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Biography

Alt-J (formed 2007)
Alt-J are a British indie rock outfit from Leeds who became popular with their 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize winning debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’.

Formation: Alt-J formed when band members Gwil Sainsbury (guitar/bass), Joe Newman (guitar/vox), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboard) and Thom Green (drums) met each other while studying at Leeds University in 2007. Gus was studying English Literature while the others did Fine Art. They first started recording in their dorms and used Apple software GarageBand to produce their music. Having been through several name changes including 'Daljit Dhaliwal' and 'Films', they settled on Alt-J which is often depicted as the Greek symbol for delta which can be typed using the alt key and letter 'j' on an Apple OS X keyboard.

Musical Career: When Alt-J left University, they moved to Cambridge where they began further work on their music. They signed with Infectious Records in 2011 and soon released their first EP (self-titled) in London which was produced by Charlie Andrew. It included the tracks ‘Breezeblocks’, ‘Hand-Made’, ‘Matilda’ and ‘Tessellate’. Their song ‘Bloodflood’ and ‘Tessellate’ were released on a single in October 2011 by Loud and Quiet. They released their debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’ in May 2012 which hit the UK charts at number 13. It was later released in the US on Canvasback Music and won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize. In 2012, they supported Wild Beasts on tour and also made appearances at a variety of festivals including Latitude, Tramlines, Bestival, Reading and Leeds, End Of The Road, Milhões de Festa, T in the Park, Green Man, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, and Into The Great Wide Open. They are set to Australia’s Laneway Festival and the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2013 and their song ‘Buffalo’ (featuring Mountain Man) appears in the new movie ‘Silver Linings Playbook’.



Biography by Contactmusic.com

Upcoming Releases: The Top Five New Albums Set To Delight Your Ears In February


Spiritualized Alt-J Avril Lavigne

Unlike the Sue Gray report into alleged law breaking at Number 10, our five favourite forthcoming albums in February all have a confirmed date to be shared. Whilst there are some major releases from Kanye West - Donda 2, Bastille - Give Me The Future and Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point, we've gone for a slightly more select bunch of albums. Sea Power - Everything Was Forever, Frank Turner - FTHC, Cate LeBon - Pompeii and Metronomy's Small World were all close to making the cut but in the end, without any intervention necessary from the Met, we've chosen an eclectic mix of pop-punk, art-rock, leftfield pop, folk and space rock. 

https://admin.contactmusic.com/images/home/images/content/mitski-laurel-hell-album-cover.jpg

Mitski - Laurel Hell

Continue reading: Upcoming Releases: The Top Five New Albums Set To Delight Your Ears In February

Alt-J Announce New Remix Album And Tour


Alt-J

British indie stars Alt-J have announced the release of a new album of remixes taken from their current album Relaxer, completed with the help of a number of hip-hop and rap artists.

The trio revealed the details of the record, titled Reduxer, which will be released on September 28th. It consists of remixes of songs from their Mercury Prize nominated third album Relaxer, which was released in June 2017.

“It’s always been a dream of ours to work with hip-hop artists in re-imagining our music,” they said in a press release at the start of the week, just days after they closed out the 2018 Latitude Festival with a headline set.

Continue reading: Alt-J Announce New Remix Album And Tour

Ed Sheeran, Stormzy And Alt-J Lead 2017 Mercury Prize Shortlist


Ed Sheeran Alt-J Stormzy

The 2017 Mercury Prize shortlist has finally been announced and includes two previous winners, three former nominees altogether and one of the biggest pop stars in the charts at the moment: Ed Sheeran. The winner for this year will be announced on September 14th 2017.

Ed Sheeran performing liveEd Sheeran performing live

The Mercury Prize nominees always includes at least one major star and this year it's 'The Shape of You' hitmaker Ed Sheeran. Surprisingly, it's only his first time being shortlisted for this coveted British award but with his new album 'Divide' making waves, it's certainly well-deserved.

Continue reading: Ed Sheeran, Stormzy And Alt-J Lead 2017 Mercury Prize Shortlist

Gorillaz, Lorde And Other Huge Albums We're Looking Forward To This Summer


Gorillaz Kasabian London Grammar Lorde Alt-J Fleet Foxes

As March progressed and the sun began to come out a little bit, it was hard not to get the feeling that 2017 had finally begun to actually happen after the cold winter months. So it was for music fans, who were treated to a lot of great news about new music from some of the biggest bands in the industry, both in Britain and internationally.

We’ve detailed six of the biggest – and, hopefully, best – new albums to look out for in the coming few months!

Gorillaz - HumanzGorillaz - Humanz

Continue reading: Gorillaz, Lorde And Other Huge Albums We're Looking Forward To This Summer

Alt J Shrug Off Noel Gallagher's Criticism As A "Rite Of Passage"


Noel Gallagher Alt-J

Indie stars Alt-J have brushed off criticism from Noel Gallagher by saying that they felt that being slagged off by him is “a rite of passage to get a pasting from him.”

The former Oasis man let rip at the band, who topped the album charts last year with their second album This Is All Yours, in an interview with Rolling Stone. He said that he was “in no way a fan of Alt-J” and that, despite buying their track ‘Left Hand Free’, said they could “f**k right off as far as I’m concerned.” When he was asked why, he replied: “I don't know. One of them's got a moustache, and that's unacceptable.”

