy indiepop and fuzzy rock. The title track sets the tone for the rest of the album: A soft guitar melody, with faint bubbles and chirps lurking behind it. The nonsensical lyrics can't hide the melancholy in Linkous's voice, which lets up a little in the soft, sweet flute ballad "Gold Day." "In silver piles of smiles/may all your days be gold/my child," Linkous sings fondly. At first listen the songs sound very much alike. But repeated listens reveal little nuances -- the intimate cadences of Linkous's voice, fuzzy rock riffs, violins, a pretty piano melody. "More Yellow Birds" is particularly pretty, with its hesitant singing and swelling string arrangements. Linkous sounds almost painful in this song. Fortunately Sparklehorse has not lost its experimental edge here, even though the experiments sometimes fail. For example, "Dog Door" is a mess of hoarse vocals and a thumpy rock sound that degenerates into fizzing and wild feedback. The fifteen-minute finale, "Babies on the Sun," is more palatable: a slightly eerie ambient buildup to a solemn guitar ballad. Musically, Sparklehorse has almost no flaws -- the musicianship of this album is almost perfect, and the strange lyrics give it the quality of a dream. It's not music that sounds in any way normal. Instead it feels like a sonic painting of Mark Linkous's psyche, with all the love, pain, sorrow and beauty that can be expressed in words. None of the songs make conventional sense. No my-girlfriend-left-me-and-life-sucks songs. Instead Linkous strings together colorful phrases about circus people, ghosts, dogs that ate birthday cakes, and skinny wolves. And he has the occasional moment of sheer brilliance: "Can you feel the wind of venus on your skin?/San you taste the crush of a sunset's dying blush?" String arrangements in rock music are getting more and more common, but they are rarely put to such brilliant use as in "It's a Wonderful Life," right alongside odd chimes, mellow acoustic guitar and some very slow piano. It seems tailor-made for Linkous's oddball vocals, which might sound weird if he didn't always seem so sad and pensive. Sparklehorse's "It's a Wonderful Life" is an enchantingly polished follow-up to their outstanding sophomore album. It bewitches, and transports you away. Not to be missed.

Weird Music From Another Planet:
The title track, It's a Wonderful Life, is one of the coolest songs I've ever heard. It starts out slow and ethereal, but when the chorus comes, it effloresces into a symphony of preternatural sound that blows you away. The cd is well worth buying for that singular track, but there are other highlights like Gold Day, Piano Fire, King of Nails, and Devil's New. This is the first cd I bought by Mark Linkous and co., and I'll probably be looking into buying the rest of their cds now. Buy this if you're in the mood for a pleasant treat.

Great Album:
This is the album that I give to all my friends with confidence that they do not own it. Unfortunately, I am not sure that they appreciate it as much as I do. The album is, for the most part, mellow and esoteric. Somewhat like Neil Young but not really. I love PJ Harvey and the songs that he does with are fabulous. I played Eye-Pennies, a song that PJ collaborates on, before going to bed for about a month. The album just seems very introspective and Mark's soul is on display for all to see. Anything this heartfelt must be good.

Excellent:
At times contemplative, creepy and surreal, Mark Linkous never leaves the melody far behind. There's bits of Beatles in "Gold Day" and frail wobbly melodies throughout. The lyrical imagery is always amazing and very earthy. PJ Harvey makes two guest vocal appearances, Tom Waits growls and Dave Fridmann produces; adding another group to his excellent resume (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Cafe Tacuba). I can't recommend this enough.

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