More from Her Name Is Calla

Her Name is Calla follow their excellent, if unsettling, debut, The Quiet Lamb, with the release of the double A-side vinyl single, Maw. Unusually, the title track, throws the listener into the climax of a galloping, pounding rock song, which burns with growing intensity. Clocking in at around a third of the length of Her Name is Calla’s more symphonic tracks, Maw is a demonstration … Continue reading More from Her Name Is Calla

Another Round Up

Our in-box is overflowing again and we don’t have the capacity to do these songs proper justice. So with our apologies, here is an all-too-cursory round-up of some new tracks we’re enjoying – and all well worth some investment from your ears. We have some delightfully jangly indie-pop in the classic vein from The Very Most and from Bronze Medal, some retro-inspired ‘British invasion’ style … Continue reading Another Round Up

Mad Mackerel Recommends…Richard Youngs

Amplifying Host the new album from Richard Youngs finds him wandering the guitar desert somewhere between Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas score and Neil Young’s work on Dead Man. For more than 20 years, Youngs has been at the forefront of progressive minimalism, through solo home recording projects and collaborations with the likes of Simon Wickham-Smith and Makoto Kawabata (of Acid Mothers Temple).  This time, Youngs is joined … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Richard Youngs

New Album From Jackie-O Motherfucker

You never quite know what you’re going to get from the cult Portland, Oregon psychedelicists, Jackie-O Motherfucker. Are you going to be in for some deep brain thrombosis space rock? Are they going to prescribe you a dose of some heavily medicated camp fire drone? Will they be hitting you with some improvisational and angular free jazz? Well, on Earth Sound System, the band’s 15th … Continue reading New Album From Jackie-O Motherfucker

Joe’s Birthday Mix

One of the advantages of having a blog like this is being able to make up the rules as you go along, and today that means giving the limelight to our youngest Joe, who reaches the ripe old age of seven today. Now, we are all guilty of bias and of nepotism at times (and this is one of them), but I think you’d be … Continue reading Joe’s Birthday Mix

Insound’s Free May Mix

It’s that time again – the new Insound digital May mix is up and ready for free downloading. This month offers 21 tracks from the likes of Times New Viking, The Fresh & Onlys, The Feelies and Seapony. You know the drill – only up for a week and you can get a taste below, or just grab the whole thing here. Download Religious Knives … Continue reading Insound’s Free May Mix

Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: April 2011

Another month, another mix. A collection of twenty or so of the best tunes we posted in April plus a couple of tasty new ones. Download, hit play, relax. Download Ha Ha Tonka – Usual Suspects mp3 (from Death Of A Decade) Soulful, catchy, country rock. Download Sweet Lights – The Shortest Man On Earth mp3 (from Digital Single) Beautifully judged excursion into the world of classic sunshine and … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: April 2011

New from Okkervil River

We’ve kind of missed the boat so far with Okkervil River – for whatever reason we’ve just not fallen for their slightly quirky and densely literate charms. Hopefully that may change with their latest album I Am Very Far, which seems to be picking up uniformly good reviews. First single Wake And Be Fine is typically sinewy in composition but at its heart lays something … Continue reading New from Okkervil River