Just read the terrible news that Mark Linkous (a.k.a. Sparklehorse) took his own life on Saturday near his home in Knoxville, TN. He was 47. I only saw Sparklehorse once - at Bowery Ballroom in 2006 - but his slow, spare songs were unlike anything I've ever experienced, before or since. It was far more searing than any high-voltage rock show, leaving me haunted for days. (Go here to listen to the brilliant Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain.)

Coming on the heels of Vic Chesnutt's suicide on Christmas day, and Jay Reatard's suspicious death three weeks later, this is one musical trend I could well do without.