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, but first up with their personal [...]
With the second of the Haddow Fest Presents drawing near and The 1004's will be taking the stage in Edinburgh's Electric Circus. The 1004's have recently released a new single 'Throes' to much critical acclaim (this blogger included) and it's addition to their live set for the 24th May will be most welcome. They're joined on stage by Dumb [...]
So, Record Store Day is over, the subsequent hangover dispatched, a tedious day of sitting around waiting to find out about jury service has been put to bed. I've been out to Bathgate in order to be fucking terrible at football, returned to Edinburgh to watch United claim their 20th title, and now here I sit at my computer wondering what the rest of the week holds for me. Boundless excitement, I am pretty sure. Actually, after last week's Beer vs. Records (bored of that yet?) and the forthcoming Sparrow and the Workshop album launch shows, there is still a [...]
Well well well, the voting for the song of the year was indeed done by a rather hometown audience, with the new Meursault album dominating, and only one song in the top five coming from outside our own wee corner of the Scottish music scene. The votes were genuinely all over the place as well. The Walkmen deserve some sympathy for having loads of songs in the voting, but not enough going to one specific one to register on the leader board, and it was the same for a lot of stuff, as votes didn't seem to really [...]
This year has witnessed possibly the most seismic change in my listening habits since I left my teens and actually worked out what sort of music I like. This time the change isn't about the music itself, but about the way that music is consumed. I have always, and will always be a great believer in the album as a format. My masters' thesis was on the primacy of the album in rock music, and I can barely move for tripping over piles of CD albums. So what's changed? [...]
Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist , I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5! The 3rd year was the first year where I had a guess for what would be #1. My pick made it to #4 and I got to introduce it! This was also the beginning of the several years where there were lots of songs from 1 or 2 albums. [...]
Moving on from all the 73s that have been covered on these pages lately, here's a 103 EP from EbM favourites Withered Hand . While the last WH release - the Heart Heart 73 that came out in Feb. - represented a new direction for Dan Wilson's project, Inbetweens is more representative of Withered Hand's general sound. What I've always loved about WH, and which was perhaps slightly lacking in Heart Heart , is his ability to take the generic setup of acoustic guitar and crackly [...]
There are things in life that you take for granted, that you look at and say 'oh that's a great idea, love what they're doing' and toddle on with your little life. Then there is the initiative that is The Fruit Tree Foundation ..... Since 2008 the music events of the [...]
I'd be devastated if music goes the same way as photographs - seldom framed for the world to see and lost to some Dropbox folder. I can't imagine a world without records perched side-by-side on my shelves, with their painstakingly-designed inserts and carefully-printed lyrics. But times are tough. Earlier this week, Edinburgh's Avalanche Records published a plea on their website for more customers to put their hands in their pockets (and for customers to put their hands in their pockets more), while [...]
After a night in my own bed (I can promise there's no greater feeling than leaving a muddy campsite knowing there's a hot shower waiting on you twenty minutes away) it was back to the Carron Valley. On arrival, we heard some rather interesting noises emanating from the Baino Stage. It turned out this was the cheery pop of Teen Canteen , who are beyond twee but are also fantastic – of all the bands I've heard who are named after Showaddywaddy songs, they're definitely the best. Sadly we only heard a couple of songs [...]
Scottish band and Song, By Toad favorite, Meursalt, will perform live at London's Islington Assembly Hall on Tuesday, November 6th. The band will be accompanied by a full string section called The Pumpkin Seeds. Labelmates Rob St. John and Withered Hand will also perform. Sounds like a very cool concert to me. Check out the [...]
I think you have to agree that the lineup of this gig alone does the selling, doesn't it. After the success of their album launch at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh, Meursault are playing a one-off gig at the Islington Assembly Hall in London with a full string section, affectionately known as the Pumpkin Seeds. Due to the cost and logistical implications of this kind of undertaking this will be something of a one-off, so I wouldn't pass it up if I were you, as who knows the next time we'll be able to do it [...]
It's been a funny old week. In case you missed the memo on Wednesday there I announced that I was going to be taking a wee step back form posting every day and that I'd decided to bring a few new faces in to help out/freshen up the place a wee bit. I was genuinely a wee bit taken aback by the reaction that the post got, I think I might have caused a wee bit of confusion as a lot of folk seem to have read it as I was giving up. I can assure you [...]
Soft, subtle and heaped with melancholy is how you could describe many of the wonderful tracks written by the Edinburgh singer-songwirter Withered Hand ; and the same is true for No Cigarettes - one of the highlights from his 2009 Good News LP - which has just been given the visual treatment thanks to Matt Amato. If you're new to the work of Dan Wilson then, firstly, shame on you. Secondly, head over to his Bandcamp page now and discover one of [...]
So, erm... as the cultural black hole of the Edinburgh Festival lumbers towards us like a hungry giant, blithely trampling all before it as it stumbles clumsily towards the Magners tent to gorge itself on what can surely be chemically proven to be one of the world's nastiest ciders, I find myself wondering what the fine people of Edinburgh can do in the face of such a knee-trembling onslaught of shock and awful. Plenty, it turns out is the answer. So, after tearing my hair out waiting for the fucking Mixcloud uploader to start working again so I [...]
You might have noticed that I have been a bit slack with my posts recently, that's two weeks in a row that I haven't had a chance to knock up a Friday Freebies post. Last week I have a pretty good excuse, in that I was living it up on the Isle of Eigg at Fence Records Away Game Festival. This weeks excuse was that I am still recovering from last weekends debauchery, that and I was out on Wednesday night as Randolph's Leap were headlining Tut's. I have also spent the past week trying to catch up with Olive [...]
Back in February I posted about the Withered Hand record Heart Heart , which was the first release in a three-single subscription series run by Fence Records , called Chart Ruse . Each of the 73 EPs included in the deal come in a fantastically well designed sleeve, with each one subtly altered for each band, and each consists of four tracks, one of which is a remix (* shudder *) and one of which is a vinyl only cut. The subscription has now run its course, and having already written [...]
Morning folks, it's Saturday and once again I'm hungover. No surprise there then I guess, I spent last night in the company of some fine individuals at King Tut's catching The Grand Gestures and Behold The Old Bear, A top night was had, but boy am I paying for it today. If I think that I feel bad now, god only knows how sorry I will be feeling for myself on Friday. As next week I will be heading up to Inverness for my third goNorth, Scotland's biggest music industry event/piss up. For the second year running, myself, Song, [...]
Download and watch five new Lana Del Rey covers, from Mateo, Withered Hand, Pulled Apart By Horses, Alice Jemina, and Metaphorest.
Unlike my fellow blogger, The Pop Cop , I am stupidly excited about today. Not since about 1997 when I queued to get tickets to see Blur at the Barrowlands, has there been an event that I have been happy to haul myself out of bed at an ungodly hour to get down and in line. But this morning I will be leaving the house just after half seven to go an stand outside my favourite record store, Love Music to pick up some of the exclusive 'goodies' which are being released as part of this years [...]
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HAERTS: “All The Days”
Sexy Track // “Devil Or Angel” // Lou Doillon
Daft Punk - Lose Yourself to Dance (Simøne Remix)
