Like many great artists, Sparklehorse mastermind Mark Linkous led a troubled life. His struggle with drugs and personal demons led him to a near-death overdose experience while on tour with Radiohead in 1996. However, it also drove him to explore deep creative recesses, and saw him collaborate with a plethora of modern music’s finest, including the Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Vic Chesnutt, Danger Mouse, David Lynch, Iggy Pop, and Radiohead themselves.

Over the weekend, however, Linkous lost his inner battles, taking his own life in an alleyway in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 47. The artist was in the process of relocating to the area, where his frequent collaborator, Scott Minor, is based, and was reportedly putting the finishing touches on a new album, the follow-up to 2006′s Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain — an album that scored an enviable 8.3 rating from Pitchfork. … Read More