This new track/single, Get Some, from Lykke Li popped up on my playlist on the flight up north to a very wet and miserable Glasgow. I played it four times in a row. I know it is everywhere by now, and rightly so, it is a fantastic piece of subversive pop music. It comes in advance of her second album due in early 2011. You … Continue reading New from Lykke Li
David Gergen takes acoustic indie rock places it rarely goes, especially on one record. Bending ambience on Seven Miles to Sunset, throbbing electronics on Ore De Electro, along with bluesy slide guitar on The Streets I’m Walking, there’s a taste of everything on Gergen’s latest solo release (his fourth), The Nearer it Was…The Farther It Became. His voice, though consistently deep and resonant evokes the … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…David Gergen
Johnny Flynn has unveiled the video for his new single The Water which features guest vocals from Laura Marling. The Water references the life-giving and taking properties of the subject matter, “The water can’t drown me / I’m done with my dying.” A bleak sentiment brought to life with disarming vocals, simple guitar plucks and breathtakingly beautiful percussion. This is the third single from his recent … Continue reading New video from Johnny Flynn
Blessed Feathers describe themselves as ‘a folkish trio from Milwaukee’, and dropped us a line about their self-titled debut album together with a couple of videos. I guess you could call it a sparse sort of sound with minimal instrumentation accompanying the vocals and giving it an old-fashioned, home-made feel that is every bit as charming as it is good. However, to succeed with an … Continue reading Introducing…Blessed Feathers
We’ve already posted one superb Ramones cover recently (by Port O’Brien), but there is always room for another. And it might not be quite the usual MM fare either. After releasing two successful indie hiphop records and becoming one of the bigger names in the LA underground hiphop scene, Lexicon became frustrated. At first they were content in simply being a part of the scene … Continue reading Introducing…Lexicon
My, they’re a good looking bunch aren’t they! We’ve posted about Gaoler’s Daughter a couple of times on Mad Mackerel and they’ve definitely been one of those bands we’ve marked out as worth keeping an eye on. An unusual mix of styles and sounds and a great ear for melody means they demand the listener’s attention and then retain the capacity to consistently surprise them. … Continue reading New EP from Gaoler’s Daughter
Bear Bones is an 8 piece ensemble of accordion, brass, bells, banjo, strings, drums and voices, is the realisation of a project started by Ben Harrison. After growing up on a remote Hebridean Scottish Island, Ben moved to Glasgow and started writing songs inspired by his island home and the life he led there. The band’s first single Oil & Lacquer quietly became a must‐have record … Continue reading Introducing…Bear Bones
Gross Relations is a great name for a band…we Mackerel’s have more than enough of those. Appropriate too, that the sound should be fuzzed up, reverb ridden, garage pop of the most infectious kind. This track, from current single Fuzzy Relations is called You Don’t Know Me and from the opening bars it simply grabs hold and hangs on for dear life. Try as you might … Continue reading Introducing…Gross Relations
In My Time is the lead single from Kurt Vile’s forthcoming new album, which is due out next year. The single gets a digital release on the 25th October or can be bought on vinyl from Matador from the 9th November. You can pre-order from the label here. Enjoy. Download Kurt Vile – In My Time mp3 (from In My Time) Continue reading New from Kurt Vile
Thought for Friday numero uno: necessity is the mother of invention (or even re-invention). Secondly, not everyone in life gets what they deserve, or deserves what they get. And finally while MM is heading across the border to Scotland, me, four kids and the dog are going to Ventnor. Will the dog end up swimming backstroke to Cherbourg? Will I be following? And under cold … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday
