Before going to sleep last night, I heard that another great loss in the music world had taken place.  As reported by Rolling Stone, singer/songwriter/producer, Mark Linkous (aka: Sparklehorse) took his own life yesterday (March 6th, 2010).  According to the magazine, this has been confirmed by the late-artist’s publicist and the following statements have been officially released by Linkous‘ family.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today,”

“We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.”

I laid down with the assumption that I would wake up to endless posts and messages regarding Linkous‘ untimely death, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.  I generally wouldn’t put too much thought into reporting news such as this, but that’s not because I don’t feel that it’s important.  It’s usually because I don’t feel that it’s important for ME to report it, because sites swarm on to the stories of dead celebrities the way that buzzards swarm onto the bodies themselves.  They don’t even wait for them to get cold, “Breaking News is Breaking News!“  People will always get information like this, because it’s posted everywhere.  Today, however, I fear that the loss of  such a vital entity in the music world may risk being overshadowed by something as trivial and worthless as an award show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When Darby Crash died, the story was buried under the news of the John Lennon shooting.  While I’m sure that Darby would have loved to be the main headline, I’m not as convinced that Linkous would have rather had it any other way than to disappear quietly.  One example to that is how, instead of focusing on his own name, he opted to release music under the moniker of Sparklehorse, which was essentially just a solo project.  He wasn’t the type of artist who came across as demanding attention.  He was the type of unassuming artist whose often subtle and beautiful compositions could make you feel like you noticed them on your own.  Like a 4-leaf clover or an angel sitting in a dimly lit corner during a house party.  He was one of the rare people that created something of such pure emotion that the tools that he was using to do it almost disappeared.  No mixing boards or guitars- it was like sound just sort of flowed out of his chest and head in clouds of antique light.

Click here to view the embedded video.

One of his final masterpieces was last years Dark Night of the Soul, which he created with David Lynch and Danger Mouse.  Next to the two other collaborative monsters, the name “Sparklehorse” was often  lost or even unmentioned in conjunction with them altogether.  I believe that his focus was always on the work and, as someone who has endured a suicide attempt of my own, I have to question if Linkous was even aware of his own worth or contributions to this world.  Whether he ever truly realized it or not, those around him definitely did and his name has popped up repeatedly during the various articles and subject matter that we’ve covered on the site over the last few years.  One of the first times that his name was brought up was during my 2008 interview with Daniel Johnston, when Daniel had mentioned that he had been working with Mark on a follow up to their 2003 collaboration, Fear Yourself.  Linkous was a huge supporter of Daniel‘s music and worked as the curator/producer on the tribute album The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered. That album featured a collaboration between Linkous and The Flaming Lips, which carried over from his work with Stephen Drozd (Flaming Lips) on the 2006, Sparklehorse album, Dreamt for Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain.  Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton also worked on that release and last years DNOTS reunited The Lips, DM, and Linkous together for the last time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s easy to posthumously examine the work of an artist after a tragedy such as this and, whether accurate or otherwise, it’s also very ease to make some assumptions about the hidden meanings in their work.  While touring in support of the first Sparklehorse album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, Linkous faced an experience which nearly ended his life back in 1996.  The songwriter, who was on tour with Radiohead, had overdosed in a London hotel room with pills and booze in his system.  While my mom was in nursing school, she had taught me about how too much potassium can actually create cardiac arrest.  From what I remember reading, this may have had something to with this previous situation.  The story goes that his legs were pinned under him for 14 hrs without circulation and, after having them straightened by paramedics, a release of potassium buildup caused his heart to stop.  Linkous has had several surgeries in relation to this incident and was confined to a wheelchair for a 6-month duration immediately following it.  It has even been reported that he had died for 2 whole minutes.  When his sophomore album Good Morning Spider was released in ’98, there was endless speculation that the album was largely written in reflection of that tragic scenario.  However, Linkous denied much of that, stating that a good deal of the album was already written before that incident ever even occurred.  Then there’s such things as the title of 2001 Sparklehorse album, It’s A Wonderful Life, that may imply the struggles and reassurance that the artist needed to keep him moving forward and to control his reoccurring depression.  Most likely, no one will ever know exactly what many of his work meant from an intellectual level.  Meanings can be found or lost in everything, even the fact that he had a song called “Saturday” (the die he died).  Not everything is a puzzle to be solved, some things are just there to be experienced and, if Linkous accomplished anything, it was to create music which held enough power and emotion to speak to people without the triviality or barriers of human language.

Sean Tillmann (Har Mar Superstar) has mentioned that he and friend/colleague, Adam Green often joke about they are destined to become like Harry Nilson; a prolific artist who was ultimately less famous than everyone that he ever worked with, but who left an amazing catalog of evidence to his accomplishments to be studied after his death.  Now Mark Linkous has left this world and, if you never caught onto his work while he was with us, he has left an amazing collection of gifts for everyone to experience now that he’s gone.

