Such sad news that Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his life this weekend.
I first heard him on stage at Howe Gelb’s Upside Down Home 2000 at the Barbican, and that was enough to get me to buy It’s A Wonderful Life. I got to see Sparklehorse as a band in 2006 when they played the Fez Club in Reading just after Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain came out.
There’s a lovely tribute to him at the Guardian.
It’s a Sad & Beautiful World, alright – made more beautiful by his music, and more sad by his passing.