Nostalgia time – three of our favourite songs ever…
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Download Okkervil River – Westfall mp3 (from Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See)
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Download Smog – I Break Horses mp3 (from Accumulation None)
Follow @madmackerelTag Archives: Okkervil River
MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 9 Mrs Mackerel
Our final Top Ten selection comes courtesy of the lovely, and ever radiant, Mrs Mackerel. Over to you girl!
It’s been a great musical year. But such a plethora of riches always presents a problem – what’s a girl to choose? Fortunately some fine contributions in the preceding week means most bases are covered.
Live gigs, although few and far between this year, have been rich in quality, and particularly finger-picking good on the guitar front. A fine ensemble of gig friends too, thank you.
Without further ado, here’s my humble opinion. And remember kids this is just my opinion, you can try this at home too.
10. Hyde & the Beast – You Will be Lonely
Boom-shacker, boom-shacker. Bit of cowboy guitars. An up-tempo beat coupled with the “you’re dumped” message. Still if you’ve got to do it, do it with a smile on your face and a guitar in your hand, I say. Boom-shacker, boom-shacker.
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9. The National – Think You Can Wait
Nice bit of backing from the wonderful Sharon Van Etten, coupled with the mellifluous vocal of Matt Berninger. Trademark National: understated brilliance.
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8. Lanterns on the Lake – Ships in the Rain
Another great thing to come from Sunderland. Catch up please. Atmosphere, ethereal vocals, beautiful lyrics. Til we meet again, girls.
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7. Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Dog Scratched Ear
Widespread Mackerel popularity for this song amongst family and friends. Yep, we know a good guitar riff when we hear one: hard core. Looking for joy when there’s none to find? Plenty here.
Download Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Dog Scratched Ear mp3 (from Donkey Jacket)
6. Wye Oak – Civilian
A January contender for my top ten, so a stayer. A fantastic piece of drumming that builds and builds; to be played loud on speakers not headphones, she insists in a bossy tone that MM knows only too well… Breathy vocals adds atmosphere to the intensity.
Download Wye Oak – Civilian mp3 (from Civilian)
5. Wooden Wand – No Hayride
Directed to this by daughter sprat, and how right she is. The pared back simplicity of the guitar lends itself so well to the lyrics. Prolific output – does this man ever sleep?
Download Wooden Wand - No Hayride mp3 (from Archives Vol 3)
4. The Cave Singers – Haystacks
How do I love the Cave Singers? Oh let me count the ways. Storming harmonica coupled with such an irresistible tempo, I challenge you not to be out of your seat and dancing. These boys got rhythm in bucket loads and talent to match. But they’re not yours, they’re mine. Glad we cleared that one up.
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3. Hurray for the Riff Raff – Too Much of a Good Thing
A great big old fashioned waltz of a song, throw in a sprinkling of mariachi pipes, a helping of accordion and the tender vocals of Alynda Lee Segarra. Lifetime top ten tune for me this one.
Download Hurray For The Riff Raff – Too Much Of A Good Thing mp3 (from Hurray For The Riff Raff)
2. Middle Brother – Portland
Shared a cigarette for breakfast? More than one I reckon. John McCauley of Deer Tick has a voice that was made for this song. One for the road, sung in chorus, gives me the warmest, fuzzy feeling all over. Stick me on a greyhound bus with Middle Brother playing to the open road and I reckon I’d be a happy girl. Just about the best darned cover (yes, I know but don’t care) I ever heard. Pure magic.
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1. Laura Marling – Night After Night
A photo finish for me amongst the top five. Yin and yang songs. This song is wuthering, if you get my gist but hey, that’s just me. There’s so much here from the opening guitar sequence that makes me think of a boat rowing out to sea, to the subtle finale with a flamenco flourish. Lyrical dexterity, passion, sadness, regret. The incomparable Laura Marling take a bow.
