Willard Grant Conspiracy – Untethered
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Here are tracks 40-31 in our countdown of Mad Mackerel’s favourite tunes of the past ten years.
40 Avett Brothers – January Wedding (2009)
Banjo, guitar, authentic romantic country and a beautiful ballad.
39 First Aid Kit – Wolf (2012)
Gorgeous folk harmonies given an almost tribal, native American feel.
38 Big Thief – Shark Smile (2017)
An airy, meandering number with a hint of Sharon Van Etten about it that tells the story of two lovers involved in a car accident, one of whom lives while the other dies, related from the perspective of the survivor. It is another very fine example of frontwoman Adrianne Lenker at the peak of her storytelling powers.
37 Django Django – Default (2012)
Crackles along with all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds. A viciously catchy and erratic tune – it never stops surprising a little more with each listen.
36 She Keeps Bees – Gimme (2008)
Fiery and reserved, seductive and vaguely crude. Gimme is simultaneously fierce, sultry and intriguing.
35 Stornoway – I Saw You Blink (2010)
It’s sunshine and dreaminess and love. There’s self doubt and possibly even a Shelley-esque metaphor used (eyes being the window of the soul and all that). All sung to a back-drop of retro, up-tempo, carefully layered music. He’s in love, distracted, missed his train, and constantly wondering what she’s thinking.
34 Mathew Sawyer & The Ghosts – Revenge Of The Extra From Zulu (2010)
Quivering, quavering vocals, violins, a throbbing cello, guitars that flit from the minimal to the staccato and all overlaid with some of the most surreal (and entertaining) lyrics you’ll ever hear. There is a sly, knowing humour to Revenge Of The Extra From Zulu as well as regret, bitterness and a healthy dose of the macabre.
33 We Are Augustines – Chapel Song (2011)
This is The Jam’s The Bitterest Pill brought bang up to date and made better. The song is from the view of a fella stood in a chapel whilst the love of his life walks down the aisle … with another bloke. Suffice to say, he’s not in a good place and the vocals lend to this feeling of impotent misery perfectly. Strained, angry and a little menacing, the lyrics match the tune perfectly which is … well … strained, angry and a little menacing.
32 Lower Dens – Brains (2012)
Opens with a drumbeat that grips your lapels up like a rottweiler on heat. And then… well, it just gets better of course. Weirdly beautiful, it is throbbing, insistent drone-pop on the one hand and haunting, ghostly freak-folk on the other.
31 Houndmouth – Sedona (2015)
The best sing-a-long chorus of 2015 bar none. Altogether now, “Hey little Hollywood, You’re gone but you’re not forgot, You got the cash but your credit’s no good, You flipped the script and you shot the plot, And I remember I remember when your neon used to burn so bright and pink, A Saturday night kinda pink“.
Check out numbers 200-181, 180-161, 160-141, 140-121, 120-101, 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, and 50-41.
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It is that time again. Ten more of the week’s best new releases rounded up for your listening pleasure.
This week we have new songs from the likes of Hiss Golden Messenger, Beach Slang, Gringo Star and Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, as well as tasty covers from The Avett Brothers and Sharon Van Etten.
Have fun.
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You know the score – a sweep up of some of the week’s best new releases, new tunes and new artists.
This week we have no less than eleven tracks for you including The Avett Brothers, Left Lane Cruiser, The Devil Makes Three, Deerhoof and plenty more.
Dive in…
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Here are our favourite covers of the year.
Marissa Nadler & Angel Olson – Frisco Depot
(Original by Mickey Newbury)
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Shearwater – Fucked Up Life
(Original by the Baptist Generals)
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Unknown Mortal Orchestra – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay
(Original by Otis Redding)
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Betse Ellis – Straight To Hell
(Original by The Clash)
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Jessica Lea Mayfield – I’m In A Hurry (And I Don’t Know Why)
(Original by Alabama)
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Shovels & Rope – Johnny 99
(Original by Bruce Springsteen)
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Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Swim Until You Can’t See Land
(Original by Frightened Rabbit)
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Milo Greene – Parents
(Original by The Descendents)
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Pickwick featuring Sharon Van Etten – Lady Luck
(Original by Richard Swift)
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Natural Child – White Light/White Heat
(Original by the Velvet Underground)
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Phosphorescent – Storms Never Last
(Original by Waylon Jennings)
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Phosphorescent – Ya Hey
(Original by Vampire Weekend)
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The Avett Brothers – Hammer Down
(Original by Jason Molina)
Believe it or not, Mad Mackerel has been around for more than five years now. During that time we’ve posted more than 4,000 times, and offered more than 5,000 songs for your listening pleasure. And more than three quarters of a million people have paid MM a visit during our lifetime on Google’s (godawful) blogspot and since April 2010 on WordPress.
