Damn...

Another musical casualty has occurred. This year is barely three months old and already Jay Reatard died of an apparent long-term overdose and on Saturday, the Sparklehorse guy, Mark Linkous, committed suicide.

I find it curious that both these dudes died in the state of Tennessee...

I know that might be the only similarity these deaths share, but...'Fear the South' is all I'm trying to say, 'Fear. The. South.' Oh, except Louisiana--they have a winning football team. They also have gumbo and voodoo...no worries...

Jay Reatard...Well, I own his last album, 'Watch Me Fall' but that's all the exposure I've ever had to the guy save for ads that Matador Records took out in Indie rags, presenting a supposed profile of Jay, complete with a list of likes/dislikes and the man pictured shirtless, disheveled, stongarming an ugly cat on one side and clutching a budget-brand beer on the other...Oh, and his It Ain't Gonna Save Me video is one of best collection of scenes ever put to film, in my immature-natured opinion.

I guess by the looks of that video, the guy enjoyed his parties...

As far as Mark Linkous is concerned, I've never knowingly listened to Sparklehorse. I meant to get around to it later...I've only ever known about the guy. I knew he had a whole lot of credits to his name. I have Tom Waits' 'Orphans' set, on which he contributed. I may have heard some of his work on those Cracker albums. I had planned to, and still will, check out his latest collaboration with Danger Mouse and David-Fahreaking-Lynch, 'Dark Night of the Soul'.

It's disheartening, to say the least, to know that any creative mind leaves us before we may be finished with them. In cases of suicide, is it more selfish for them to leave us or is it more selfish for us to refuse them their freedom? Oh, man! Lawdy, Lawdy...