The Curious Case of ALT-J
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- Опубліковано 25 кві 2022
- At one point Alt-J’s blend of folk music and electronics were significantly different.
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The Curious Case of ALT-J
Alt-J is the only band who couldn't recover from two kids and a pack of rice cakes
what a throw back XD
They’re actually a band as well with some good stuff
WOR explain
The meme is strong
@@sp0ngeb00b7 look up "every alt-j song"
Fastest I ever clicked. Alt-J is a fantastic study of musicians doing what they love instead of what will sell.
same my friend
🔺
🔺
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And it sells too so win-win lol. Love Alt-J
To this day, I firmly believe Taro is one of the single greatest songs ever made. To me anyways. Words can’t describe how powerful and emotionally driven those ~5 minutes are
Agreed. Such a surprise closer
Yeah. This was already my favourite song on the album. Then I discovered what it was about and it gained a whole new level of brilliance.
And what about the story? Safe to say everyone knows the D Day photos, but barely anyone knows who took them. And here comes Alt J not only introducing Capa, but also Taro. And the idea of them reuniting after death is beautiful.
Agreed, might be my favourite song of all time
it’s so freaking good😭😭😭😭😭😭
I was lucky to see Alt-J preform with Portugal the man in Madison square garden two weeks ago. They’re great live and their visuals were top notch, matching the style of their music’s immersive sound.
I was surprised how captivating they were live. I saw them on a festival late afternoon with a lot of people just passing by but I was hooked.
Literally my dream concert
saw them in vegas
I watched them in Nashville it was incredible
I was there too. Great show. All three acts were stellar
Your motion graphics are always amazing
Real recognizing real 🙏 thank you
Hey Josh
@@stro3271 Hey man, you should check out Simple Kid, a popular multi-instrumentalist in the 00s, was on Jools Holland, Conan, Glastonbury, the BBC, Irish TV. He quit some time ago to get a job, and a mortgage and raise a family, but he is back and nobody remembers him. He literally gets a few hundred views per song, I would love to see you analyse his story, and discuss how the music industry works. He left when musicians only made money from live shows and piracy was at its height. As his biggest fan I can say, he isnt that good live, he needs to get other musicians to play his instrumental parts. He is a genius in my view, he jumps genres like Tarantino, One song is a Beatles rip off, the next is an Oasis rip off. He deserves more views. Back in the day he was successful and famous and now he is the needle in the haystack of the internet. Going to spam you this sorry.
Alt-J for some reason is a band that I love every song they have made, they haven’t disappointed to this day
Totally agree
What's your opinion on "hit me like that snare"?
Love it. It’s weird and jarring but an awesome contrast to the rest of the album which is mostly very calm and melodic.
@@dodoking4 HMLTS absolutely slaps imo. Yeah it’s a ridiculous track but it’s one of the most fun songs they’ve ever put out.
@@jacobbelyea7945 I know, its one of my favourites of theirs.
3WW was such a unique sounding track that it alone made relaxer worth it for me.
But I agree. The first two albums were brilliant through and through. The later two don't seem to have that effect. Here's to hoping much more to come from these musicians in the years to come.
My damn dyslexia thought you were taking about world war 3😂
Give The Dream a couple more listens! It might even be better than This is all yours!
3WW and Breeze blocks are the 2 that makes me cry so much
Their guitarist left so they went with more synth electronic stuff
I disagree about The Dream! So many great tracks and I think it holds up to their second and third album. Tracks like Heart Drive Gold, The Actor, and U & Me are killer tracks. I hope they match the potential of their first album one day but their newest album is a banger imo
Respectfully disagree, of course!
You may be right about the last couple tracks dragging and not as quality as side A
The Dream really is a grower for sure. The more I listen to these tracks or even just throw them on shuffle, I start hearing the genius in some of them.
Some of them are just a bit too long though. I find myself really loving a track thinking it’s just about to end in a great place and then it goes on for another 2 minutes.