To hear/download Dark Night of the Soul in full, CLICK HERE

David Lynch is best known as an Emmy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe nominated Writer/Director/Producer.  He is the creator of such films as The Elephant Man, Dune, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet , Wild At Heart, and Mulholland Dr., as well as of the television series Twin Peaks.  With such a prolific and influential career in film making, it’s easy to understand why any of his outside ventures may be over shadowed.  Last year Lynch made one such venture with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, in which the director provided vocal contributions to the Dark Night of the Soul album, as well as accompanying photographs for the project.  A subsequent gallery show of the photographs took place at Los Angeles‘ Michael Kohn gallery from May 30 – July 29 of 2009.

With the hype surrounding EMI‘s refusal to release the music for DNOTS, we posted an extensive two-piece article about the project.  Unfortunately however, we entirely overlooked the fact that Lynch had a completely unrelated gallery show  later in the year.  “David Lynch : New Paintings“, was held from at the William Griffin gallery in Santa Monica from Sept. 12th – Dec. 12th, 2009.  Although Lynch was actually a painter, prior to ever beginning his film career, this collection represents the first of Lynch‘s original paintings to be displayed in the United States in more than a decade.

Due to our past coverage of Lynch‘s art, we were contacted and offered the opportunity to premiere the following footage by DFL.TV (The David Lynch Foundation).  The video not only contains exclusive coverage of the gallery opening, but celebrity interviews as well.  Among those interviewed are actress, Laura Dern, award-winning film-maker, Roger Corman, and even Lynch himself.

According to DFL.TV, the 6 core pieces in the exhibit weigh “around 300 pounds each” and “are each displayed in a shadow box that was inspired by the artist Francis Bacon, a key influence on Lynch’s artistic life.”

When asked about this by Brian Rich, producer/director of the above video, Lynch elaborated by saying the following:

“I went to the Marlborough gallery in New York City in the 60’s. I don’t know if it was ’67 or ’66 … I think it was 67, I don’t know, Marlborough gallery…I walked in, I almost passed out. The work was so incredible…and it was framed in a similar way to this. Glass floating in front of the paint… gold leaf frames… And it just, the whole presentation just shot me through the roof and I said, if I ever get any money…I wanna frame my stuff like that. They were destined for this kind of frame. And the thing is, they’ll live in this frame now. Whatever happens to ‘em, they’ll live in this frame. It’s like their house.“

When questioned about future plans for the pieces, Lynch laughed and answered by saying:

“Um…they’re close to 300 lbs each…the paintings…and I need a crane to get’em in my house… you gotta help me sell these things.“

The song playing throughout the video is called “Revenge“.  It is a track from the Dark Night of the Soul album and features Dangermouse and Sparklehorse in collaboration with The Flaming Lips.  For access to MP3s of the entire album, please visit our past coverage of the project by clicking HERE.

To view images of the DNOTS photographs from the previous gallery show, you can link to our coverage of that through HERE.

To inquire about purchasing any of the pieces from the exhibit and/or find out more about The David Lynch Foundation, please check out DFL.TV.  We highly encourage you to do so; it’s a fascinating non-profit and their site provides endless content and information.

{David Lynch. Untitled [Grim Augury #1], 2009. Digital print mounted on aluminum.
Edition 1 of 7. Courtesy Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles.}

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

Premiere collaboration between groundbreaking music
artist Danger Mouse and luminary filmmaker David Lynch
On view at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles
May 30–July 11, 2009

Along with the CD-R and the book release, Lynch‘s original photographic artwork from Dark Night Of The Soul can currently be viewed up close and personal at Los Angeles‘ Michael Kohn Gallery.  The show runs from May 30-July 11, 2009, so it will still be up for about another month for those fortunate enough to be able to catch it.

Here’s a description of the event taken from the official press release:

“Fifty of Lynch’s photographs are mounted on aluminum panels that seem to float on the gallery walls, reinforcing the moody rhythms of the music from Dark Night of the Soul that will play throughout the gallery. The installation encourages a fully enveloping experience that surpasses the individual visual or auditory elements.”

The 50 photographs referenced in the press release are the same images that grace the pages of the hardcover, limited edition book containing the blank DNOTS “artifact” CD-R.  The photos, which embody the same dark and emotional imagery as Lynch‘s cinematography, are all untitled.  Each one, however, contains a caption with a song title and a number from 1-3 or, in most cases, 1-4, which denotes the image number and track that inspired it.  All of the gallery pieces also contain the following specs.

