This was the sky on Sunday evening, taken from the back of our house- the sun being obscured by smoke and the air thick with the smell of burning moorland. There was a major fire on moorland around Dove Stone reservoir, east of Oldham twenty two miles away, started apparently by youths setting fireworks off. The fireworks were to commemorate an eighteen year old who died swimming in the reservoir last week. One depressing thing leads to another. The smell of burning was still in the air yesterday, depending on wind direction, there's a layer of ash everywhere and in the evening the skies became filled with smoke and dust again.
In 2009 a tribute album to Mark Mulcahy was released featuring covers by assorted stars from the indie/ alternative world- Thom Yorke, the National, Dinosaur Jr, Frank Black, Mercury Rev and Juliana Hatfield all contributed as did Michael Stipe.
Mulcahy was the frontman and singer in 80s guitar band Miracle Legion and then Polaris and a solo artist too. The tribute album was released to raise funds for Mark when his wife Melissa died unexpectedly leaving him to raise their then three year old twin girls single handedly. An expanded version of the album, Ciao My Shining Star, came out in 2016- you can find it at Bandcamp.
Everything's Coming Undone is a song from Mark Mulcahy's 2005 solo album In Pursuit Of Your Happiness, a visceral and misanthropic set of songs with J Mascis and Joey Santiago providing musical backup. It's also at Bandcamp.
R.E.M. were still active at the time of this cover. Michael's cover version has some lovely Velvets style organ drones, a rudimentary drumbeat and Stipe in very good voice, 'I know that I will be alright', he sings, the sort of line that sounds utterly convincing when coming out of his mouth. The chaotic, noisy end section is also a joy in itself.
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