I’m a massive fan of Bane and Philadelphia
Yeah, for me it is actually better than This Is All Yours and Relaxer, both of which I absolutely adore, but The Dream was like seeing the beginning of a new era, and I believe it will be much more appreciated in the future as their first big turning point from their former sound.
I agree tracks like losing my mind go on just too long for me and I often skip the last 2 minutes unfortunately. But overall I find the flow of the album is amazing and it uses slower songs towards the end when I think the entire album shifts moods.
Also personally my favourite songs ate probably happier when your gone and powders, they seem real to me whereas hard drive gold to me always sounds like it was made to be a pop song and isn't what I'm looking for in an altj album
I actually love the dream, especially get better has become one of my favourite songs, so sad yet comforting.
Yes, let's talk about that song! My goodness they already tear at my heart strings but that one pains. Far Out mag did a really nice piece on this song. Highly recommend it. XO
I wanted to like it but I couldn't. Some songs were okay.
Yes same. My favorite songs are The Actor, Philadelphia, U&ME, Hard Drive Gold and Losing my Mind.
I think it's a slog. But i enjoyed the sound, it's very dreamy and comforting.
Tesselate still sounds as fresh to me now as it did back when I was a senior in high school (oh god now I feel old too). Sounding great on that ETHOS!
Just about right time. A close friend introduced me to this band, suggested me 'Left-Hand Free'. It was weird to listen to, but after multiple replays it was on my mind for a few weeks.
And after that youtube showed me Breezeblocks. This was it. I was a fan already. I am so hooked to this song.
This video is very insightful. Keep it up.
They actually use Left Hand Free in Captain America: Civil War! I believe it's in one of the locale establishing shots, maybe Bucharest.
@@InverseAgonist it’s the song they used to introduce peter parker in Queen’s
First time I see this guy “in person”. Weird how most of his videos were only voiced over and hasn’t started to show until now, he looks good speaking on camera
Alt-J is such an underrated band. They have a unique vision that often breaks the mold of normal bands. An Awesome Wave will go down as an alternative all time classic. Taro is an incredibly underrated song.
I do like alt j so much but an awesome wave is a fantastic debut and this is all yours is an extreme artistic sophomore effort
@@hippiecheezburger5457 that’s an opinion I disagree with, but it’s also an opinion I can respect
@@PhoenixRiseinFlame I liked relaxer somewhat and the dream was an improvement
@@hippiecheezburger5457 yeah it’s an unpopular opinion, but I actually really like Relaxer. In Cold Blood, Deadcrush, 3WW, and the cover of In the House of the Rising Sun are all favourites of mine. The only song I really don’t like is Hit Me Like that Snare.
Omg, I literally put Taro on repeat for a day….. it took months before I was interested in bothering to look up the lyrics and meaning….. underrated is an UNDERSTATEMENT
I absolutely enjoy The Dream's slower tunes like " Walk a mile" and "Powders". I guess it makes sense as I heavily enjoy the Nara portions of TIAY and the slower "The Gospel of John Hurt" towards the middle of that album. I like their ambient slow, and drawn-out material. That is what I believe makes Alt-J well... Alt-J.
Walk a mile is my favorite track on the new album
I totally agree! Walk a Mile is also my favourite!
i was only 7 when an awesome wave released. my dad used to play the cd in the car and we loved it so much it would end up playing basically every time we drove anywhere. i remember chanting with my siblings along to the "hey taro" section of taro, and then waiting through the silence, eagerly anticipating handmade, which might be my favourite alt j track even now. eventually my mum got me my own copy of the cd - my first cd ever - so she could get some quiet in the car. an awesome wave became the first album i came to know and love. i loved alt j so much that my dad took me to see them live on their first tour, becoming the first band i'd see on stage too. i remember every single moment of it and as such, alt j came to mean so much to me and an awesome wave holds a special place in my heart.
I love alt j! Breezeblocks is still one of the only songs that I’ve never gotten tired of listening to over and over again!
