exploremusic

Here’s the Deal with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse

I’m afraid we have to begin with a very sad story.  Mark Linkous, the guy behind the band, Sparklehorse, and a collaborator with Danger Mouse on a soon-to-be-released record called Dark Night of the Soul, has died.  He committed suicide sometime on Saturday.

Mark had a difficult life.  In 1996, he ODed on alcohol, Valium and anti-depressants and passed out in his hotel room.  Somehow, his legs got pinned beneath him for fourteen hours and when he was rescued, doctors were worried that he’d lose them.  He recovered, but not without spending six months in a wheelchair.

There were several Sparklehorse records, all which were well-regarded by critics and other musicians.  He was also a record producer.  No one knows how old he was, but the best guess is somewhere in his forties.  Check out this video of a minor alt-rock hit from 1995 called “Someday I Will Treat You Good”.

Here’s the Deal with The Musical Da Vinci Code

If you’re a fan of The Da Vinci Code, you’ll love this.  Back in 2007, an Italian musicologist says he found music encoded in da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper—a forty second tune that sounds like a requiem.  Here’ what it sounds like. 

That same guy is thinking about suing a jazz musician from Manitoba because he claims he plagiarized it for his own purposes. 

So let’s get this straight:  a dude “discovers” music allegedly encrypted in a 500 year-old painting that he did not paint and claims that no one else can use it on the ground that HE would be plagiarized?  Am I the only one who finds that really, really weird?

Here’s the Deal with Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland

And finally, it was a HUGE weekend for Tim Burton’s new film, his bad acid trip version of Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp.  The movie brought in over $116 million in North America and $210 million worldwide in its opening weekend, with $41 million on Friday alone.  Those are almost Avatar numbers.  Not quite, but close.

This gives us an excuse to look at the soundtrack called Almost Alice, which features a nice array of artists:  Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, Wolfmother, Shinedown, All-American Rejects, Franz Ferdinand and a bunch of others.

The song that caught my attention is called “Very Good Advice”.  First, it’s the only song from the 1951 animated version of Alice in Wonderland that was put out by Disney.  Second, it’s from Robert Smith—not “The Cure” but “Robert Smith.”  Read into that what you wish.

For what it’s worth, I think “Inglorious Basterds” was a much better movie that “The Hurt Locker”.

ExploreMusic Playlist: The songs featured on the radio show today were:

“By The Sword” by Slash Feat. Andrew Stockdale
“Very Good Advice” by Robert Smith
“Orson Brawl” by 100 Monkeys
“Sing Your Heart Out” (Live) by The Trews