We asked some of the regular MM contributors to give us their top twenty songs since MM first went live and we’re also going to give you one big mega-listing shortly, first up was Dr Roddy and now the ultra-punctual and fastidious Chris T Popper offers up his selections.
20) Strand of Oaks – Trap Door
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19) Avett Brothers – January Wedding
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18) Blitzen Trapper – Black River Killer
Download Blitzen Trapper – Black River Killer mp3
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17) Toby Burke – Cantina Crawl
Download Toby Burke – Cantina Crawl mp3
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16) Wye Oak – Civilian
Download Wye Oak – Civilian mp3
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15) The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight
Download The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight mp3
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14) Mathew Sawyer & The Ghosts – Revenge Of The Extra From Zulu
Download Mathew Sawyer & The Ghosts – Revenge of The Extra From Zulu mp3
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13) Wooden Wand – Uncle Bill
Download Wooden Wand – Uncle Bill mp3
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12) Timber Timbre – Bad Ritual
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11) Howling Owls – Snake Charmer (No Money In The Bank)
Dowload Howling Owls – Snake Charmer (No Money In The Bank) mp3
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10) Sonny + The Sandwitches – Through The Fog And Haze
Over the years I have never forgotten how much this song meant to me; if anything it gets stronger like an addiction (and considering this is a personality trait I’ve developed over the years I will happily succumb). I can be in the shower/waiting in a queue/at a meeting with senior management and I’ll randomly sing the first line. Sometimes that doesn’t work out so well when someone is talking flow charts and I’m singing ‘through the fog and the haze…’ at them. But it makes more sense than what their flapping mouths are coming out with. It’s just going to happen.
Download Sonny + The Sandwitches – Through The Fog And Haze mp3
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9) Darren Hayman – The Ship’s Piano
Not a single mackerel swam my way on this one. I was denounced as an absolute arse but I cared not. Hayman wrote this song after suffering a fractured skull; which opened up the idea to him of writing a song gentle enough to listen to with brain ache. There is nothing wrong with gentle in this age of incessant noisy shit. It is a beautiful soliloquy telling the story of a piano’s life (something I always wanted to hear) luckily I was able to understand – they didn’t. Their fault not mine.
Download Darren Hayman – The Ship’s Piano mp3
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8) Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Colour Television
Passed me by initially. Found it by simply playing my iTunes on shuffle one night a couple of years ago and was instantly hooked… and what a revelation. The insistent guitar is ravaged with a punk attitude I thought was long dead. By that I mean talent. Could have come from 1976 and share a gob full of spit with the best of that era, by that I mean the Clash and there is no greater praise I can bestow. Another story televised, another billion hypnotised. Quite.
Download Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Colour Television mp3
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7) Dennis Hopper Choppers – Good To Me
As soon as that horn blast announces its arrival I’m in. It builds with a rhythmic hypnotism that refuses to let go. Evoking the spaghetti western soundtracks of Ennio Morricone with an outstanding vocal from Ben Nicholl (I was lucky enough to catch this live and it didn’t disappoint) it’s never been off the ‘best of’ playlists since I heard it.
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6) The Cave Singers – I Don’t Mind
A timeless guitar riff that immediately sends my brain synapses in to electrical overdrive. Everything else becomes secondary to tapping my foot and grinning inanely. To be fair though, grinning inanely comes fairly naturally…
I went to see the Cave Singers live and they didn’t even perform this song (and it’s still in my top ten!). Now I know their back catalogue is good, but next time I’ll write the set list for fucks sake.
