Mad Mackerel’s Mega Round Up

Here is another collection of tunes we’ve gathered from our in-box and the internet – we’d like to have more time to do them justice, but nevertheless a cornucopia of pleasures awaits you we promise! First up is the consistently wonderful Damien Jurado with some authentic, strummed desert blues. Nothing Is The News is the first taste of his forthcoming album Maraqopa. Download Damien Jurado – … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Mega Round Up

Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Sudden Passion

Indie-Folk meets Outlaw-Country when The Sudden Passion breaks out the acoustic guitars & lo-fi synths to sing you sleazy tales of the road. The caustic, and slightly tongue in cheek Walk Of Shame comes from their recent 5 track EP Successful Friends, which can be purchased for a minimum price of $1 or more from their Bandcamp page here. Download Sudden Passion – Walk Of Shame … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Sudden Passion

Wooden Wand Releases Briarwood Tomorrow

We’ve posted a few times about Wooden Wand’s new album Briarwood, initially funded via a Kickstarter campaign and now getting a “proper” release in the US and UK via the excellent Fire Records – it is out tomorrow. Here is another track, another winner. Buy direct from Fire album here. Download Wooden Wand – Winter In Kentucky mp3 (from Briarwood) Download Wooden Wand – Big Mouth USA mp3 (from … Continue reading Wooden Wand Releases Briarwood Tomorrow

Mad Mackerel’s Monday Morning Threesome

Here’s a good way to start the working week – with a triple helping of top notch, indie goodness. First up is the return of alt-Country pioneers Lambchop who will release their first album since 2008 in the form of Mr. M, which is a tribute to the great Vic Chesnutt. If Not I’ll Just Die is a smooth, almost jazz inflected cut that is … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Monday Morning Threesome

MM Shorts 41: The Great Lakes Unreleased Track

We picked this up via the excellent Piaptk Blog and figured it had to be worth a repost. The Great Lakes are a psych-Country act from Brooklyn who we posted about back in the summer of 2010 when they released their lovely album Ways Of Escape. That was a record of introspective folk and country tunes, and while this is in the same vein, there … Continue reading MM Shorts 41: The Great Lakes Unreleased Track

MM Shorts 40: Van Meter

Van Meter’s new album Mess Of My Memory is sometimes angry, occasionally tongue in cheek and always authentic. Recorded live, it stays true to the roots of alt-Country, but with a rather addictive dark twist, running the gamut of revenge, disappointment and acceptance. You can download the album from Amazon here. Download Van Meter – Sittin’ Pretty mp3 (from Mess Of My Memory) Continue reading MM Shorts 40: Van Meter

MM Recommends…Caithlin De Marrais

Caithlin De Marrais – the Brooklyn-based former frontwoman of the much loved indie rock band Rainer Maria, for whom “sonic bliss comes naturally,” as the Boston Globe put it – has just released her sophomore solo album Red Coats on End Up Records. This luminous album is a progression beyond Rainer Maria and her solo debut My Magic City. Analogue fuzz-scapes ease the listener into sharp idiosyncratic … Continue reading MM Recommends…Caithlin De Marrais

Video Round Up

Here are a few more of the videos that we have been sent recently that have appealed to our eyes and ears. First up is Monument Valley whom we posted about recently. This is the off kilter video for Round And Round together with a download for Dear John Letters from the forthcoming Tongues EP. Download Monument Valley – Dear John Letters mp3 (from Tongues … Continue reading Video Round Up

New Album From Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks

We included Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks on our recent Halloween playlist and subsequently discovered a new album had been released just last week. Titled Heartsick, and recorded in a damp Wisconsin basement, it is another foray into their idiosyncratic world of doom laden, southern gothic folk and country. Lonesome Wyatt is one half of another dark country duo (Those Poor Bastards) so perhaps … Continue reading New Album From Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Vagabondage

Vagabondage is a Bay Area, California based folk-punk band that was born over nachos and wine on a tiny stage in an empty theater in San Francisco’s Mission District. They have been getting people up on their feet, yelling, drinking and singing along to their songs since 2008. Their new album was conceived at San Francisco’s Secret Studios over a bottle of cheap bourbon – … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Vagabondage