March
2010
Five O’Clock Shadow - best of the week
Once each week I’ll try to podcast my favorite Five O’Clock Shadow of the past several days. Although this week is not yet over, I already know that I want to feature Monday’s Shadow (Monday-Thursday at 5pm I play an original followed by a cover version)
Mark Linkous committed suicide last Saturday. Mark is best known for his work with Sparklehorse (Mark pretty much IS Sparklehorse) I was especially sad to hear of his passing because we crossed paths back in the late ’80’s. Mark would not have remembered me, but I interviewed him once and we were in the same place at the same time on a couple occasions. We were also pretty close in age. I was a DJ at a radio station in Charlottesville, VA…Mark was from there - at least he attended high school in Charlottesville. A good look at Mark’s life and some of the challenges he faced comes in this 2002 article from a Charlottesville publication.
Sparklehorse is an acquired taste…a taste that comes with patience and an open mind. The reward is emotional, passionate and delicate music - occasionally broken up by some cacophony, but usually delivered in lo-fi style.
The podcast is from Monday’s Five O’Clock Shadow and it features a cover of Pink Floyd’s 1975 “Wish You Were Here.” The cover is from the 2005 soundtrack from the movie Lords of Dogtown (Heath Ledger, Johnny Knoxville, skateboards) Joining Sparklehorse is Thom Yorke from Radiohead, and his influence on the cover version is clearly noticeable. Mark had toured with Radiohead in 1996…and on that tour had suffered an overdose made much more complex by the fact that he passed out on top of his legs for hours. Mark spent weeks in the hospital in London and nearly lost the use of his legs.
The Sparklehorse/Thom Yorke version of Wish You Were Here is beautiful and powerful. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the podcast…at the end I have added one of the singles from Mark’s first band - The Dancing Hoods. I had played them on the radio in Charlottesville even before I was aware of the hometown connection. Unfortunately they didn’t get much other airplay although this song is especially catchy.
dave
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