Gramahawk is the third album by Athens, Georgia band Modern Skirts. It is the record of a band honest to their musical tastes and to their desire to create and perform both intellectually crafted and inherently catchy songs. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the record is insight into vocalist Jay Gulley’s dark, imaginative and humorous brain. A song about Gulley’s second DUI (that’s failing a … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Modern Skirts
Ty Segall turned up on lots of the end of year ‘best of’ lists and it has meant we have gone back to his 2010 album Melted for another listen or two – and we’re glad we did. Not sure how we missed that gem in the first place… Anyway, he has also recorded a Daytrotter Session that features five brand new tracks. Check out … Continue reading Ty Segall on Daytrotter
Happy New Year! So we start 2011 with some outlaw country honky-tonk from Whitey Morgan & The 78’s. It seemed more than appropriate to follow the New Year’s Eve festivities with this… I Ain’t Drunk comes from their latest self-titled album and it is well worth a listen. You can check out their MySpace page here. With all good wishes for 2011 from all at … Continue reading Happy New Year…from Whitey Morgan & The 78’s
Doing those things you do at Christmas. Watching a film. Quietly crying a few tears at a sad story. Feel a small hand cover mine. I’ll look after you mama. A little time passes. A few more tears cried, this time belonging to the owner of the small hands. Empathy. Compassion. Love. One moment to treasure a whole lifetime. Happy New Year. Mrs Mackerel I … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (31st December)
Despite all the ‘best of’ lists, the top tens/twenties/fifties/one hundreds etc. and all the Christmas songs too, there has still been a cracking amount of new releases in December as well. So lest you missed out, here is our monthly round-up of the best tunes we’ve posted in December and, as always, a couple of new ones too. That’s the New Year’s Eve mixtape sorted … Continue reading MM’s Best of the Month: December
Thought it was appropriate to post this, being New Year’s Eve. The wonderful Wooden Shjips and their version of Auld Lang Syne. Should give granny something to think about at midnight… Download The Wooden Shjips – Auld Lang Syne mp3 (from Holiday EP) Continue reading Some New Year’s Eve Psychedelia
Master bluesmen are probably pretty thin on the ground in South London, but it is down there, amidst the grey arterial routes, Victorian terraces and leafy parks that Duke Garwood makes his home. Garwood’s new album, Dreamboatsafari sees him expanding on the spacious, dusty room blues found on previous albums Emerald Palace and The Sand That Falls. The genesis of this LP came when Garwood was … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Duke Garwood
New York’s Duchess Leo is Dan Ryan and Todd Buchler. The duo have been friends for most of their lives, having grown up a few blocks away from each other in the suburbs of New Jersey. The songs on their debut album Golden Gray roll in melancholy and shimmer with triumph. From majestic strings to tribal rhythms and from piano led ballads to driving acoustic … Continue reading Introducing…Duchess Leo
The Skeleton Dead are a fledgling band of only six months but this is something to marvel at rather than use as any sort of rationale. What sets the bar at a different level is the Greek/bouzouki-style guitar rhythm that hooks you in from the very first bar: it’s both memorable and hypnotic. This is like a combination of many of my favourite musical influences … Continue reading Introducing…The Skeleton Dead
Despite the first impressions the name gives, Lisa Will Insult You, Darling is actually the work of one man, Sebastian Jegorow. And pretty fine work it is too. And despite the first impressions the name gives, it is not garage rock, bedroom chillwave or electro noodling. Instead it is lo-fi folk, recorded on an old tape deck and carrying with it the hiss of genuine … Continue reading Introducing…Lisa Will Insult You, Darling
