Post by PerhapsXarb on Mar 9, 2024 8:20:04 GMT
Frederick Mark Linkous (9 September 1962 — 6 March 2010)
Associated Acts: Sparklehorse (1995 — 2010), Dancing Hoods (c. 1983 — 1989), Salt Chunk Mary/The Johnson Family (early 1990s)
Voice Type: Vivadixiesubmarinetenorsmissionplot
Vocal Range: D2 - C5
{Vocal Summary}
The man behind Sparklehorse, Mark Linkous combined an eclectic mix of rock, pop, alt-country, and slowcore stylings to produce among the most solid discographies of the indie canon. A veteran of his field even by the time he released his first solo album, Linkous's darkly homespun, somewhat lo-fi sound, emanating the aura of a dank and mildly haunted Southern American barn, won him critical (if not commercial) success and a multitude of collaborators, among the most notable being Danger Mouse and David Lynch.
Linkous’s light yet somber voice was one of the key elements of his sound, and perhaps its most distinctive element was the whispery and mixed mid-to-upper-range he often employed, such as throughout his most successful album, 2001's It's a Wonderful Life. Fragile, crackly, and sometimes uncomfortably close-mic’d, this part of his range could truly embody the tribulations of a withered spirit, in search for the particular sort of ethereal comfort only granted by insects, horses, and babies.
However, Linkous's upper chest voice was just as important to his sound, especially in his earlier career. Carrying tonal similarities to Neil Young and Big Star-era Alex Chilton, his voice could be sharp and powerful if called for, and was almost always filtered through a low-quality microphone he found scavenging through a junkyard. Oddly enough, this combination of distortion and the occasional vibrato-y swagger can sound somewhat like a precursor to Is This It-era Julian Casablancas, who coincidentally collaborated with Linkous on Dark Night of the Soul.
While fairly bright and thin tone-wise throughout his range, Linkous was not particularly highly-placed and was quite conservative about utilizing his vocal extremities, resulting in a fairly strong though somewhat underutilized 2nd octave, and unrealized potential in the 5th octave that can only be speculated on. With all his vocal eccentricities, Linkous’s songs remain a mark (pun not originally intended) of a troubled and wistful soul, whose immense and ultimately insurmountable struggles on this planet belie an intricately ramshackle catalogue of bittersweet hopefulness that, in my view, deserves the recognition it has received and more.
Written by PerhapsXarb .
The man behind Sparklehorse, Mark Linkous combined an eclectic mix of rock, pop, alt-country, and slowcore stylings to produce among the most solid discographies of the indie canon. A veteran of his field even by the time he released his first solo album, Linkous's darkly homespun, somewhat lo-fi sound, emanating the aura of a dank and mildly haunted Southern American barn, won him critical (if not commercial) success and a multitude of collaborators, among the most notable being Danger Mouse and David Lynch.
Linkous’s light yet somber voice was one of the key elements of his sound, and perhaps its most distinctive element was the whispery and mixed mid-to-upper-range he often employed, such as throughout his most successful album, 2001's It's a Wonderful Life. Fragile, crackly, and sometimes uncomfortably close-mic’d, this part of his range could truly embody the tribulations of a withered spirit, in search for the particular sort of ethereal comfort only granted by insects, horses, and babies.
However, Linkous's upper chest voice was just as important to his sound, especially in his earlier career. Carrying tonal similarities to Neil Young and Big Star-era Alex Chilton, his voice could be sharp and powerful if called for, and was almost always filtered through a low-quality microphone he found scavenging through a junkyard. Oddly enough, this combination of distortion and the occasional vibrato-y swagger can sound somewhat like a precursor to Is This It-era Julian Casablancas, who coincidentally collaborated with Linkous on Dark Night of the Soul.
While fairly bright and thin tone-wise throughout his range, Linkous was not particularly highly-placed and was quite conservative about utilizing his vocal extremities, resulting in a fairly strong though somewhat underutilized 2nd octave, and unrealized potential in the 5th octave that can only be speculated on. With all his vocal eccentricities, Linkous’s songs remain a mark (pun not originally intended) of a troubled and wistful soul, whose immense and ultimately insurmountable struggles on this planet belie an intricately ramshackle catalogue of bittersweet hopefulness that, in my view, deserves the recognition it has received and more.
Written by PerhapsXarb .