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Goddammit Janet: missed it first time round
Grinderman – Palaces of Montezuma
The theatre of this song is almost vintage Bowie. A great big banquet of lyrical genius and the funkiest rhythm to match. Bloody marvellous.
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – Janglin
From the happy-go-lucky intro to swinging, swaying finger-clicking goodness of the rest of the tune. Click your heels and away you go.
Download Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Janglin mp3 (from From Below)
And Okkervil River. Missed all together. MM and I are fools. I have told him this repeatedly while hitting him with a large branch. Joking. Sort of.
Download Okkervil River – For Real mp3 (from Black Sheep Boy)
School Run Anthems 2011
The Lovely Eggs – Don’t Look at Me (I Don’t Like It)
We sang and did the actions. The car bounced and shimmied its way to school. Nothing like a bit of 21st century punk to get you going in the morning.
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Roadside Graves – Jail
Don’t want to work today. Just want to lay in bed. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Download The Roadside Graves – Jail (Simplefolk UK Radio Live Session) mp3
Guilty pleasure
Adele – Someone Like You
Actually no guilt attached to this choice at all. Great voice. Great song, sniff.
Follow @madmackerelOkkervil River Offer Up Free EP
At the end of the year in 2007, Okkervil River released Golden Opportunities Mixtape, a free EP intended as a gift to fans. This year, the band continues that tradition in the sequel release Golden Opportunities 2, which both hearkens back to the original release and varies the formula.
Like its predecessor, Golden Opportunities 2 is a series of conceptually-related covers, this time by lesser-known musicians’ musicians such as Motown session player Ted Lucas, the 1980’s Australian band the Triffids, and the mysterious L.A. singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan, who vanished in the New Mexico desert in 1975. In contrast to the intricate arrangements and detailed production of this year’s excellent full-length Okkervil release I Am Very Far, the new EP was recorded entirely live to two-track tape in one day at the Austin studio Premium Recording. The resulting EP showcases a band with a loose-limbed casualness after a year spent on the road. A hazy mystery hangs over these songs, which are evocative on their own but, when collected together, add up to something greater and stranger than the sum of their parts.
As with the first Golden Opportunities, this new release is available compeltely for free on the Okkervil River website – just click here. It can be downloaded in both MP3 and lossless formats.
Need convincing, try a track below:
Download Okkervil River – Plan D mp3 (from Golden Opportunities 2 EP)
Follow @madmackerelVideo Round Up
Here are a few more of the videos that we have been sent recently that have appealed to our eyes and ears.
First up is Monument Valley whom we posted about recently. This is the off kilter video for Round And Round together with a download for Dear John Letters from the forthcoming Tongues EP.
Download Monument Valley – Dear John Letters mp3 (from Tongues EP)
Next is Secret Music’s T.O.Y.S. with a video directed by TV Carnage, whose library of hundreds of hours of bad TV over the past 25 years has turned into an intriguing, humorous assortment of clips for the music video.
Download Secret Music – T.O.Y.S. mp3 (from T.O.Y.S. single)
Crystal Bright & The Silver Hands release their second album this month. This is Drowned Out from it.
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Canadian band Said The Whale have a new video with a surprisingly accurate homage to Back To The Future. Check it out to see their interpretation of the classic Enchantment Under The Sea dance, which is also the video for their single Lines from their upcoming EP New Brighton.
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Download Said The Whale – Lines mp3 (from New Brighton EP)
Based in Portland, Oregon, Keith and Hollie Kenniff are the husband-and-wife team behind the sublime dream pop of Mint Julep. Save Your Season – the debut UK album will be released on November 21st through the newly launched independent label Village Green. This is Why Don’t We.
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This is the video for the Bell Beat’s lovely track Labrador from their album Our Manderley. Buy the album on a pay what you want deal from their Bandcamp page here.
Download The Bell Beat – Labrador mp3 (from Our Manderley)
This is the new and rather good video from Mister Heavenly for Bronx Sniper, taken from the band’s Sub Pop debut Out of Love.
