Turning The Lights Back On…

Hey Everyone,

It’s been a long time since we’ve updated our site. Unfortunate, because there’s been no word of any further music or Sparklehorse releases. We’ve sought answers and we get a stone wall. So in the meantime all we can do is remain here and try to make sure Mark still has a place on the web for the fans who loved him and who still value his tremendous gifts, his contribution to music, his enormous influence, his kind soul and his gentle spirit.

As we don’t want to keep running the same video clips and songs you’ve seen and heard a hundred times, we’ve launched a playlist series on Spotify (the most commonly used platform and why we chose it) to mix in tracks from Sparklehorse, Dancing Hoods, DNOTS and other Mark-related projects with artists that Mark admired, collaborated with or did similar music stylistically. If you care to give a listen, our playlists are available here. We have a regular weekly series and will have some “special editions” as well, such as the one we just posted for Halloween. Please check us out. We aren’t the youngest or the hippest, but we think we’ve got pretty good ears. Hope you enjoy….

Sparkle-On-Org Radio

Official Mark Linkous Website and Tumblr now Online

Hey Everyone,

It’s been way too long since we’ve posted and we’ve got some catching up to do, as 2016 is shaping up to be a good year for fans of Sparklehorse, with a variety of new things related to Mark showing up.

First and foremost, we would like to announce that thanks to the efforts of Mark’s brother Matt and sister-in-law Melissa, a new offical website for Mark is now online. Check it out at www.marklinkous.com

In conjunction with the new official site, a new Sparklehorse Tumblr site has also been established where fans may contribute artwork, music and other media inspired by, in tribute to, and in memory of Mark. Visit sparklehorseofficial.tumblr.com and join in.

 

makers…

I’ve been listening a lot lately to a record that I have rediscovered recently. It’s called “Makers”, by a Seattle-based singer/songwriter named Rocky Votolato. As far as I know, he had no association with Mark, but this record, to me, tell’s Mark’s story. It is a record rife with loss, hurt and pain. And of yielding, at last, to all the overwhelming dark forces that gather in the minds of those that suffer as Mark did. It’s not a happy record; and for some perhaps a tough listen. But it is also very empathetic, and soothing. It is, to me, a balm. Perhaps it makes it easier for me to understand what happened almost 4 years ago. For those seeking some solace, as the anniversary of Mark’s passing draws near, you may find some here…

makers

http://www.rockyvotolato.com/

 

“White Daisy Passing”

the horse and the crow…

Today we have something very special indeed: A good friend of ours has shared a story written by Mark and given to her for all of you to enjoy here. It has been transcribed verbatim, and we are also including photographs of the original copy below. Hope you all enjoy and have a happy holiday season…

Once there was a horse and a crow
And they were best friends
Eary one morning in a field
They talking together
The horse asked the crow
‘If you had a wish, what would it be?’
The crow replied from the fence post
‘It would be to run upon the earth,
And feel the ground beneath me’
‘Thats easy’ said the horse
‘Jump on me and hold on tight!’
So the crow jumped on the horses back,
Holding on to his maine with his claws,
They raced through the fields
Through the low morning ground fog and
Over the frozen earth
The crow smelt the horses sweat
And was very happy They both breathed very hard
They rested by the fence and the crow asked
‘Do you have a secret wish horse?’
The horse thought awhile and replied
‘To fly through the air and taste clouds’
The crow pondered this for a bit and flew away
And after awhile the horse started to get sad
because he thought the crow had forgotten him
His body felt very heavy to him
Just then the horse
heard the crow cawing to him from a great distance
Then he saw his friend the crow way far off
And he had gathered hundreds of birds
They all landed on the horses back and
The crow said to the horse ‘Run! Run!’
All the birds cried out and flapped their wings
with a great commotion
The horse ran and ran until
They rose from the ground
They flew from the sky amongst the clouds
The horses field seemed very small
The horse laughed and laughed
he was so happy he could hardly breathe

mark_crow_story_pt_1
mark_crow_story_pt_2

Train Story

Everyone has a train story…here’s Mark’s…

“That train track running behind the house, it goes all the way into Richmond. One day, a couple of summers ago, I jumped it, and rode up in the coal car. I was goin’ into Richmond, but it took a long time, and kept stopping. Then it went through this prison, with guard towers and all and I thought, `Man, they’re gonna see me on this train and think I’m a convict trying to escape. They’ll shoot me!’ I was terrified. I made it through the prison and into Richmond. But the train didn’t stop. It just kept goin’. I had to jump off, and I busted my ass. I was totally black, covered in coal dust. I jumped off in a train yard, and I had to jump between trains to get to the street. I jumped through and I was standing right next to the train-yard guy. It was a strange moment. We looked at each other and nobody said a word. And I just kept goin’. I jumped over one train that had all these amphibious tank vehicles I’d never seen before and have never seen since. I think it was during the Persian Gulf thing. I got out onto the street and walked up to where House Of Freaks practice, to use the telephone. I walked by a car with two people in it. And I sort of averted my eyes, ’cause I thought maybe they were makin’ out. Next day, I found out it was two people shot in the head. And that’s my train story.”

Mark Linkous (Puncture Magazine, 1996)

Many more articles and interviews to explore in our Articles section…

“junebug” – live in stockholm 1998…

Today, we are rolling out a new streaming audio feature on our site. For music that we share here, we will now be posting audio streams rather than offering MP3 downloads. We’ve been wanting to go this route for awhile now but for lack of a suitable WordPress plugin, and now we seem to have found something workable.

So without further adieu, here’s Junebug from the well-known Dragging Pianos – Live In Sweden recording, from 1998…

Junebug