Fear Yourself (20th Anniversary Edition)

A collaboration between fellow fringe dwellers Daniel Johnston and Mark Linkous seems like it should be a match made in twisted outsider-pop heaven. After all, the Sparklehorse leader is obviously a huge fan of Johnston's volatile but vulnerable music; aside from its influence coloring most of Sparklehorse's fragile, darkly innocent output, Linkous has gone as far as to put a cover of Johnston's "Hey Joe" on his best album, Good Morning Spider. It may be because of this reverence that producer/arranger Linkous gives Fear Yourself such a clean production that it almost sounds like Linkous is trying to protect the songs -- or their creator -- from some of their more dangerous or unpredictable impulses. Fear Yourself's opening song, "Now," gradually moves from four-track grit to the rest of the album's sheen, a la Dorothy leaving Kansas for Oz. Some of the less-glossy tracks, such as the brooding but optimistic "Must" and the cute "Fish," and more kinetic numbers, like "Mountain Top" and "Love Not Dead," manage to escape the feeling that characterizes most of Fear Yourself's softer songs (with the notable exception of "Wish"). ~ Heather Phares

よろよろと瀕死のようでいて、不思議なほどの尊い力で聴くものを励ますその歌声。ダニエル・ジョンストンの新作は、バックトラックをマーク・リンカス（スパークルホース）が担当、練り込まれたサイケデリアのその上を、ダニエルの歌声が輝く雲となってふわふわと漂う。これまでの自宅録音ゆえの親密な空気はそのままに、まるでダニエルの夢に迷い込んだようなサウンドの質感が素晴らしすぎ。間違いなく新たなる代表作!
bounce (C)村尾泰郎