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Crushed Beaks shared love of horror films is evident as they continue the build up to their debut single release with a brand new video for lead track Close-Ups.
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Okkkervil River have released another video to accompany the single Your Past Life As A Blast.
Download Okkervil River – Your Past Life As A Blast mp3 (from Your Past Life As A Blast 7″)
The lo-fi, dream pop of His Clancyness gets another outing on a new split 7″ with Shimmering Stars. Here is the video for Carve A Peach and a download of the Shimmering Stars contribution, Not Growing Up.
Download Shimmering Stars – Not Growing Up mp3 (from His Clancyness / Shimmering Stars split 7″)
And lastly, Glasgow band Kick To Kill’s excellent new single Black Kisses is out next Monday on Flowers In The Dustbin. Watch the video!
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Follow @madmackerelThe End of The Road Festival: A Review
It is true to say that our first visit to the End of the Road Festival last year was without doubt the best music event (bar SxSW) we had ever attended. A superb line-up, brilliant layout, and festival goers who were there for the music rather than the ‘experience’ ensured three days of superb entertainment.
It meant we bought tickets immediately they went on sale for 2011, before we knew the line-up, before we’d even washed the dust off from 2010, and waited impatiently for September to come around again. Granted, for us the line-up this time didn’t quite match the quality of last year (but then we were spoilt by The Felice Brothers, Deer Tick, Phosphorescent, Forest Fire, Joe Pug, Wolf Parade, Black Mountain, Elliott Brood and The Low Anthem et al) but there was still much to get excited about.
Car problems and traffic trouble meant we arrived much later than planned, missing Micah P Hinson, Caitlin Rose and Best Coast into the bargain. We had to park further away and soon discovered the festival this year was considerably bigger – a new main stage was testament to that, but more so was the crowds – lots of people, lots and lots and lots of people.
Doubts were immediate. I’ve never been a lover of the huge stages that most big festivals have, and the increased numbers surely meant the fantastic, pure love of the music that the audience had and so set the End of the Road apart from others would be seriously threatened.
Once the tent was popped up and mattress inflated it was into the big top for a first taste of Bo Ningen, and while tunes were in limited supply, the guitar shredding histrionics and theatrical rock ‘n’ roll moves thrown by the four Japanese band members, all dressed as women, was more than ample consolation for a large crowd.
By contrast Joan As Police Woman delivered a cooly confident set of indie ballads, poppy electronics and the occasional folk flurry, which were well judged and well crafted, preventing any hint of predictability from setting in. She was followed by The Walkmen who upped the energy and excitement levels considerably – their set was one of the weekend highlights with favourites like Juveniles, Angela and of course The Rat receiving rapturous acclaim.
A first visit to the main stage to see headliners Beirut confirmed all previous misgivings about big stages. While clearly good, clearly popular, and clearly pleasing the large crowd, it was still hard to connect with the set, despite excellent renditions of our favourites East of Harlem and Santa Fe. So it was back to the Garden Stage (is there a better festival setting in the country?) to see the legendary Mark E Smith prowl and chunter around the stage with the latest incarnation of the Fall. Either terrible or brilliant as a live spectacle, and rarely in between, they were the former, with a superb set of pummelling krautrock inspired anthems held together with his unique vocal incantations.
Saturday saw Beth Jeans Houghton take the stage first and while we hadn’t been hugely taken when we’d seen her supporting Phosphorescent a couple of years ago, this was an entirely different proposition. A beefed up band, a boost in confidence and stage presence meant a sparkling set of indie pop and folk that contained a couple of absolute stand out tracks in Shampoo and Queen Of This Town – still quirky, still irreverent but now with top quality tunes, her debut album is out in January and on this evidence will be a must-have.
