As in the Discography, a * will break you through to the relative page at Amazon.com, and a * will search the Global Electronic Music Marketplace, or GEMM, for that title.
	House of Freaks - 'All My Friends' * * Mark appears on House of Freaks' 1989 E.P 'All My Friends', laying down a foot stomp on the track 'This Old Town'. The Blue Cricket site explains that "House of Freaks was a two-man band composed of singer/guitarist Bryan Harvey and percussionist Johnny Hott, who had a penchant for banging on anything he could drag into the studio that made the noise he wanted". After finishing recording the album 'Tantilla' in the band's adopted home of LA, Bryan packed up his kit-bag, and headed back to Virginia. As he relates, "just after Christmas of '88, we went into the studio, at Rhino's request, to record B-sides for any single releases from 'Tantilla' . . . we thought it might be fun to record some stuff, here at home, far away from record industry interference . . . the songs quickly spun off into outer space and we had a blast recording them. We started calling up a bunch of our friends to come down and sit in on our tape. During the sessions, Johnny and I kept saying 'Boy isn't it great to have all our friends around, again?'" Of the song 'This Old Town', Bryan writes, "I don't remember when or where this was written. I know I wrote it . . . probably just some ditty I wrote in my apartment. It was recorded live, with me on guitar and voice, Johnny playing washboard and Mark Linkous on foot stomp."
	F.S.K. - 'Son of Kraut' * Mark Linkous is credited as the banjo-picker for FSK's 1991 record 'Son of Kraut'. As Subup Records explains, "the German independent band F.S.K. (originally named after the West German self censorship institution Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle) was founded in 1980 by four members of the underground magazine 'Mode & Verzweiflung' (Fashion & Despair). In November and December 1990, invited and produced by GI son David Lowery, F.S.K. recorded their first real trans-atlantic album in Richmond, Virginia. Besides Lowery (new F.S.K. member on acoustic guitar, voice, songwriting and arrangements), new in the band was also ex Tony Joe White drummer Carson Huggins, a GI son with a German mother. Guests and friends on the F.S.K. Richmond recordings at McCavitt Studios were Beatnik Folk legend Michael Hurley, Bakersfield picker and today's Cracker virtuoso Johnny Hickman, Square Dance harmonica man Phil Woddail, Banjo picker Mark Linkous, Bluegrass fiddler Dave Van Deventer, and engineer John Morand on additional percussion. The first American F.S.K. gig (as German-American Sextet plus friends) was at Richmond's Famous Franks."
	F.S.K. - 'Sound of Music' * * Mark also sings backing vocals on the 1993 album 'Sound of Music'. As Subup says, "In May 1993 the five German band members flew once more to Richmond to record another outstanding album with their American friends, 'The Sound Of Music', again produced by David Lowery and engineered by John Morand at Turpentine Mill Recorders (now owned by Lowery and named The Sound Of Music). Lowery sings (two Lowery originals and one song in German) and plays on it extensively. Guests include Paul Watson on trumpet and alto horn, Mark Linkous on vocals, and young Hohner USA employee Joshua Camp on accordion. Wild shows in Richmond, Virgnia, (Pyro's), Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club), and Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Local 506). Live radio appearances at WVGO, Richmond and WXYC, Chapel Hill." For free mp3s and more info, see Pitch-a-Tent records' FSK page.
	Cracker - 'Kerosene Hat' * * Mark co-wrote the song 'Sick of Goodbyes' with David Lowery for Cracker's 1993 record 'Kerosene Hat'. Mark's revised version of the song appears on the Sparklehorse album 'Good Morning Spider'.
	Gutterball - 'Gutterball' * * Mark earnt a backing vocals credit on Gutterball's 1993 album 'Gutterball', for singing on the tracks 'Motorcycle Boy' and 'One by One'.
	I Wish I Were A Carpenter * Mark guests on guitar for Cracker's cover of the Carpenter's classic 'Rainy Days and Mondays' on this 1994 tribute album. The album also features covers by Shonen Knife, Sonic Youth, Bettie Serveert, Matthew Sweet, and Grant Lee Philips among others.
