Tom Brosseau – Grass Punks

Originally a North Dakota troubadour, Tom Brosseau is a folksinger and songwriter who currently resides in Los Angeles. He comes from a working family with a musical background, though none have received formal training. His grandmother Lillian Uglem taught him the acoustic guitar while he was in grade school. He returns with his first solo release in 5 years and his 7th studio album to … Continue reading Tom Brosseau – Grass Punks

Scott H. Biram To Release Nothin’ But Blood

We’ve long admired and enjoyed the raw, simmering, often rabid, one-man-band blues of Scott H. Biram – like a meaner, nastier, and considerably better Seasick Steve! So it is great to hear he is back with a new album, Nothin’ But Blood, on the ever reliable Bloodshot Records in February next year. His distinct songwriting cocktail is much to the fore, encompassing a penchant for sludge … Continue reading Scott H. Biram To Release Nothin’ But Blood

U.S. Royalty – Into The Thicket

We last featured Washington DC based band U.S. Royalty back in Febraury 2011, and it is good to welcome them back with their new track Into The Thicket. It has a touch of the Lumineers about it – being a big-hearted, tender folk tune delivered with a mixture of fingerpicked harmonies and vocal fervour that is all to rarely seen (or heard) nowadays. It manages to convey … Continue reading U.S. Royalty – Into The Thicket

Videos of the Day: Catfish & The Bottlemen || Shovels & Rope || Brilliant Beast || Sweet Gum Tree || Dinosaur Bones

Plenty to enjoy today as our videos come from boisterous up and coming indie-rockers Catfish & The Bottlemen, the punked-up raw country of Shovels & Rope, and the fuzzed up psychedelia and krautrock from Brilliant Beast. We also have the refined, vintage pop of Sweet Gum Tree featuring MM fave Isobel Campbell, and lastly the dark pop and grandiose hooks of Dinosaur Bones. Fill yer boots. . . … Continue reading Videos of the Day: Catfish & The Bottlemen || Shovels & Rope || Brilliant Beast || Sweet Gum Tree || Dinosaur Bones

Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Parmesans

Sitting somewhere between the traditional Americana of the Milk Carton Kids, and the drifters folk tales of Woody Guthrie, The Parmesans are a string trio from California specialising in complex, Doc Watsonesque guitar picking, harmonious mandolin lead, good ‘ol honky tonkin’ bass lines and all with an emphasis on tight three part vocal harmonies. Their album Wolf Eggs (with its excellent cover art) is a live … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Parmesans

Videos of the Day: Beachwood Sparks || September Girls || Talmud Beach || DZ Deathrays || Wild Ones || Caravan Of Thieves

We have no less than six excellent videos and songs to help you begin to welcome in the weekend. First up is Beachwood Sparks and their 70s inspired home footage homage is a perfect fit for track Make It Together. By way of contrast, the video for fuzzed-up indie rockers, September Girls new single Heartbeats, draws on influences of old Hammer Horrors and photographers such Ryan McGinley and … Continue reading Videos of the Day: Beachwood Sparks || September Girls || Talmud Beach || DZ Deathrays || Wild Ones || Caravan Of Thieves

Howe Gelb – The Coincidentalist

Howe Gelb has been picking up some stellar reviews for new album The Coincidentalist, which saw a release earlier this month on the 5th November, via the excellent New West Records label. The album features an all-star cast of musician friends: Bonnie “Prince” Billy, M. Ward, KT Tunstall, Andrew Bird and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, and is a brilliantly unhurried, melodic collection of lysergic desert-folk. … Continue reading Howe Gelb – The Coincidentalist

David Bronson Gives Away Animals

We posted the video for the reflective, and rather lovely, Incompetent Assassin earlier this week, and now New York singer-songwriter David Bronson is giving away a free download of his track Animals. It is taken from his recently released album The Long Lost, and he says it is a song “about accountability and the opposing forces of recklessness and restraint that fight within each of us…it’s … Continue reading David Bronson Gives Away Animals