The release, this week, of the long-delayed Dark Night Of The Soul collaboration between Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse and Brian Burton, a.k.a. Danger Mouse, should have been an afterthought—anyone could download it last summer, despite record company drama. But: Linkous and contributing vocalist Vic Chestnutt committed suicide in the interim. The record remains an excellent example of collaboration. Other than two duds (sung by Iggy Pop and Frank Black), the record's dark and claustrophobic tones are matched with generally great vocals and lyrics, and fans of the contributing vocalists will find plenty to chew on. The loss of Mark Linkous is particularly sad. While his records as Sparklehorse were sometimes uneven (other than the majestic, elegiac It's A Wonderful Life), in retrospect his crunchy, distorted sonics, ambiguously surreal lyrics, and dark pall of depression make him basically a Southern Gothic one-man Radiohead. In his memory, I present here a beautiful, sad instrumental released in 2009 as a collaboration with Christian Fennesz, his last official release as Sparklehorse. It's a wonderful life...Sparklehorse + Fennesz, "Mark's Guitar Piece":
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