Like all the big music magazines in the UK, Uncut is publishing their top 50 albums of the year in their current issue and thankfully unlike Q, they have managed to avoid the monumental foolishness of putting Florence & The Machine at Number 1. They are also giving away a pretty decent cover CD with tracks from some of their favourite 2011 albums including Josh … Continue reading Uncut Magazine’s Best Of The Year Free CD
We love the brotherly trio Pontiak and their individualistic take on pulverising psych-rock that rears its head once again with the magnificent, no-holds-barred assault of Lions Of Least. It comes from their forthcoming new album Echo Ono, which is out on the 21st February via Thrill Jockey. Download Pontiak – Lions Of Least mp3 (from Echo Ono) Continue reading MM Shorts 51: New From Pontiak
Secret Colours were one of our favourite discoveries of last year. The Chicago quintet channels the finest of the greats of late ’60s psychedelia, ’90s newgaze reverence, and a touch of driving, bucolic, no frills RnR straight from the greasiest of garages. The band released their eponymous debut in the summer of 2010 with high praise from countless blogs (including this one) and alternative newsweeklies … Continue reading New Secret Colours EP
Punk-blues-rock trashman James Leg of The Black Diamond Heavies will be closing out 2011 with a series of live dates – to mark the tour he has made another track from his excellent solo album Solitary Pleasure available for free download. Get the tour dates from his Facebook page here. Download James Leg – Do How You Wanna mp3 (from Solitary Pleasure) Download James Leg – Drowning … Continue reading MM Shorts 49: More From James Leg
The highly contagious and infectious Little Comets have unveiled His Thunder, a brand new track from their forthcoming Worry EP, out December 12th on Dirty Hit. Think art-rock meets folk in a battle for world domination… a Continue reading MM Shorts 48: New EP From Little Comets
Yesterday American quartet Filligar released The Nerve, their eighth album (despite none of the band being over the age of 24), and their first studio album to get a UK release. It is a rock-solid (no pun intended) collection of classic tunes, from the urgent, anthemic Health with its nod to the halcyon days of the 60s and 70s to the piano led sing-a-long of … Continue reading Filligar Release The Nerve
At the end of the year in 2007, Okkervil River released Golden Opportunities Mixtape, a free EP intended as a gift to fans. This year, the band continues that tradition in the sequel release Golden Opportunities 2, which both hearkens back to the original release and varies the formula. Like its predecessor, Golden Opportunities 2 is a series of conceptually-related covers, this time by lesser-known … Continue reading Okkervil River Offer Up Free EP
We’ve been meaning to post this for a while, Jamie N Commons is a singer-songwriter from Bristol who released his EP The Baron last month. Contrary to what you might expect a singer-songwriter from Bristol to deliver, lead single The Preacher is an authentic hellfire and damnation slab of dusty, desolate blues that calls to mind Johnny Cash jamming with Nick Cave. Make no mistake this … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Jamie N Commons
Naked Under Spacesuit presents a split maxi-cassingle featuring Former Lover and Nature Set. Released as an edition of 100 yellow copies in a hand constructed and stamped card sleeve. It’s available here. Former Lover is Long Blondes songwriter Dorian Cox’s first new music since he suffered the stroke that caused the break up of the band. They describe their music as “quiet music to soundtrack insomnia and 3 am … Continue reading MM Shorts 47: Former Lover
This one is for Barry-Sean really. Craig Finn of the Hold Steady is releasing his debut solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes on the 23rd January via Full Time Hobby. The first track is Honolulu Blues released on Monday (28th) as a limited edition single – take a listen below. Finn’s solo album is described as being “a little quieter and perhaps more narrative” and … Continue reading MM Shorts 46: Craig Finn of the Hold Steady
