Introducing…Story Books

Story Books come from the Isle of Sheppey, just off Kent’s eastern coastline. There is not much information to be found about them at the moment, but this demo for Peregrine is a perfect introduction. It is melancholic, sombre, downbeat, bleak even, and yet there is something curiously uplifting about the song – it may be the rich warmth of Kris Harris’s voice, or the … Continue reading Introducing…Story Books

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Pensioner

Pensioner are yet another off the seemingly unending production line of top notch indie bands from Scotland. Their debut album Yearlings was released back in May 2011, but they have now decided to make the digital version available for free download. You can get it, or a CD with poster for £5, from their Bandcamp page here. It is a robust and uncompromising mix of … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Pensioner

MM Shorts 71: Boom Chick Single

Boom Chick are a rock ‘n’ roll duo from Brooklyn whose sound is born out of an ecstatic love for 50s era American rock & roll, blues, surf guitar and early country music. They have a new three track single out on the 20th February, you can listen to the bone rattlingly good title track Shake Can Well below. The first 100 pre-orders will receive the … Continue reading MM Shorts 71: Boom Chick Single

New EP From Cheyenne Marie Mize

Cheyenne Marie Mize introduced herself internationally on the 10″ release Among the Gold with Bonnie “Prince” Billy – an inventive take on a variety of late 19th century American parlor music handpicked by her and Will Oldham. We first discovered her when we posted her Valentine’s Day recording – a lush and spine-tingling cover of said same Bonnie Prince Billy’s I Called You Back from his 2006 release The Letting Go. Her … Continue reading New EP From Cheyenne Marie Mize

Free Clash Magazine Digital Mix

Clash Magazine regularly offer up their free Cross Section digital mix of new music and the latest is well worth taking a moment to download. It features tracks from Beth Jeans Houghton, Catherine A.D., Stealing Sheep and Rough Fields amongst others. They also have a link to an excellent free Cargo Records sampler of the best of their 2011 offerings – artists include Wire, Howe … Continue reading Free Clash Magazine Digital Mix

New Year Round Up

Here is a quick and dirty round up of some of the new tracks starting to circulate the web and on some of our favourite blogs. A chance to pick up any you might have missed… We have some very tasty surf infused pop from Vivian Girl Katy Goodman’s side project Le Sera, a second taste from Of Montreal’s imminent new album, some viciously uncompromising … Continue reading New Year Round Up

Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Black Oil Brothers

We came to the Black Oil Brothers via the excellent Big Rock Candy Mountain blog a good while ago. Their EP with Bethany Saint-Smith titled American Honey was a brilliant example of evocative, dusty, backwoods Americana. By chance browsing BRCM and their end of year Best Of list over Christmas (and well worth a visit it is too), we came across them again and discovered … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Black Oil Brothers

Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (6th January)

Well I started off writing the old looking forward, looking back, eating less, drinking less, spending less routine. But then I thought bollocks, why state the obvious when I never do anyway? January comes around with increasing swiftness the older I get, so it’s with a wince of mental planning and a little bit of trepidation that I look forward to this year’s thrills and … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (6th January)

Mega Video Round-up

In all the craziness of Christmas our in-box got overwhelmed with videos from all sorts of interesting folk. So here’s your chance to give them a viewing and pick up one or two nice mp3s. Those Lavender Whales have come up with a novel way of showcasing their track Growth In Question from their new record, Tomahawk Of Praise, which is due for release on … Continue reading Mega Video Round-up