The fact you’ve made videos of two of my favorite artists of all time IN A ROW….I love this channel
Missed you man, I'll be checking this project throughout this week. I have been really stress with study related problems, and I think this will be a nice break. Thanks man!
An Awesome Wave is in my top 5 albums of all time. Fantastic, wonderful, magical album.
Been a huge fan for the better half of my life. Saw them on the tour for this is all yours and once again a couple months ago on the dream tour. Incredible performers!
My story of noticing Alt J and falling in love with them is so similar to yours.
After listening to The xx Breezeblocks entered my life and from that point onwards Alt-J was my favourite band
Please make a full video on the xx. Literal fav band of all time
i was only 7 when an awesome wave was released, but i distinctly remember my dad playing the cd on almost every car journey as a kid… about 4 years ago i discovered their other albums and now i’m seeing them live next week with my dad! :))
i discovered alt-j at like 3am thanks to my local radio station (KROQ) playing fitzpleasure, back in 2012. it was such an experience. they've been my favorite since
I think I started to listen to alt-j over 7 years ago and have been very lucky to see them live twice being only 16. They have been a huge part of my life and couldn’t love a band more
I love seeing one of my favorite channels covering one of my favorite bands, thanks for doing what you do!
My favourite band!! super excited to see them live in May
Don't place your expectations too high. They are a fantastic studio album. I've seen them three times live (because I love them that much) but they always disappoint. Specifically Joe Newman. He relies heavily on auto-tune in studio because he can't carry a tune.
Ah neat, I made it into the credits rocking my Everything Everything t-shirt 😅 Love Alt-J! Their latest album has actually grown on me more the more I've listened to it. Bane is a definite highlight.
i saw them on the tour for relaxer. they do one of the absolute best live shows i’ve ever seen. cool video!
alt-j's an awsome wave and glass animals zaba changed how I looked at albums. haveing an album you enjoy front to back with short interludes creating atmosphere. this idea is how i ended up finding my favorite albums such as teen dream by beach house and airoplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel
To me, The Dream is the most emotional of alt-j’s albums. I’ve cried to both Get Better and Loosing my Mind multiple times… listening to this album while I draw (as an architect) brings forth emotions that I channel into my work. My favourite album of this year.
alt-J is one of my favorite bands of all time. Every songs on AAW has a special memory of mine attached to it.
loving the videos man 🙌 Are you gonna make any videos on the neighbourhood? theyre my favourite band and i love how you can pick apart anyones music and help us understand what makes it so special. Keep up the great content!
Love this record! Thanks for the overview.
Just found this channel and am blown away by your content. Also amazing how you use great design/motion to communicate (could not avoid noticing it as a designer myself). First alt J record is genius, although my favorite track is 3WW, which puts the bar so high, Relaxer sounds even more underwhelming than it is. But I agree there are some other good highlights there, love deadcrush also
I was lucky to see them live in Toronto for their An Awesome Wave tour. Still one of the best concerts I've seen.
I remember when the apple store had free singles to download every Tuesday or something and one week the single was Breezeblocks. I fell in love and immediately downloaded the whole album!
Im just 20 years old and this is the only band i’ve ever followed through every step and this video encapsulated that whole journey, you deserve that coffee Middle8
I agree. An amazing Wave is one of my favorite albums and I've felt that nothing has been as good from them which is sad because they obviously have the ability to produce amazing work. I would love for them to tackle some of my favorite lit for references for music
Alt J is my favorite of all time ever. Listened to them 10 years ago when I was 12 and have listened to them ever since. Just got to finally see them live last month, one of the best days of my life. An awesome wave is genuinely the soundtrack to my life. Thanks for this video 🖤
I really enjoyed this video! Alt-J was like one of my first introductions in the indie-alt world and I love them for that. I do think that The Dream is a bit stronger than you give it credit for, it may not have the power of An Awesome Wave, but it definitely felt like the Alt-J that I know and love after Relaxer. :)
I chanced on breezeblocks a decade ago when it was playing on a college radio station I was listening to. It was a song that immediately grabbed me and I remember writing down the lyrics so that I could find it later. An Awesome Wave is easily one of the best albums I've ever heard in my life
I haven't yet heard the dream but hearing the snippet in the video gave me instant chills
The first song i heard of ALt-J was the intro for Ingress: the Animation, Tesselate was such a great track.. i immediately bought the album and man is it a great album to just sit down, listen and enjoy to!
