Great Lakes formed in Athens, Georgia in 1996. Founded around the songwriting partnership of Ben Crum and lyricist Dan Donahue, they released an eponymous debut in 2000. Over time Crum and Donahue relocated to Brooklyn, releasing The Distance Between in 2002, and Diamond Times, which appeared in 2006. In 2009 Donahue moved back to Athens, leaving Crum to carry on in New York. 2010’s Ways … Continue reading New from Great Lakes
Since it arrived last week, New Yorker Alexa Wilding’s self-titled debut EP has been getting a lot of play here at MM. By turns wistful, hip, sassy, and occasionally quirky, she is a welcome addition to the crowded singer-songwriter ranks. Equally at home with the romantic skip through the meadows as she is with the haunting heartbreak of lost love, she sets herself apart from … Continue reading Introducing…Alexa Wilding
The new EP from Mountain Man is soon to be available on 10″ vinyl from Underwater Peoples. It is called Sun Dog and swiftly follows on from the release of their rather extraordinary and beautiful record Made The Harbor, by offering five alternative versions of tracks from that album. We have one for you below, the exquisite Honeybee. Indulge yourself and be transported to somewhere … Continue reading Mountain Man’s New EP
Vanish Valley hail from Los Angeles and offer a lovely mix of rootsy folk and hazy country psychedelia that has quality stamped all over it. Their MySpace page says they have a (presumably) self-titled album due out later this month on the 27th. The two tracks we’ve heard are destined to become regulars on the MM playlist. Become The Night chugs along on the back of … Continue reading Introducing…Vanish Valley
The latest free digital mix from Clash magazine has the usual eclectic range of bands, but as always, has a couple of absolute standouts as far as MM is concerned. Chief among them the return to the form of The Coral and their wonderful psych-rock classic-in-waiting Butterfly House and a track from the Bombay Bicycle’s Club new acoustic folk album. You can also get tracks … Continue reading New free mix from Clash Magazine
Happy Birthday Mrs M – you are the greatest. Love you. Mr M. Download Jessica Lea Mayfield – Kiss Me Again mp3 (from With Blasphmemy So Heartfelt) Download Altered Images – Happy Birthday mp3 (from Happy Birthday 7″) Download The Sugarcubes – Birthday mp3 (from Life’s Too Good) Continue reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS MACKEREL
Nearly another year older and undoubtedly, not a whole lot wiser … MM gave me the new album by The Innocence Mission this week, My Room In the Trees (aah, if only). Now there’s a blast from the past. One note of Karen Peris’s fragile, ethereal notes and I’m instantly transported to a time when I nearly wore out the groove on my vinyl copy … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday
Without doubt The Roadside Graves are one of MM’s very bestest bands. For us, they are up there with the cream of the current crop and we greet each new release with as much excitement and anticipation as we do for anyone. So, in support of the recently released 6 song EP You Won’t Be Happy With Me, out now on Autumn Tone Records, we have … Continue reading New from The Roadside Graves…MM Rejoices
Ah ’tis shaping up to be a good day. First up, no sooner had we posted the utterly gorgeous I Couldn’t Save You from Sharon Van Etten than she lets us know that she will be putting out her second record, a seven-song collection called Epic, on October 5th through Ba Da Bing. Best of all, we have Love More, the record’s closing track, for you … Continue reading More from Sharon Van Etten
Here is our regular monthly round up of 25 of the best tracks posted on Mad Mackerel in the past month, and three new gems too. That’s a more than decent mixtape sorted even if we were crap in the World Cup! The Futurebirds – Battle For Rome mp3 Glorious, up-tempo alt-country gem that recalls Neil Young at his finest Puro Instinct – California Shakedown … Continue reading MM’s Best Of The Month: June
The Mad Mackerel 