You saw "Pig", right? That's intentionally distorted. Mark (Linkous, who *is*
Sparklehorse) had an accident two years ago where he took too many pills
on top of anti-depression medication he was on (I've read valium & pills and booze
& pills - but the former more often). He collapsed in such a way that he cut off
circulation to his legs, and nearly lost them, spending a year in a wheelchair.
Added to that, his heart stopped for a couple minutes on the operating table.
Many of the songs deal with the experience. "Pig" strikes me as an angry
rave about everything he'd rather be, than what he is - stuck in a wheelchair.
But he varies the techniques, some songs are spare guitar, others use
a quirky array of old electronic gadgets. "Saint Mary" breaks my heart
every time I hear it - the despair of a man going up to the "bloody theater"
under the "bright lights" yet again, weary to the bone.
He's said in an interview that he feels some sense of "guilt" that his good
friend Vic Chesnutt is permanently wheelchair-bound, while he's back on his
feet.
Don't judge it by "Pig". "Sick of Goodbyes" is a stompy rocker, "Saint Mary"
is spare and beautiful, "Ghost of His Smile" has a cute keyboard intro, "All Night
Home" is a perfect 4 a.m. road tune, and "Maria's Little Elbows" has already
gone on two mixtapes. Seventeen songs - he uses the room to experiment,
yet it comes together as a whole.
http://www.parlophone.co.uk/sparklehorse/ has articles which do a better
job of description.
Chris
> As far as
> Sparklehorse goes, I saw the video on 120 minutes the other night and
> was wondering...are the rest of the songs sung with distortion used on
> the vocals? I have read quite a bit about this band here and elsewhere
> and was pretty excited to hear what they sounded like. Gotta say the
> song didn't do much for me and that distorted vocal thing is kinda
> tired. Not saying I'm giving up, just wondering.
>
> thanks,
> rebecca
>