Significant High Notes:
C5 ("O Child")
B4 ("Jack's Obsession", "My Yoke Is Heavy", "Sorry Now")
B♭4 ("Pig", "Saturday" studio/live at the Bowery Ballroom, 1998, "There Ain't Nobody But You")
A4 ("Baby's Got Rockets", "Caroline" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man", "Don't Take My Sunshine Away", "Ghost of His Smile", "Hammering the Cramps", "I Shot a Dog", "I Wish I Was Sorry Now", "Idiot Kiss", "I'm Too Tired to Beg", "Jack's Obsession", "Maria's Little Elbows" 1990 demo, "My Yoke Is Heavy", "Rainmaker", "Someday I Will Treat You Good")
G♯4 ("Anna Lee", "Daddy's Gone" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Dead Opera Star" Mark Radcliffe Session 1996, "Ghost of His Smile", "Hello Lord", "Kind Ghosts", "Knives of Summertime", "Listening to the Higsons", "O Child", "Sick of Goodbyes", "Sorry Now", "Take Back Everything" 1990 demo, "There Ain't Nobody But You", "Won't Know If You Don't Try" 1992-3 demo)
G4 ("Better Look Up", "Cow", "Dead Opera Star", "Go" 1990 demo, "Gold Day", "Happy Man" all versions, "Hundreds of Sparrows", "I Wish I Was Sorry Now", "Idiot Kiss", "If My Heart", "Maria's Little Elbows" studio/1990 demo, "More Yellow Birds", "My Yoke Is Heavy" multiple live performances, "O Child", "Rest Your Worried Mind", "Saturday", "The Scull of Lucia", "Shade and Honey", "Some Sweet Day", "Tears on Fresh Fruit", "Trains Collide" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Who'll Stop the Rain" live 1990, "You Forget to Answer" live Nico tribute 2008)
F♯4 ("All Night Home", "Antenna's Up", "Back to Mono", "Blue Letter", "Diamonds in the Mine", "Don't Take My Sunshine Away", "Everybody's Gone to Sleep" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Ghost in the Sky", "Ghost of His Smile", "Hammering the Cramps", "Hello Lord", "Hey, Joe", "Homecoming Queen", "I Shot a Dog", "I'm Too Tired to Beg", "Impossible Years", "It Will Never Stop" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Jack's Obsession", "Lately", "Rainmaker", "Reputation", "She May Call You Up Tonight", "Spirit Ditch", "Take Back Everything" 1990 demo/1992-3 demo, "Take My Chances", "Tears on Fresh Fruit", "Won't Know If You Don't Try" 1992-3 demo)
F4 ("All Night Home", "Almost Lost My Mind", "Anna Lee", "Go" studio version, "Gold Day", "Happy Man" all versions, "I Wish I Was Sorry Now", "Kind Ghosts", "Lately", "Pig", "Rock On" live with Fennesz 2009, "Someday I Will Treat You Good", "Welfare Shoes")
E4 ("Afraid" live Nico tribute 2008, "Angel from Montgomery", "Back to Mono", "Bloody Hands" XFM live 1998, "Border Patrol", "Bye Bye Jim", "Chaos of the Universe", "Comfort Me", "Cow", "Cruel Sun", "Daddy's Gone", "Dead Opera Star" Mark Radcliffe Session 1996, "Don't Take My Sunshine Away", "Everybody's Gone to Sleep", "Falling Down" Hallelujah Anyway song, "Galveston", "Getting It Wrong", "Ghost in the Sky", "Ghost of His Smile", "Happy Man" all versions, "Happy Pig (Live)", "The Hatchet Song", "Heart of Darkness", "Hey, Joe", "Homecoming Queen", "Hundreds of Sparrows", "I Fucked It Up", "I Shot a Dog", "If My Heart", "It Will Never Stop", "It's Not So Hard", "Listening to the Higsons", "Maria's Little Elbows", "Marigold", "The Most Beautiful Widow in Town", "Mountains", "Nice Evening (Transmission Down)", "Not the Only One", "O Child", "Piano Fire", "Pleasure", "Rest Your Worried Mind", "Return to Me", "See the Light", "Shade and Honey", "She May Call You Up Tonight", "Sick of Goodbyes", "So Far Away" live with Fennesz 2003, "Some Sweet Day", "Spirit Ditch", "Stay", "Sunshine", "Surfing All Over the World", "Take Back Everything" 1990 & 1992-3 demos, "Take My Chances", "Tears on Fresh Fruit", "Torn Away" live on 120 Minutes 1987, "Trains Collide" live ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2007, "Waiting for Nothing", "Wish I Could Tell You", "Wish You Were Here", "Won't Know If You Don't Try" 1990 & 1992-3 demos)
Significant Low Notes:
D3 ("Babies on the Sun", "Chaos of the Universe", "Comfort Me", "Evening Star Supercharger", "Falling Down" Bird Machine song, "Galveston", "Go" 1990 demo, "I Fucked It Up", "King of Nails", "Little Fat Baby", "London", "Maria's Little Elbows", "More Yellow Birds", "Morning Hollow", "The Most Beautiful Widow in Town", "Mountains", "One Man's Blood" multiple live performances, "Painbirds", "Return to Me", "Saint Mary", "The Scull of Lucia", "See the Light", "Some Sweet Day", "Someday I Will Treat You Good", "Too Late", "Weird Sisters", "Wish You Were Here", "You Forget to Answer" live Nico tribute 2008)
