Mark Linkous Talks Sparklehorse, Dangerhorse, Fennesz

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Feb 14, 2008

Bad luck and Sparklehorse principal Mark Linkous go hand in hand. From swallowing enough drugs and booze in 1996 to knock him into a debilitating coma to recently being dropped by his label Astralwerks/Capitol, enough evil mojo has plagued this North Carolina mountain man to make it a wonder he’s still kicking. Yet not being one to let a career of setbacks bring him down, the veteran songwriter revealed to Pitchfork that he’s got a lot on the horizon.

For a follow-up to 2006’s Sparklehorse album Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, Linkous said he’s "writing a lot of new songs that are sort of atypical of a lot of Sparklehorse stuff,” which he hopes will sound like "a satellite that’s crashing into a gas giant or something,” like you "were floating in space.”

Linkous also shed some light on the rumoured, and hugely ambitious, Dangerhorse project, his collaboration with producer and Gnarls Barkley associate Danger Mouse. He revealed that thus far the duo have worked with Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle from Grandaddy Vic Chesnutt, and Nina Persson from the Cardigans. If this wasn’t enough, Linkous also said they are trying to enlist Chan Marshall and Stephen Malkmus for additional for vocal duties.

Topping off Linkous’s busy schedule is a project with electronic innovator Christian Fennesz, which will be part of Konkurrent’s In the Fishtank series. Previously the Netherlands label has paired up Tortoise and the Ex, Low and Dirty Three, and most recently, Isis and Scottish post-rockers Aereogramme, among others.

"I had known Christian for quite a long time,” Linkous said. "We’ve done work together on and off for probably three or four years now, but this is the first time we’d ever really properly went into a studio together, so it was really exciting. We went into this studio in the countryside of Amsterdam and we had two days in a nice, really professional studio where we just sort of improvised everything and it was really fun. I think it sounded great. I can’t wait for it to come out.”

However, no release dates for any of the projects has been confirmed, as well as any new label for the forthcoming Sparklehorse album. Nevertheless, it’s more than enough to wet a few appetites.

Sparklehorse "Sea of Teeth"

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