Detail of watercolor titled Trained Dogs by Lawrence W. Ladd, c. 1880
I'm really not sure what to say about the passing of Mark Linkous, who committed suicide over the weekend. Like a lot of people my age, vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, the debut record of Linkous' band Sparklehorse, meant a lot to me when I was younger. Released by Capitol Records in '95, at the height of the post-Nirvana alternative-music bubble, the record was promoted extensively by the label. I remember that it seemed like promo copies of vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot were everywhere at the time - the thing that set Sparklehorse apart from the rest of that "next big thing" crowd was that Linkous was a true eccentric and an exceptional talent. Sparklehorse's debut is a fuzzy, downcast, lo-fi set of songs - it's bizarre that Capitol ever thought it would be a hit.
Mark Linkous didn't deal with the major-label push all that well, as evidenced by the fact that, the following year, he was crippled in an overdose incident in the UK. But Linkous carried on, releasing three more major-label LPs, including the amazing Good Morning Spider, written about his overdose, surgeries, and rehabilitation. Linkous' tendency to mess with "the system" showed through in how he sabotaged "Happy Man", the most obvious hit single he ever wrote. He swathed the song in AM-style static and weird carnival-music interludes. Luckily, he didn't feel the need to tear apart "Ghost of His Smile", the best song on that album and one of my all-time favorites.
I'm just as floored by Linkous taking his own life as when his good friend Vic Chesnutt did the same thing a few months ago. It's a shock to the system when people you respect for "hanging in there" decide that they just can't do it anymore.
"Ghost of His Smile" by Sparklehorse
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