Artist: David Lynch
Medium: Digital film, inkjet print on glossy paper
Mounted: Aluminum panel
Dimensions: 24 inches (height) x 26 inches (width)
CreationYear: 2009

{David Lynch. Untitled [Pain #3], 2009. Digital print mounted on aluminum.
Edition 1 of 7. Courtesy Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles.}

The opening reception took place on Saturday May, 30th and ran from 5–7pm.  The turnout was outstanding and featured a number of big name celebrities.  Along with DNOTS producers Danger Mouse and Mark Linkous, David Lynch, and gallery owner Michael Kohn, the guest list included the following:

Actor/comedian, Ben Stiller
Musician, FLEA
Actress, Heather Graham
Producer, Rick Rubin
Actor, Crispin Glover
and
Pop-surrealist, Mark Ryden

For a full set of images from the event, please check out For Your Art‘s Flicker set by clicking HERE.

{David Lynch. Untitled [Insane Lullaby #1], 2009. Digital print mounted on aluminum.
Edition 1 of 7. Courtesy Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles.}

To attend the exhibit, purchase one of the pieces, and/or find out the individual prices of the work, please contact the gallery at:

Michael Kohn Gallery
8071 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323)-658-8088
www.kohngallery.com

Below, we have supplied all of the images, from both the Dark Night Of The Soul exhibit and the book, except for one.  The only image missing is the untitled photo of a drinking glass on a green carpet, known only by “The Man Who Played God #3“.  We have also located the following video on Youtube, which contains someone sifting through the DNOTS book while the corresponding tracks play over the individual images.  The missing image can be viewed briefly in the video at 3 minutes 47 seconds.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(Click thumbnails to enlarge images)

For those that have been following the construction, breakdown, and pseudo-resurrection of the Dark Night of the Soul collaboration between DJ Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous) and filmmaker David Lynch, we hope to provide some additional information about this chaotic project.  We’re even gonna throw a few links and tips your way about acquiring the tracks from the album and peeping out the original artwork.  For those that aren’t up on the craziness that DNOTS has become, we’re gonna start out by breaking it down for you like an X1 model Hyundai Excel.

Producer/artist Brian Joseph Burton (aka: Danger Mouse) hit the scene pretty tough when he dropped The Grey Album, back in 2004.  The album was comprised of mash-ups between tracks from Jay-Z’s The Black Album and The Beatles‘ White Album and EMI, copyright holder of The Beatles material used, lost their shit.  The EMI Group‘s attempts to halt the distribution actually helped to increase the project’s notoriety and demand, as well as that of the artist.  The Dark Night of the Soul project has entered into a similar realm, with Danger Mouse and EMI bumping heads yet again, but we’ll go into that later.

Burton has been nominated for 11 Grammys and has won 2, but even his commercial and critical successes do not tend to stem from having a typical approach to the industry.  When he teamed up Goodie Mob‘s Cee-Lo Green to become a household name as Gnarls Barkley, much of their attention and success was generated by employing, then unorthodox, methods to exploit Myspace‘s potential as a format for publicity.  Much like Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Danger Mouse has produced albums for both The Gorrilaz and Beck.  Nakamura has made the comment,  “Traditionally I’ve been known to produce rap records but nobody ever hires me to do rap records.”  Burton has worked with a range of artists from MF Doom (Dangerdoom) to Black Keys and seems to enjoy that challenge of crossing genres and expanding his catalog of work in new directions.  Dark Night of the Soul pushes the envelope even further.

DNOTS [The Album]

All of the music from the DNOTS album was written and performed by the unlikely pairing of DM and Sparklehorse.  Sparklehorse‘s Mark Linkous has become an established producer in his own right and has worked with and produced albums for artists like Daniel Johnston.  When Linkous organized and produced a collection of cover songs, deceitfully titled The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, it featured Sparklehorse and  The Flaming Lips working together on a version of Johnston‘s song “GO“.  DNOTS, which also features a track between Sparklehorse and the Lips, is a remarkable collaboration in every sense of the word.  The tracks feature vocal contributions by a variety of artists, including Black Francis (The Pixies), Iggy Pop, Suzanne Vega, and James Mercer (The Shins); all of which are also said to have played a huge role in the direction and input of the corresponding songs that they are featured on.  Probably the most confusing addition to the project is David Lynch.

Lynch is known for creating Twin Peaks, as well as legendary cult films like Eraserhead and Blue Velvet.  After being approached by long-time fan, Danger Mouse, Lynch agreed to be involved with him on a project.  While working off of each other, the filmmaker created a series of photographs, which were inspired by the music that DM and Linkous were creating around him.  The photographs were intended to accompany the album in book form and Lynch even sings on two of the tracks.  David Lynch‘s voice is heavily processed, but works remarkably well on DNOTS and sounds similar to Vincent Gallows vocal work on his When album [2001 Warp Records].

