The compilation The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver sees an official release today and features artists including Sharon Van Etten, J Mascis, Evan Dando, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Emmylou Harris and many more reinterpreting some of the pop icon’s classic tunes.
Listen to a few choice selections from it below and order it via iTunes (USA) here.
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Following on from our Round Up Part 1 post yesterday, comes 16 more tracks from the in-box, our favourite blogs and the web in general for your aural delight.
Kicking us off are Summer Hours and their single Close and Closer from forthcoming album Closer Still. Although they may initially sound simple, closer listening reveals complex song structures with intricate bass and guitar melodies.
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Cobalt Cranes blend elements of desert, psychedelic and shoegaze sounds, taking a modern approach to classic California rock. Their debut LP Head In The Clouds (out April 9 via their own Anticc Records) is heavily influenced by hard rock album narratives of the early 1970s and versatile shoegaze rock of the early 90s, as well as modern sounds. The band is offering up a free download of the title track.
Download Cobalt Cranes – Head In The Clouds mp3 (from Head In The Clouds)
After spending time as a musician in both Nashville and New York, Kait Lawson returned to her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee to record her debut album, Until We Drown. Her uncompromising songwriting takes a wry, yet deeply personal look at broken homes and fractured relationships in songs that are haunted by Guthrie and Kerouac, regretful cigarettes, midtown Memphis, squandered youth, temporal angels, perfume from the graveyard, goodbyes and the lies of Judas. Download the wonderful Place In The Ground.
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Seattle’s Pickwick released a three song covers EP this week. The first track is the Richard Swift penned Lady Luck featuring collaboration with Sharon Van Etten and is available for free now on the band’s website. The EP also features covers of Damien Jurado and The Primitives.
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Pere Ubu return with their first new studio album for over three years this month, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the group’s debut (The Modern Dance). Lady From Shanghai will be released on Fire Records and has been picking up some top-notch reviews. This is a disorienting mix of midwestern groove rock, “found” sound, analog synthesizers, falling-apart song structures and careening vocals. It is a mix that has mesmerized critics, musicians and fans for decades. Click through for a free download of the brutal and bruising 414 Seconds and of another album track Free White.
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January also sees Fire Records reissuing two spectacularly beautiful albums; Eyes Rind As If Beggars by cult NZ noise pop band The Garbage and The Flowers and the beautiful and bewitching SOS JFK from Josephine Foster’s first band The Children’s Hour. Here’s a track each from those records for you to enjoy…just click through to download for free.
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The Lovely Bad Things are a garage-punk four piece who will release The Late Great Whatever on February 26 via Volcom Entertainment (cassette on Burger Records). Taster track Fried Eggs is a gem of a taster.
Download The Lovely Bad Things – Fried Eggs mp3 (from The Late Great Whatever)
We posted recently about the stunning track Honey by Torres and her minimal, ragged and raw self-titled debut is released next week. This is Mother Earth, Father God.
Download Torres – Mother Earth, Father God mp3 (from Torres)
At just 24 years old, Keaton Henson’s songs, artwork and poetry are known by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Yet he is a virtual stranger, whose anonymity is no accident. Keaton has never posted on social networks, has not played live until very recently, and barely leaves his hometown or his bedroom. Lying To You is the superb second single from his forthcoming album Birthdays which can be pre-ordered from here.
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Rice Cultivation Society are an indie rock band based out of Long Island, NY who cherish the DIY work ethic. Self-produced, Sky Burial is not your typical DIY record. Influenced in part by Tibetan philosophy, it’s often a meditative record, clean and spacious with soaring guitar riffs – check out first single Honey Hide and another free track King Midas.
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Thick Shakes non-stop garage punk has featured on MM before. This is I Said So, a free download of their latest high octane single.
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We have another track from psych-pop masters The Ruby Suns new album Christopher. This is In Real Life.
Download The Ruby Suns – In Real Life mp3 (from Christopher)
Finally, for today, we have a track from Alison May’s raw folk tapestry Earnest Keep, which sees a release next week. This is A Good Stone.
Download Alison May – A Good Stone mp3 (from Earnest Keep)
Part 3 tomorrow…
Follow @madmackerelThe final post about our favourites of the year, here are numbers fifteen down to top spot of the albums we have most enjoyed in 2012.
Don’t forget to check back for our 100 Favourite Tunes and the MM contributor’s best of lists too.
