Customer Reviews

Fathering

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had seen Miracle Legion a few times (including their first ever UK gig, where they were so excited that they took pictures of the audience!) and had always been a fan of the records; then just last year I saw Mark play solo in a tiny club in London and he was great, but NOTHING had prepared me for this. 'Fathering' is an unexpected marvel, a stunning emotional tour-de-force with an intensity and ambition to which most other records do not even aspire. For the unwary listener I can only suggest the vaguest comparisons: the vocal pyrotechnics of Jeff Buckley or the keening tone of Radiohead's Thom Yorke (a huge fan,as I understand it) perhaps; and clearly this record is in the great tradition of any of the classic singer-songwriters that you could care to name, but in the final result this album really stands alone. It's desperately poignant, and it will quite possibly bring you to tears in places, but in common with only the greatest records it has a rapturous sense of the wonder and healing power of humanity. I can only hope that word of mouth carries this strange and beautiful record into peoples hearts.

I had the pleasure of working with Mark through Miracle Legion and Polaris and have to say that it was a high point of my musical career. Mark plays all the instruments on his album creating a unique element of control for these songs. Yet, it doesn't sound "controlled." Mark's craft shines on this project and I can honestly say that his song-writing ability is on par with the likes of Billy Bragg, or Jeff Buckley. His voice unintentionally echos Dylan, Jagger, Lou Reed and even some legendary blues artists. His simplistic yet profound lyrics and melody offer an escape for the listener to "the porch, in a wicker chair." I've found myself unable to continue through the record without repeating a certain track a second and third time. This quiet record has drawn me in, perhaps like no other. By the way, I have to pay due respect to T. Buck, perhaps one of the most understated engineers in the business who allowed this record to breathe. My hat is off.

I came into knowing Miracle Legion and Mark Mulcahy late in the game. A roommate and very good friend of mine introduced me to this CD on accident. He would always play it at night when we were sitting around chatting. After about 7 listens, I asked him what he was always playing. He pointed out the CD, and I locked its cover into my memory. Often when he was gone, I would listen to Fathering, and I became more and more entranced with the album. Mark soon was in town on tour, and we went to see him, leaving strangely satisfied and emotionally charged before the "main" act. I now have few of the Miracle Legion CD's (that are left in this world, as they are so hard to find) and two copies of Fathering. One for work and one for home. Sometimes I give listening to it a break, but often when I come back to it, I am reminded of how I feel when I first heard it. It is altogether heartbreaking, haunting, emotionally intense, and a ray of hope. It is a man and his guitar. Fathering is a tear slipping down your cheek, while a smile brews on your lips as your thoughts remind you of things that are pure and good.

i had never heard of mark mulchay or miricle legion until i picked up this record in a local store one wet afternoon, id read a review comparing him to jeff buckley and was intrigued. at first i didn't get it, i couldn't get a hold on the songs, what they were about or where they were coming from. but after a couple of listens its beauty began to seap in and i was hooked. it sounds to me like the follow up to grace that jeff never got to make, but at the same time is no mere copy. i've listen to it on the walkman on my way to work pretty much everyday for a month and im still not bored of it. i love it, and i'd recomend it to anyone...

Mulcahy is one of the singer/songwriters you can believe and trust. His poignancy has always been tinged with a touch of childlike innocence and humor, a rare feat. ¨Fathering¨ is joyous, touching, and just plain lovely. Why did he have to wait so long to make a record? I have no idea. I've searched record stores for his or Miracle Legion's next CD for six years and I've never grown tired of the search. Thankfully, the wait is over.

His music is not stunning for its resemblance to anyone else, though I'm sure like all of us he is made of a million things. Nor does he conjure readily the sort of indie love that falls wholly from the laying bare of inside cupboards, the well-composed wiles or hollowed cheek of the one you might have loved or been. I'm not even sure that you'll be close enough to see it, over the wires, whatever it is. But in your town, or a new town, or a darkening room, come and see this old-new gentleman make music that is good company.

My wife and I have probably seen 1000 bands, but when we saw Mark at the tiny Hotel Utah in SF (myself having had to drag her uninterested self there) and he played "Fathering," she started sobbing. If that ain't the full embodiment of the power and beauty of music, I don't know what is.

Do yourself a favor and get this CD.

I purchased this record on a complete whim when it was put in the recommended section of my local record shop. I can honestly state that it is one of the best offhand purchases i have ever made.

The record has a very understated feel based on simple but beautiful melodies played with great gravity as Mulcachy lets his excellent singing draw you in. The first track is a prime example of this, the soothing quitar work forming a great backdrop against the analysis of self loathing that is the song's subject matter. Only at the end as the music gradually builds so does the feel of the song as Mulcachy asks us to be more optimistic and the melancholic mood turns to something altogether more joyous. A wonderful indication of the quality of the album as a whole.

If asked to draw comparisons the closest i can come to is a truly gifted guitarest (Clapton at his smokiest best but without any over elaboration) playing Radiohead tunes of the Bends era where the emotional rawness was paramount but stripped down of the art house pretensions with perhaps the earnestness of Wheat or Eliott Smith thrown in for good measure. In other words a record which is simply sublime.

Buy it now if you dont have it and prepare yourself for the extraordinary.

I had the pleasure of having a friend take me to a Miracle Legion show in the late 80's. I went blindly and was blown-away... I went on to see them 7 or 8 other times and I can honestly say that among the 90+ shows I've seen over a decade or more the Miracle Legion shows were by far the most powerful and entertaining. Timeless. I was upset to here the band called it quits... but so psyched that Mark has carried on his tune. I picked up Fathering after seen Mark play a solo gig at a small bar in Wash. DC. Read the other reviews on this site - they speak the truth. This album has beautiful tunes that carry their own unique flavor, but obviously have Mark's finger prints all over them. His song writing and lyrics are fresh and exciting. If you were an ML fan this is a must have CD. If you are new to the game, buy this CD immediately and give it time to wash over you. I promise you'll love it.

I was introduced to Mark Mulcahy via his work with Polaris, for the television show Pete & Pete. I asked a good friend, with whom I was trading P&P tapes, just who was doing all this amazing music? He sent me a little black mix tape about 10 years ago that my close friends and I still cherish to this day. I've never heard anyone who could sing like this, period. Mark can, seemingly at whim, grab your heartstrings and have his way with them, dragging you from seedy taverns to whispered conversations, from lamenting lost friendships to downing a bunch of wine coolers and gunning a car off a cliff whilst naked. There's just nothing that even comes close.