Download The Cave Singers – I Don’t Mind mp3 (from Welcome Joy)
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5) Lower Dens – Brains
In the language of common parlance may I just say one thing? OMG. In fact I’ll go even further… OMFG! I swear down. Now I’ve totally alienated you I’ll continue… There is a subtlety to this work you have no idea about unless you have included it in your own top 5 (which you haven’t). Opens with a drumbeat that grips your lapels up like a rottweiler on heat. And then… well, it just gets better of course. I suggest you go and listen to it and then come back to me and we’ll talk about it over a large gin & tonic and a ridiculously large bifta.
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4) Emil Friis – Sand In Your Eyes
Smashed in to my number one spot last year and who could stop it? I have no idea what it’s about and neither do I care. It’s just not important to me because I can put this song on at any time, in any mood (and by jingo I can be a moody bastard) and find myself singing the chorus loud and proud – without getting a single word right. But hey that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? The sheer momentum carries you along like a crazed right wing Chancellor at a witch’s funeral – enough to shed a tear for the right reasons.
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3) Phospherescent – Song For Zula
When Mr Mackerel asked us to put together our favourite songs of the last five years I was a little cautious of including any recent favourites. It’s difficult enough to pick 20 of the best at any time… but Song For Zula transcends the conundrum. The impact of the opening bars/violins/first line (referencing Johnny Cash no less) is timeless. I have a special place in my heart for Phossie and the Red Eyed Fly in Austin when I first saw them live (get me!) – opening with a Radiohead cover and then converting me to country music by channelling the great Willie Nelson. Met him (Phossie not Willie!) by the way. I want to be his best friend. He doesn’t.
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2) Howling Owls – A Wordsmith’s Reverie
You know when you read a book and think ‘shit I could never write that beautifully’ (I’m a frustrated author as well as human being) – Howling Owls does that musically. There is a self-aware yet peaceful desperation to this; and not a single word is wasted. The lament of ‘I will change everything about me for you – except for the fact I can never be what you want me to be’ is heartbreaking. It also makes you realise how shit this world is. Far more people know about Kim Kardashian than Howling Owls and Wooden Wand put together. Just think about that for a moment- done that? Good. Now try not to wail in utter sadness…
Download Howling Owls featuring Maximino – A Wordsmith’s Reverie mp3
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1) Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Buriedfed
This is my favourite song of the last five years of Mad Mackerel. It’s actually hard to write anything that can really do it the justice it deserves… I love music so much that a work of this sheer magnitude can leave me running on empty, even when it comes to my typical hyperbole. So, deep breath… here goes. From the moment I heard it I knew it was special. And it’s never lost its impact or the way it moves me like no other song. I know people like me say ‘genius’ a lot (and that people say that people say ‘genius’ a lot when they shouldn’t). This is genius.
Download Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Buriedfed mp3
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And my 3 favourite bands…
3) Jeff The Brotherhood
2) Wooden Wand
1) Phosphorescent
Needs a mention
Best Cover:
Download Port O’Brien – Halo mp3 (Beyonce Cover)
My favourite Live Act of 08-13
Phossie – Red Eyed Fly, Austin, Texas 2009
I suddenly and quite unexpectedly understood country music.
Here at MM we share, chat, argue, bury and praise music on a pretty regular basis…like daily. So throughout the year, the Mackerel crew (Mrs Mackerel, Barry-Sean, Christy-Popper, Dr Roddy, Polly Pocket, Starbar, MM and others) keep their own ever-changing top tens ready for publication at the climax of the festive season.
Fifth in line is the indomitable lion of Hixet Wood…Mr Christy-Popper.
10. Local Natives – Airplanes (Download here, Daytrotter Session)
The first big tune of the year for me, I sort of rediscovered this while compiling my top ten. A classic sing-a-long chorus shouldn’t, and doesn’t thankfully, overshadow the rest of the song, which is arranged perfectly. All of it fits in so seamlessly – as comfy as an old pair of slippers (and responds very well to be playing loud after a night out). Is there any greater praise?
9. Sheepdogs – I Don’t Know (Download here)
As infectious as Rabies it bumbles along with a great hook and a kind of 70s’ feel. I imagine the lead singer looking like a young Lemmy without the warts. This is of course no bad thing. I can vaguely remember (through the smoke and wine) the sudden realization I loved this song. A real foot stamper, get me to that barn dance and put the Sheepdogs on!
8. Vanish Valley – Become The Night (Download here)
This song seems to have an indefinable quality to it, not that I’ll let that stop me…I could mention the honey-laden chorus, Andrew McAllistair’s perfect vocal or the understated but utterly brilliant guitar. It just instinctively hits the spot like music does sometimes. Truly a sum of its parts.
