MAD MACKEREL’S TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

For our first ever Festive Feature on Mad Mackerel, we asked twelve of our favourite bands and artists of 2011 to answer twelve questions and we will publish them over the next twelve days taking us up to Christmas Eve.

Day 2 sees the lovely, but certifiably unhinged Lovely Eggs taking part. Their surreal indie sing-along anthem Don’t Look At Me (I Don’t Like It) has been a staple in the car on the school run for most of the summer onwards. It prompted us to investigate their album Cob Dominoes and we discovered a uniquely imagined freak’s dreamworld where weirdness and wry observational humour compete over a backdrop of noisy pop and folkish acoustics to brilliant effect.

1) Three iconic clashes. Who would you vote for in each of these?

a) The Velvet Underground or The Doors

The Velvet Underground.

b) Bob Dylan or Neil Young

Neil Young.

c) The Sex Pistols or the Clash?

The Sex Pistols.

2) What has been your personal highlight of 2011?

We’ve had a lot of good fun this year we have. There are quite a lot of highlights for us, we can’t pick just one but here are some…

• Cob Dominos (our 2nd album) coming out, especially on 12” vinyl.

• Recording Allergies with Gruff Rhys

• Getting to play with Half Japanese

• Going on tour with Art Brut

• Raiding the Too Pure vinyl stockroom

• Getting to know a lot of new people

3) What was your low point of the year (and why)?

The low point is always coming back off tour always.

4) You can give one single album from 2011 to just one person for Christmas. What would you buy and who for?

The super deluxe reissue of Serge Gainsbourg’s classic ‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’ for our friend Darren Andrews who is a photographer and likes smoking cigarettes. 

5) Give us between two and five songs from 2011 that you’d recommend as the best of the year.

We generally don’t listen to records from 2011. We’ve discovered some cracking records this year but couldn’t tell you whether they’re from 2011 or not. Sorry!

6) Do you have a favourite Christmas Carol – why?

Not really. 

7) Imagine you are snowed in and stuck in an isolated house in the woods for Christmas with no way out. Wolves and bears are prowling outside. You need to recommend the following:

A classic song to impress an ultra cool, know-it-all, teenager

A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death- The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

A song to terrify Grandma

Wasted- Black Flag

A traditional song to help send Grandad to sleep

Iron Man- Black Sabbath

A song for someone just waking from a five-year coma

Good Morning- Gene Kelly

A book to frighten the children

The dictionary 

An unforgettable film to watch

The Wicker Man (1973 version)

8) What is top of your Christmas list this year? Why?

We haven’t got lists. We just like surprises. But books are always nice thanks!

9) What is the worst Christmas present you’ve ever given and/or ever received?

Clothes from either of our parents are always pretty dodgy. How many clothes with treble clefs on can you bear to wear!

10) Will you be making a New Year Resolution? If so can you share it and will you keep it? What is the stupidest New Year resolution you’ve ever made?

Probably not. Holly once did a New Year’s resolution to stop smoking. That was pretty stupid.

11) Imagine you’re headlining a Christmas Concert at your favourite venue. You can share the stage with three other artists or bands (past or present) for the final encore of the night. Who would they be and what would you play?

We would play with The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band in one big fat psychedelic noise jam. David would play electric sitar and Holly would make feedback and sing a bit. 

12) Can you write us a Christmas themed limerick?

There once was an nog made of egg

Yule think we are pulling yer leg

But try it inside yer with a chaser of cider

And yule be wanting to order a keg!