Dark Night Of The Soul (studio album) by Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse

The album isn't as dark as the title makes out, however there is much to laud here. There are no significant missteps, and many of the tracks hang together well, leading us on a journey through a varied selection of indie rock styles. The guesting overload doesn't affect the finished product, although it doesn't particularly enhance it either. Had Mark Linkous sang on the majority of the tracks, the overall feel wouldn't be so different. That said, Julian Casablancas, David Lynch and The Flaming Lips are all welcome additions. An interesting entry in the indie canon.

Revenge of the pseudonyms by Sparklemousedangerhorse featuring Frank Black Francis Thompson, Jiggy Popsterberg Jr and a few squares using their given names. Including contributions by artist who feature in 11 of my 100 Greatest Albums chart, the ingredients are all there for this to be the greatest thing ever and yet it's only my 4th favourite Sparklehorse album. Maybe it's a case of too many artistic collaborators dilute the overall artistic vision of the main creative talent, a slightly less well known but seemingly more appropriate idiom than too many cooks spoil the broth. Every song stands up fine on it's own (with the possible exception of Pain which feels to me like it's one of Linkous' slower songs sped up to fit Iggy's contribution) but the variety of different voices give the album the feel of a compilation. The distinctive voices of all the male singers bar David Lynch overpower the music to varying extents and when Daddy's Gone, the duet between Linkous and Nina Persson, comes along late in the day it makes me wish there was more of Mark's vocal input threading the album together. A valiant attempt well worth spending some time with which fails to transcend the sum of it's parts.

Sparklehorse meet Danger Mouse.
But it's more Linkous than the other. And there's a lot of friends to help him.
Some tracks are gorgeus, some other are terrible (Black Francis and Iggy Pop).
Sad and bautiful.

From FlorianJones 09/12/2015 02:56

If the Black Francis and Iggy Pop Tunes were left off, this album would have been incredible. As it is it's still quite good.

Dark and lovely. "Revenge" is a favorite.