While listening to "An Awesome Wave" again fractions of another song entered my thoughts. It took me some time to realize that alt-J's style resembles the one of Giant Rooks - especially on their live tapes album.
Great video btw
The Middle 8 origin story we didn't know about
Great presentation!
This Is All Yours is an amazing album. Hunger of the Pine never, ever gets old! Love U&ME & The Actor. I've never been one to judge albums as a whole as works of art in themselves, although I can think of many that are.
Spot-on assessment. I agree with your takes on every single record. My love for An Awesome Wave kept me being a fan of the band for a decade, but the other 3 albums have been _barely_ enough to keep my interest
I like these open discussion videos a lot. I can imagien it's a lot of work to do your usual style of constant shifting graphic design, so if this means more videos on differnet projects in a more fluid format, I'm all for it!
I appreciate that, thanks. There’s a lot of music I listen to that I don’t get to cover sometimes because the music just isn’t that “deep” - so this format allows me to still talk about them without the need to over analyze them
Alt J is my favorite band, love the uniqueness of their music! Saw them recently in NYC, amazing show.
Respectfully I really enjoyed The Dream, at least in that I can listen to the first 9 out of 12 songs straight. Definitely a grower, as others have said. My favorites are Bane, Hard Drive Gold, Happier When You’re Gone, The Actor, Philadelphia, Walk a Mile.
Man thank you soo much I asked in your last video if you were going to do a video on Alt-J and you delivered
As soon as I saw the thumbnail I clicked. Absolutely love alt-j
Thank you for the suggestion! It is an incredible album! Love it! ❤️
I started listening to alt-J 7 years ago back when I was getting into indie music, Breezeblocks was one of the first that I listened to and I was instantly blown away by their creativity.
But throughout the years, 3WW was the one that I kept on playing on repeat, the words, the delivery and the composition are just wonderful, and this is my go-to song whenever I go on a hike🫶🏻
Nobody seems to talk about Pleader; the closing piece of Relaxer. I genuinely love that song. Great video as well.
I loved that album so much, those fucking wet guitars, passive agressive, so fucking good.
Edit: it's fun since I've always compared them to sparks, because they're probably a band your favorite band likes, but that also applies to Radiohead lmao.
Ah the pandora radio days, saw alt-j on the dream tour a few months ago, spiritual experience
alt-j are definitely one of the most underrated band ever. i love that you cover bands that people know of but never really delve into
underrated? idk about that
The band has hundreds of millions of listens. They’re not underrated.
@@blah55044 kanye west is sooo underrated
I saw them at The Empty Bottle in Chicago back in 2012 with only a couple hundred people and they were SPECTACULAR. Sang along to every word and met them after the show. Super sweet guys. And as much as some of their later music has thrown me, they'll always hold a special place in my heart and represent an important time in my life. I'll always support them.
Yesss! I've never clicked on a video this fast before!
Everyone should go see them live! And I agree with you. The first two albums are fantastic. Their latest putting is very introspective writing but not an album you’ll reposted to much.
Thanks for describing Alt-J so perfectly! My daughter introduced me to their music,, I was so blessed to see them live in Santa Barbara, California March 26th. Forever Alt-J fan. Δ❤️
I almost cried when I saw they were playing a 10 year anniversary special for the album, they’re my favourite band and this is my favourite album. I’m travelling all the way to London just for this I can’t wait!
I first found about them waaaaaaay back with the Breezeblocks music video, which to this day still blows my mind. My favorite track to this day is still Every Other Freckle.
