Various - Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 23 / 9 / 2009

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Review

Ciao My Shining Star’ is, to be honest, not an album that I really want to review. Why? It is a tribute CD to Melissa Mulcahy, who died suddenly last September and whose husband, Mark Mulcahy is a personal friend of mine. Mark Mulcahy is one of music's nice guys. He records for Mezzotint Records and in addition to releasing several solo albums he has also fronted Polaris and my own personal favourites, Miracle Legion, whose early mid 1980’s albums bring back for me many memories of earlier days full of happiness. All the profits from this album will go to Mark so that he can carry on working while bringing up his twin three year old daughters. Mark has never crossed over to the big time but he has made many famous fans, two of whom appear on the first three tracks on this album. Thom Yorke opens the album with a synthesiser-based version of Miracle Legion's ‘All for the Best’. Thom and Mark’s vocal range are fairly similar, so this is a tribute of the finest order. The National play ‘Ashamed of the Story I Told’ as a hefty slice of cool Americana. Michael Stipe is the biggest other name after Thom Yorke on the album. He covers Miracle Legion’s ‘Everything's Coming Undone’. When they started out, Miracle Legion sounded very much similar to R.E.M, but Michael’s reworking has much more of an element of the Triffids or the Velvet Underground than his regular band. David Berkeley does ‘Love's the Only Thing that Shuts Me Up,’ which is from a tour only mini-album. It is fragile in tone and revives the ghost of Jeff Buckley, whom Mark once opened for and is compared to regularly. Dinosaur Jr, cover the title track of Miracle Legion's debut mini album, ‘The Backyard’. They sound as they always do exactly like themselves, although a little more restrained than usual. Chris Harford and the Band of Changes capture the true spirit of the original version of ‘Micon the Icon’. It is seductive and oozes charm. The Pixies’ Frank Black delivers ‘Bill Jacko,’ which sounds very alternative and very different to Mark’s version. Vic Chesnutt covers ‘Little Man’ in a slow delivered version which has the pace of a Nick Drake. ‘Ciao My Shining Star’ is reworked by the Unbelievable Truth, which is the band of Andy Yorke, the brother of Thom Yorke and whom Mark supported on an UK tour. This version captures the true spirit of indie. Butterflies of Love play ‘Patience’. Like Mark, they are from New Haven in Connecticut and Mark has appeared on most of their albums, either as a photographer, a drummer or a backing singer. This is sung by Jeffrey Greene and has a Velvet Underground-style style groove. Chris Collingwood from the Fountains of Wayne’s version of ‘Cookie Jar’ also captures the song's true spirit. Frank Turner covers ‘The Quiet One’, which comes over as savagely sad, while Rocket from the Tombs do ‘In Pursuit of Your Happiness, a recent track by Mark, which has a Tom Waits-style vocal from their singer, Pere Ubu’s David Thomas. Ben Kweller’s cover of ‘Wake Up Whispering’ has a sad, twee feel to it, while Josh Rouse does a decent reading of ‘Up in the Mayflower’. Autumn Defense’s version of ‘Paradise’ is as strong and as catchy as the original. Hayden do ‘Happy Birthday Yesterday’ in a fragile and gentle manner, while Julianna Hatfield provides a stripped down acoustic guitar reading of ‘We’re Not in Charleston Anymore’. Mercury Rev do a decent reading of ‘Me and Mr Ray's Sailors and Animals', while Elvis Perkins covers ‘She Watches Over Me, which sounds lonesome and twangy and as if Elvis Presley himself has covered it. Sean Watkins closes the album with a heartfelt and acoustic version of ‘A World Away’. This is an excellent tribute album, and one in which all the artists cover Mark’s music with all the great compassion that the sad passing of his wife deserves. Another twenty tracks from another twenty artists are also available as downloads.

Track Listing:-

1 Thom Yorke- All For The Best
2 The National- Ashamed Of The Story I Told
3 Michael Stipe- Everything's Coming Undone
4 David Berkeley- Love's The Only Thing That Shuts Me Up
5 Dinosaur Jr.- The Backyard
6 Chris Harford And The Band Of Changes- Micon The Icon
7 Frank Black- Bill Jocko
8 Vic Chesnutt- Little Man
9 Unbelievable Truth- Ciao My Shining Star
10 Butterflies Of Love-I Have Patience
11 Chris Collingwood-Cookie Jar
12 Frank Turner- The Quiet One
13 Rocket From The Tombs- In Pursuit Of Your Happiness
14 Ben Kweller- Wake Up Whispering
15 Josh Rouse- I Woke Up In The Mayflower
16 The Autumn Defense- Paradise
17 Hayden- Happy Birthday Yesterday
18 Juliana Hatfield- We're Not In Charleston Anymore
19 Mercury Rev- Sailors And Animals
20 Elvis Perkins- She Watches Over Me
21 Sean Watkins- A World Away From This One