It is hard to know what to say about Laura Marling without falling back into cliche at the earliest opportunity. As a songwriter, hers is seemingly a very old head on young shoulders as she effortlessly is able to create whole albums of extraordinary material that would be the pinnacle of many other’s careers – and then she goes and does it again, and again. … Continue reading New Album From Laura Marling
And so here we have our top ten albums of the year. To be honest the order is fairly arbitrary – on another day it could be a completely different as really these ten records have so little between them in turns of the pleasure and enjoyment they gave us. If you’ve not acquainted yourselves with any of these then we’re pretty sure you won’t … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Albums Of The Year: Part 3 (10 – 1)
Our final Top Ten selection comes courtesy of the lovely, and ever radiant, Mrs Mackerel. Over to you girl! It’s been a great musical year. But such a plethora of riches always presents a problem – what’s a girl to choose? Fortunately some fine contributions in the preceding week means most bases are covered. Live gigs, although few and far between this year, have been … Continue reading MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 9 Mrs Mackerel
Our third top ten contributions come from Starbar and JaMS who job share in the office. This is JaMS first entry in to the guest top ten spots, but first up is Starbie… 10. Laura Marling – I Was Just A Card 9. Slow Club – If we’re Still Alive a 8. The Decemberists – This Is Why we Fight 7. Lana Del Ray – … Continue reading MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 3 Starbar & JaMS
As with previous years we will be posting over the next few days the Top Ten track selections for 2011 of various MM friends and contributors, as well as our Best Albums of 2011 and own best of the year list. To kick us off we have Polly Pocket. 10. Friends – I’m His Girl A great getting ready to go out kind of a tune. … Continue reading MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 1 Polly Pocket
A funny thing happened on the way back through Gloucester Cathedral this week. After a mesmerising 45 minutes watching Laura Marling perform an unaccompanied acoustic set, Pocket and I set off in hot pursuit in the hope of persuading Lovely Laura to write MM a Christmas exclusive. I would have course swum retrograde without Pocket chiming in my ears… faster, faster. It was an enormous … Continue reading Mrs Mackerel’s TFI Friday (21st October)
Watch Laura Marling spin stripped down songs from her most recent LP, A Creature I Don’t Know, and find yourself unstuck in sound and space, hypnotized by her poetic balladry. Laura Marling live video at The Guest Apartment…, posted with vodpod Continue reading Laura Marling live video at The Guest Apartment on Baeblemusic
It is true to say that our first visit to the End of the Road Festival last year was without doubt the best music event (bar SxSW) we had ever attended. A superb line-up, brilliant layout, and festival goers who were there for the music rather than the ‘experience’ ensured three days of superb entertainment. It meant we bought tickets immediately they went on sale … Continue reading The End of The Road Festival: A Review
Tomorrow we head down to the first Wilderness Festival, taking place on our back door in the beautiful Cornbury Park Estate. Previously this lovely venue has hosted the Cornbury Festival, which has thankfully now moved elsewhere as (trust us) it has the worse possible line-up you could ever imagine for an event of this type. Anyway, the Wilderness is, as we say, a different kettle … Continue reading Wilderness Festival – Free Mix
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. So last, but very much not least, is the lovely (though flu-stricken) Mrs … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s 2010 Top Ten Series: No 8, Mrs Mackerel
The Mad Mackerel 