Allo Darlin’ were (like all the best things at the End of the Road) another pleasant surprise – a toe-tapping set of classic British indie pop bursting with melodies and sing along harmonies, which was in stark contrast to the portentous gloomy folk of Timber Timbre that followed. Jolie Holland provided relief with a solo set of beautifully crafted, classic country tunes delivered with her honeyed southern vocal that we could listen to all day long. Another solo set from Matthew Houck aka Phosphorescent was hugely well received, mixing a cover of Dylan with compositions spanning the old (A Picture of our Torn Up Praise) and the new (Mermaid Parade, Los Angeles), and of course a sublime Wolves.
Avoiding the main stage, it was time for a double dose of high octane riffing and pulsating psychedelia from first The Wooden Shjips and then the Black Angels. Despite a slightly muddy sound (deliberate probably) both were triumphant with the former’s Lazy Bones and the latter’s Phosphene Dream being particular highlights.
Lastly it was Okkervil River, a band that for some reason we had not become overly familiar with over the years despite their excellent reputation. The live set we witnessed will change that for good, being one of the undoubted triumphs of the weekend. A fabulous frontman’s performance from Will Sheff, pulsating and mesmerising rhythms, and superb musicianship meant the hour long set passed in a moment, but left us a whole back catalogue to explore.
Then, as the tent called, we discovered that Bob Log III, fresh from a triumphant main stage slot in the afternoon was playing a ‘by popular demand’ headline slot in the Tipi Tent. Cramming ourselves in with the heaving masses, we enjoyed what is surely one of the best dirty blues shows you could ever see. Wearing his trademark crash helmet and playing a blistering set of raw licks that made Seasick Steve look like an absolute beginner, he held the audience enthralled for an hour with great between-song-banter and a hollered “goddamn Bob Log is good” screech at the end of each song. The set finished with two girls from the audience on his lap and three more dancing on stage.
Sunday began with Black Mountain side project Lightning Dust and they were a perfect example of why the End of the Road is so damned good. First up on the last day usually means a sparse, lethargic audience at most festivals. Not here, and the packed crowd were treated to a sublime set of psychedelic folk with a gothic tinge and the exquisite vocals of Amber Webber. Totally unexpected, totally mesmerising, and our best ‘find’ of the festival. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
We took in the countrified shoegaze of Slowdown Molasses and the sparse, fingerpicked folk of Futur Primitif. We enjoyed a fabulously (and surprisingly) powerful set from an (also surprisingly) relatively non-hirsute Megafaun. Thoroughly enjoying themselves in the sunshine it was another exceptional set of indie rock and folk that left everyone grinning. We watched the Woodsist inspired triple billing of the Fresh & Onlys garage pop, The Woods hazy, psychedelic folk and Kurt Vile & The Violators powerful mix of spacey acoustics and thrilling Crazy Horse style guitar wigouts, and jigged along to the nomadic desert blues of Tinariwen.
Finally it was back to braving the main stage for Laura Marling, having missed most of her solo set at the Wilderness Festival. This time backed by a six piece band, her crystal clear voice hung over the festival as a thing of pure, fragile beauty. At just 21 years of age, she may well be the best songwriter in the country.
So, was bigger better? In our opinion, probably not, but crucially bigger was not worse either. The single most important thing – the spirit of the End of the Road – remained intact. There was still the feeling that you were simply amongst a crowd (a big crowd) of people who were there, like you, for the love of the music and everything else was secondary. Just the way we like it – we’ll be back in 2012.
