It's a Wonderful Life (album)
Encyclopedia
It's a Wonderful Life is the third album
by Virginia
n indie rock
group Sparklehorse
, released in 2001. The album features appearances by Tom Waits
, PJ Harvey
, John Parish
, Nina Persson
, Vic Chesnutt
, and Dave Fridmann
.
except where stated.
Linkous played with a full band while recording It’s a Wonderful Life. He also worked with a wide array of guest musicians, which included PJ Harvey and Tom Waits. Linkous was reportedly incredibly nervous about contacting Waits. According to Guardian.co.uk, Linkous had to take five shots of whiskey before gaining the courage to call the famous singer-songwriter. During the phone call, the two men planned a meeting in California. The meeting was quite unusual and took place inside an SUV as the two men rode down a California highway. Within the car they discussed possible album ideas, their least-favorite animals, and their mutual disgust for turkey vultures. Waits went on to record the song “Dog Door” with Linkous on the album.
It’s a Wonderful Life was recorded years after Linkous’s near-fatal overdose from heroin, anti-depressants, and alcohol in a London hotel room. The incident received a large amount of media coverage and was documented within several music magazines, including Rolling Stone and Spin. Linkous frequently had to answer questions about his overdose during interviews. He was also chastised by some critics for the exceedingly somber themes in his work. The album’s title track is a melancholy ode to the beauties of life. The chorus has Linkous faintly whispering, “It’s a wonderful life,” over and over, on top of lush orchestration in addition to looping electronic textures. Linkous declares the song is a fuck-you to journalists who can’t forget about his brush with death, or see the beauty hidden within his songs.
All of the album's songs were made into music videos by various filmmakers, such as the Quay Brothers, Garine Torossian
, Michele Civetta
, Grant Gee
, and Guy Maddin
, which became the subject of the October 26, 2001, episode of the Sundance Channel series Sonic Cinema.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
n indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
, released in 2001. The album features appearances by Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, John Parish
John Parish
John Parish is a British musician and producer best known for his work with singer and songwriter PJ Harvey,. His sister is the actress Sarah Parish.-Partial discography:Solo*Rosie *How Animals Move...
, Nina Persson
Nina Persson
is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish pop group The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and appearing on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited...
, Vic Chesnutt
Vic Chesnutt
James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...
, and Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. From 1990 onwards he co-produced all releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips...
.
Track listing
All tracks by Mark LinkousMark Linkous
Mark Linkous was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Nina Persson, Sean Terrington Wright, David...
except where stated.
- "It's a Wonderful Life" – 2:59
- "Gold Day" – 4:14
- "Piano Fire" – 2:43
- "Sea of Teeth" – 4:29
- "Apple Bed" – 4:54
- "King of Nails" – 4:18
- "Eyepennies" – 5:27
- "Dog Door" (BrennanKathleen BrennanKathleen Brennan is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and artist. She was born in Johnsburg, Illinois, as noted by her husband and musical collaborator Tom Waits, in the song of the same name. Brennan and Waits met in 1980 during the filming of the Francis Ford Coppola film One from...
/Linkous/WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
) – 2:46 - "More Yellow Birds" – 4:53
- "Little Fat Baby" (ChesnuttVic ChesnuttJames Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...
/Linkous) – 3:40 - "Devil's New" – 3:32
- Excluded from European release.
- "Comfort Me" – 5:01
- "Babies on the Sun" – 4:37
- "Morning Hollow" [hidden track] – 7:26
Recording history
Mark Linkous recorded his first two albums, Good Morning, Spider and Vivadixesubmarinetransmissionplot, in a small room inside his Virginia farm. There he worked by himself, providing all of the instrumentation and vocals for those albums. Since the release of those albums, however, "the guy who hired me left [Capitol]," according to Linkous, and his successor discouraged the solo-production process. As a result, It’s a Wonderful Life was the first Sparklehorse outing in which Mark Linkous did not perform alone in his private studio. “I didn't want to play every instrument on every song,” said Linkous, in an interview with Free Williamsburg Online Magazine. “I didn't want to be behind the control console the whole time. I wanted to have other people's brains and input involved.”Linkous played with a full band while recording It’s a Wonderful Life. He also worked with a wide array of guest musicians, which included PJ Harvey and Tom Waits. Linkous was reportedly incredibly nervous about contacting Waits. According to Guardian.co.uk, Linkous had to take five shots of whiskey before gaining the courage to call the famous singer-songwriter. During the phone call, the two men planned a meeting in California. The meeting was quite unusual and took place inside an SUV as the two men rode down a California highway. Within the car they discussed possible album ideas, their least-favorite animals, and their mutual disgust for turkey vultures. Waits went on to record the song “Dog Door” with Linkous on the album.
