Surprise, surprise. The 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize ceremony has been and gone with a relevant and fresh performance from Plan B, a mind-numblingly dull rendition by Ben Howard (this dcecade’s Daniel Powter) and The Maccabees losing their award after five minutes. The winner, deserverdly, was the remarkable Alt-J who continue to defy genre conventions and have stretched the imaginations of their public within the last twelve months. Here’s some reasons which makes them THAT damn good:
- They push boundaries
- They see their audience as intellectual equals
- They will never be pigeon-holed
- They prove how innovative music can be
- They are exceptional live
Listen to An Awesome Wave. Sure, it’s alt-rock. But aside from that, Alt-J have infused musical genres to become the new masters of an entirely new one. Elements of Fela Kuti, Everything Everything, Hot Chip and Radiohead are all entwined to create a colossal sounding art-pop masterpiece. They are a band that it’s cool to like, granted, but their talent in defying conventions has been remarkable for a band so young.
Like the films of David Fincher and Christopher Nolan, An Awesome Wave is heightened by the great ability of a masterpiece’s creator thinking his audience is as clever as him. There is no pretention and supremacy from Alt-J, they create music that their fans will understand and believe in. The truth is that the four-piece have minds far superior to anyone else making music right now and, yet, still make music it is easy to be blown away by whilst simultaenously adoring it.
Not just in terms of genre, Alt-J have refused to be tagged and pigeon-holed by the media. Bloggers and journalists instantly dubbed them the “new Radiohead” and Alt-J laughed off such connotations. Perhaps it was premature, but it wasn’t wholly inaccurate. Alt-J’s modesty and humility is a breath of fresh air and, with another masterpiece, maybe it won’t be long until they are climbing for Thom Yorke’s position.
The band are called Alt-J because that is the command on a keyboard for the Greek letter ‘Delta’, which is used in mathematical equations “to show change”. Alt-J are all about change, represented by nothing more than their debut album. Their imaginations (coupled with their inspirations) have created a unique and timeless debut album which never gets mundane.
Anyone who’s seen live videos or caught them at any of this year’s festivals will realise that Alt-J are a band who can transcend their studio performances onto stage very easily. Joe Newman’s vocals are almost flawless and the unique atmosphere in Alt-J crowds represents fans having a great time enjoying fresh and raw music that represents this decade’s finest and most talented band.
Discover Alt-J: Official // Facebook // Soundcloud // Twitter
By James Daniel Rodger
Dance Yrself Clean
