I had read their name over and over again. Saw the underground plastered with their posters. Heard all the rave reviews. But it after three full listens, I still wasn't that intrigued. Wouldn't be the first time a Mercury winner didn't really get my mind-cogs a dancin'. But then Tuesday night while cycling home from work I decided to give the album another chance... I don't know if it was the tiredness from working all day, my life-long affinity for strange-voiced singers (see: Bob Dylan, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Kings of Leon, Glasvegas, etc.) or the chilly wind going down the back of my jacket or what, but track 4 on Alt-J's An Awesome Wave finally crashed on the shore. I stopped my bike, put it on repeat and haven't really stopped since.
Song of the Week
Alt-J - Breezeblocks
Intellectual nonsense? The real-deal? One-off? What do you think?
Runner-Up
On the eve of the ten year anniversary of the late-great Joe Strummer's death it's only right we pay some homage to the man that brought intense passion, tolerance, acceptance and so much more to music and culture as we know it. In fact, I watched the documentary, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, last night just to be up to snuff. I suggest you do the same if you even have an inkling of interest.
Picking the best Clash song is like making a definite list of the bands who they've inspired - basically impossible. So, as any honourable gentleman would do, I was going to go with the one that reminds me of my lady, but of course Bankrobber was SoW 11 so many moons ago. Instead I've decided to go with the same song that I always go back to, and if that means it's favourite then so be it. Here's to Joe:
The Clash - Clash City Rockers
Song of the Week
Alt-J - Breezeblocks
Intellectual nonsense? The real-deal? One-off? What do you think?
Runner-Up
On the eve of the ten year anniversary of the late-great Joe Strummer's death it's only right we pay some homage to the man that brought intense passion, tolerance, acceptance and so much more to music and culture as we know it. In fact, I watched the documentary, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, last night just to be up to snuff. I suggest you do the same if you even have an inkling of interest.
Picking the best Clash song is like making a definite list of the bands who they've inspired - basically impossible. So, as any honourable gentleman would do, I was going to go with the one that reminds me of my lady, but of course Bankrobber was SoW 11 so many moons ago. Instead I've decided to go with the same song that I always go back to, and if that means it's favourite then so be it. Here's to Joe:
The Clash - Clash City Rockers
Finally got a chance to indulge in your remodelled SoW blog. First off, thank you, secondly, there are some great tunes on here. A tough Alt-J tune to really jump into, but definitely enough to get me curious and delve deeper. As for Jake Bugg from last week, that's a lovely jam. Made me wanna dance! But I couldn't right away. I was at work.
ReplyDeleteThe chord progression in the Alt-J song is a winner. Do they have a second album?
ReplyDeleteAlt-J has only got the one so far. But they won the Mercury Prize as the UK's top album which gave them 20,000 pound and huge publicity (meaning mad $$$) so I'd say there will definitely be more..
ReplyDeleteThey are coming this way in the near future actually. Only as close as TO, but I was thinking about going.
This song is also awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYjOVo5IEw
ReplyDeleteMarc 26th. I'd be down.