You said "I feel old" but hearing you describe your awe in discovering their first album in 2012 and finding novelty in things like intros and interludes and even hidden CD tracks (a staple of the 90s!) -- now that makes _me_ feel old!!
I get why you think the Nara trilogy of songs should be it's own ep but those are my favorite 3 songs on the album. And then Relaxer is absolutely incredible and I love it. I was studying abroad in Italy when it dropped and I first listened to it on a train ride through Italys countryside and it is one of my favorite memories ever
I love Alt-J. I was listening to them earlier today.
i love this band so much so thank you for this
An Awesome Wave is one of my all-time favourite albums and probably my favourite in terms of it being a piece of music rather than a collection of songs. So unique and intricate in the way each song is put together, focusing on some incredibly detailed literature and references for inspiration. It's an incredibly transportive record that takes you into the individual worlds of each song and immerses you in the emotions of what's described to you in the lyrics and music. An absolute masterpiece and a timeless classic of an album.
Last time I immediately checked out that Everything Everything album after the vid, so this time, imma legit hold off before watching the entire video and just go and immediately listen to this album real quick!
An awesome wave is one of my favorite albums ever, loved the video
One of the best finds some years ago with fitzpleasure, I haven't listen to them lately but thanks to this video I'll do it again.
Damn bro this video HIT ME HARD. when you mentioned all the albums you were listening to, *chefs kiss*. Thank you for this. Feel like we’ve been friends for ages!
Alt J was second concert I ever went to when I was 14 and no concerts since have compared to the vibes of people dancing freely, weed in the air, being crushed in the mosh pit and my favourite music playing live so loud I could feel it. literally the best night of my life.
nahhhhh the dream is good it grows on you as tracks like walked a mile or loosing my mind or even happier when your gone have so much raw emotion in the lyrics with perfectly written music to back them up
Saw them live in 2019, amazing show. Definitely one of my favourite bands.
Alt j and An awesome wave gave me the love of music, so cool youre talking about them
Tessellate is one of my all time favourite songs. It wasn’t until last year I took a listen to An Awesome Wave and had to buy it. A brilliant album. I also bought The Dream, though not as good as An Awesome Wave still love it. The other two albums there were only 4 or 5 songs I liked but alt-j…one of the best groups of the century so far.
Carn freo
saw them in Minneapolis in March. They performed from an elevated stage above the crowd. It was cool and they sounded great.
I would love for you to cover Failure. They’re a band who has a unique, out of this world sound, great history, and one of the best comebacks in rock history
This video is fascinating to watch as someone who got into alt-J through their first two albums, but immediately fell in love with Relaxer and still counts it as their favourite album. It's true that it doesn't feel cohesive and more like a collection of songs, but that's precisely what made it so appealing to me. I rarely listen to albums as a whole and prefer to binge single songs until I get tired and then move on to the next. Every single song on that album felt like an epic masterpiece that told its own story. My favourites are HMLTS and 3WW, my least favourite (which i still like somewhat) is Adeline. I also love The Dream, even though I'm not quite as impressed about every song on there even though the good ones more than make up for it.
All in all, very interesting commentary though! I'm glad alt-J are getting the recognition they deserve, even if their newer albums aren't quite as appealing to people as expected.
Keep the videos coming!
Franz Ferdinand next?
ooooooh seconding this, one of my favorite bands and so interesting!
Alt-J is my favorite band. I have an Alt-J tattoo, went to their concert when they came with Portugal the Man, own all their albums on Vinyl, and An Awesome Wave is in my top 5 albums of all time. Listen front to back all the time. They're so unique, and are nothing like any other band
I absolutely adore Alt-J and have for years. I got the privilege of seeing them earlier this month on their tour. My favorite song from The Dream is Happier When You're Gone and I don't understand why I haven't heard any talk about it. It feels overlooked. It's a quiet gem and it reminds me of the sound that I fell in love with on An Awesome wave.
