John Velghe is a notorious scammer, a charlatan; one of those musicians with a guitar case filled with pretty songs performed by a man of ugly intent. Over the years of performing he’s ruined his character and his body in service to rock ‘n roll. All the while leaving a trail of acrimony wrapped in shimmering chords and the snare drum’s crack. So what could … Continue reading Introducing…John Velghe
We got this via Not So Popular, it is an excellent short story called To The Boat by up and coming young writer James Walsh. It was inspired by a song by J. Tillman. We would urge you to click through and read the story – it’s certainly not one for the faint hearted, but it is excellently written and is certainly one of the … Continue reading J.Tillman inspires short story
Canadian four-piece Harlan Pepper grew up listening to music on dusty record players and hissing radios. Those sounds have been channelled into these songs that in turn make up their album Young and Old. It’s an album that encapsulates their obvious love for raw roots, rock country, blues, and folk music, but seen through their own 21st century kaleidoscope. Take a listen to Great Lakes, the … Continue reading Introducing…Harlan Pepper
We’ve praised and posted a couple of times about Chicago’s garage rockers The Streets On Fire and their excellent album This Is Fancy. This is the new video for another of the album’s cracking tracks, Astronaut Love Triangle. Plenty to get your teeth (and your ears) into… Visit their MySpace here. Download The Streets On Fire – No Ones Fucking To The Radio mp3 (from … Continue reading New Video from The Streets On Fire
Fistful of Mercy is comprised of Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison (George’s son) – a supergroup of sorts I guess. The band’s debut album, As I Call You Down, was released last month via Hot Records. We’ve got a taster for you below, Father’s Son. To be honest we weren’t expecting a great deal and we were pleasantly surprised and it was a … Continue reading Introducing…Fistful of Mercy
We were introduced to Canadian band The Sheepdogs via Hear Ya, and having put their song I Don’t Know on to a CD for the car, it has promptly become Joe’s new favourite track and is pretty much on repeat for every journey we make. The song, which is a real twangy, country infused singalong, seems to have been around for a while and comes from … Continue reading Introducing…The Sheepdogs
Derek Pritzl’s album The Drifter has been quietly growing on us for a while, which is probably why we’ve taken so long to post something about it. It is a record that is unhurried and thoughtful, at times digging up raggedy old soul sounds, and other times leaning into the quiet barren territory where Gillian Welch fans dwell. He easily blends old country, folk and … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Derek Pritzl
We don’t usually do themed mixes, but Halloween is different. So many great songs lend themselves to a night of ghoulish wrongdoing and sorcery. So to get you in the mood, download a marvellous combination of folk, punk, psych-rock, paisley jangle, experimental, indie, and straight up rock ‘n’ roll. Fifteen great songs, all treats and no tricks. Download The Dream Syndicate – Halloween mp3 (from … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Halloween Mix
David Gergen takes acoustic indie rock places it rarely goes, especially on one record. Bending ambience on Seven Miles to Sunset, throbbing electronics on Ore De Electro, along with bluesy slide guitar on The Streets I’m Walking, there’s a taste of everything on Gergen’s latest solo release (his fourth), The Nearer it Was…The Farther It Became. His voice, though consistently deep and resonant evokes the … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…David Gergen
A bit like desert murder ballads, anything coming into our in-box calling itself ‘voodoo trash blues’ is going to get our attention. And so it was with The Black Knights, a due hailing from Salford in the north of England who recently released their debut album Sickle Cell Saturday Night. With influences from The Birthday Party to Jon Spencer to The Dead Weather, theirs is … Continue reading Introducing…The Black Knights
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