Download Bo Ningen – Psychedelic Misemono Goya mp3 (from Koroshitai Kimochi)
Download Joan As Police Woman – The Magic mp3 (from The Deep Field)
Download The Walkmen – Canadian Girl mp3 (from You & Me)
Download Allo Darlin’ – My Heart Is A Drummer mp3 (from Allo Darlin’)
Download Wooden Shjips – Lazy Bones mp3 (from West)
Download The Black Angels – Telephone mp3 (from Phosphene Dream)
Download Phosphorescent – Reasons To Quit mp3 (from To Willie)
Download Phosphorescent – Wolves mp3 (from Pride)
Download Okkervil River – Wake And Be Fine mp3 (from I Am Very Far)
Download Lightning Dust – Never Seen mp3 (from Infinite Light)
Download Megafaun – These Words mp3 (from Megafaun)
Download The Fresh & Onlys – Waterfall mp3 (from Play It Strange)
Download Kurt Vile – In My Time mp3 (from In My Time)
Download Woods – Blood Dries Darker mp3 (from At Echo Lake)
Download Tinariwen – Tenere Taqqim Tossam mp3 (from Tassili)
Download Laura Marling – Night Terror mp3 (from Alas I Cannot Swim)
And don’t forget our previous free End of the Road mix we posted last week.
Follow @madmackerelFree End of the Road Festival Mix
Today Barry-Sean and I head off, pop up tents in tow, to the marvellous End of the Road festival in lovely Dorset. Once again sold out, last year’s inaugural trip turned into the best festival visit we’ve ever had, and we’re looking forward to more of the same over the next few days. Even the weather forecast is good!
Once again we have a huge number of superb bands scheduled to play and to follow our free Truck Festival Mix (RiP) and our Wilderness Festival Mix, here’s the third and final instalment – our free End of the Road Festival Mix. Enjoy.
Download Beirut – East Harlem mp3 (from The Rip Tide)
Download Joanna Newsom – Good Intentions Paving Company mp3 (from Have One On Me)
Download The Walkmen – Angela Surf City mp3 (from Lisbon)
Download Lykke Li – Get Some mp3 (from Get Some Single)
Download Phosphorescent – Are You Ready For The Country? mp3 (from Harvest Revisited, Mojo cover disc).
Download Phosphorescent – Mermaid Parade mp3 (from Here’s To Taking It Easy)
Download Okkervil River – Your Past Life As A Blast mp3 (from Your Past Life As A Blast 7″)
Download tUnE-yArDs – Bizness mp3 (from Insound March Digital Mixtape)
Download Best Coast – Sun Was High (So Was I) mp3 (from Sun Was High (So Was I) 7″)
Download The Black Angels – The First Vietnamese War mp3 (from Passover)
Download Micah P Hinson & The Red Empire Orchestra – We Won’t Have to be Lonesome mp3 (from Micah P Hinson & The Red Empire Orchestra)
Download Kurt Vile – Invisibility: Nonexistent mp3 (from Square Shells EP)
Download Caitlin Rose – Shotgun Wedding mp3 (from Dead Flowers EP)
Download Zola Jesus – Vessel mp3 (from Conatus)
Download The Fall – Hit The North Part 1 mp3 (from The Frenz Experiment)
Download The Fresh & Onlys – Be My Hooker mp3 (from Play It Strange)
Download Other Lives – For 12 mp3 (from Tamer Animals)
Download Darren Hanlon – Electric Skeleton mp3 (from Electric Skeleton 7″)
Download Dan Mangan – Road Regrets mp3 (from Nice, Nice Very Nice)
Download Timber Timbre – Trouble Comes Knocking mp3 (from Timber Timbre)
Download Bob Log III – Bumper Car mp3 (from My Shit Is Perfect)
Download The Woods – I’m Not Gone mp3 (from Welcome Home Diggin’ the Universe: A Woodsist Compilation)
Download The Wooden Shjips – Vampire Blues mp3 (from Vampire Blues / I Hear The Vibrations 7″)
Download Josh T Pearson – Woman When I’ve Raised Hell…(Alternative Version) mp3
Download This Frontier Needs Heroes – Firefly mp3 (from This Frontier Needs Heroes)
Download Megafaun – Carolina Days mp3 (from Heretofore)
Follow @madmackerelMad Mackerel’s Regular Round Up
The tunes are coming thick and fast again at the moment and keeping up is proving almost impossible. Here are a few of the tracks from the web and our inbox that have caught our ears over the past few days.
