It's a Wonderful Life (album)

Untitled

It's a Wonderful Life is the third album by Virginian 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.

Track listing

All tracks by Mark Linkous except where stated.

1. "It's a Wonderful Life" – 2:59
2. "Gold Day" – 4:14
3. "Piano Fire" – 2:43
4. "Sea of Teeth" – 4:29
5. "Apple Bed" – 4:54
6. "King of Nails" – 4:18
7. "Eyepennies" – 5:27
8. "Dog Door" (Brennan/Linkous/Waits) – 2:46
9. "More Yellow Birds" – 4:53
10. "Little Fat Baby" (Chesnutt/Linkous) – 3:40
11. "Devil's New" – 3:32
    • Excluded from European release.
12. "Comfort Me" – 5:01
13. "Babies on the Sun" – 4:37
14. "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, Michele Civetta, Grant Gee, and Guy Maddin, which became the subject of the October 26, 2001, episode of the Sundance Channel series Sonic Cinema.

Personnel

• Mark Linkous—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 Fridmann—bass (2, 4, 12), Wurlitzer piano (2, 14), mellotron (2), piano (4, 12), chamberlin (12, 13), glockenspiel (13), vibraphone (14)
• Joel Hamilton—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 Parish—bass (3), Casio keyboard (3), piano (7)
• Nina Persson—voice (2, 5)
• Miguel Rodriguez—drums (9)
• Bob Rupe—bass (5, 10)
• Jane Scarpantoni—cello (5, 10, 14)
• Adrian Utley—Dictaphone (2), bass (7), Kitty-Cat guitar (8), fuzzy-ending bass (8)
• Tom Waits—voice (8), big seed pod (8), metal things (8), train (8), piano (14)
• Joan Wasser—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)