Alt-J – An Awesome Wave

Voted by BBC 6 Music as the best album of 2012, Alt-J’s debut release has garnered high praise and numerous accolades, the most notable of which was the 2012 Mercury Prize Award. Having formed in 2007, the band has had time to craft a record to remember, and for the most part have ticked all the boxes here.

An Awesome Wave – a title that suggests high confidence within the band – takes a while to warm up. The interludes are unnecessary filler, and having an interlude combined with the intro smacks of premature pretentiousness. However, by the time the hit single Something Good comes into play Alt-J’s self-assuredness appears well founded.

There is a wistful air to much of the album, and with the masterful production and well crafted melody these guys seem well travelled and experienced. Dissolve Me showcases the band’s use of strong harmony, led by layers of vocals, which emanate through the record. Matilda seems simple and folksy but is given edge by the harsh vocals of lead singer Joe Newman. It is this simplicity that forms the platform for the technical mastery of An Awesome Wave, such as in Ms as a lone glockenspiel rings through the silence followed by a chorus of plucked guitars.

The production is crystal clear, perfect for the fine sounds prevalent through the album. Fitzpleasure is an irresistible blend of hard buzz rock and delicate vocals, bittersweet mix that lulls and thrills in equal measure. Bloodflood is a distant siren on a bleak horizon, while Taro and Hand-Made are beautifully understated and form a thoughtful, and in the former’s case slightly oriental conclusion. Overall this is a very fine and admirably ambitious beginning, traits that have not been missed in the media.  

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

Coming out of the gloom like a 6am train, Sharon Van Etten’s Tramp is an often bleak, cold shining star. Although many of the songs exude a sadness that is both pure and stark, hope and happiness emerge like sunlight after a storm.

The third record by the New York singer, Tramp lives up to the title as its opening salvo projects a lone figure in a stark landscape. Van Etten’s vocals are fragile and beautiful, a hollow cry which is dwarfed by the dark, suffocating production accompanied by raw guitars. Serpents in particular is a scratchy, barren number that summons the nightmarish features of serpents amid Foo Fighters-style strumming.

Leonard is a straight-up love song carried by delicate, heartfelt vocals, while In Line shuffles to a waltzing beat amid a drenched vocal harmony. We Are Fine has a pretty eukelele melody, accompanied by a walking piano line and strolling percussion. Many emotions are conjured in the album’s duration: anguish, sorrow, hope, relaxation, serenity. Everything is covered here, but these feelings are covered chronologically. Negativity pervades the first few tracks but by the closer Joke or a Lie things are brighter. The final track is an ethereal gem, a kaleidoscope of colour with a rich string accompaniment.

Although this stark outing will not be to everyone’s taste, it is an accomplished work with rich vocals and deep songwriting. Good for peaceful early morning listening over a cup of coffee.

Django Django

Washed up on the Nile, sand in the eyes and dazed. Confronted by Arabian knights on horseback and taken to a sheltered oasis taking in the alien surroundings. If this is a scene that may appear in the future, Django Django’s eponymously labelled debut album would be the soundtrack to complement it.

Such is the abstract nature of the record, tagged as ‘indie’ but probably the last genre to pop into the head of the listener, vivid images and surroundings will manifest themselves in the listener’s mind thanks to an impeccable production and tight musicianship.

Formed in Edinburgh and currently based in East London, Django Django have crafted a real gem that stands as a highlight of the year. Drummer-producer David McLean has created a world of mystique through the album, all elements of the songs contributing to the adventurous, gypsy scene which conjures an arid desert feel.

You can almost feel the heat through the sandpaper production, scrappy beats and languid shuffles pervade songs like Hail Bop and Zumm Zumm. The band sounds experience, not the patchy debut delivered by most fledgling acts. The masterstroke of the record, however, is the way a fusion of space rock is planted in the desert soundscape. Default, one of the early singles, is driven by a 1960s rock thump, but is interspersed with synths that combines mystique with raw rock ‘n’ roll.

Folk rock and blue collar are covered, which with a splash of country make up the unmistakeable Firewater. The highlight of the record is WOR; a tour de force of stomp, dance and a gladiatorial call to arms. Turn it up to eleven – there is no other way to hear it! Skies over Cairo sums up the opening description in this review – intricate rhythms and grandiose synths flood the Egyptian scenery, rolling imagination into a stunningly absorbing world of marvel.

Named as the No.2 album of 2012 by BBC 6 Music, Django Django is a must buy and a treat for lovers of expansive and original music. Indie has been reinvented... 

