Sparklehorse

The new dog is called Sweet Pea. Seems the pound is located on the same site as the Fluvanna County landfill, and whenever Mark gets too involved in his metal scavenging Teresa will make her way over to view the new orphans. The bitch quickly latched on as Hank’s girlfriend, and may well be the inspiration for Alpha Female, the first Rabbit record-in-progress. (Rabbit is Mark’s side project with Scott Minor. They’re pretty secretive about the details, though we’ve learned that it may ultimately have something to do with traditional Mexican cooking.) There are two more cats (Jimmy Stewart and Robert Mitchum, on account of the black week they arrived), one less chameleon (it died in Mark’s hand, “of natural causes”), one more Moto Guzzi and a well worn 1960 Simplicity tractor with flame decals.

They don’t live in the same house as last time. They’ve moved 33 miles up the road, to Dillwyn (or Enon) where there’s a stand of pines out back and no tippling landlord crushing the dawn with a backhoe eight or nine days a week.

The move happened in mid-May, which meant that even though Mark could have kept tinkering with this mix or that for a few weeks more, the studio had to come down.

Most everything used to make Good Morning Spider is still packed up in a box, including but not limited to: Wurlitzer organ “what plays only the good, square wave frequencies;” Toys R Us “Yackback” sampler; Hohner tape echo; the Tascam hi-8 recording machines and Mackie 24-channel board, at least some of which have been paid for.

We must admit there were a few detours in getting from “vivadixiesubmarine- transmissionplot”, Sparklehorse’s Capitol debut, to Good Morning Spider. Mark wound up spending a lot more time in Europe than anyone could have expected, much of this was due to the generous patronage of Radiohead, who are forever offering touring opportunities that can hardly be refused.

Then, of course, there was the unscheduled twelve-week stay at St. Mary’s hospital in central London. We’re happy to report that after all the drama, Mark is again able to enjoy all the pleasures of a motorbike and practice his kung fu. We were also most pleased at the discovery of the ladybugs that invaded the studio in its final days, promising a smoother ride this time.

Who’s who:

Mark Linkous – your host, sang and played guitar, bass, wurlitzer, piano, optigan, sampler, vibraphone, harmonium, speak and spell, concertina, percussion & drum machine.

Contrary to earlier reports, neither Mark Linkous nor Sparklehorse will be participating in the John Denver Tribute project, though this is in no way meant as disrespect to the late Mr. Denver or his work.

Sophie Michalitsianos – She’s Australian. She plays cello (as listed above on Spider credits). She sings, too. Her Sophia Loren good looks are a wonderful supplement to her vast reservoir of talent and her unpronounceable last name.

Jonathan E. Segel – Jonathan, an envied multi-instrumentalist was an integral member of Camper Van Beethoven and has spearheaded and been part of many other musical projects. He plays keyboards, guitar and a mean fiddle (sorry… violin) while touring with the great Sparklehorse.

Scott Minor – In addition to being a tasteful skinsman, Scott, like the aforementioned Mister Linkous, is a great enthusiast of the fine gasoline horsey. He lives in Brooklyn and as long as he does, Brooklyn will never be soft.

Scott Fitzsimmons – This Scott plays stand up bass with great finesse and possesses a coveted set of cheekbones as well as admirable height.