	A Loose Confederation of Saturday City-States * 'A Loose Confederation of Saturday City-States' consists of singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt, Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, Cracker's David Lowery, and Paul Niehaus and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop. Their one release is a Slow River Records 7" titled 'A Sudden 2 Song Gestalt Amongst Paul, Mark, David, Kurt, Vic' [SRR 25075-7]. The record contains two tracks, 'Plagiarism,' and 'How Can I Face Tomorrow,' and was recorded in Athens, GA at John Keane's studio, April 1995. 'How Can I Face Tomorrow' is also included on the Slow River sampler 'Diversions.' The record came about as Vic was having trouble with his own recording, and when the others dropped by to see how things were going, they prescribed a bourbon-soaked weekend collaboration, and the 7" was the result. Slow River released the seven inch in November, 1995. KFJC's review: "This is a very soft spoken country-flavored single from a bunch of famous schmucks looking to get out of the spotlight... [more]
	Susanna Hoffs - 'Susanna Hoffs' * * Mark co-wrote some songs for ex-Bangle Susannah Hoff's 1996 album 'Susannah Hoffs'. 'Enormous Wings' was written with Hoffs, 'Darling One' with Hoffs and David Lowery, and 'Happy Place' with Lowery. Mark also plays 'Happy Place' as Sparklehorse, and his version of the song can be found on the 'Distorted Ghost EP'. As well as helping out with the writing Mark also plays banjo and guitar on a few tracks. The Lilith Fair site says of the album, "'Susanna Hoffs' features twelve new songs, most of them written by Hoffs in collaboration with such notables as former Go-Go's member Charlotte Caffey, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, David Lowery of Cracker and noted songwriter/musicians David Baerwald and David Kitay. The latter pair coproduced much of the album along with Hoffs and rising studio star Jack Joseph Puig. Matt Wallace also produced one track. The collection also boasts a stellar musical cast including Caffey, Linkous, Jellyfish graduates Jason Falkner and Roger Manning, renowned session players Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz and Jon Brion, rock legend Mick Fleetwood, Cracker alumnus Davey Faragher and Four Non Blondes frontwoman Linda Perry, as well as members of such bands as That Dog, Wire Train and American Music Club".
	Boys * 'Sad and Beautiful World' is used somewhere in the unremarkable movie 'Boys', and also features on the soundtrack album. "High school senior John Baker Jr. (Lukas Haas) is fast approaching the end of a miserable stint at the Sherwood School for Boys. Staring him in the face are his father's footsteps - and an expected path through the corporate jungle he dreads to follow. But then a chance encounter with a damsel in distress suddenly and wondrously introduces him to love. John's life takes on new meaning when he rescues Patty Vare (Winona Ryder), a sensuous and sophisticated older woman who he finds lying on the ground semi-conscious, after falling from her horse." - Movieweb
	Eric Drilling's 'River Red' Independant director Eric Drilling's film 'River Red' is about a young man (Tom Everett Scott) who kills his drunken, abusive father (Denis O'Hare) to protect his younger brother (David Moscow). The younger brother realises he will get off lightly if he admits to the crime instead of his brother, and so goes to jail. The older brother is left fighting the family debt, but is unable to earn enough washing dishes, so sets off on a convenience store hold-up spree... - IMDB. 'River Red' features a score by Johnny Hickman, and has Cracker's David Lowery playing the part of barman Billie. The film also features music by bands Hickman and Lowery (who was also the film's 'co-music supervisor') have worked with, including the Seymores, Sparklehorse, Lauren Hoffman, Elliot Smith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, German polka band FSK, Spike the Dog, Supple, and September 67.
	Jem Cohen - 'Blood Orange Sky' Mark provided some music for New York director Jem Cohen's 1999 documentary 'Blood Orange Sky'. The 26 minute film is a portrait of Catania, Sicily, a town just to the south of active volcano Mt Etna. The original soundtrack music was composed by Mark Linkous, and the film also features music by local Catania musicians. The documentary was made at the invitation of Officine, a Sicilian arts group. For more info on the director, and a clip featuring some of Mr Linkous' score visit the VDB. Jem Cohen also contributed the 'Nice Evening (Transmission Down)' video to the 'It's a Wonderful Life' video project.
	Scott Sturm's 'Burn' Director Scott Storm's first feature, 'Burn', apparently features some Sparklehorse music somewhere, which is possibly due in part to the involvement of Adam Duritz (Counting Crows singer, and Richmond scener) as co-executive producer. "Burn centers on the idea of rebirth through destruction. It explores the concept of what an artist must destroy in order to create. Ben Sharp, the artist in question, finds a perfect victim to feed to his creative demons in Tom Rice, an old high school friend and rival. In the process of finding himself through the destruction of Tom, Ben also manages to right injustices done against him in the past, and finds himself as a man." - Slamdance.
