To be frank you wonder what would have become of Dave Cloud if he hadn’t been a musician. New album Practice In The Milky Way is 20 tracks of unhinged musical madness that is perfectly described as gutter-minded blues. After his 20 year catalogue was rediscovered by Fire Records and reissued in the Napoleon Of Temperance compilation of 2006, Cloud, accompanied by various members of … Continue reading New From Dave Cloud & The Gospel Of Power
A couple of days ago we received a copy of Margo Margo – the debut solo album from Armand Margjeka. It is a rich, mellifluous album, a record that makes you want to drift idly downstream in a boat while it plays in the background. It moves from softly plucked acoustics to upbeat, catchy folk-pop with a quiet, calm confidence and while not easy listening, … Continue reading Introducing…Armand Margjeka
Here are the juiciest cuts from our May postings rounded up and presented as one marvellous mix plus a couple of cracking new tracks as well. Be sure to check out all our previous ‘Best Of the Month’ mixes in the sidebar too. Download Country Mice – Morning Son mp3 (from Twister) Country rock and blistering sonic experiments combining to deliver a brilliant apocalyptic ballad. Download Howling … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: May 2011
On June 28th Efren will release their first full length, full band album, Rise On Up And Melt. Efren began as Scott Low, who wrote and recorded the debut album Thunder and Moan in the spring of 2009. With friends Low performed the songs live and the band was born. Playing almost 100 shows in the first year and recording and releasing a full band … Continue reading New from Efren
Megafaun produced one of our favourite album’s of 2009 with Gather, Form And Fly and followed it up last year with the excellent Heretofore mini-album. However, when Phil Cook isn’t touring the world with Megafaun, he’s on the porch. Specifically, the sunny porch of his North Carolina home, playing acoustic guitar while Willie, his loyal dog, lays by. New solo album, Hungry Mother Blues was recorded in … Continue reading Solo Album from Phil Cook of Megafaun
Lawrence & Leigh’s latest release from their EP Hills and Masts is the lush, dream-pop of Glow. Painstakingly constructed using vintage instruments and subtle synths, the song begins with an exploratory intro built on overdubbed choirs of the duo’s voices before transforming into a beat heavy pop anthem and then ending in 1960s style indie jazz with driving piano, brushed drums and doo-wop backing vocals. … Continue reading More from Lawrence & Leigh
We love the Thick Shakes and their brand of authentic, lo-fi, scuzzy garage rock so it was good to discover they are back with a new 7″ on Aurora Records. Take a listen and grab a track from their earlier Ooh Mommy EP. a Buy the single here. Download The Thick Shakes – Glass Mask mp3 (from Ooh Mommy EP) Continue reading New Single from the Thick Shakes
We’re not quite sure what to make of this offering by Twiggy Frostbite. By The Ocean is one of those hazy, dreamlike songs that sounds like it was created in a netherworld where surreal is the norm, and nothing is quite as it seems or as it should be. It has echoes of Portishead and Massive Attack, but also turns the volume up in a … Continue reading Introducing…Twiggy Frostbite
Taken from the blues parlance for the length of a one year prison sentence, Eleven Twenty-Nine is the new project of Tom Carter and Marc Orleans. This debut self-titled album, dedicated to the late Jack Rose, releases a sound that has done hard-time in the blues, from two performers who have constantly pushed the limits of rock guitar. Tom, a latter day Carter Family member … Continue reading Introducing…Eleven Twenty-Nine
We’ve posted about top notch Oxford based singer songwriter Rob St John before and he has been back in touch about a series of gigs that the Adventures Close To Home collective have been putting on. Our own poor organisation means we’ve already missed two, but tomorrow sees a bill that features David Thomas Broughton, Rob himself and the Braindead Collective. It all takes place … Continue reading David Thomas Broughton: Oxford Gig & New Album