15 Shearwater – Animal Joy
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14 Patterson Hood – Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance
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13 Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
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12 Tame Impala – Lonerism
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11 Wintersleep – Hello Hum
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10 Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
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9 Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral
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8 First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
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7 Two Gallants – The Bloom And The Blight
Download Two Gallants – Broken Eyes mp3 (from The Bloom And The Blight)
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6 Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves
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5 Delta Spirit – Delta Spirit
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4 Tom Williams & The Boat – Teenage Blood
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3 Willy Mason – Carry On
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2 The Walkmen – Heaven
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1 Father John Misty – Fear Fun
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To celebrate the end of term, daughter sprat and I loafed into the local market town today. Her treat was a trip to the fishy foot parlour, and Mama went too… Nothing has given me such a fit of the giggles in quite some time. Sadly, the fish didn’t share the joke. I thought I saw a few waving white handkerchiefs while others threw themselves out of the tank onto the floor. Not really.
So it’s a trip to London to the theatre (darling) tomorrow. How bloody exciting – and travelling on the train too. I’m going Jumpy courtesy of Jenny Wren with Mrs Olive Grove. We’re going to the matinee because we’re old and we can lunch before hand and still be home in plenty of time for Match of the Day and a cup of cocoa. I know how to live.
Come Sunday, it’s off I jolly well go to see Welsh Spanner in (yes, you guessed it) deepest darkest Wales with Sprat 1 and 2. I feel that once again we will be testing the golden rule of trips to Pembrokeshire: that it doesn’t rain in Wales. Sorry to disappoint you kids, but you’re deluded. Anyway, crazy but hugely lovable Auntie Spanner is always great value and after 20 plus years she will even hug me and my children willingly. I was born an enthusiastic hugger/cuddler. The very first birthday of hers that we celebrated together prompted a spontaneous hug from me. Her response? I grew up on a farm, Scares; we don’t do hugs. This was followed by me presenting her with a cake adorned with those re-lighting candles. We had to evacuate the building as the fire alarm went off. Happy days.
Still, I believe hugging is good for the soul. Happy Friday.
Mrs Mackerel x
Download Thin White Rope – The Fish Song mp3 (from The Ruby Sea)
Download Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matinee mp3 (from Franz Ferdinand)
Download Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs – I Wanna Hug Ya, Kiss Ya, Squeeze Ya mp3 (from Dirt Don’t Hurt)
Download She Keeps Bees & Sharon Van Etten – Cuddle Alone mp3 (from Let’s Kiss & Make Up (Slow and Fast))
Follow @madmackerelWe seem to be getting overwhelmed by high quality videos at the moment so it would be churlish and not a little selfish of us not to share some of the best with you.
Kicking off is the wonderful video for the delicately beautiful Tuck The Darkness In from the Bowerbirds new album The Clearing.
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Next we have Cheyenne Marie Mize and a video for her adventurous track Wishing Well from new EP We Don’t Need.
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Download Cheyenne Marie Mize – Wishing Well mp3 (from We Don’t Need EP)
We change pace and attitude somewhat with new videos from the Ex-Girlfriends Club, DZ Deathrays (with a parody of Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al video) and The Burnt Ones. Check them all out…
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Iroquois Falls is Toronto resident Priya Thomas, a creation that came about following the death of her best friend and roommate. After which she fell into disorientation and despair, and it is chronicled by this music she recorded. The sound falls somewhere in between Patti Smith, Lydia Lunch and Grouper. Check it out.
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By contrast The Vespers are irreverent and even goofy in this video for the upbeat indie pop of brand new song Flower Flower. It comes from new album The Fourth Wall (out April 3rd) – grab another track from it below as well.
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Download The Vespers – Better Now mp3 (from The Fourth Wall)
And talking of irreverence, here is the Boom Bang’s stop-motion video for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme tune. It has over 4,000 individual pictures, 60 hand drawn images and 3 months of tedious work to recreate the nostalgic 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon introduction in stop motion. Watch it and download it for free.
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Spring Offensive are another emerging Oxford band who are starting to create quite a name for themselves. This is the video for the gorgeous Carrier (the b-side to forthcoming single Worry Fill My Heart) and you can see why the buzz is justified.
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Bonnie And Clyde is the debut single from The Last Party, due out on the 16th April, and is one of the best new tracks we’ve heard for a while. Well worth checking out – see if you can spot guest star Clint Boon from the Inspiral Carpets?
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Sharon Van Etten’s new album Tramp is finally seeming to be bringing her the attention and plaudits she deserves. This is the video for Leonard.
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Download Sharon Van Etten – Leonard mp3 (from Tramp and the Insound Free February Digital Mixtape)
UK indie rockers The Joy Formidable’s newest single is the pummelling rocker A Heavy Abacus, which the band have recorded and released a new music video for.
