Forums

Photo Gallery

Site map
Search
0The virtual community for English speaking expats and Russians
  Main page   Make it home    Expat list   Our partners     About the site   FAQ
Please log in:
login:
password:
To register  Forgotten your password?   
  Survival Guide   Calendars
  Phone Directory   Dining Out
  Employment   Going Out
  Real Estate   Children
     Friday
     March 29
Arts Calendar
Culture Reviews
Win Free Tickets
TV Listings
 Culture Picks
Culture Picks
alt-j (UK)
June 23, 20:00
Crocus City Hall Crocus City Hall

alt-jEnglish indie rockers alt-J, named for the delta symbol that appears when pressing "Alt" and "J" on a Mac keyboard, first formed in 2008 under the moniker FILMS. The quartet members, all of whom met at Leeds University, spent two years rehearsing before inking a deal with Infectious Records in 2011.

Their signature blend of layered, folk-inflected dub-pop and soaring alternative rock was first heard on the 2012 singles "Matilda" and "Fitzpleasure" with the group's full-length studio debut, An Awesome Wave, arriving later that year. The album would eventually go on to earn the prestigious Mercury Prize, alongside three Brit Award nominations. They soon became mainstays on the U.K. and European festival circuit expanding outward with tours in the U.S. and Australia as well.

alt-J played a host of festival shows throughout 2013, including Reading and Leeds Festival, Bonnaroo festival, the Optimus Alive! festival in July 2013 and the Australian 2013 Laneway Festival, which visits five cities in Australia and New Zealand as well as one date in Singapore during one week in late January/February. They played Lollapalooza 2013, Coachella 2013, Bonnaroo 2013, Sasquatch! 2013, Bilbao BBK Live 2013, the Other Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2013, the Tent Stage at Open'er Festival 2013, Best Kept Secret 2013, Rock Werchter 2013 in "The Barn" and Osheaga Festival in Montreal, Quebec, in August 2013. They performed as a main stage act at the Rocking The Daisies music festival in South Africa in October 2013, opening for The Hives and Skunk Anansie. On 7 December 2013, alt-J performed in the annual Live 105 concert, Not So Silent Night, in Oakland, California, at Oracle Arena. The next day, alt-J performed in the annual 91X concert, Wrex the Halls in San Diego, California. Six European dates and a full U.S. tour also filled 2013, beginning on 2 March in Boston and ending on 10 April in San Francisco. Many of alt-J's shows have been sold out or have had a venue change due to high demand to see them live. Alt-J also completed a ten-date UK tour that kicked off on 5 May at O2 Academy Birmingham and ended on 17 May at Brixton Academy.

The band's increasing success and heavy touring schedule eventually led to the amicable departure of bassist Gwil Sainsbury at the end of 2013. It was announced on Twitter that he had decided to leave, but the band would continue, stating that they were still best friends with Gwil. In early June 2014, alt-J announced a 2014 tour to take place in North America over October and November. The 23-day tour started in Vancouver, B.C. on October 14 and ended in Washington, D.C. on November 19.

The remaining trio of singer/guitarist Joe Newman, keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton, and drummer Thom Green continued undeterred and their sophomore record, This Is All Yours, was issued in the autumn of 2014. Well-received critically, This Is All Yours debuted at # 1 in the U.K. and fared similarly well in Europe and the U.S. (# 4 in the US Billboard chart and subsequent top 10 positions in the majority of Europe) where they earned their first Grammy nomination. Now a three-piece, the band continue to excel as a genre-defying act, receiving nominations for "Best Alternative Album" at The Grammys 2015 and "Best British Group" and "Best Album" at The BRIT Awards 2015, as well as selling out the 02 and Madison Square Garden Arenas.

The band produced the song "Buffalo" for the David O. Russell film Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Several of their tracks, including "Something Good" and "Fitzpleasure", have been used for BBC 2's channel idents. "Fitzpleasure" was also featured at the end of the season 8 episode, "Allosaurus Crush Castle" of the television series Weeds. In mid-2013, Nokia used the track "Fitzpleasure" in their commercial for the Lumia 925 in Europe and Lumia 928 in the United States. "Fitzpleasure" was also used in the UK trailer for The Way, Way Back, and was featured in an episode of the television series "Broad City" Season 1 Episode 1. "Tessellate" was featured at the beginning of Sons of Anarchy Season 6 Episode 5. Their songs were used in multiple episodes of Scrotal Recall, with "Breezeblocks" and "Left Hand Free" in the second episode and "Every Other Freckle" in the third. In February 2013 the band announced they would be composing the soundtrack for Toby Jones' new film Leave To Remain. The song "Something Good" was also used for the soundtrack of the 2015 video game Life Is Strange.

More info

Copyright © The Moscow Expat Site, 1999-2024Editor  Sales  Webmaster +7 (495) 722-3802