Dark
Night Of The Soul is an album by audio auteur Danger Mouse and the
already much-missed Sparklehorse. The record sees the pair joined by
the following remarkable roll call of guests: The Flaming Lips, Gruff
Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Julian Casablancas
(The Strokes), Black Francis (The Pixies), Iggy Pop, David Lynch, James
Mercer (The Shins/Broken Bells), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Suzanne
Vega and Vic Chesnutt. Pitchfork Review
The Dark Night of the Soul, a term coined by the 17th century Spanish
mystic Saint John of the Cross, describes a point in a pious
Christian's life when they are unable to reconcile their relationship to
God, and take painful steps to purify themselves. Mark Linkous-- better
known as Sparklehorse-- would seem to understand something about trials
and endurance. If any current performer has endured traumatic,
life-altering experiences-- an early-1990s overdose that damaged his
legs and almost killed him, several years in and out of states of severe
depression and addiction-- while retaining an optimistic disposition,
it's him.
In 2005, Linkous' friends tried to pry him out of a depressed state
by playing him new music. One record that struck him was Danger Mouse's The
Grey Album, which led to a mutually appreciative relationship
between the two artists. Danger Mouse worked on a few songs on
Sparklehorse's 2006 return-to-form Dreamt for Light Years in the
Belly of a Mountain, cutting Linkous' delicate, hermetic songs with a
new type of sharpness and color. In interviews for that record, Linkous
and Danger Mouse kept dropping hints at a future collaboration: maybe
it would be called Dangerhorse, maybe Sparklemouse. It would be
something.
It ended up as Dark Night of the Soul, involving more than a
dozen noteworthy musical collaborators as well as David Lynch, who
signed on to create a 100-page book of original photography inspired by
Linkous and Danger Mouse's music. As news leaked the buzz grew louder,
and people were excited for a reason: Dark Night combined the
best elements of a classic rock event with a very modern strategy. Links
between the film, music, and art worlds were established, a ton of
stars gathered together under the creative guidance of a couple of
relative recluses, a regular old CD was marketed like a Hollywood
blockbuster and packaged with a photo album for 50 bucks. for the rest : http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13193-dark-night-of-the-soul/
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