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 [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: The Byrds, Ariel Pink, Chain and the Gang Song: Sonny and the Sunsets - Palmreader [download here ] What's so good? [...]
Twangy, downcast Canadian country Nick Ferrio's been performing on Canada's indie country scene for several years, and released his self-titled full-length debut last year. He's back with a new 45 (and yes, that is a 73 disc of vinyl that spins at forty-five revolutions-per-minute beneath a turntable's diamond stylus) that includes a new A-side, "Half the Time," backed with the album track "Other Side of Town." The top side is a lament of a lost love whose draw has yet to let go, the flip is even more pained as the of object desire [...]
Watch videos from longstanding MM faves Murder By Death who have a brilliantly animated film for Lost River and Shakey Graves who has a slightly disturbing one for Unlucky Skin . There is an appropriately sparse film to accompany Nathan K.'s wonderfully plaintive track Bob Seger and we finish with Wolf Alice's new video for their top notch recent single Bros . Download Murder By Death – Lost River mp3 (from Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon) . [...]
Sometimes it takes just one play, one single spin, to know you've found something to treasure. So it is with Changing Colors and the track Good Times from their new album Joan & The King, which sees a release via Blank Tape Records . From the opening lazy strum of guitar and gently hypnotic percussion to the perfect, world-weary vocals of frontman Conor Bourgal, the song meanders slowly and surely to its destination over a simple refrain, " I am a mess of a man ". This [...]
May 22, 8:00am
DOA
Brooklyn based singer-songwriter Shawn Waters preaches in earnest and sings of love, sin and God on this eight song debut.
A helping of country-flavored blues, Cajun, soul and gospel British guitarist George Breakfast's soulful sound wouldn't be particularly out-of-place in Muscle Shoals, Austin or even underground Nashville. There's a raspy Americana edge to his voice, and a gospel-inflected strut to of his songs that suggest everything from light '70s country to Little Feat inspired funk and Commander Cody-styled jump blues. The vocals are charmingly rough in spots, but the backing musicians are fluid and tight, and the melodies and lyrics are insinuating. Anyone looking to rekindle the 19702s warm infusion of country, blues, R&B, [...]
Released in 2008 from the Eagles' double-album set Long Road Out of Eden, "Busy Being Fabulous" is a song that shows Don Henley to be in typical high quality form. He has always been a master at writing about relationships and also at writing scathing commentary about the Hollywood social scene - even though he was a major part of [...]
Brooklyn based folk-singer’s second album kicks off with a bang, then settles into a nice, warm groove.
Country artist's fine return to his bluegrass roots Clinton Gregory had a run of Top-100 country hits in the early '90s, but both his releases and commercial success became scarce by mid-decade. He returned last year with Too Much Ain't Enough , his first album in more than a decade, and doubles down with this return to his bluegrass roots. Gregory started out as a fiddler, playing festivals as a child and breaking into Nashville as a session musician. His return from country crooning to tightly harmonized bluegrass is [...]
The significance of Northern Rock in the UK is likely not to have got much news coverage in the US, after all they had their own financial problems to deal with, so this is not a album attacking the UK financial fuck-ups (though there is the odd profanity in the songs). If you're not familiar with the music of Eastbound Jesus via their excellent debut release Holy Smokes then theirs is a blend of alt-country, americana, bluegrass and country with a New York roots rock twist. [...]
It's Morrissey's 54th birthday on Wednesday, May 22, and to celebrate, The Smiths / Morrissey cover band Sweet and Tender Hooligans will headline the Fonda Theatre with Ghostwolf. If you would like to attend Morrissey's 54th Unhappy Birthday Celebration with...
1) Taking their name from a Willard Grant Conspiracy song is always going to meet with our approval. 2) To see The August List then self-proclaim themselves as “ backwards country porch-folk ”, was also going to pique our interest that little bit more - we love those country porch sing-a-longs. 3) And to have our friend Ronan at Nightshift compares them to The Handsome Family and the Carter-Cash partnership meant that we were definitely going to put this husband and wife duo's debut EP Handsome Skin [...]
All twenty-eight of Eddy Arnold's chart-topping singles For most artists, a twenty-eight track collection of their biggest chart hits would be a fair representation of their commercial success. In Eddy Arnold's case, twenty-eight #1 singles only very lightly skims the surface of nearly thirty-nine consecutive years of chart success that stretched from 1945 through 1983 (he struck out, though not without a few good swings, in 1958). A singer of such renown inspires numerous reissues and collections, including hefty Bear Family boxes ( 1 2 ), but this is the first set [...]
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 [...]
Moving and socially significant Australian country music Though country music is most typically associated with the Southern United States, it's impact has been felt all around the world. In addition to Nashville and Texas exports, a strong but little-known strain developed among Australian aboriginals in the second half of the twentieth century. American songs were repurposed to tell stories of harsh conditions in the outback, and lyrics of country-to-city migration, drinking and prison all found resonance in the freewheeling down-under. But Australians also stretched the genre with localized stories, locations and slang, and dark [...]
American Songwriter's latest free Muse sampler is a gem featuring twelve tracks that includes such MM faves as Phosphorescent, Caitlin Rose, Water Liars, Cheyenne Marie Mize and Futurebirds alongside some Americana heavyweights like Son Volt and Will Johnson and the new-wave inspired indie rock of the Features . Just head over to their Bandcamp page here and download it all for nothing. . . Follow @madmackerel
Videos today from the wonderful Parson Red Heads and their studio film for new track Times, and also a brand new video from the Lumineers for Stubborn Love. Lastly we have Barry Brusseau's new video for Til The Wind Blows Everything from his wonderful album The Royal Violent Birds . . . Follow @madmackerel
One of the most interesting acts of the early days of country music was a pair of sisters who called themselves the Girls of the Golden West. Rising to popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s via radio, they continued to find a lot of success on the broadcast waves and in record sales for a number of years. The duo dressed as cowgirls and specialized in Western songs and yodeling - but they were a little more sophisticated than fans thought. Mildred and Dorothy (Dolly) Good were born near St. Louis and grew up [...]
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V V Brown – Samson
Stream: Disclosure | When A Fire Starts To Burn (Original Mix)
New album: Washed Out
Boards Of Canada – Reach For The Dead – new video