	Brad Anderson's 'Happy Accidents' 'Happy Accidents' has been described as "a comedy that pays tribute to the science fiction genre - specifically, the sub-genre of time travel. But here the alternate reality is contemporary New York City where past and future experiences of trust, commitment and denial are cleverly put to the test." - Magic Lantern. The independant director's third film stars Marisa Tomei, Vincent D'Onofrio, Holland Taylor, and Nadia Dajani, and apparently features Sparklehorse's music somewhere as well, although the band do not appear on the soundtrack album.
	John Cusack's - 'Chicago Cab' * * 'Hammering the Cramps' features in and on the soundtrack to John Cusack's 'Chicago Cab'. The movie stars Cusack, Paul Dillon, Gillian Anderson, Julianne Moore, and Laurie Metcalf. CDNOW thought that "in a summer of brawny and almost universally awful soundtrack releases, Chicago Cab's admirable reliance on baby bands and indie acts at the expense of mainstream star wattage (Pearl Jam notwithstanding) seems almost brave. Produced by Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard and released on his imprint label, Loosegroove, Chicago Cab places an understandable emphasis on Pearl Jam-related acts: There's a fine, funky, track from Gossard's side band, Brad; a loopy, oddly endearing offering from Hovercraft, for which Eddie Vedder's wife, Beth Liebling, is the drummer; and two Pearl Jam tracks, one of which, the previously unreleased, longtime live favorite "Hard to Imagine," is good enough to make everyone remember why they used to like Pearl Jam so much in the first place. Newer acts like the Hi-Fi Killers and Fu Manchu acquit themselves admirably, while college radio stalwarts like the Grifters, Supergrass, and Sparklehorse all contribute deft, likeable tracks".
	Shivaree - 'EPK' * * Since the Sparklehorse EPK that Mark and Scott directed was so good, label-mates Shivaree got Mark to do theirs too. Capitol has a clip of the product on their Shivaree site. The video-bio was made in 2000 around the time that Shivaree released their first album, 'I Oughtta Give You A Shot In The Head For Making Me Live In This Dump'. Shivaree are a three-piece from the San Fernando Valley, with Duke McVinnie on guitars, Danny McGough playing keyboards and gizmos, and Ambrosia Parsley providing vocals.
	A Camp - 'A Camp' * * Mark first got involved with the A Camp project when the band ran into a couple of Cardigans while on tour in Europe at the end of 1998. Nina gave Mark a demo tape of the project, and he was hooked. "Initially a collaboration between Persson and Atomic Swing's Niclas Frisk, the 'A Camp' project was put on hold while the Cardigans promoted and toured 'Gran Turismo'. Persson asked Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous to produce new recordings of the A Camp songs. In return, Linkous invited Persson to guest on his in-progress 'It's A Wonderful Life'. With production duties handled by Linkous, players on the self-titled A Camp album include Frisk, Linkous, numerous members of the Shudder To Think/Dambuilders family (Nathan Larson, Kavin March, Joan Wasser), Crooked Fingers' Miguel Urbiztondo, and Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue - on musical saw, no less" - Neumu. Mark co-wrote 'Elephant' with Persson, and is also credited for playing guitars, chamberlin, keyboards, orchestron, and magic genie organ.
	Denali - 'Denali' * * Denali are a four piece from Richmond, VA, composed of Maura Davis, her brother Keely on bass, drummer Jonathan Fuller and guitarist Cam DiNunzio. Keely and Jonathan are also members of Engine Down, another Richmond band. Mark helped produce two tracks of the band's debut record, and production collaborator and Sound of Music man Al Weatherhead did the rest. The self-titled album was released on Jade Tree records in April, 2002. Says Popmatters, "an emotionally charged but not desperate sound, a mix between fuzzed-out dream pop and zoned-out ambient - like the lovechild of Portishead and Siamese Dream era Smashing Pumpkins. Their songs are both nebulous and gravitational, anchored by dark chord progressions, as Maura's singing flies, gossamer, above the chaos".
