V/A: Ciao My Shining Star (Mark Mulcahy Tribute)

Various Artists
Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy
Mezzotint

All-star tributes are too rarely bestowed upon those most in need of the recognition. Unfortunately, Mark Mulcahy’s long overdue moment in the sun is a bittersweet one, as Ciao My Shining Star adapts the veteran singer/songwriter’s outstanding back catalog largely into a poignant memorial to his wife Melissa, who died tragically last year.

With Mulcahy (Miracle Legion, Polaris) left to care for his three-year-old twin daughters alone, an impressive line-up of alt-rock luminaries joined forces for this diverse and frequently moving benefit album for their friend. This includes A-List admirers Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, and The National, who frontload the compilation with intriguingly intense, shadowy takes on Mulcahy’s comparatively warm and intimate originals. Appropriately, though, it’s the less celebrated contributors that do the man’s songs the most justice— Vic Chesnutt’s “Little Man” and Frank Turner’s passionate “The Quiet One” being standouts. Twenty additional tracks are also available to purchase online, featuring covers from A.C. Newman and Laura Veirs.

(Andrew Clayman)

Published in Paste Magazine, November 2009