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And finally we have another debut video, this one is from indie rockers Wildlife for their song Sea Dreamer. It’s got rival gangs, street bowling, food fighting, a gun, more weapons, more fighting, and props – lots and lots of props. Download it for free too…
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You know the drill by now. The latest free monthly Insound digital mix can be grabbed just by clicking here.
Featuring another stellar lineup including Pontiak, Of Montreal, La Sera, Nite Jewel, Porcelain Raft and Bowerbirds amongst others, here are a couple of our own favourites from the mix: firstly another track from Sharon Van Etten’s wonderful new album and some icy dance-goth from Black Marble.
Download Sharon Van Etten – Leonard mp3 (from Insound February Mixtape 2/7/12)
Download Black Marble – Pretender mp3 (from Insound February Mixtape 2/7/12)
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Our third top ten contributions come from Starbar and JaMS who job share in the office. This is JaMS first entry in to the guest top ten spots, but first up is Starbie…
10. Laura Marling – I Was Just A Card
9. Slow Club – If we’re Still Alive
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8. The Decemberists – This Is Why we Fight
7. Lana Del Ray – Video Games
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6. Black Keys – Lonely Boy
5. Deer Tick – Miss K
Download Deer Tick – Miss K. mp3 (from Divine Providence)
4. Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Dog Scratched Ear
Download Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Dog Scratched Ear mp3 (from Donkey Jacket)
3. Big Pink – Stay Gold
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2. Noah & The Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N
1. Death Cab For Cutie – Stay Young Go Dancing
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Bubbling Under
Funeral For a Friend – Broken Foundation
Florence & the Machine – Shake it Out
Fleet Foxes – Lorelai
Download Fleet Foxes – Lorelai mp3 (from Helplessness Blues)
Ed Sheeran – Lego House
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And JaMS…
10. Sharon Van Etten – Serpents
Download Sharon Van Etten – Serpents mp3 (from Tramp)
9. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
8. The Decemberists – January Hymn
7. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
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6. Charlene Soraia – Wherever You Will Go
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5. Friends – I’m His girl
4. Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing
Download Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing mp3 (from Wounded Rhymes)
3. Florence and the Machine – What The Water Gave Me
2. Lana Del Rey – Video Games
1. Laura Marling – Sophia
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Despite the end of the year fast approaching, thankfully the quality of new music shows no signs of slowing. Here are the best of our November offerings, together with some tasty new tracks to round off the mix.Over thirty great songs – just right for the roaring fire and the cocoa!
Download Siskiyou – Twigs And Stones mp3 (from Keep Away The Dead)
Brilliantly judged restless blend of country rock, folk, and grand orchestral rock.
Download The Cloud Nothings – No Future / No Past mp3 (from Attack On Memory)
Intense indie rock – their best yet?
Download The Morning Birds – Born To Be Alive mp3 (from Surrender To This EP)
Skips along on the back of a groove so funky that it sounds like it was kidnapped from a 1970s New York disco and dragged into the new Millennium.
Download A Place To Bury Strangers – So Far Away mp3 (from Onwards To The Wall EP)
This on the other hand is a storming slab of pulverising noisemongering!
Download D.B. Rouse – The Hungover Lowdown Beat Up Burnt Out Blues mp3 (from Repent EP)
Folk yes, but beautifully judged with poignancy and pathos, self-reflection, regrets and dreams.
Download New London Fire – The Dirt The Blood The Faith mp3 (from The Dirt The Blood The Faith)
Sumptuous folk-western that howls its defiance and stands righteous in its anger at injustices suffered.
Download Black Creek – The Mustang mp3 (from Ragged Shark)
Dirty country rock and barrelling bar-room boogie.
Download Wounded Lion – Roman Values mp3 (from IVXLCDM)
Two and a half minutes of insane garage punk that is driven along by a heavyweight riff, pulsating percussion and a classic shouted vocal.
Download The Whalers – Lighthouse mp3 (from Paddle Easy EP)
Hypnotic, surf-inspired indie rock.
Download Lissy Trullie – Madeleine mp3 (from Lissy Trullie)
Slow-burning indie with echoes of the Velvets, even a bit of shoegaze maybe, but all is anchored by a distorted groove and her brilliant voice.
Download The Great Lakes – Blood On My Tooth mp3
Country jam given a healthy injection of rockabilly rhythm.
Download Monument Valley – Dear John Letters mp3 (from Tongues EP)
Excellent slice of introspective, melancholia from new singer-songwriter.