Alt J
Gus Unger-Hamilton (L) and Thom Green (R) of Alt-J responded to Noel Gallagher

Continue reading: Alt J Shrug Off Noel Gallagher's Criticism As A "Rite Of Passage"

Ed Sheeran And Sam Smith Win At Brit Awards


Ed Sheeran Sam Smith Mark Ronson Paloma Faith Royal Blood George Ezra Alt-J Foo Fighters Taylor Swift Kanye West Madonna One Direction

Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith were the big winners at the Brit Awards. The annual music industry spectacular rewarded the two biggest-selling artists of last year by bestowing two trophies on each on Wednesday night (February 25th).

Sheeran won the two biggest prizes for which he was nominated – those of British Male Solo Artist and Best British Album for his sophomore record X. He beat four other UK Number 1 albums to do so – rival Smith’s In The Lonely Hour, Royal Blood’s self-titled debut, indie stars Alt-J’s This Is All Yours and George Ezra’s slow-burning debut Wanted On Voyage.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran arriving for Wednesday night's Brit Awards, where he won twice

Continue reading: Ed Sheeran And Sam Smith Win At Brit Awards

T In The Park 2015 Announces Killer Line-Up For Its New Venue


T In The Park Kasabian Avicii Fatboy Slim Noel Gallagher Prodigy David Guetta Stereophonics Sam Smith The Script Rudimental Alt-J Hozier George Ezra Annie Mac

Amazing acts have been announced to perform at this year's T In The Park including Kasabian, Avicii and Fatboy Slim. Despite notorious festivals to match up to, it is looking very likely that this year that T in the Park will blow people away.

T In The Park 2015 logo

T in the Park has moved to it new home in the grounds of Strathallan Castle. Organisers DF Concerts and Tennent's Lager are ecstatic about the festival's first year here, playing host to 85,000 fans this summer. Festival Director Geoff Ellis said: 'This year is going to be a very special one for T in the Park as we make the beautiful grounds of Strathallan Castle our new home, and we're thrilled that some of the biggest artists in the world will be joining us in this historic first year.'

Continue reading: T In The Park 2015 Announces Killer Line-Up For Its New Venue

Alt-J, The Libertines And The Jesus And Mary Chain Among Best Kept Secret 2015 First Announcements


Alt-J The Libertines The Jesus And Mary Chain Chet Faker Noel Gallagher Death Cab For Cutie The Vaccines Future Islands Royal Blood Kate Tempest Dan Deacon Jonny Greenwood

The Netherlands' Best Kept Secret Festival won't be a secret for long if they keep introducing stellar acts such as this each year! The first line-up announcement includes Alt-J, The Libertines and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

Best Kept Secret 2015 logo

Joining the third line-up for Best Kept Secret this June is some of the finest indie, rock, punk and electronic artists the world has to over, with 35 more acts yet to be announced. Alongside newly reunited headliners The Libertines on Friday, June 19th 2015 are alt-rock veterans The Jesus And Mary Chain, playing the full tracklist of their 1985 debut album 'Psychocandy'. Aussie chart topper Chet Faker will also make an appearance, with Alabama's St. Paul & The Broken Bones who are currently on their 'Half The City' tour.

Continue reading: Alt-J, The Libertines And The Jesus And Mary Chain Among Best Kept Secret 2015 First Announcements

Shots of British indie rock band formed in Leeds, Alt-J as they performed live at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom - Saturday 24th January 2015

Alt-j

Brit Awards 2015 Nominations Announced: Sam Smith, George Ezra And Royal Blood Are Major Contenders


Brit Awards Sam Smith George Ezra Royal Blood Ed Sheeran Ella Henderson FKA Twigs Alt-J Clean Bandit One Direction Calvin Harris Duke Dumont Mark Ronson Route 94 Sigma Hozier 5 Seconds of Summer John Legend Beck Sia Taylor Swift Foo Fighters James Bay

The 2015 Brit Award nominations have finally been announced with, it seems, a few surprises alongside the obvious candidates. There's no prizes for guessing who's come out on top for this year's list of award-winning possibles.

Sam Smith promo
Sam Smith leads nominations

Awards season rears its ominous head for another year, with some major ceremonies - in both film and music - having already taken place. We've seen prizes sent out for 2014's films; I.e. Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards, AFI Honours; and now it's time for music, with the BBC Sound of 2015 having already taken place and now The Brits and the Grammys have unveiled their candidates.

Continue reading: Brit Awards 2015 Nominations Announced: Sam Smith, George Ezra And Royal Blood Are Major Contenders

From Steely Dan To Raekwon And Ghostface Killah: Who's Been Announced For Coachella 2015?


Coachella AC DC Jack White Drake Action Bronson Alabama Shakes Alt-J Azealia Banks Belle And Sebastian Built To Spill DJ Snake Eagulls Florence and the Machine Flying Lotus George Ezra Haerts Hozier Interpol Lykke Li Pete Tong Philip Selway RAC Raekwon Ghostface Killah Ratatat Royal Blood Ryan Adams Saint Motel SBTRKT SquarePusher St. Lucia St. Vincent Steely Dan Tame Impala The Cribs The Orwells Toro Y Moi Tyler The Creator Vance Joy Vic Mensa

It's that time of year again as the full line-up announcement for Coachella 2015 arrives following some spectacular headliners: AC/DC, Jack White and Drake will all top the bills at the two-weekend event in April.

Coachella Festival logo

Well known for its diverse collection of rock, pop, electronic, hip hop and indie artists from around the world, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is yet again set to arrive at the Empire Polo Club fields in Indio, California. Kicking off with the first event from Friday April 10th - 12th, the festival will repeat the following week from April 17th - 19th.

Continue reading: From Steely Dan To Raekwon And Ghostface Killah: Who's Been Announced For Coachella 2015?

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Alt-J

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2007






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