Jessie Ware – Devotion

A soulful record that appears to be a diminishing occurrence these days, Jessie Ware’s Devotion is a highlight of 2012. Its depth and craft provide a refreshing and enriching experience, with Ware delivering vocals that emanate emotion and beauty.

Grimes – Visions

Another dream pop highlight of 2012, Grimes’ (aka Claire Boucher) Visions manages to bring ambience and synth rock together in a captivating blend which does hold the listener’s focus from start to finish. In many ways similar to another dream pop album released this year, Beach House’s Bloom (reviewed 22/12/12), Visions is more complete, shows off greater variety and ends up being much more enjoyable.

The baby vocals that welcome listeners to the album’s opener, Infinite Love without Fulfilment, represent the high end of Boucher’s extensive range, while the dreamy charm of the record completes the dense harmony. Two of the most well known tracks, Genesis and Oblivion, display the album’s infectious mix of elaborate rhythms and synth saturation, strung together by haunting vocals like a red ribbon. The mood of each track seems to depend on the percussion; Circumambience is dictated by a raw, crunching beat which carries the dance theme, while a chorus of handclaps and synths immerse the listener in Visiting Statue.

Traces of Björk’s late 90s period can be detected in Be a Body, whose layered vocals from a wall along a vast pitch spectrum. It really soaks the listener’s ears like fresh surf, a feeling that sticks across the album’s 50 minutes. However, Grimes’ ability to mix up the sounds to project a range of moods is the record’s trump card. There is enough variety here to keep the listener hooked, despite the dream pop theme. At the end there is enough there to warrant repeat listens, with subtlety and intelligence in the rhythms to stick in the mind.

A highlight of 2012 for sure, Grimes probably deserves greater recognition than that received to date. However, the quality is here to draw a crowd.   

Beach House – Bloom

An album that immerses and soothes on a celestial drift through clouds of sound, Beach House’s Bloom is an album to buy for those who like to transport themselves from a world of stress to calmer climes. Not the most inspirational release of the year with a plethora of ambience soaking every chance for stark innovation, Bloom nevertheless is an accomplished work with intelligently crafted melodies and wistful lyrics. It is good for beachside vacations in hazy sunshine – in other words, beach house fodder.

You are immersed from the fuzzy opening of Myth, taken on a carpet ride through the calm euphoria which flows from track to track and departed off the back of a mirage of guitars which grace On the Sea. This proves to be the highlight of Bloom, showing how the album as a whole could have been better with drive and a focus. Too much of Bloom seems to amble without hinging onto a tangible hook so it is quite easy to drift away too far. After waking up the listener would struggle to remember where they left off, and with many of the tracks merging together only On the Sea really stands out.

The Hours has echoes of Beach Boys with a sleepy percussion and surf-like ambience, while Wishes washes round the mind with a luscious swirl of guitars. The outro, Irene, links saturating synths to Jesus and Mary Chain-esque vocals to leave the album on a euphoric high. In conclusion, a good album with a dense dreamscape that makes an ideal soundtrack, but is weaker on direct listen. 

Poliça – Give you the Ghost

Universally recognised as one of the best albums of 2012, Poliça’s Give you the Ghost cannot be pigeonholed one way or another. A shimmering tour de force which transcends indie rock, trance among other genres, this record will sound fresh to listeners of all backgrounds and will hopefully be remembered for its originality and mastery of many music elements for years to come.

From beginning to end the album contorts through a range of styles, blended together in polyphonic surf. There are no seams between tracks; sounds ebb and flow and immerse the listener, especially through patches of trance that hypnotise and relax. The opener, Amongster, is a good example – crescendos come and go but the tight-knit rhythms course throughout. If ever there was an album designed for headphones, this would be it. It is a joy to sit back in a peaceful zone and switch on the record – nothing has been so compelling and serene in equal measure.

Although Poliça’s debut is ambient, it is also beautifully haunting. Violent Games thunders along ominously, while one of the album’s highlights, Dark Star, cries out through a tale of twisted love. All the while throughout a serpent of a record the steady basslines and drums carry the dwindling melodies and raw lyrics.

The vocals by Channy Leaneagh are warped and drawn by auto-tune, filling every corner of the songs’ soundscapes acting as a foil to the instruments. All these noises are interchangeable and swell as one mix, as does the album. It is a fine skill which blows away and draws thoughtful reflection throughout, how many albums have recently managed to do that? This heads on another tangent that delivers rich rewards for those wanting something a little different.

For a taste of the innovate side of the year, start with Poliça. It makes a fine entrance to 2012’s alternative catalogue.