C♯3 ("Back to Mono", "Falling Down" Bird Machine song, "Gasoline Horseys", "The Hatchet Song", "Homecoming Queen", "It Will Never Stop", "Kind Ghosts", "Marigold", "Sea of Teeth", "Sick of Goodbyes", "Sorry Now", "There Ain't Nobody But You", "Too Late")
C3 ("Apple Bed", "Caroline", "Come on In", "Cow", "Devil's New", "Evening Star Supercharger", "Everybody's Gone to Sleep", "Eyepennies", "Go" studio version, "Junebug", "Return to Me", "See the Light", "So Far Away" live with Fennesz 2003, "West of Rome")
B2 ("Cruel Sun", "Daddy's Gone", "Devil's New" 2007 version, "Go" 1990 demo, "The Hatchet Song", "King of Nails", "The Most Beautiful Widow in Town", "Painbirds", "Sad and Beautiful World", "Some Sweet Day")
B♭2 ("Anna Lee", "Dark as a Dungeon", "There Ain't Nobody But You", "West of Rome")
A2 ("Apple Bed", "Caroline", "Evening Star Supercharger", "Hundreds of Sparrows", "Knives of Summertime", "Marigold", "Morning Hollow", "My Yoke Is Heavy", "Sad and Beautiful World", "Sick of Goodbyes", "Weird Sisters")
G♯2 ("Dead Opera Star", "I Can Buy You")
G2 ("Apple Bed", "Cow", "Cruel Sun", "Devil's New" 2007 version, "Hundreds of Sparrows", "In the Dry", "Junebug", "Maria's Little Elbows", "Sad and Beautiful World", "Shade and Honey", "You Forget to Answer" live Nico tribute 2008)
F♯2 ("Caroline", "King of Nails")
F2 ("Dead Opera Star", "Shade and Honey")
E2 ("In the Dry")
E♭2 ("Dark as a Dungeon")
D2 ("In the Dry")
{Questionable Notes}
D5 ("Comfort Me" [2])
C♯5 "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" [2], "Graveyard Shift" [2])
B4 ("Baby's Got Rockets" [2], "King of Nails" [2],"Pig" [5] (overshot B♭4), "Rainmaker" [1], [3])
A4 ("Not the Only One" [2])
G♯4 ("King of Nails" [2])
F♯4 ("Build a House" [2])
E4 ("Forget It" [2], "Tell You Something" [2], [4], "Wild and the Lonely" [2])
D3 ("Girl Problems" [2], "It's a Wonderful Life" [1])
C3 ("Heart of Darkness" [1])
A2 ("Ghost of His Smile" [1], "More Yellow Birds" [1], "Saint Mary" [1])
G♯2 ("Homecoming Queen" [1], "Kind Ghosts" [1])
G2 ("Devil's New" [4])
F♯2 ("Weird Sisters" [1])
E2 ("Caroline" [1])
C2 ("It's a Wonderful Life" live Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn [1], [4])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
D5 ("Comfort Me" [2])
C♯5 "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" [2], "Graveyard Shift" [2])
B4 ("Baby's Got Rockets" [2], "King of Nails" [2],"Pig" [5] (overshot B♭4), "Rainmaker" [1], [3])
A4 ("Not the Only One" [2])
G♯4 ("King of Nails" [2])
F♯4 ("Build a House" [2])
E4 ("Forget It" [2], "Tell You Something" [2], [4], "Wild and the Lonely" [2])
D3 ("Girl Problems" [2], "It's a Wonderful Life" [1])
C3 ("Heart of Darkness" [1])
A2 ("Ghost of His Smile" [1], "More Yellow Birds" [1], "Saint Mary" [1])
G♯2 ("Homecoming Queen" [1], "Kind Ghosts" [1])
G2 ("Devil's New" [4])
F♯2 ("Weird Sisters" [1])
E2 ("Caroline" [1])
C2 ("It's a Wonderful Life" live Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn [1], [4])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
.......................................................
Blue marks soft falsetto or whistle notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
{Album Ranges}
Sparklehorse:
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995): G2 - A4 - B♭4
Chords I've Known EP (1996): F2 - B2 - G4
Good Morning Spider (1998): G2 - B♭4
Distorted Ghost EP (2000): A2 - A4 - B4
It's a Wonderful Life (2001): F♯2 - G4
Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (2006): F2 - F♯4 - A4
Bird Machine (2023; mostly recorded in 2009): A2 - G♯4 - C5
Sparklehorse:
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995): G2 - A4 - B♭4
Chords I've Known EP (1996): F2 - B2 - G4
Good Morning Spider (1998): G2 - B♭4
Distorted Ghost EP (2000): A2 - A4 - B4
It's a Wonderful Life (2001): F♯2 - G4
Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (2006): F2 - F♯4 - A4
Bird Machine (2023; mostly recorded in 2009): A2 - G♯4 - C5
Top Vocal Performances:
1. "Pig"
2. "Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man"
3. "Hundreds of Sparrows"
4. "Someday I Will Treat You Good"
5. "Gold Day"
6. "Hello Lord"
7. "Rainmaker"
8. "There Ain't Nobody But You"
9. "Tears on Fresh Fruit"
10. "Dead Opera Star"
11. "Saturday"
12. "Shade and Honey"
13. "Spirit Ditch"
14. "Ghost in the Sky"
15. "Sick of Goodbyes"
16. "In the Dry"
17. "My Yoke Is Heavy"
18. "Ghost of His Smile"
19. "Rest Your Worried Mind"
20. "Maria's Little Elbows"
