It is always good to support your local music scene, and we’re lucky to have Oxford as ours – for its size, it is one of the most vibrant and diverse in the UK. Recently, we’ve had three or four ‘breakthroughs’ hoping to follow in the footsteps of recent successes like Foals and Stornoway. First up is Moshi Moshi’s latest signing Trophy Wife. The Oxford trio are … Continue reading MM Goes Local – Oxford Roundup
Well, Mrs Mackerel unbound! Shaking free from the rather genteel tethers of a typical Friday night in downtown Charlbury, we are heading towards the Big Smoke for a gig where I reckon MM and I could be the oldest fish there. And hurray, we have seats! I’m far too old to stand up for too long, even if it is Mumford & Sons. Poor little … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday
Dawn Kinnard possesses one of those voices that sounds like it floated out from a 1920s jazz cafe – believe us, describing it as smoky doesn’t come near to doing it justice. She recently released her second album Wrong Side of the Dream and it is a surprising and engaging listen with plenty of musical left turns that stop it from ever lapsing into the … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Dawn Kinnard
So last night it was off to Oxford to see recent Mercury Prize nominees The Villagers supported by Cate Le Bon. I was accompanied by major-league Villagers fan Stu, so was hoping that expectations would be met… We only managed to catch the end of Cate Le Bon’s set (on at a ridiculously early 7.30pm), but what we heard was enough to make us wish … Continue reading The Villagers Live
Yesterday saw the release of The Apothecary EP by Leland Sundries. At first you might think it is just another in a long line of “find and replace” folk, but led by Nick Loss-Eaton, Leland Sundries’ take on Americana sits comfortably alongside contemporaries like Elvis Perkins, Jay Farrar, and A.A. Bondy, yet is informed by decades of history, too. Like many great folk songs and … Continue reading Introducing…Leland Sundries
At the End of the Road Festival I caught the end of the set by The Mountains & The Trees (aka Jon Janes). It was only three or four songs but it was enough to make me want to hear a lot more, and I made a mental note to check him out when I got back. Of course I forgot until a recent random … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…The Mountains & The Trees
Without doubt, Florida’s Howling Owls are one of our favourite new music discoveries of 2010 – we’ve featured three songs to date (as and when they’ve come through from the band) and so you can imagine our delight over the weekend when we received another new track. There’s a slight change in mood to Mood Ring – it’s a little quicker, more staccato, less downbeat, but … Continue reading New from Howling Owls
Pancake Breakfast gave us the ridiculously catchy (and current Mackerel family fave) The Ballad Of Maynard Noe recently. It comes from their new self-titled album, and the band have now embarked on a plan to release a video for each of the eleven tracks on the album. So, first up is the marvellous Pedro Infante. Watch it below in all its monochrome beauty. Buy the album … Continue reading Pancake Breakfast unveil new videos
For Hans Chew, best known as the honky-tonk pianist and auxiliary vocalist behind brooklyn’s psychedelic Americana outfit D. Charles Speer & The Helix, Tennessee & Other Stories… is the culmination of many paths leading out of the wilderness. His tale is a coming-of-age-story starting with a narrowly averted self-destruction and concluding in a painful resurrection and this is the theme which is expertly woven musically and … Continue reading Introducing…Hans Chew
Joshua English is, I guess, what you would call a modern day troubadour, with roots in both Portland, Oregon and Boston,Massachusetts. Culling inspiration from Raymond Carver, perpetual motion, and oceans of black coffee, his new record, Lay Bare Your Bones, presents an absorbing blend of sparse cynicism with Brit-folk leanings. And all done with influences that span Sam Cooke to Public Enemy to Chuck Ragan and … Continue reading Introducing…Joshua English
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