Richard Hawley

CIAO MY SHINING STAR

We posted news back in July about a forthcoming Mark Mulcahy tribute album, and we are delighted to bring you full details and a very special preview of that record.

September 14th sees the release of Ciao My Shining Star by Various Artists.

The album is a tribute to former Miracle Legion frontman Mark Mulcahy's wife Melissa, who died suddenly last September, and features a collection of some of today's greatest recording artists performing versions of Mulcahy's songs. All proceeds from the sale of the album will go to Mark to help him continue his career while also raising his 3-year-old twin daughters.

Says Michael Stipe - Mark's melodies always imply hope and uplift, even when his lyrics explore mystery, loss, and darkness. With EVERYTHING'S COMING UNDONE, we wanted to channel Mark's optimism by creating a kind of call-and-response pastiche of two of his best tracks, using the chorus from the title track and the fade from the beautiful 'A CUP OF TEA AND YOUR INSIGHTS.' Things fall apart all around us all the time, but the clearest message of the creative impulse is that we can take those things and reassemble them into something new and beautiful. It's a testament to Mark's songwriting that we could disassemble his work to it's most elemental and reconfigure the pieces into something encouraging and happy.

In the studio, we referred to the last section there as 'The Clown Parade' because it just kept getting bigger while also disintegrating, and it really made us cry with laughter. The humour and hope and pop and invention we associate with Mark is all there, marching down the street in clown makeup, handing candy to children and letting balloons go, just for the sheer hell of it.'

The album features 21 exclusive tracks from, among others, Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr, Mercury Rev, The National, Frank Black, Frank Turner, Vic Chesnutt and Josh Rouse.

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 of Fountains of Wayne - '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. 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'

We are able to bring you a very special preview in the form of Thom Yorke's percussive, electro-tinged cover of Miracle Legion's "All For The Best"

HEAD TO WWW.LOOSEMUSIC.COM FOR THE TRACK IN FULL

Tracks from The National and Josh Rouse have been posted on Mulcahy's www.myspace.com/markmulcahymusic

Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy is out 29th September and can be pre-ordered at Amazon. An additional 20 tracks from folks like A.C. Newman, Buffalo Tom and Laura Veirs will be released digitally.