It's A Wonderful Life

Third full-length album from Mark Linkous, featuring more of his trademark bittersweet alt-country rock. The album includes guest appearances by Tom Waits, the Cardigans' Nina Persson, and PJ Harvey. It was produced by Harvey's long-time collaborator John Parish and Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev producer Dave Fridmann.

Magnet (12-1/02, p.57)
- Included in Magnet's "20 Best Albums of 2001".

NME (12/29/01, p.59)
- Ranked #22 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".

Rolling Stone (8/30/01, p.122)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Slow and elegiac....The music is stately and deep as good loam, built around a few measures repeated stolidly with a kind of back-country resignation....peculiarly evocative."

Spin (10/01, p.127)
- 6 out of 10 - "...A thick candy-and-sandpaper shell of weird old keyboards, strings, and liberally applied distortion concealing Dave Fridmann's frail Virginia murmur and surreal images..."

Q (7/01, p.116)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...Excellent....combining droll lyrical insights with various permutations of guitar, keyboards, drums and electronica..."

Alternative Press (10/01, p.100)
- 7 out of 10 - "...An enchanting record..."

Mojo (7/01, p.98)
- "...Among America's modern primitives Mark Linkous is close to pre-eminent."

NME (6/9/01, p.40)
- 8 out of 10 - "...A wonderful record...of backwood blues....Every moment thrums with micro-activity..."

CMJ (9/3/01, p.5)
- "...This is a mood record for sure - but one that's not without its mood swings..."