Alt-j (Δ)

Very rarely a band comes along that is ridiculously amazing, and Alt-j (Δ) is that band for 2012. And as far as I'm concerned for 2011 and 2010 as well. I haven't heard something this awesome since I started listening to Miike Snow. The day after I bought their debut album I spent a 6 hour drive alone in the car to Arizona listening to it on repeat. Or maybe it was Bon Iver that was the most recent, both were around the same time for me, can't remember which came first. But anyway, the debut album from Alt-j (Δ), An Awesome Wave, is that ridiculously amazing. I just came back from a weeklong vacation, and it is basically all I listened to on my 6 hour cross-country drives.

Alt-j (Δ) are somewhere between Radiohead and Wild Beasts. They are masterful. Their attention to detail and the way they create and build their songs is so good I can't even think of an appropriate adjective to describe it. But that could also be because it's like 6am right now. Maybe drummer Thom Green described them best the first time he heard the music, when he said "It was music I was looking for, I just didn't know I was." Props to Beth for helping me find it.

An Awesome Wave was released on September 18 in the US, which was a great day for releases (Grizzly Bear and Lighthouse & The Whaler also released new albums on the same day, all of which are awesome). The album plays like a drug-enduced love song and pretty much every single song on the album is amazing, and those which aren't amazing are still really freaking good. I'm pretty confident this will be my top album for the year. Favorites are (in the following order): Dissolve Me, Tesselate, Taro and Bloodflood. But honestly, even the intro and interludes on this album are awesome.

Luckily for you, they have put their entire album streaming on SoundCloud. And because I love you, here it is in it's entirety. Put on your headphones, close your eyes, and give yourself 44 minutes to have your life changed. And then go buy the album. And see them live, cause they're on tour now, and in California today.

 

Crystal Fighters

Crystal Fighters may very well be my new favorite band. They're pretty freaking awesome. And I think in some ways they may be just the replacement I've been looking for since Brazilian Girls broke up (although newsflash: apparently they just got back together!). Their music doesn't sound at all like Brazilian Girls, but they've got that same eclectic, international sound. At least their accents and the fun percussion makes me feel that way. I guess that's what you get when you put a bunch of Spaniards together in London and let them do their thing. And when their thing is based on the unfinished writings of one of their grandfathers who went crazy.

They released their debut album, Star of Love, back in 2010, but it's only been available in the US since April of this year. That means that it is eligible for my Top 10 this year, and it's definitely a contender. The openening track, Solar System, is ridiculously good, which I love. Obviously I love it being ridiculously good, but especially so when the opening track is ridiculously good.




There are a ton of awesome songs on the album, but I basically keep going back and forth between Solar System and Champion Sound, which is probably my favorite track. I love the subtle build-up.




My only complaint is that there is a deluxe version of their album, not available to me, which has acoustic versions of a bunch of songs. Luckily they have like every song they've ever made on their SoundCloud, so you can go listen to everything there. And then buy Star of Love, cause it's awesome.

Atoms for Peace

Generally when I blog I try to share new music that I've discovered. Sadly this means that I often leave some of my favorite artists unshared because I expect people to already know about them. Same thing almost happened this week when literally every single music site I use was streaming the new Atoms for Peace single. I figured they've been in the works for so long and this is such a major release that you obviously don't need me to tell you about it. Then I realized that's just silly and it's been shared everywhere for a reason. So here you are, now on my blog, too. New single from the long-awaited and finally officially formed Atoms for Peace, called Default.




If you haven't heard of Atoms for Peace, it's a supergroup formed by Thom Yorke of Radiohead. After he released his solo album, The Eraser, he started touring with Atoms for Peace and playing the album live. The group is made of Thom, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nigel Godrich, Radiohead's producer, and a couple other people. And they're supposed to release an album next year, which is rather exciting.

I also heard another side project of this side project this week, which is spearheaded by Nigel Godrich. I guess it can't really be called a side-project, but it's another group that Nigel Godrich is a part of, called Ultraista. More great sounds, with an album due at the start of October. I knew I'd like them as soon as I read on their facebook that they were "conceived from a love of Afrobeat, electronica, art and inspired by tequila." These are all good things.

I don't know if anything official has been released yet, but there are a few tracks on SoundCloud. My favorite song of the week, though, goes to the Four Tet remix of Smalltalk. Luckily the remix is included on the album.

 

Dan Croll

I've been listening to all kinds of fun new stuff this week. It really helps that I actually have internet at home. It's made me more productive. Now, rather than sit and watch TV, I actually find things to do that are worthwhile. And I listen to more music.

Found out about this guy Dan Croll this week. Don't really know much about him, and I don't think he's released anything yet, but I love all the tracks I've found on SoundCloud. I think I read something saying he used to be a producer and now he's starting to make his own music. But I could have gotten that wrong. Maybe he used to be part of a band and now he's doing solo stuff? All I know for sure is he's British, and you can hear it on his songs, particularly Marion.




The fact you can actually hear his British accent makes me think of Ed Sheeran. But DC (we're already using nicknames), most reminds me of James Yuill. Not really, but kind of. Here's what I think may be his first official single, From Nowhere.





So the plan was to give you all 3 tracks that I love, out of the 4 or 5 which I have found in existence. But Home, which may actually be my favorite, can't be embedded. Assholes. So go to SoundCloud and find it for yourself.

The worst thing ever.

Before I start on the sad stories and terrible music, here's a spot of good new: after 9 months in South Africa, I finally got internet set up at home! That means I will hopefully be blogging more often. Now on to the sad story.

This story involves one of my favorite bands, Little Dragon. I am afraid I'm doomed to never see them live. My first opportunity was on my birthday about 3 years ago. I was living in California, and they were playing at a small venue in Orange County. I had planned to go see them, even found a friend to come with me. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. I share my birthday with a good friend from high school, and he happend to be in a play at the time. His last show was on our birthday, so his wife organized for a bunch of friends to come surprise him for the show. Because I'm such an amazing friend, I forewent the Little Dragon for the play.

Then I moved to Beijing a few months later. I learned about two weeks after I got there about a big music festival the previous weekend, and who should be playing but Little Dragon. So again, I missed them.

Now I live in South Africa, where next to nobody comes to tour. I would say nobody, but I was corrected about five minutes ago when it was pointed out to me that Lady Gaga is coming. Yay? Anyway, nobody that I want to see ever comes here. Except Little Dragon. And they come and play two nights, one night opening for Talib Kweli, and the next night playing a free show. Sadly for me, I wasn't in the country until this weekend. I try to be an optimist and tell myself that when I do finally see them, it will be amazing and we'll become best friends.

Now on to terrible music. I believe I've mentioned how bad South African music tends to be. Here is a perfect example. I saw this song on TV yesterday, and I wanted to change it, but I actually couldn't. I spent the entire video sitting frozen with the remote pointed at the TV unable to change the channel. I don't know if it's the terrible song, the ridiculous name (Snotkop? Seriously? I hope it means something better in Afrikaans), or the stupid dancing, or the strange green lighting, or maybe the Ed Hardy shirt. Surprisingly, this guy apparently won awards for best pop album or something last year. That should tell you what kind of dire straits I'm in.

 

Daughter

What should be a long weekend for this American is being spent in the office. So I'm making the most of it with music, and thanks to Poor Man's Limo I found Daughter. This London band has 2 EPs under their belt, and both are really freaking awesome. Their dark ballads are kind of reminiscent of Feist. And I obviously love their bitter lyrics.

Favorite track from His Young Heart EP: Landfill
I want you so much but I hate your guts





Favorite track from The Wild Youth EP: Youth