Download Bear Driver – Never Never mp3
Woozy, four-minute slice of delicious fuzz-pop.
Download Sharon Van Etten – Serpents mp3 (from Tramp)
Stunning advance track from forthcoming new album.
Download Fairlamb – The Way It Goes mp3 (from People Change)
Waspish lyrics and gently strummed acoustics.
Download The Dodos – So Cold mp3 (Previously Unreleased)
More indie-folk par excellence.
Download Galaxy Sunrise – When Pigs Fly mp3 (from When Pigs Fly single)
Lovely excursion into hazy psych-pop.
Download The Boombox Hearts – Crank It Up mp3
Lo-fi melancholic folk from Denmark.
Download Electric Flowers – Circles mp3 (from Electric Circles EP)
A sonic epic. Nuff said.
Download The Quiet Americans – Be Alone mp3 (from Medicine EP)
Old fashioned, fuzzed-up rock’n'roll.
Download Joakim Fritzner – Thoughts On Us 23-3 mp3 (from It’s Not Me…)
Catchy, folkish strum and guaranteed earworm.
Download Wooden Wand – Winter In Kentucky mp3 (from Briarwood)
Masterful ramshackle countryish-rock.
Download The Dead Jerichos – Please Yourself mp3 (from Please Yourself EP)
Drenched, droney guitar lines and shattered fragments of disco, punk, and post hardcore rhythms.
Download The Royal Sea – This Summer mp3 (from The Royal Sea)
Surf-drums and sugar coated adrenalin rush - this should have been the woozy, feel good hit of the summer. Our pick of the month.
Download Pontiak – Lions Of Least mp3 (from Echo Ono)
Pulverising psych-rock.
Download Secret Colours – Faust mp3 (from EP3)
Channels the finest of the greats of late ’60s psychedelia, ’90s newgaze reverence, and a touch of driving, bucolic, no frills RnR straight from the greasiest of garages.
Download i am Love – Truest mp3 (from Truest 7″)
Rich, thoughtful folk with beautifully paced ebb and flow.
Download Rob St. John – Sargasso Sea mp3 (from Weald)
Simply stunning excursion into a shifting, twilight world that slowly builds on the back of a sparse, plucked guitar and almost spoken vocals into a swirling, epic peak of rhythmic guitars and cracked vocal harmonies.
And there’s more. To round off the mix we have a gorgeous new one from MM faves, the folky Bowerbirds who will release a new album in March on Dead Oceans, the first taste of individual bubblegum garage from Hunx (as in & His Punx) solo effort appropriately called Hairdresser Blues, the effortlessly sleazy Black Bananas (formerly RTX) and Rad Times from their forthcoming album Rad Times Xpress IV and lastly former Dawes member Alex Casnoff has a new band Harriet and a new EP Tell The Right Story. I Slept With All Your Mothers is the brilliantly named and gripping lead track.
As always…enjoy!
Download The Bowerbirds – Tuck The Darkness In mp3 (from The Clearing)
Download Hunx – Always Forever mp3 (from Hairdresser Blues)
Download Harriet – I Slept With All Your Mothers mp3 (from Tell The Right Story EP)
Download Black Bananas – Rad Times mp3 (from Rad Times Xpress IV)
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What better gift on Thanksgiving for all our US friends than a taste of the wonderful Sharon Van Etten’s forthcoming new album in the shape of Serpents. The song features collaborations with The National (Aaron and Bryce Dessner), Wye Oak (Jenn Wasner), The Walkmen (Matt Barrick), and Doveman’s Thomas Bartlett. As you might expect, it is a keeper!
The new album will be called Tramp and will be released in February next year on Jagjaguwar.
Download Sharon Van Etten – Serpents mp3 (from Tramp)
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We were delighted to hear from Sharon Van Etten that she is to play one UK date in London next month before heading off as the personally invited support for the National’s European tour.
For those that don’t know, she sings with the voice of a wounded angel and tells slow, melancholy tales of yearning, loss, bitterness and mourning that send shivers down the spine and once heard, become utterly mesmerising.
The gig will be at the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen on Sunday February 13th and it is a very welcome, albeit rare, chance to see one of the best up and coming artists in the USA. Take a listen to a couple of tracks below and you’ll see we’re not exaggerating.
Tickets can be got here or here, and cost just £7 + booking fee.
Visit her MySpace here.
Download Sharon Van Etten – Coming Home mp3 (from Theme from the film Women’s Prison)
Download Sharon Van Etten – I Couldn’t Save You mp3 (from Epic)
Download Sharon Van Etten – Don’t Do It mp3 (from Epic)
