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

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

New From Last American Buffalo

We posted back in October about Last American Buffalo and their excellent free self-titled EP of dusty, sunbaked Americana. They have returned with a new song, Yucca Bacatta which comes with a short statement “Getting your heart ripped out makes for a lot of songs. So cheers.” They have also made this song available for free. Have a listen and then download it. a Continue reading New From Last American Buffalo

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Night Genes

Night Genes sing bold, dark folk infused songs that are sometimes traditional, sometimes experimental, but always engaging. Unlike much currently on offer, their new album Like The Blood is full of tracks that have a underlying core strength, which gives them the capacity to hold the listener’s attention and invokes the Old West in a way that seems effortlessly authentic. Grab yourself Cyber Me below, … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Night Genes

Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: December 2011

Here is our final monthly Best Of mix of songs from 2011 – despite all the Christmas fayre on offer, there were still a whole plethora of cracking new tracks to enjoy, and as always we’ve gathered the best of our December posts into one lovely mix for you with a couple of new tracks to sample too. Don’t forget to check out all our … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: December 2011

Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 3 (10 – 1)

And so here we have our top ten albums of the year. To be honest the order is fairly arbitrary – on another day it could be a completely different as really these ten records have so little between them in turns of the pleasure and enjoyment they gave us. If you’ve not acquainted yourselves with any of these then we’re pretty sure you won’t … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 3 (10 – 1)

Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 2 (30 – 11)

Carrying on from where we left off yesterday… 30 Josh T Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen Download Josh T Pearson – Woman When I’ve Raised Hell…(Alternative Version) mp3 a 29 Real Estate – Days Download Real Estate – Green Aisles mp3 (from Days) Download Real Estate – It’s Real mp3 (from Days) a 28 Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest Download Gillian Welch – The Way It Goes … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 2 (30 – 11)

Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 1 (50-31)

So, as the New Year approaches, here are our favourite albums of 2011 for your consideration. Feel free to dispute, argue, or otherwise put us right because, if nothing else, music is as about as subjective topic as it is possible to get. Some of these may not be the “best” albums of the year as far as the critics are concerned, but that matters … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 1 (50-31)

MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 9 Mrs Mackerel

Our final Top Ten selection comes courtesy of the lovely, and ever radiant, Mrs Mackerel. Over to you girl! It’s been a great musical year. But such a plethora of riches always presents a problem – what’s a girl to choose? Fortunately some fine contributions in the preceding week means most bases are covered. Live gigs, although few and far between this year, have been … Continue reading MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 9 Mrs Mackerel

(FESTIVE FEATURE) THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS No 12: DENNIS HOPPER CHOPPERS

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 as we reach Christmas Eve, here is the last of them. Happy Christmas! If you were to ask us what ingredients would make up the perfect MM song, we might say something along the lines of a dusty Western ghost … Continue reading (FESTIVE FEATURE) THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS No 12: DENNIS HOPPER CHOPPERS