First up Okkervil River who are riding high on the critical acclaim for the release of their latest full-length album I Am Very Far. Just this month the band released a new 7-inch for Your Past Life As A Blast. You can listen and download the lead single below.
Download Okkervil River – Your Past Life As A Blast mp3 (from Your Past Life As A Blast 7″)
Dublin’s We Cut Corners have released the first single from their forthcoming debut EP Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards. The track is called Go Easy and sonically, the duo exist somewhere between Burt Bacharach and Death From Above 1979. Recommended.
Download We Cut Corners – Go Easy mp3 (from Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards)
The Fresh & Onlys will release a new 7″ single on Sexbeat early next month and it is, to our mind, one of the best things they’ve done to date. A crackerjack of garage rumble, surf harmonies and guitar jangle.
Download The Fresh & Onlys – I Would Not Know The Devil mp3 (from I Would Not Know The Devil 7″)
Denton, Texas psychedelic-pop band, Sundress celebrated the release of their self-titled EP yesterday. We’ve already posted the excellent Derelict from the EP, but the band have made a second track, Thirteen available for free download. Spoil yourself.
Download Sundress – Thirteen mp3 (from Sundress EP)
Download Sundress- Derelict mp3 (from Sundress EP)
Piney Gir has long been known as the indie Dolly Parton. But her new album Jesus Wept is more Emmylou Harris in her Gram Parsons days… in fact, it sounds like it was twisted through the eyes of a local drunk at the truck stop honky tonk. It’s fun, but it’s dark and you don’t know if you should like it so much but you do, so have another whiskey.
Download The Piney Gir Country Roadshow – Lucky Me mp3 (from Jesus Wept)
Download The Piney Gir Country Roadshow – The Sheriff Of San Miguel mp3 (from Jesus Wept)
Wise Blood’s new EP These Wings gets a release at the end of the month and we’re quite taken with this track, Nosferatu, with its chiming guitar submerged under some swirling electronics, which for once, doesn’t give bedroom pop a bad name.
Download Wise Blood – Nosferatu mp3 (from These Wings EP)
Luke Temple is the frontman of Here We Go Magic and is releasing his third solo album early next month on Western Vinyl. The chugging twang of the upbeat and cajun tinged Ophelia is a really promising taster for the album proper.
Download Luke Temple – Ophelia mp3 (from Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care)
Chad VanGaalen’s recent album, the badly named Diaper Island has some standout tracks on it, and the sturdy Peace On The Rise is one of them. This is the second track he has made available for free and is a keeper.
Download Chad VanGaalen – Peace On The Rise mp3 (from Diaper Island)
Download Chad VanGaalen – Sara mp3 (from Diaper Island)
The Breedings are a brother and sister duo based out of Nashville, TN – home of their debut album, Laughing at Luck. Brought together in the studio by their love of ‘70s country music, the pair have emerged with a surprisingly rock’n’roll album. Theirs is a hard-hitting sound, bringing to mind Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt and a touch of Tom Petty.
Download The Breedings – Come Summer mp3 (from Laughing At Luck)
On a more experimental slant, both Julian Lynch and Ducktails have made tracks available for free. Try Lynch’s short, sci-fi sounding Dream Of A Thousand Nights and the rather more mellow hypnotic haze of Ducktails Sit Around With Ya.
Download Julian Lynch – Dream Of A Thousand Nights mp3
Download Ducktails – Sit Around With Ya mp3 (from Killin The Vibe 12″)
Shitty/Awesome create a wonderfully noisy hairy cacophony – interested in little more than having fun, dancing like maniacs, and eventually passing out in the backyard! Metaphorically speaking, if garage rock is the champagne of bottled bands, then Shitty/Awesome is a bottle of model glue in the parking lot, and all the better for it. Hang Up is from their planned self-titled album coming from Guestroom Records and has guitars like angry wasps and vocals like someone’s being repeatedly stung. Corking stuff.
