Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

Sparklehorse

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: September 25, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B000GLKP9Y
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,215 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Battling his own personal demons while he has been highly coveted as a producer for other bands, singer/songwriter Mark Linkous' output with his own Sparklehorse has been as irregular as it is ingenious. And it's been five years since the candid album It's a Wonderful Life welcomed a clean-and-sober, Linkous crafting the same divine and bizarre songs that have come to define his North Carolina-based band. That inclination continues here with the peculiar front man punctuating his songs with mentions of ghosts and knives and mountaintops, and presenting them with a murmured, spaced-out and psychedelic soundtrack. The up-tempo, bundle-of-nerves pop songs "It's Not So Hard" and Guided by Voices twin "Ghost in the Sky," though luscious, seem out of place among slow and startling ballads like "Getting It Wrong," "See the Light" or, especially, the imminent kiss-off "Some Sweet Day," where Linkous grouses, "I was the one who loved you most/ But you can't put your arms around a ghost." A parting shot that's meant to linger—much like the 53 minutes that are Mark Linkous' latest comeback. --Scott Holter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I dreamt for light years..., September 26, 2006

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It's been five long years since Sparklehorse's "It's A Wonderful Life," which is probably the most "ordinary" album Mark Linkous has ever produced. But the mysterious Linkous returns to his peak with "Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain," his fourth album full of unpredictable indie-rock.

The title should show you how likely it is that we'll hear Sparklehorse on mainstream radio. And true to its name, "Dreamt For Light Years..." is like a dream -- a wild, unpredictable, sad and exquisite dream, which is sure to captivate listeners who want music to be an experience.

It opens with fuzz, blips and mellotron, and then Linkous starts singing, "Your face is like the sun/sinking into the ocean/your face is like watching flowers/growing in fast motion..." The grimy guitar and swelling strings kick in, for a charmingly upbeat little song that lulls you into the right frame of mind for the remaining songs. Of course, it's not really upbeat -- it's all about Linkous pleading with his lover not to leave him.

Having lulled you into the Linkous Zone, the album gets stranger and more appealing as it progresses -- the shimmering folk "Shade and Honey," meditative folk, classic indie-rock, and jagged lo-fi rockers. This is weird, wonderful music, with the pleading love son It finishes with the title track, a ten-minute piano instrumental full of sadness and exquisite beauty.

Though "It's A Wonderful Life" was the last Sparklehorse album, this one owes a lot more to his masterpiece "Good Morning Spider." Okay, the album is apparently not about near-death experiences, but Linkous still sounds sad and surreal here, with no nods to convention. Even when he tries to be upbeat, he sounds like his heart is breaking.

He also doesn't mess with the instruments that work: grimy lo-fi guitar and folky indierock, with some charming harmonies, smooth strings and some electroblips, courtesy of Danger Mouse, and Flaming Lips drummer Steven Drozd. At first glance you'd think that they would overwhelm Linkous, but their additions are more like putting a pretty frame around a masterpiece.

His vocals haven't changed either -- falsetto and very despairing, and even when he's doing Flaming Lips-style harmonies, he sounds despairing. The lyrics match up with this -- there's a childlike simplicity to Linkous's emotions, but they are wrapped up in poetic lyrics and peculiar imagery.

It's been five years, but Mark Linkous has not lost even a little bit of his magic touch -- in a year flooded with many wretched albums, this quietly downbeat album is a triumph.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not my type of music, but...., January 6, 2007

By	Antiquity (USA) - See all my reviews

This is the type of music I typically wouldn't care for. The music is electronic and airy, and the singer's voice a little too sweet and fragile for my taste. I must say, though, that the disc is very good. The songs are layered, complex, and the album unfolds nicely. After a couple of spins, I found myself really enjoying the music and the mood it creates. To me, the only negative is the 10+ minute wordless final song, with soft, dreamy melodies that would have made a nice 2-3 minute finale but don't quite keep my interest for the entire duration.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light years of dreaming, September 27, 2006

By	Daniel C. McGlothlen (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Oh, heavens. Every song, every moment was worth waiting for.

True enough, I can't be subjective. I'm a huge Sparklehorse fan. But the work is gorgeous, richly-textured and eloquent. There's a majesty to Mark Linkous' lo-fi, ultra-shiny pop magic and you need to open yourself to it and to suspend your expectations. It's worth it.