Sparklehorse Record with Fridmann, Eye Summer Release
My Pretty Pony paints "SLAVE" on side of face in own manure, refuses to be brushed

[Posted Tuesday, January 13th, 2004 01:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Mark Linkous, the mercurial genius who is Sparklehorse, has been back in the studio working on what will become his fourth full-length album, a follow-up to 2001's It's a Wonderful Life. Prolific and well-connected producer Dave Fridmann booked some time with Linkous at Fridmann's very own Tarbox Studios in Cassadaga, NY back in December, and Linkous has also been logging some time at his own Static King Studios in Virginia. Fridmann, esteemed producer of both the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev (with whom he has also been working again lately), was also at the controls for the last record.

The new album, as yet untitled, is due to be released in the summer of this year, according to Sparklehorse's lords and masters at Capitol Records. Of course, you might want to take reports of this recent activity with a certain amount of sodium chloride, since we reported on a similar visit to the studio by Linkous and his friends back in November 2002, with a view to a release sometime in the summer of 2003, so we've kind of been here before. Look for a similar story to appear here in early 2005 as the saga repeats itself once more.

But while things might have been a little quiet on the recording and releasing fronts lo these last two or three years, Mark Linkous has certainly not been idle. He made a cameo in last year's movie Laurel Canyon, whose soundtrack also featured a number of his songs, including "Someday I Will Treat You Good" (from 1995's Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot), as covered by Alessandro Nivola and featuring New Folk Implosion implosioneers Lou Barlow, Imaad Wasif and Russ Pollard. The band has also toured with R.E.M. and the Flaming Lips in recent months.

Sparklehorse: http://www.sparklehorse.com