Here we are again. A mix of the best tracks we posted in February and a few new ones too. Twenty seven cracking songs to immerse yourself in! Download O’Death – Bugs mp3 (from Outside) Echoes of their ramshackle and punkish best, but this time it is cocooned in something more subtle and thoughtful too. Download The Whalers – That Rabbit mp3 (from How The Ship Goes … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: February
Fosdyk Well have entered the realm of nightmares and dreamscapes with mini album Slumber And Stark Lots. It is a brilliantly disorientating mix of uneasy folk and ambient experiment where it seems as though… well nothing is actually what it seems. We’re absolutely loving the off-kilter acoustic strum and queasy feel of First Gravity – happily it makes Fosdyk Well another strong candidate for our favourite new … Continue reading Introducing…Fosdyk Well
What Would Jesus Drive featured prominently in the Top Ten lists of Christy-Popper and Dr Roddy with their blend of caustic electro-indie rock. In advance of debut album Black and Blue (due in March) they are releasing a new EP Fragile Mansions. Deciding not to tamper with a winning formula, the EP gleefully reminds the listener where the soul of a lost punk generation lies – … Continue reading Free EP from What Would Jesus Drive
If Oxford can be said to have an iconic music venue then it would undoubtedly be the Jericho Tavern in Walton Street. The beer-sticky room over the pub having paid host to many of the indie greats, the indie up-and-comers, and the indie flash-in-the-pans over the past thirty years or so. And so it was there that Scottish folk experimentalists The Phantom Band kicked off … Continue reading The Phantom Band: Live Review
February 22nd sees the release of the Luyas album, Too Beautiful To Work. We’re pleased to share another taste from the LP. Title track Too Beautiful To Work is futuristic pop with elastic wordplay dancing atop rhythmic keyboards and a motorik beat. The layers of sound are dense and lush, augmented by the virtuosic violin of sometimes Luya and all the time Arcade Fire member … Continue reading New track from The Luyas
We’re not sure how to accurately describe this track from Swedish band The Skull Defekts. It’s minimal and powerful, it’s a bit raga, a bit drone, has some tribal chants, lots of repetition, it’s hypnotic, a bit trancey, some pyschedelia and seriously rhythmic! In a wholly good way it reminds us a bit of everything from the 60s to the 90s – from Cornershop to … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Skull Defekts
Michigan quartet Ghost Heart are about to release their debut album, The Tunnel, which will be available from January 29, on Friction Records. The band happily defy all pigeonholes and categorisation…there is some folk, some electronica, some samples, some tribal percussion, even a bit of shoegaze guitar sound, and all is topped off with layered vocals to deliver songs that are equally expansive and accessible, … Continue reading Introducing…Ghost Heart
We first heard this just before Christmas on Radio 6 and meant to post about it, but good intentions were swept away by the deluge of festivities. Better late than never though… Lead singer and bassist of Manchester indie legends A Certain Ratio, Jez Kerr has plenty of musical heritage to draw on being in at the beginning of the rise of Factory and dipping … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Jez Kerr
Despite not being half way through January yet, we’re already being overwhelmed with good stuff to share. So in a typical ‘blogger’s cheat’, here is a round-up of some of the excellent songs that have come our way and deserve far more than the arbitrary couple of lines we’re giving them. First up is the welcome return of Pete & The Pirates who made their … Continue reading Latest Releases: Round Up
Yours Truly and Sun Airway have teamed up to make a country-tinged live version of Oh, Naoko from their brilliant Dead Oceans debut, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier. The result is a transformation from an electro-pop wanderer to a folk-pop rambler, and although we are late converts to the band we would recommend you check them out if you haven’t already. The album is bursting with … Continue reading New video from Sun Airway
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