Alt-J Have Won

So it's official, favourites Alt-J (∆) have won this year's prestigious Mercury Prize. Out of all this year's shortlisted acts, I couldn't be happier that Alt-J won as, like I mentioned in a previous post, they were really the only band who I wanted to win.

It's not only great that a band I really appreciate won but it's also fantastic to know that music, to an extent, is still considered an art that should be celebrated.
'An Awesome Wave' the acclaimed album, is the product of five years work where having this in mind when listening to the album, is evident.

Unlike the doomed "Chinese Democracy' by the remnants of Guns & Roses which took almost two decades in the making was an instant failure, Alt-J have managed to use this time to perfect their craft.

Before you ask about the triangle, it's what you get on a mac when you hold down 'alt' and type 'j'. However, because of this, it's become the unofficial logo of the hipsters where triangles are now the hippest thing in the world ('triangles are my favourite shape' from lead single "Tesselate"). Compared to most of the other nominees, the band were truly the most interesting and innovative.

In it's most skeletal condition, each song is an typical Indie format yet they combine so many eclectic sounds, almost sampling from every genre imaginable. Hip/Hop, Folk, Electronica, Trip-Hop are just some examples. Musically, there's nothing exceptional about them yet there's so much to them. Sonically, it's beautifully produced, they're lyrics are truly poetic mini-masterpieces and they can are just genuine brilliant songwriters.

So ∆ should bask in their deserved glory and hopefully it won't take them another five years to write another masterpiece.