Download Shitty/Awesome – Hang Up mp3 (from Shitty/Awesome)
We’ve already given you one track from Bear & Moose, a duo steeped in blues, psychedelia, punk, folk, prog rock and garage. New track Wear The Wolf begins floaty and hypnotic, but soon the peacefulness starts to give way to the chaos of face-melting electric guitar with analog delay, bone-filled rain stick kicks in and the percussion drives it all forward. The subject: lapsing into drinking to numb the pain of a broken relationship. The “wolf” is the out of control side that came out when drinking. Not unlike a werewolf, night and intoxication brought unpleasant transformation. Whether you’ve “worn the wolf” or not, this mercurial song will intoxicate you!
Download Bear & Moose - Wear The Wolf mp3 (from Bear/Moose)
Download Bear & Moose – I’m Back mp3 (from Bear/Moose)
Lastly we have Howlin Woods, a four piece from Santa Barbara who have made a set of demo recordings available for free download on their Bandcamp page here. They combine folky, soulful vocals with sinewy guitar and driving percussion and the hypnotic funk-folk of Boss has been getting repeated plays on the MM stereo.
Download Howlin Woods – Boss mp3 (from 2010 Demo Recordings)
Follow @madmackerelCovers Up!
For some reason everywhere we’ve turned recently has brought us into contact with cover songs, so we figured we ought to do our duty and collect the best of them together in one convenient place just for you.
So here you’ll find Deer Tick’s surprisingly faithful cover of an Eddie Cochran classic, Okkervil River taking on the White Stripes, Bat For Lashes doing The Eurythmics, Middle Brothers Daytrotter version of one of their album standouts, the wonderful Portland (as originally done by The Replacements). We have fuzzed up rockers The Dum Dum Girls covering The Vagrants and we have Rachel Goodrich’s version of The Shangri La’s Out In The Streets. Mrs M’s favourite Mark Lanegan takes on The Kinks and Lizzie Huffman takes on Ryan Adams and finally we have Mr West’s version of Young Folks!
These come courtesy of the some of the best blogs and music sites around, Stereogum, Daytrotter, Rollo & Grady, Side One Track One etc., - most are linked on the right in the Music links so check them out if you haven’t already.
Download Deer Tick – Summertime Blues mp3 (Eddie Cochran cover)
Download Middle Brother – Portland mp3 (Daytrotter Session, Replacements cover)
Download Okkervil River – Fell In Love With A Girl mp3 (White Stripes cover)
Download The Dum Dum Girls – Oh Those Eyes mp3 (The Vagrants cover)
Download Rachel Goodrich -Out In The Streets mp3 (Shangri Las cover)
Download Bat For Lashes – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) mp3 (Eurythmics cover)
Download Kanye West – Young Folks mp3 (Peter, Bjorn & John cover)
Download Mark Lanegan – Nothin’ In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl mp3 (Kinks cover)
Download Lizzie Huffman – Oh My Sweet Carolina mp3 (Ryan Adams cover)
Follow @madmackerelMad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: April 2011
Another month, another mix. A collection of twenty or so of the best tunes we posted in April plus a couple of tasty new ones. Download, hit play, relax.
Download Ha Ha Tonka – Usual Suspects mp3 (from Death Of A Decade)
Soulful, catchy, country rock.
Download Sweet Lights – The Shortest Man On Earth mp3 (from Digital Single)
Beautifully judged excursion into the world of classic sunshine and psych rock.
Download Races – Big Broom mp3 (from Big Broom 7″)
Lush, brooding, with orchestral flourishes and a strong sense of melody.
Download Parlours – I Dream Of Chicago mp3 (from Parlours EP)
Indie / folk / pop of the very best kind.