It’s a Wonderful Life was recorded years after Linkous’s near-fatal overdose from heroin, anti-depressants, and alcohol in a London hotel room. The incident received a large amount of media coverage and was documented within several music magazines, including Rolling Stone and Spin. Linkous frequently had to answer questions about his overdose during interviews. He was also chastised by some critics for the exceedingly somber themes in his work. The album’s title track is a melancholy ode to the beauties of life. The chorus has Linkous faintly whispering, “It’s a wonderful life,” over and over, on top of lush orchestration in addition to looping electronic textures. Linkous declares the song is a fuck-you to journalists who can’t forget about his brush with death, or see the beauty hidden within his songs.
All of the album's songs were made into music videos by various filmmakers, such as the Quay Brothers, Garine Torossian
Gariné Torossian
Gariné Torossian is a self-taught Armenian-Canadian film maker. Her works include a clip for Los Angeles based System of a Down and a long feature Stone, Time, Touch which won best feature at the Warsaw International Film Festival in 2007...
, Michele Civetta
Michele Civetta
-Career:Civetta has directed videos for Lou Reed, Sparklehorse, Marracash, Ladytron, Yoko Ono. Commercials for Coca-Cola, Martini & Rossi, Cingular wireless, Badoit mineral water. In 2006 Civetta wrote and directed an ambitious and critically acclaimed musical feature for Sean Lennon's Capitol...
, Grant Gee
Grant Gee
Grant Gee is a film director and cinematographer currently living in Brighton. He was born in Plymouth and studied Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford....
, and Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, which became the subject of the October 26, 2001, episode of the Sundance Channel series Sonic Cinema.
Personnel
- Mark LinkousMark LinkousMark Linkous was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Nina Persson, Sean Terrington Wright, David...
—Voice (1–7, 9, 10, 12–14), optigan (1, 2, 6, 8, 12, 13), chamberlin (1, 2), sampler (1, 4, 5, 8), guitar (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12), Wurlitzer piano (2), percussion (2), acoustic guitar (3), Casio keyboard (3), mellotron (4, 13), drum machine (5, 12), Prophet 5 synthesizer (6, 12), drums (8), backwards midget voice (8), Magic Genie organ (9), Moog synthesizer (12, 13), wire recorder (13), baritone guitar (14), e-bow guitar (14) - Dave FridmannDave FridmannDave Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. From 1990 onwards he co-produced all releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips...
—bass (2, 4, 12), Wurlitzer piano (2, 14), mellotron (2), piano (4, 12), chamberlin (12, 13), glockenspiel (13), vibraphone (14) - Joel HamiltonJoel HamiltonJoel Hamilton is a producer, engineer, and musician originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Since the late 1990s he has been based out of Brooklyn, NY. He shares a studio with partner Tony Maimone named Studio G. He has worked with a number of well known artists, as well as writing for various...
—Engineer - Polly Jean Harvey—voice (3, 7), electric guitar (3), piano (3), guitar (7)
- Sophie Michalitsianos—Voice (6, 10, 12–14), bass (6)
- Scott Minor—Drums (2–4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14), orchestron (2), electronic birds (2), electronics (3, 5, 12, 13), Russian satellite (4), chamberlin (4), filtered drums (5), percussion (6, 12), Korg MS-20 keyboard (12), harmonium (14)
- John ParishJohn ParishJohn Parish is a British musician and producer best known for his work with singer and songwriter PJ Harvey,. His sister is the actress Sarah Parish.-Partial discography:Solo*Rosie *How Animals Move...
—bass (3), Casio keyboard (3), piano (7) - Nina PerssonNina Perssonis the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish pop group The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and appearing on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited...
—voice (2, 5) - Miguel Rodriguez—drums (9)
- Bob Rupe—bass (5, 10)
- Jane ScarpantoniJane ScarpantoniJane Scarpantoni is a classically trained cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums.She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-'80s, then went on to play with other musicians especially those associated with the Hoboken underground rock scene of the...
—cello (5, 10, 14) - Adrian UtleyAdrian UtleyAdrian Francis Utley is an English musician and a member of the band Portishead.-Biography:Utley is self-taught on guitar, bass and keyboards, and played professionally from the age of 18 in working men's clubs, night clubs, holiday camps, and in cabaret, backing soul artists...
—Dictaphone (2), bass (7), Kitty-Cat guitar (8), fuzzy-ending bass (8) - Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
—voice (8), big seed pod (8), metal things (8), train (8), piano (14) - Joan WasserJoan WasserJoan Wasser is a violinist and singer/songwriter in the indie rock world. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. She has released three albums as a singer songwriter, the 2006 Real Life the 2008 To Survive and the 2011 The Deep Field...
—violin (5, 10, 14), Wurlitzer piano (10) - Alan Weatherhead—orchestron (9), mellotron (9), chamberlin (9), lap steel guitar (9)
- Margaret White—bass (9), violin (9)
- Rex L. White—pedal-steel guitar (12)