	Daniel Johnston and Mark Linkous - 'Fear Yourself' * * Mark and Daniel Johnston recorded the bulk of a collaborative album in the autumn of 2001 in Mark's Static King studio. Production and engineering work was then done by Mark and Al Weatherhead at the Sound of Music studio in Richmond in the spring of 2002. The album, called 'Fear Yourself' was released on Johnston's label Gammon Records. "Linkous is credited as the producer of the sessions and has layered his own brand of strings, mellotron, and chilling backdrops around Johnston's heart-wrenching and brilliant songs. Some tracks harken back to Johnston's earlier career with simple guitar and piano accompaniment, while others lean more towards the Modern Lovers, or some large-scale off-kilter show tune" - Gammon Records Press Release. Mark has previously covered a couple of Johnston's songs, 'Hey, Joe' from 'Good Morning Spider' and 'My Yoke is Heavy' off the 'Distorted Ghost' EP. The Linkous-produced 'A Camp' album features another of Johnston's songs, 'Walking the Cow'.
	Mary Timony - 'The Golden Dove' * * Helium vocalist Mary Timony got Mark to produce what turned out to be her second solo album. Some recordings for 'The Golden Dove' were made at the Static King studio in December 2001. Mark and engineer Al Weatherhead then polished and produced the album at the Sound of Music in March/April 2002. The album was released on Matador records in May the same year. Says The Phoenix, "one of the catalysts for her move to a poppier sound was Mark Linkous, the Sparklehorse leader who produced the album along with Timony and fellow Sparklehorser Al Weatherhead, and whose usual work is as far from pure pop as one can get. But she admits that Linkous came into the project only in the 11th hour, after she and Files had cut the basic tracks at Q Division and moved on to do overdubs with Weatherhead at Sparklehorse's studio. 'Mark wasn't here as often as I hoped he'd be, but he played the optigan [a mellotron-type '70s keyboard] and had some good ideas about vocals.'"
	Matt Linkous - ? * Mark spent much of April 2002 in the Sound of Music producing an album by his brother Matt Linkous. The two used to play together in the Johnson Family, before Mark went the way of the Sparklehorse, and Matt formed Spike the Dog.
	Teen Soaps Sparklehorse probably reached their widest audience when their music was played in a couple of prime-time teen soaps. The show 'Felicity' used the song 'Sick of Goodbyes' in a bar-scene, and 'Popular' used 'Homecoming Queen' in a homecoming-queen type scene.
	Cracker - 'Forever' * * Mark worked with his Cracker friends on their 2002 album 'Forever'. Mark's production skills were put to use on a couple of the album's tracks, and he also contributed some guitar and keyboard licks. CDNOW saw it like this; "co-produced by Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, much of 'Forever' captures that group's penchant for dense atmospherics, in particular 'Brides of Neptune', the weary, haunting lead track that's easily the best Cracker song in years. Lowery and longtime sideman Johnny Hickman offer up some pretty effortless melodies throughout, especially 'Shine' and the preternaturally catchy 'Don't Bring Us Down' ('God gave you life, so get out of mine ... take your ass back to Florida'), easily the second-best Cracker song in years, and good enough in its own right to ensure that Forever will endure for a while, if not, necessarily, for eternity."
	Lisa Cholodenko's 'Laurel Canyon' * Mark Linkous makes his acting debut in Lisa Cholodenko's 'Laurel Canyon', which first appeared at the Cannes film festival in 2002. In addition, two songs of Mark's are recorded by the fictional band portrayed in the film. "One of the primary challenges facing the 'Laurel Canyon' creative team was how to handle the music that is intrinsically woven into the film . . . it was critically important that the 'behind the scenes' music being created by Jane, Ian and the Band was credible to viewers as the work of major label artists. With Karyn Rachtman on board as Music Supervisor, the filmmakers undertook an extensive search for the songs that would play on camera, ultimately settling on two songs, 'Someday I Will Treat You Good' and 'Shade & Honey,' both written by Mark Linkous, the creative force behind the critically acclaimed band Sparklehorse . . . Linkous also appears in the film in an impromptu jam session at the Chateau Marmont, playing an improvised song with legendary producer Daniel Lanois (whose credits include U2 and Bob Dylan) and Beck's bass player Justin Meldal Johnsen." - Magic Lantern
	Beth Orton - 'Daybreaker' * * Scott Minor appears on the country-flavoured Beth Orton album, which also has guest appearances from Emmylou Harris and Ryan Adams. Scott is credited for 'programming' on the songs 'Paris Train' and 'Daybreaker', and for 'percussion' on the track 'Thinking About Tomorrow'.
	Daniel Johnston - 'Fish' * Sketchbook Records says, "To coincide with Daniel Johnston's European 2003 summer tour, Sketchbook released a limited edition 7" single of 'Fish' - perhaps the highlight of the Mark Linkous/Sparklehorse collaborative album, 'Fear Yourself'. The European tour saw Johnston play, for the first time, such prestigious festivals as Benicassim, Roskilde and Goa Boa." The b-side is another recording from the 'Fear Yourself' album, called 'Living It For The Moment'.
