It was while at Withered Hand last night (review to follow) with Christy Popper and new chum Marcus that talk turned to recent mixtapes and in particular the discovery of Vacant Fever. We had refrained from posting about the band before because we didn’t know what, if anything, was authorised, but Marcus soon put us straight revealing that their excellent new album Heparin And Saline … Continue reading Introducing…Vacant Fever
Our favourite mega-bearded folkies, Megafaun will release their new, self-titled album on September 20th via Hometapes. They describe it thus: “Process, songcraft, and toss-and-turn emotion collided when Megafaun’s Joe Westerlund looped together field recordings from his travels in Bali and rural North Carolina: a round-robin of gamelan, ambient sounds, frogs, and cicadas underpin a hauntingly indelible piano melody and a hypnotic beat.” The new album’s 14 … Continue reading New Album From Megafaun
Another Round Up of the good, the very good and the exceptional tunes that have recently wormed their way in between our ears via our In-box or the internet and blogosphere. Let them do the same for you. We have a few new tracks from artists we’ve previously posted about, some new bands and a couple of big names too. First up, The Warped 45s … Continue reading Round Up Time Again
We have long been fans of the wilfully idiosyncratic, often downright acidic, and always anti-commercial folk of Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences. They encompass a peculiarly British sense of observational humour, gleefully laced with healthy doses of irony, pathos and sarcasm in equal measure. Over the course of two albums and eight eclectic singles they have provided a wonderful, occasionally bizarre, but always original … Continue reading New EP from Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences
It is a bonanza month from Insound and their regular free monthly digital mix. For July they have no less than three offerings teaming up with Hudson RiverRocks, The Beach Party and Sound Bites to bring you samplers featuring artists from all three series. They feature a whole bunch of artists dear to MM’s heart including Deer Tick, Metronomy, The Raveonettes, Psychedelic Horseshit, My Teenage Stride, … Continue reading Insound’s Free Digital Mixtapes x 3
Here is a fine video from MM faves, the Washington DC based collective, Vandaveer . Admittedly the subject matter of The Great Gray, as well as visual palette, is rather dark. But the music is an undeniably gorgeous send-up of Delta blues, stompin’ swamp boogie, and colorful electric folk. Think Blind Willie Johnson meets Nick Drake. It comes from recent album Dig Down Deep which has proved to … Continue reading New Vandaveer Video
A couple of days ago we received in the mail a copy of Midnight Trail, the new album from The Cabin Dogs. It is released on the wonderfully named Crippled Hound label. Formerly the Kwait Brothers Band, this is the Philadelphia based twin brothers second release under the Cabin Dogs moniker and was mostly written in isolated mountain retreats. It retains the echoes of the … Continue reading Introducing…The Cabin Dogs
The Deep Dark Woods will be releasing new album The Place I Left Behind on Six Shooter Records. This track, Westside Street is another lovely example of their warm, resonant folk sound and it meanders slowly and surely along on the back of some lovely harmonies and easy going instrumentation. Don’t be deceived though, The Place I Left Behind promises to be a fine collection … Continue reading New from The Deep Dark Woods
Like many others we first came to know of New Jersey singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs through her song Fuck Was I, which made a few waves on her debut album Batten The Hatches in 2005. Her follow up release in 2009, Transmitter Failure was also a solid album, and so it was with interest we got hold of Great Big Plans – the taster from … Continue reading Jenny Owen Youngs Returns
We are new to Dennis Hopper Choppers and so, by name alone, were expecting some kind of acid fuelled, rambling lunacy so weren’t really prepared for the mix of steely Americana, Mariachi brass and the occasional controlled guitar freakouts that we actually got. Once we’d readjusted, the Morricone inspired spaghetti western feel and Tijuana style horns combine to give an authentic dusty desert twang to … Continue reading Introducing…Dennis Hopper Choppers
The Mad Mackerel 