Sparklehorse - The Black Sessions (2006)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Sparklehorse - Distorted Ghost EP (1999)

I rarely cry when celebrities/musical heroes die -- John Prine, David Bowie, and Prince also come to mind -- but Linkous really got me. This March was the 10th anniversary of his untimely passing, and I really fucked up by not posting this to mark the occasion. The Black Sessions is a crisp, punchy bootleg of a performance on French radio show France Inter, and includes songs from all four Sparklehorse records. Grab the tissues and saddle up.

Track listing:
1. Gold Day
2. Sad & Beautiful World
3. Apple Bed
4. Hammering the Cramps
5. Painbirds
6. It's Not So Hard
7. Eyepennies
8. Spirit Ditch
9. Weird Sisters
10. Ghost in the Sky
11. Don't Take My Sunshine Away
12. Someday I Will Treat You Good

The moon it will rise with such
Horse laughter
It's dragging pianos to the ocean
If I had a home
You know it'd be
In a slide trombone

You might also like:

Luna -
The Days of Our Nights (1999)

Hospital Ships -
The Past Is Not a Flood (2016)

South Circle - Anotha Day Anotha Balla (1995)

Related:
Eightball & MJG - Comin' Out Hard (1993)

Houston gangsta rap that, considering the smooth production, flows, and overall vibe, was clearly taking cues from what was happening on the West Coast. Another should-be classic that I first heard over 20 years after the fact.

Track listing:
1. Intro
2. Geto Madness
3. It's Going Down
4. New Day
5. Unsolved Mysteries (feat. Eightball & Tela)
6. Pimp Thang
7. Anotha Day Anotha Balla
8. Attitudes
9. Final Call
10. No Escape (feat. MJG & Tela)
11. Neva Take Me Alive
12. Mental Murder
13. Gotta Maintain (feat. Eightball)
14. Everyday Allday

I smoke so many trees, Smokey the Bear's out to get me
Ice cold soul drippin' from my asshole

You'd probably also like:

Gangsta Pat -
Deadly Verses (1995)

Dead End Alliance -
Screwed for Life (1998)

Jasper van 't Hof - Eye-Ball (1974)

Related:
John Lee & Gerry Brown - Infinite Jones (1974)

Tasty jazz fusion led by Dutch keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof and featuring a killer band. This record has gone through at least three album covers (not to mention being labeled Eye Ball, Eye-Ball, and Eyeball) so I'm just going with the one I like the most, which is from the 1980 reissue.

Track listing:
1. Bax
2. Viber Snake
3. Eyeball I (Piano Solo)
4. Hyrax
5. Schwester Johanna
6. Laur
7. One Leg Missing
8. Eyeball II (Piano Solo)
9. The Rev

Night after the day before

Also listen to:

Cam Newton -
Welcome Aliens (1980)

Spaces -
Border Station (1981)

Asgaroth - Trapped in the Depths of Eve (1997)

Majestic Catalonian black metal. Layer after layer of gauzy synth wrapped around epic, mid-paced perfection. This has got to be the longest I've ever gone without posting a black metal record on here, so I'm making it count.

Track listing:
1. Cry the Way We Greet Our Fates
2. Victorious Men of Earth
3. Omens (Presagios)
4. A Call in the Winds...
5. The Dark Force
6. Last Battle (Tower of Doom)
7. Lost in Natura
8. The Choirs of the Elemental Deities
9. Prelude in Dusk
10. Placious Echoes at Darkwoods You Greet... Silvering Moon Between My Shadows
11. Outroduction

Murmurs from our dying sun

You should also listen to:

Aeternus -
Beyond the Wandering Moon (1997)

Ancestors Blood -
Hyperborea (2016)

Anja Garbarek - Smiling & Waving (2002)

Related:
Japan - Adolescent Sex (1978)
The Dolphin Brothers - Catch the Fall (1987)
Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow (1991)
No-Man - Together We're Stranger (2003)

Excellent third album from Norwegian vocalist/songwriter Anja Garbarek. Cryptic, unsettling songs backed by downtempo, string-heavy, jazz- and electro-tinged sounds courtesy of a cast of musicians that includes, among others, Mark Hollis, Steven Wilson, and Steve Jansen.

Track listing:
1. Her Room
2. The Gown
3. Spin the Context
4. Stay Tuned
5. You Know
6. Big Mouth
7. The Diver
8. That's All
9. And Then
10. It Seems We Talk

I'll get back to you

If you like this, try:

Savant -
The Neo-Realist (At Risk) (1983)

David Sylvian -
Blemish (2003)