The Barclaycard Mercury Prize

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
  • 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.

  • They see their audience as intellectual equals
  • 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.

  • They will never be pigeon-holed
  • 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.

  • They prove how innovative music can be
  • 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.

  • They are exceptional live
  • 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

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