There, I tried.
7. Wooden Wand – Ragtop Ruby
Ahhh, Wooden Wand. At nearly 6 minutes this is a rare ‘long’ song (my attention span isn’t great) but it still makes number 8. You have to adapt for a genius… From the start we know we’re in Wooden Wand territory. Lonesome guitar and his familiar drawl, along with the line of the year – “with just enough rope in his trunk to make you uneasy”. We’ve all been there I think, although my own personal memory is a man with a lump hammer on his dashboard when hitching a ride at 15 years old. But hey that’s another story.
6. Strayfolk – What Wouldn’t I Do (Download here)
True, it’s simple country… basic some would say (shame on them). And I say, so what. It’s a magical song, with all the right ingredients for a country classic. Strayfolk let the song do all the work, while I sit with drunken tears streaking my puffy face, asking where it all went so wrong. Don’t you just love songs that have no happy ending? If Kenneth Williams was here today he’s commit suicide all over again after hearing this… what’s the bloody point!
5. Tallest Man On Earth – King of Spain (Download here)
Throughout 2010 I have never tired of listening to this song. Manic strummed guitar like a cracked out flamenco dancer it spins and twists whilst TMOE sings in ‘that’ voice. Despite my best efforts it never annoyed me, unlike so many others. The combination of the voice and guitar gives it a unique quality, the most distinctive sound of the year for me and well deserving of a top 5 place.
4. Wooden Wand – Uncle Bill (Download here)
Mr Wand’s second entry is an absolute beauty. I am an Uncle. I think I may be a bit like Uncle Bill. I certainly hope so. I can remember as a small person sneaking in to my brother’s record collection, although I never picked ‘Heroin’ or ‘Cocaine’. That came later. I am genuinely in awe of WW, he is without doubt my man of the year (bollocks to Mr Facebook). It’s all so effortless, with lyrics that are poignant yet laced with the darkest humour. I make no apologies for picking out another of his brilliant lines (which always makes me wince/smile in silent acknowledgement) “I seen you when you think I ain’t looking son, you don’t need no help doing bad…”
3. What Would Jesus Drive – The Girls Are In Charge (Download here, live version)
On first listen I loudly declared this would be my number 1 so it is with a heavy heart I place it third. And it’s a belter. I love the back and forth insults with that brutal guitar riff, frankly the best I’ve heard all year (at least it won something). A twisted Islands In The Stream for people like me. That’s cynical and sarcastic and exactly how I like it. Also what would Jesus drive..? My guess is a Hillman Avenger.
2. Common Prayer – Us Vs Them (Download here)
This is my song okay. No one else is allowed to like it as much as I do. The change of key just before the first chorus… That’s just for me alright. I can only suggest Common Prayer got together and discussed how to get in my head before writing this masterpiece. I know that word is banded around lightly and I freely admit to doing it now. Who knows I’ll probably read this in June and think what the hell was I saying. But right now… well it’s a masterpiece with a tinkly piano and a snare drum to die for. Just remember it’s mine, all mine.
1. Avett Brothers – January Wedding
This is indisputably the best song of the year. I wouldn’t be so short sighted as to accuse my fellow Mackerel scribes of being wrong, but… you know, they are. I got married in June, what a clutz! If I had my time again I would obviously have gone for January, then I would have made 18 months instead of the frankly disappointing 14. By the end of the song I find myself genuinely hoping they live happily ever after. This is the complete opposite to how I usually feel, so just for that it’s unique. A beguiling song, complete with Audrey Hepburn name check and the laid back tempo of a country classic. Perfect.
a
Bubbling Under – 5 that just didn’t make it…
5. Elf Power – Stranger In The Window
4. Fist Fam – SF Bay
3. Nathaniel Rateliff – Brakeman
2. Vitamin Sees – Illuminati Mind Control
1. Tapes ‘n’ Tapes – Freak Out
Best Songs first heard this year, but not 2010
3. Wilco – Handshake Drugs
2. Felice Brothers – Whiskey In My Whiskey
1. Knife In The Water – Young Blood In The River
Guilty Pleasure
Brian Jonestown Massacre – Lets Go Fucking Mental