Download Girlfriends – Cave Kids mp3 (from Cave Kids 7″)
Brilliant slab of psych infused, rumbling, garage rock.
Download Half Past Sun – Himalaya mp3 (from Trying To Reach Out EP)
Swirling, kaleidoscopic mix of psychedelia, indie rock and electronica with a naggingly insistent edge that burrows in through your ears and then settles in your brain.
Download Declan de Barra – Watch It Burn mp3 (from Fragments, Footprints & The Forgotten)
Sparse, haunting vocals, weary, deadpan and occasionally caustic lyrics, a genuine troubadour’s folk strum and a powerful sense of right and wrong.
Download The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out mp3 (from Burst Apart)
Eerie, mesmeric indie rock with spectral loops and electronics.
Download Sun Araw – December mp3 (from Houston Abstros 7″)
Cover of Teenage Fanclub’s December, bent and warped into a whole new blissed-out incarnation in the hands of the spaced out swamp cowboys.
Download Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray – Baby Blue mp3 (from Snake Oil Songs EP)
Standout from recent EP with a twangy, irrepressible, under-your-skin guitar lick.
Download Becca Stevens Band – My Girls mp3 (from Weightless)
Excellent smooth-as-velvet reinterpreting of Animal Collective.
Download The Great American Canyon Band – A Song For The Rest mp3 (from Wild Heart EP)
Folky and ambient with a bit of dream pop and rock and roll.
Download The Graceful Slicks – Bul Bul Tarang mp3 (Demo)
While heavy on the psych and drone there are pleasing surf twangs and some shoegaze to keep everyone happy.
Download Gardens – Maze Time mp3 (from Gardens)
A bluesy feel and swirling chorus line, with traces of early 70s punk attitude and even a soupçon of Motown style sweetness as well.
Download Zachary Cale – Hello Oblivion mp3 (from Noise Of Welcome)
Reflective, poignant and emotive, a true troubadour’s tale.
Download The Ganglians – Jungle mp3 (from Still Living)
Slice of dark claustrophobic psych rock.
Download Other Lives – For 12 mp3 (from Tamer Animals)
Galloping rhythms and Morricone-esque guitar conjures a feeling of uneasy expansiveness.
Download The Keys – The Colour Red mp3 (from Bitten By Wolves)
60s inspired psych rock and crunchy guitars with some more modern style jangle pop and some tasty reverb.
Download My Goodness – C’mon Doll mp3 (from My Goodness)
Reverb, greasy blues riffs, distortion, impassioned lyrics and attitude.
Download Okkervil River – Wake And Be Fine mp3 (from I Am Very Far)
Typically sinewy in composition but at its heart lays something bruised and fragile.
Download The Dark Mean – Happy Banjo mp3 (from The Dark Mean)
Contagious indie folk.
And to round things off we have the first track from An Horse’s forthcoming album Walls titled Trains And Tracks, some brilliant garage punk from Mexico in the shape of Le Butcherettes and the brilliantly intense and menacing Ashley’s Song by Des Ark.
Download An Horse – Trains And Tracks mp3 (from Walls)
Download Le Butcherettes – I’m Getting Sick Of You mp3 (from Sin, Sin, Sin)
Download Des Ark – Ashley’s Song mp3 (from Don’t Rock The Boat, Sink The Fucker)
New from Okkervil River
We’ve kind of missed the boat so far with Okkervil River – for whatever reason we’ve just not fallen for their slightly quirky and densely literate charms. Hopefully that may change with their latest album I Am Very Far, which seems to be picking up uniformly good reviews.
First single Wake And Be Fine is typically sinewy in composition but at its heart lays something bruised and fragile. We’re liking it and looking forward to hearing the full album – it could be the start of something beautiful!
The album is out next month in the UK. Pre-order it here.
Download Okkervil River – Wake And Be Fine mp3 (from I Am Very Far)