	Goldfrapp - 'Black Cherry' * * Mark played a casio synth on Goldfrapp's single 'Train'. As Sound on Sound describes it, "These organic loops and textures, which formed the basis for the majority of the new tracks, were created from improvised jamming sessions involving [Will] Gregory, Alison Goldfrapp, Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse, and Adrian Utley. "Basically we did a 10-minute jam, and two weeks later that was 'Train'. That was one of the jamming days that we had," recollects Gregory, "where there were four of us twiddling knobs or guitars or whatever we were doing, all at once - which made the editing side of it rather complicated." Alison describes how Mark got on board in a Rock Pages interview: "... with Mark, he just happened to be up the road in Bristol, working with Adrian. And they came round for a cup of tea and jammed with us."
	Spire: Organ Works Past, Present and Future * Sparklehorse played a show with Christian Fennesz in late 2003 at Geneva's Casino Theatre as part of the La Batie Festival. Basic.ch has a realaudio stream of the show, plus plenty of the other La Batie gigs. The band also recorded with Fennesz while they were in Geneva, and so far the only official release of that material is on this compilation from Touch Records. Aquarius Records describes it thus: "Spire also features the first fruits of the collaboration between Sparklehorse and Fennesz (!), with Sparklehorse's drummer Scott Minor offering a smattering of mellotron and Wurlitzer samples for Fennesz to run through digital aesolization of bleary eyed distortion and fanciful detailing. Other contributors to Spire include Z'ev, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, Philip Jeck, Leif Elggren, Zephyr, Marcus Davidson, Finnbogi Petursson, Biosphere, Toshiya Tsunoda, Tom Recchion, Lary Seven / Jeff Peterson, Scott Taylor, Jacob Kirkegaard, Oren Ambarchi, and the ever amazing Chris Watson! Very highly recommended". Check the Aquarius site to buy the cd or listen to an mp3 of the Scott Minor and Fennesz track 'Dwan', and also try the Touch Records site for more info and samples.
	Mascott - 'Dreamer's Book' * * Kendall Meade, who has spent forty-odd months playing bass and keyboards with a band called Sparklehorse and happens to be the band's manager's sister, released her second album under the name 'Mascott' in early 2004. Sparklehorse/Sound of Music man Al Weatherhead produces, and Scott Minor provides a musical cameo. The Daily Cardinal reports that Meade "wrote most of Dreamer's Book on the road over most of last year playing keyboard for the distortion-rock band Sparklehorse, using soundchecks to craft songs. 'I think there is definitely a little bit of Sparklehorse on the album,' she said 'I was playing primarily keyboard with them and I was using many different keyboard sounds and vintage samples. I was playing a lot of different keyboard harmonies with [Alan] Weatherhead, who is in Sparklehorse, and he was in the Dreamer's Book band. He and I were used to playing a lot of keyboard layers together and I really liked the way it sounded. We did that on the Mascott album too'." More info at Red Panda Records.
	'Discovered Covered - The Late Great Daniel Johnston' * Mark produced this two disc tribute, as well as covering the song 'Go' with the Flaming Lips. Mark's brother Matt Linkous adds a cover of 'Good Morning You' to the project, under the guise of former Sparklehorse side-project 'The Rabbit'. Gammon Records released the record in late 2004.
	Zack Snyder - 'Dawn of the Dead' The 2004 remake of George Romero's 1978 zombie classic 'Dawn of the Dead' made use of some Sparklehorse atmospherics on the teaser trailer. Apple.com has clips here. Sounds odd, but as the One Liner says, "I'll confess up front a predisposition to liking this film. After all, anything that uses a Sparklehorse tune in the trailer can't be all bad. While this admittedly unnecessary remake might run a shade too long, for most of its runtime it's a rather enjoyable zombie-filled gore fest that anyone with a passing interest in the horror genre ought to appreciate..."
	Twilight Circus Dub Sound System - 'Remixed: Abstract Beats' * 'Parice' Scott Minor remixes the track 'Rolling Thunder' by Netherlands-based Canadian Ryan Moore for this remix project released in October 2004. The album also features reworkings by the likes of Phil Western, Swingsett & Takuya, and 3rd Eye Tribe. You'll find a full track-list and other info at the Twilight Circus Dub Sound System site.

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