Sparklehorse -Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

Thu 26th May, 2005 in Music Reviews

Sparklehorse is essentially one man, Mark Linkous. Genius, freak, tragic, genius. Definitely genius. He has a list of credits that anyone would be envious of, and shows an amazing ability in that he is so diverse. He has credits in various roles with Goldfrapp, Daniel Johnson, Mary Timmony, Cracker and Denali to name a few. Some of those duties have included producing, engineering, mixing, art direction through to playing, well everything. And I do mean everything: foot percussion, guitars, glockenspiel, computers, short wave radio, samples, drums, synths midi, vocals, keyboards, organ, harmonium, concertina, vibraphone, banjo and the list goes on.

He was in a band called The Dancing Hoods and eventually returned to Virginia (home of his farm) to join The Johnson Family who changed their name to Salt Chuck Mary. Before starting out as Sparklehorse he even did some manual labour painting houses and cleaning chimneys. Perhaps this led him to the DIY style of recording that he uses here.

The mid ‘90s saw recording on inexpensive four-track cassette demo-tape equipment. Artists were perfecting their craft and finding large cult audiences that appreciated low budget, handcrafted records at home. This is evident on most tracks throughout the album, but shows through in some tracks more than others. Although he has utilised a variety of support musicians on Viva…he played all the instruments on about half the tracks on this release.

Opener, Homecoming Queen, introduces us to the Linkous ‘oxygen mask’ vocal that he sometimes utilises. Neil Young is the first comparison to be made and the cows are clearly audible outside the studio door. I never could find out if they were there on purpose or not.

Following on, Weird Sisters continues the relaxed porch picking style of music. Both beautiful songs.

Then we head off on one of Mark’s little tangents, 850 double Pumper Holley. He does this from time to time. Maybe this is what he has in the tractor, I don’t know but it sounds impressive. A good ‘donk’ methinks.

The fuzz drenched noise pop of Rainmaker and Someday I Will Treat You Good take us off up another dirt track somewhere. Both great tracks. The AM radio intro of Someday… is more lo-fi genius from Liknkous before we are almost brutalised, in a nice pop sense, with a barrage of fuzzy guitar. This track was released as a single and along with Hammering The Cramps, is probably the most recognisable of Sparklehorse tracks.

The vulnerability that comes through in the vocals for Saturday is truly heart wrenching and there is no let up in that department as you are lead into one of the most beautiful songs ever written: Cow. The simple almost deliverance feel (ok, it’s the banjo) about it nearly has you crying in sympathy. It is not until you hear one of the most amazingly, simple choruses ever constructed, that you realise how special this song is.

”...Pretty girl,
milkin’ a cow
oh yeah…”

That’s it! So simple, yet so effective! The combination of banjo and guitar providing one of the prettiest chord progressions you’re ever likely to hear and the strained Sparklehorse vocal delivering those simple words is enough to almost break me. For mine, this is aural beauty. The drone out to the finish is a nice touch also. Long live the banjos!

We digress down another sidetrack for Little Bastard Choo Choo before we find the main path again for Hammering The Cramps. A distorted vocal over a wall of sound provides a great impact to a song that plods along yet hooks you up along the way. A real Neil Young feel to this, as do a lot of the tracks.

Most Beautiful Widow In Town is another song where Linkous exposes himself, through his vocals. The simple guitar and vocal really packs a punch with its vulnerability and we actually get to hear his true voice. And the killer guitar solo at the end is what I aspire to be able to play one day. Brilliant!

The alt country folk feel is no more evident than in Heart Of Darkness and Sad Beautiful World before we get hijacked up a back track again for Ballad Of A Cold Lost Marble. This brings to the fore Linkous’ ability to coax sounds from anything. The main instrument in this case is credited as a ‘dying guitar amp’. Mmm…

Closer Gasoline Horseys send us back to the deep south, deliverance style. Again Linkous scares us with some AM radio tuning, but that adds to the redneck quality of the song. It does, however lift itself just enough, so as not to leave you having any bad dreams about banjo’s and crossbows.

Don’t be scared off by the Alt Country tag that this will invariably get. This release would cover enough ground to keep all but the most punk of punk and metal of metal punters at bay and even then, have them being proud to say that they own it.

Give Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot or his later release, Good Morning Spider a try for something different. You wont be disappointed!