MM’s 2011 Top Ten Series: No 9 Mrs Mackerel

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

Okkervil River Offer Up Free EP

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

Video Round Up

Here are a few more of the videos that we have been sent recently that have appealed to our eyes and ears. First up is Monument Valley whom we posted about recently. This is the off kilter video for Round And Round together with a download for Dear John Letters from the forthcoming Tongues EP. Download Monument Valley – Dear John Letters mp3 (from Tongues … Continue reading Video Round Up

The End of The Road Festival: A Review

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

Free End of the Road Festival Mix

Today Barry-Sean and I head off, pop up tents in tow, to the marvellous End of the Road festival in lovely Dorset. Once again sold out, last year’s inaugural trip turned into the best festival visit we’ve ever had, and we’re looking forward to more of the same over the next few days. Even the weather forecast is good! Once again we have a huge … Continue reading Free End of the Road Festival Mix

Mad Mackerel’s Regular Round Up

The tunes are coming thick and fast again at the moment and keeping up is proving almost impossible. Here are a few of the tracks from the web and our inbox that have caught our ears over the past few days. First up Okkervil River who are riding high on the critical acclaim for the release of their latest full-length album I Am Very Far. … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Regular Round Up

Covers Up!

For some reason everywhere we’ve turned recently has brought us into contact with cover songs, so we figured we ought to do our duty and collect the best of them together in one convenient place just for you. So here you’ll find Deer Tick’s surprisingly faithful cover of an Eddie Cochran classic, Okkervil River taking on the White Stripes, Bat For Lashes doing The Eurythmics, Middle Brothers Daytrotter version … Continue reading Covers Up!

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