Alternative, Folk, Indie, Music, Psychedelic, Rock

Mad Mackerel (thoroughly) Recommends…Lower Dens

Tuesday next week will see the release of Twin-Hand Movement, the debut album by Lower Dens. It is the new vehicle for the renowned, but as yet relatively unknown, Jana Hunter. Weirdly beautiful, it is throbbing, insistent drone-pop on the one hand and haunting, ghostly freak-folk on the other. It brilliantly mixes styles and approaches in a way that is accessible, surprising and despite some … Continue reading Mad Mackerel (thoroughly) Recommends…Lower Dens

madmackerelJuly 18, 2010July 18, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Blues, Country, Folk, Garage, Music, Rock

New from Hillstomp

We’re going to keep the tempo up today, so following the start given to us by the frenzy of the Ten Kens earlier, we can now offer you Cardiac Arrest In D from Hillstomp. And if the title of the song doesn’t tell you all you want to know, they go on to describe themselves as Mississippi trance blues, a bit from the hills of … Continue reading New from Hillstomp

madmackerelJuly 17, 2010July 17, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Country, Folk, Music, Psychedelic

Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday

No falling asleep on the job this week and waking up and finding out Friday’s gone and Saturday’s in its place. This week I’ve been quite excited (yet again) over listening to the new offering – Hawk – from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan (whose name must be spoken in hushed tones in this house). A review will follow just as soon as we know … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday

madmackerelJuly 16, 2010July 16, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Blues, Country, Folk, Indie, Music, Psychedelic, Rock

Some Great Free Stuff

We’ve come across a number of excellent freebies recently and thought we ought to share some with you. First up, top record label Suburban Home have been releasing a series of excellent mix cds for a while now, which this time (volume 5) they have made available as a completely free download. Containing 30 tracks from bands old and new – Townes Van Zandt through … Continue reading Some Great Free Stuff

madmackerelJuly 16, 2010July 16, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Country, Folk, Indie, Music, Psychedelic, Rock

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Big Blood

Big Blood are entirely new to us, although they have released a handful of CD-Rs (see Dontrustheruin here), Dead Songs is apparently their first CD and vinyl release proper. The only track we’ve heard is this one, e-mailed through to us from a source we can’t quite identify, but whoever you are, we’re most grateful. Lay Your Head On The Rails II comes across like … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Big Blood

madmackerelJuly 15, 2010July 15, 2010Leave a comment

Folk, Indie, Music, Pop

Introducing…Simon Lynge

Our friend Scottish Kate is back with a new post and a new discovery. I’m not big on winsome troubadours. Odds and sods, here and there, mostly, sometimes, but not always, picked up from Mr and Mrs M. But what I like most about music is its ability to surprise, for an artist or track to come out of leftfield and grab you. Which is … Continue reading Introducing…Simon Lynge

madmackerelJuly 15, 2010July 15, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Country, Folk, Music, Rock

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Javi Garcia & The Cold Cold Ground

We were recently turned onto Javi Garcia & The Cold Cold Ground by Ninebullets.net and have been listening to their debut long player Southern Horror (which also includes the Madly In Anger EP) with great enjoyment ever since. Not quite the southern gothic country you might expect from the name and the album cover, although it has elements of that, there is also full on … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Javi Garcia & The Cold Cold Ground

madmackerelJuly 13, 2010July 13, 20101 Comment

Alternative, Country, Folk, Indie, Music

MM Guest Edits on Track of The Day

We were asked to ‘guest edit’ for the rather marvellous Track of The Day website a little while ago, and the results are up today. Track of The Day offer a free download of new music every day, and it covers all genres, new, old, signed and unsigned. You can sign up via e-mail to get a daily reminder and summary of what’s on offer … Continue reading MM Guest Edits on Track of The Day

madmackerelJuly 12, 2010July 12, 2010Leave a comment

Country, Folk, Music, Rock

Introducing…Hayshaker

A few years ago, MM was lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time in southern Georgia and very enjoyable it was too. So when we got this release all the way from the land of Gram Parsons in the swamps and backwoods of Waycross, Georgia from a band called Hayshaker we were hoping for good things. The band has recently self-released their sophomore … Continue reading Introducing…Hayshaker

madmackerelJuly 10, 2010July 10, 2010Leave a comment

Alternative, Folk, Indie, Music

Help buy Phil’s Guitar…

You can get the full story here at Song By Toad, but basically they’re encouraging you to donate the price of a pint (or whatever you feel like really) to help save Phil from Meursault having to sell his guitar. For those who don’t know, Meursault are a superb band and the chap needs his guitar… Visit their MySpace here. Download Meursault – Crank Resolutions … Continue reading Help buy Phil’s Guitar…

madmackerelJuly 9, 2010July 9, 2010Leave a comment