Overall, the album is surprisingly consistent.   It has an incredibly dreamy quality to it, with both a good deal of piano accompaniment and electronic blips mixed in.  It’s clear that Lynch‘s presence helped to influence the producers, based on the often dark and ominous qualities represented through much of the sound.  At times there are glimpses of The Beatles, while at other times, there’s a little Tom Waits or Aimee Mann (circa the Magnolia Soundtrack) thrown in.  The cohesion is fairly astounding, considering the amount of cooks that have been invited into this metaphorical kitchen, but every artist on DNOTS is represented admirably throughout and, although their sounds meld effortlessly, each musician manages to stand out on their individual merits.  It’s clear that a lot of thought was put into this project so it shocked many when it was announced that it will likely never be officially released at all.

Long story short, EMI lost their shit again and Danger Mouse is unable to release the album without facing a potential lawsuit.  The following are statements released from each of their camps.

EMI: “Danger Mouse is a brilliant, talented artist for whom we have enormous respect. We continue to make every effort to resolve this situation and we are talking to Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) directly. Meanwhile, we need to reserve our rights.”

Official Dark Night of the Soul website: “Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.

Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people  lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited about it as he is.”

The reference to “whatever means” refers to the fact that DNOTS is actually still being released as a package; minus the one thing that cannot be released legally…the music.  Yep, everything but the album itself.  The package, which for all intents and purposes is a collectors item, has been pressed to only 5,000 copies and has a pricetag of $50.  Here’s part of the description, also from the DNOTS site:

“The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: “For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has addressed the possible issues which could arise from a claim that Burton may be “inducing” copyright infringement by saying:

“..if the blank CD-R is a royalty-paid “music CD-R,” then the copies made by fans (whether made from NPR or P2P) would be legal under 17 U.S.C. 1008, which provides that no infringement lawsuit may be “based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of [a digital audio recording] medium for making digital musical recordings.” Digital audio recording medium (DARM) is defined to include “music CD-Rs” on which a royalty is paid to copyright owners.”

The AUDIO

Now that you’ve been caught up, you’re still going to need to get the music somewhere, whether you pay for the $50 package, the cheaper $10 package (just an alternate poster and CDR), or….”whatever means“.  If you search out files through sites like Filestube, Mediafire, Megaupload, Rapidfire, etc., you will likely find that they have been deleted due to copyright infringement.  EMI does not fuck around.  One great option, however, is that the album has been streaming for free through NPR‘s site, for a little while now, and I came across a detailed link about how someone reverse engineered the streaming files to locate the original MP3 locations.  It’s tedious as fuck though, and you’re not gonna have you go through all that shit.  What we have provided below are the direct links to each individual track.  As the document about the link conversion stated, “Another advantage of downloading via NPR is that depending on your own country’s laws it ‘MAY’ (note I said ‘may’ …. in full caps no less) actually be legal to download a copy from the NPR stream“.  It’s up to you whether you choose to look into that or not and heed the law accordingly.

The links will take you to a Quicktime audio player.  If you have Quicktime Pro, or if you can get it, it allows you to download the files by choosing “Save as Source“.  If the file, for some reason, does not download directly as an MP3 for you, there are audio converting programs that are available for free trials.  You may also have to rename the files correctly after download but, at this point, the art and titles should be automatically generated through the “Find Album Info” link through your music player.

Don’t want to fuck with the Quicktime?  Follow this procedure on the MP3 pages:

Go to “TOOLS” >
Click on “Page Info” >
Choose “Media” >
Then, “Save As”

WANNA MAKE IT REAL FUCKING EASY?!

Just right click the song titles below and click “Save Link As…”

{you can also listen to the tracks through their pop up link windows, here on the site}

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse present:

Dark Night of the Soul

1. “Revenge” (featuring The Flaming Lips) – 4:52
2. “Just War” (featuring Gruff Rhys) – 3:44
3. “Jaykub” (featuring Jason Lytle) – 3:52
4. “Little Girl” (featuring Julian Casablancas) – 4:33
5. “Angel’s Harp” (featuring Black Francis) – 2:57
6. “Pain” (featuring Iggy Pop) – 2:49
7. “Star Eyes (I Can’t Catch It)” (featuring David Lynch) – 3:10
8. “Everytime I’m with You” (featuring Jason Lytle) – 3:09
9. “Insane Lullaby” (featuring James Mercer) – 3:12
10. “Daddy’s Gone” (featuring Mark Linkous and Nina Persson) – 3:09
11. “The Man Who Played God” (featuring Suzanne Vega) – 3:09
12. “Grim Augury” (featuring Vic Chesnutt) – 2:32
13. “Dark Night of the Soul” (featuring David Lynch and Scott Spillane) – 4:38