And I still believe this is all yours is slept on. What a beauty
I wouldn’t say it’s slept on, people liked it. “Left Hand Free” was their biggest single ever - even if it’s a poor representation of the album. The record does have some of their most beautiful songs.
@@Middle8 Bloodfloot Pt II and Nara are their two most ambitious track. The intro is gorgeous. Love your work dude btw :)
Growing up with Alt-J (I was 13 when An Awesome Wave came out) was a wild experience. I was obsessed with Tesselate and Breezeblocks and I always tried to get my friends to join my listening party each time they dropped an album. I love Alt-J bc they never seek out to please an audience, each one of their tracks has their own.
I heard Breezeblocks in an amazing show, then wondered where Matilda came from- that lead to me watching one of my favourite films of all time... then I listened to Leon. Which is now my favorite song from Alt-J. What a maze!
i first heard alt-j when i was 11/12. it was during my catholic public schools yoga workshop in grade 5 (i know it sounds very hippy-dippy), and the yoga instructor was playing music, an alt j song happened to come on. i remember thinking that i never heard anything like that and i just HAD to know what the song was called. after everyone had cleared the gym, i went up to the yoga instructor before she left, and asked what i had just listened to. i wrote it down on a piece of paper and when i got home, i began my deep endeavors in discovering more of this band that fascinated me and ultimately gave me the autonomy in creating my own music taste.
for many, many years, alt-j has remained one of my favorite bands. their music has always inspired me for standing out and setting president for eccentric, fluid, surrealist type music. this band made me think differently about the way in which i interact with music, the way in which i can process my emotions through music. an awesome wave was the first record i got when i was 14. the album brought me, and still brings me so much joy and fulfillment.
it makes me think about how lucky we are to have such easy access to so much music, and what still remains to be discovered and how beautiful it can be to find art that can change our lives by fluke.
i got the privilege of seeing alt-j live when i was 16. it was so wonderful seeing this band that had influenced me so intensely. the universe has provided. thank you alt-j!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i know i got so deep B) i am just excited
Get better is hands down the most lyrically moving song from them and honestly sad it wasn’t mentioned. And I think Alt J teaches and rewards patience.
1:08MS and Taro might be my favourites
Yeah Taro is such a good song
I'm obsessed with their new album, didn't disappoint at all! I think for indie bands that have such a quick following from the first album (that gets recognised by a few really catchy popular songs) are never able to ride the wave that long. Same goes for Bombay Bicycle Club, very popular few songs at the start but not able to stay mainstream for very long, but have still created amazing albums since
For the record, they also have one of the best npr "Tiny Desk" sessions ever (which is where i coincidentally had first heard of them)
But, I feel like you nailed ALT-J's fate (so far) perfectly, oddly I think because I heard them at the same time but if you were to tell me which band was going to have a bigger career ALT-J vs. Cage the Elephant, at the time I would've said ALT-J for sure...
another amazing video! thanks
saw them live last week and it was awesome. their artistry is incredible and something that most modern day music lacks. their lyrics are poetry and not simplified down for popularity, I love them.
Listened to alt-j ever since 2013. Definitely my favorite band
1:23 Uncanny how similar the interlude symbols are to a prominent symbol in the manga/ anime One Piece. I wouldn’t have noticed had I not started watching it last week. I guess I’ll have to look out for more potential outside references in their discography.
Just went to their 10 year aniversary concert and it was amazing, I like a few songs from their new album, but hope they will get more inspo with the energy people are showing to their music during performances and will create something more powerful again
I can still remember how thrilled I was when I was young, after listening to my favorite band's second album, back in the day, and I notice the last track had 30 minutes, while the song had around 6. And in those 30 minutes there was not 1, but 2 secret tracks and one of them was one of the craziest and most zanny things I've listened to.
One of THE best bands
I personally love their entire discography, one of the songs that took 2 listens to grow on me was walk a mile
The part near the end, gives me goosebumps each time