Kylie Minogue fused with Dr Dre, who would have thought that would work?
In less than three weeks, Alt-J will be in India, to give us a much-needed dose of tessellating goodness. A band that has categorically denied labelling itself, and whose sound is actually quite baffling to genre-fy. Is it folk? Is it Indie? Is it trip? A beautiful combination of all three? Probably.
Their first album, ‘An Awesome Wave’, won accolades including the Mercury Prize and was pretty much an instant hit, putting them on the map and getting them sold out shows. SongsΒ like ‘Matilda’, ‘Fitzpleasure’ and ‘Breezeblocks’, got some seriousΒ radio play as well as appreciation from contemporary artistes like Mumford & Sons and Ellie Goulding, who spared no time to do some pretty massive covers of Alt J tracks, the most popular of which was ‘Let’s Tessellate’.
Throughout this fantastic and (what we can only assume) surrealΒ journey, the band had to re-group following the amicable departure of GwilΒ Sainsbury (Founding member and pianist). The remaining trio hit the studio in 2014, to work on their second studio album ‘This Is All Yours’.Β From the moment it dropped, the reception the album received was overwhelming. Keeping up with their folksy sound, the band still did take a few risks by sampling Miley Cyrus on ‘Hunger Of The Pine’ and also indulging in a bit of American style rock with ‘Left Hand Free’. Nevertheless, the album turned out to be nothing short of inventive, seductive yet undeniably edgy.
Alt-J has also dabbled in a bit of cover music over the years, reconstructing songsΒ from varying genres by bringing their own folk-step vibe to them. Here are a few of our favourite songs, covered by Alt-J.
1. Β A mashup of Slow by Kylie Minogue and Still Dre by Dr Dre – ‘Slow Dre’
With the instrumental from ‘Still D.R.E’ by Snoop Dog & Dr Dre and the lyrics of ‘Slow’ by Kylie Minogue, Alt J shows us how it’s done.
2. Disclosure –Β ‘Latch’
Alt-J indulges this down-tempo, melodic dubstep-y version of Disclosure’s smashing hit. Not as good as the original, but definitely up there in terms of covers.
3.Β Alex Clare – ‘Too Close’Β
Covering a fellow and upcomingΒ British artist, Alex Clare. Alt-J takes his song “Too Close” to new levels. Leaving out the usual dubstep-y sound of the track, the band transformsΒ itΒ into a soulful and a darker version of itself.
4. Thin Lizzy – ‘Dancing in the moonlight’Β
Thin Lizzy is one of those 70’s bands, that had an almost cult following.
5. Β Bill Withers – ‘Lovely Day’Β
Here’s their sleepy and soulful take on Bill Withers catchy, feel-good anthem.
6.Β Moby – ‘A Case For Shame’ (Thom alt-J remix)
This isn’t exactly a ‘cover’, but is a remixed version of the song. Thom Green, the drummer of the band tried his hand at remixing this Moby track, and guess what? It may just be better than the original.
Catch this amazing band live at The Emerge Music and Art Festival, this February 28 and March 1 in Bangalore and Delhi, respectively.
Grab your tickets now!
