 | Tracklist:
1. Revenge (feat. The Flaming Lips)
2. Just War (feat. Gruff Rhys)
3. Jaykub (feat. Jason Lytle)
4. Little Girl (feat. Julian Casablancas)
5. Angel's Harp (feat. Frank Black)
6. Pain (feat. Iggy Pop)
7. Stars Eyes (I Can Catch It) (feat. David Lynch)
8. Everytime I'm With You (feat. Jason Lytle)
9. Insane Lullaby (feat. James Mercer)
10. Daddy's Gone (feat. Nina Persson)
11. The Man Who Played God (feat. Suzanne Vega)
12. Grain Augury (feat. Vic Chesnutt)
13. Dark Night of the Soul (feat. David Lynch)
| Ranking: #148 for 2010 | |
| | other reviews | EndlessClockwork (4)
A blissfully dark and surreal experience combining numerous artistic talents as well as artistic for... | Tyler (4)
An album full of sorrow and preceeded by the death of one of its creators, this album is nonetheless... | ModernGuilt (4)
Pain, it's just a matter of sensation...... |
On 37 Lists
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| Summary: Think about the world you love. Now think of where it wants to go. |
The spirit of Death roams the Dark Night Of The Soul.
Profound, hey? But here’s the snag – not only is it true, it’s a truth that makes itself felt through every track on this legendary record. And again, another qualification: the legend is a subtle one, one less known for its music than its story, a story now well known around certain circles (those circles being the ones most likely to pretend to belong to circles). Still, it’s one worth repeating here. In 2006, up and comer producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse works with indie stalwarts Sparklehorse on a few tracks off Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain. The result is intriguing and the aforementioned circles start grinding the press. A proper Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse collaboration? Will it happen? A few years pass, then, in 2009, it happens. Sort of. A mock movie poster does the rounds, and the “cast list” goes something like this: Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, David Lynch, The Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, and a few other Gods reside in this newly built pantheon. The circles spin wildly. And wait. And wait.
And wait. A hundred-page full colour photographic booklet later (courtesy of Lynch), it turns out that a dispute between Danger Mouse and EMI means that the Dark Night Of The Soul may very well remain shrouded in darkness, never to be released. So the artists do what anyone would do and release the album anyway, except with a blank CD-R in place of what would usually be a disc full of music. The inscription reads: “For legal reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will”. The wrangling goes on. On Christmas Day, 2009, Vic Chesnutt, collaborator, folk singer and paraplegic, dies from a drug overdose. The wrangling goes on. On March 6th, 2010, Mark Linkous, better known as Sparklehorse, shoots himself in the heart. Dark Night Of The Soul, they called this one. But it has at least, come to light. And through the tragedy, what remains, this testament, is a spiraling exercise in gorgeous music, a record knee deep in that subtle legend, but ankle up a collection of tunes as haunting and surreal as the personas and events that surrounded it.
Could Wayne Coyne really have imagined the unbearable resonance his lyrics on “Revenge” would have just a few months later, as he crooned through its slow strings and shallow beat: “I guess it's a matter of sensation/ But somehow you have a way of avoiding it all/ In my mind/ I have shot you and stabbed you through your heart”? Yet as overbearing as it all sounds, the Dark Night Of The Soul is still a record basked in warmth, playfulness even. How else to take the twinkling optimism of Gruff Rhys’ melodic swell across the Beatles-like “Just War”, even with lines like “Late September/ I heard the siren call a truce / But by December/ My head returned into the noose” – accompanied by a fractured summer whistle? Or the bright acoustic jangle of “Jaykub”? It’s this mix, this clash of the blossoming horizon of possibility together with angry realization of all that has-been, that provides the Dark Night Of The Soul with so much of it’s incredible power. Just listen to the way Iggy Pop forces his way through the angular guitar fuzz of “Pain” before throwing his arms up in a cry of “etcetera, I give up, I quit!”.
Nevertheless, not everything here is characterized by this stark contrast of light and dark, and as the record approaches its second half, it opens up and reaches out to an expanse far wider than its first impressions radiate. To paint a picture, “Star Eyes” finds Lynch himself warbling through a heart-tugging soundscape of psychedelic delight, while Jason Lytle wrestles with bittersweet tensions of casual sex on “Everytime I’m With You”. It’s a swath of songs that are eminently human, one which reaches it’s apogee on “Insane Lullaby”, a roughly cut diamond whose soaring strings and bright glockenspiel sparkle accompany perfectly James Mercer’s vivid weaving of images. And it’s here too, at the end, where the ghosts of the Dark Night Of The Soul find their voice, with Linkous finally making himself visible with the help of Nina Persson on the upbeat folk of “Daddy’s Gone”, and Chesnutt’s earthy vocals swimming over a lapping pool of 70s styled synthlines on “Grim Augury”. So with all said and sung, the Dark Night Of The Soul marks out a site of memory and beauty, a ground by which even in the half-hidden veil of its makers, there will always be the shining silver of music to look forward to.
4.2/5
In memory, Brandon Magnuson (Youaremysilence), February 9, 1993 - July 15, 2010.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4
yes this is so good
"revenge" is a gem
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music | | |
another one from you so soon? no complaints here though, loved it
im enjoying some sparklehorse's other stuff so i might as well try this eventually
Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
| | | Album Rating: 4
I know right - two reviews in two weeks, I'm a writing machine. But yeah, I've been listening to this a ridiculous amount, so I figured why not.
And those ads...
Digging: The Flaming Lips - The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends | | | Album Rating: 4
Alex, this is the best write-up I've read yet on this album. Beautiful all around.
As a side-note, both Lynch tracks are amongst my favorites. He's got a wicked sixth sense for pop music.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Yeah I absolutely adore Star Eyes actually, it makes me feel so happy. Then you listen to the lyrics (minimal as they are) and its just like woah. Can always count on you for love!
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Excellent review, which song should I listen to first?
Digging: The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station Digging: The Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station
| | | Album Rating: 4
I just realized I have this listed as Dangerhorse on my itunes
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I keep forgetting about this album :x
excellent as usual Alex, I'll be sure to pick this up soon.
Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music Digging: Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music | | |
In memory, Brandon Magnuson (Youaremysilence), February 9, 1993 - July 15, 2010.
whoa what
Digging: Mount Eerie - Clear Moon Digging: Mount Eerie - Clear Moon
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
you didn't hear about it, adam?
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just read about it im stunned and quite frankly deeply saddened
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
he was an incredibly sweet guy and I also find myself quite upset about the news.
btw this is a brilliantly written review
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ridiculous review. never wanted to listen to this before now.
also didn't know david lynch was all that involved besides the picture part, awesome
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In memory, Brandon Magnuson (Youaremysilence), February 9, 1993 - July 15, 2010.
wait what happened
nvm just found out =(
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Such a shame, rest in piece. Excellent write-up, Alex, one of the best reviews I've read in a while.
Digging: Between the Buried and Me - Colors Digging: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
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Their name makes me shit my pants.
Digging: SikTh - Death of a Dead Day Digging: SikTh - Death of a Dead Day
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great review.
I was on the fence about buying this but you swayed me for sure.
Thaaanks
| | | Album Rating: 4
I did last night from Amazon. $70. So painful. But I tell myself it's worth it.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Super excellent review. Will check this out now.
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Song with Julian Casablancas is awesome. Nice review.
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