Posts Tagged ‘Alt-J’

11
Nov
2014

Music to my Ears #2

categories: Albums of the Month, Music

So my music tastes range from standard middle of the road to down right random, but my favourite word to describe my musical orientation (as well as myself in general) is eclectic. Its a nice word, weird to say but pretty to look at and tricky to attempt to spell. And I like to think I identify with it, although I’m sure most of the time I come across as the most average/boring person.

I love music and I enjoy talking about it with others, so Music to my Ears is making a comeback, so get ready.

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Banks: Goddess

Banks is a bit of  a wonderful mystery to me, but the more I listen to her album the more it wins me over. First listen through I wasn’t sold, but I was intrigued by her captivating vocals and trance like beats. Now that I am more familiar with her style I can’t get enough. If you haven’t listened to her yet (go do it), imagine something along the lines of Aaliyah/The XX/Lorde kind of style. I’m probably describing it all wrong but that’s the best I can do. This makes the perfect lazy weekend album to have on in the background while you waste the day pretending to do housework.

Listen to: Brain (my favourite track of the album), You Should Know Where I’m Coming From, and the popular Fuck ‘Em Only We Know

Ben Howard: I Forget Where We Were

I am not sure how I managed to avoid getting in to Ben Howard’s music before the past month or so. His soft acoustics and soulful lyrics are right up my alley (okay so I have a lot of alleys, but his music is right up one of them). This album is his more recent one, released this year, and I love the quiet intensity of his moodier tracks. Its a great album, easy to listen to and a bit of a crowd pleaser. Now just please stand aside while I weep into pillow with regret for missing his August concert. At the time I barely recognised his name. Ah, regret, you old friend.

Listen to: Small Things, I Forget Where We Were, End of the Affair

Alt J: This is all yours

I saved my favourite for last and anyone who is unlucky enough to spend much time with me will know that this album has been almost exclusively played over and over until i had to force myself to ration it out (once a day maximum, no more than 4 times a week). Alt-J are one of the very few performers I would travel large distances to go and see, which is a pretty big deal considering I am normally too lazy to go to concerts in the city where I live.

This is their second album (I raved about their first album over here) and for me its the best music they have produced, but I can also see some people preferring their more mainstream (if you could ever classify alt-J as mainstream) first album. This is all yours is a unique series of tracks, that in my opinion are best played as a set. I won’t try and review them any more than to say that the album is very different. Its a bit weird, a little creepy at times (see the lyrics of Every Other Freckle, one of my favourite tracks) but incredibly interesting and evocative to listen to. I find their album creates a experience that I get absolutely drawn into, with soft melodies, haunting vocals and the odd punch of upbeat rock. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I think Alt-J are doing something very different and if I had to listen to one album for all of 2014 it would have been this.

Listen to: Nara, Hunger of the Pine (keep an eye out for a weirdly perfect Miley Cyrus ??), Warm Foothills (this makes my heart feel all warm and happy) and The Gospel of John Hurt. Just listen to the album, several times in a row. You won’t regret it (You might but I didn’t).

What has been playing for you recently?

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04
Sep
2013

Album of the Year?

categories: Albums of the Month

Hi All!

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So I promised you last post that I was planning to expose you to the album that has played non-stop, on repeat for weeks now and may very well be my album of the year. This little black horse that came out of nowhere and blew my mind is Alt-J’s An Awesome Wave. Alt-J are an indie English band and this is their debut album. Debut. I kid you not. The synth/indie/folk/pop (the number of genres I need to begin to describe this are a little disturbing) album) and band are compared commonly to Radiohead but for me personally I hear more of a more upbeat and inventive Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes in terms of their vocals and the lack of comprehensible structure/beat. The vocals are strange and unusual in an awesome and dreamlike way. The whole album just carries me through this slightly psychedelic, visual (don’t ask me how) and dynamic journey punctuated with clever rhythms and strange instrumentals. How the whole album sounds both hopeful and accessible whilst arty and melancholic slightly confuses me the result is nothing less than wonderful. Go and listen to any song of the album and I feel you will hear something new.

Having said that my favourites off the album (nearly impossible to choose) range from the smooth synth tune Tessellate with its slightly deeper base line to Breezeblocks with the popular R&B/Island rhythms that are crazy addictive and then to Matilda which to me demonstrates how charged with emotion the album can get. I also must mention Taro as another favourite, it is folky and moving without losing the quirky qualities that make this album work . I don’t even really know how to describe these songs to do them justice.

The album as a whole works perfectly with charged up stunners interspersed with some more instrumental palate cleansers. The whole thing goes together to create an electrifying and quirky listen that I think compares well to The XX’s debut in that it kind of defies traditional classification. I tried my best to explain the adoration I have for this album but I am not a music reviewer and this will leave a lot unsaid. Spend an evening listening to this and I promise you won’t regret it. If I ever see them playing here in New Zealand I will sell my firstborn for tickets.

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