Smilesunset

Mark Mulcahy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 10, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mezzotint Label
• ASIN: B00005B19K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,578 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just clearing up a fact or two, January 10, 2006

By 

Grubby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smilesunset (Audio CD)

The reviewer Paul Rhodes stated that Pete & Pete was a US-only cartoon show, when in fact it wasn't a cartoon at all, but an a-typical live action chirldren's program (for everyone) for which Miracle Legion, under the name of Polaris, produced an entire album's worth of material which can be purchased through this site. Both the Polaris album and the show for which is was produced come highly recommended.

In regards to this album - it is a beautiful piece of work that drifts like a daydream from folky rock to lilting lullabyes. Buy it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An adventurous, out-there listening experience, June 7, 2001

By 

Paul Rhodes (York, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smilesunset (Audio CD)

When we last heard from Mark Mulcahy, on Fathering, he was lying naked on the floor of a Manhattan hotel following some erotic adventure. After that stripped down, alternatively bawdy and sorrowful solo album, all angular and perverse, SmileSunset sounds like a tentative stab at a larger audience. Once again, Mulcahy plays most of the parts himself, but this time pretty arrangements and guest musicians create an attractive sheen. There is no getting away from Mulcahy's idiosyncratic approach to rhythm and song structure, which makes SmileSunset an adventurous listen. He slips often and headlong into self-indulgence (to wit: the dire Until I Say So), but on the whole he manages to carry it off, perhaps on account of his candour, or the David Gray like timbre in his voice. The album's highlights are the exuberant, cartwheeling The Quiet One and the urban gothic Alamo in Alabama, yet the tone overall is muted, hinting at sadness to come after nightfall.

In support of SmileSunset, Mulcahy played an impromptu solo show at a small café bar in York, UK, in June 2001. He alternatively soothed and stung the small boho audience, raising as many quizzical eyebrows as cheers with his tales of losers and fleeting conquests. Like Jeff Buckley, Mulcahy can sing his heart out, disregard conventional song structure and fearlessly expose his emotions. Mulcahy is not a showy chanteuse though, his voice has more Massachusetts grit, with the choirboy determinedly kept under a grimy city cloak. In concert, the louder material, such as his live centrepiece Bill Jocko, received only polite applause, whereas the quieter, more confessional songs like Wake Up Whispering or Hey Self Defeater had the audience listening with rapt attention. He also delved into his back catalogue for songs from his former band The Miracle Legion and two songs from a US-only cartoon show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something to Smile About, May 28, 2001

By 

"77todd77" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smilesunset (Audio CD)

The debut solo album by Mark Mulcahy, 'Fathering', was a good album. 'Smilesunset', is a great one. It begins with the whimsical, almost silly 'Micon the Icon', and continues through styles as diverse as baroque cabaret, slight jazz stylings and quiet ruminations on love, lost and current. The only thing more beautiful than his gorgeous guitar playing, is his always distinctive voice. 'The Way She Really Is', and 'Resolution #1' are stunning highlights. 'Alamo in Alabama' meanders along and peaks with one of the most melodic choruses that he's written thus far. No one sounds like Mark Mulcahy...and that's a good thing.