Highbrow Magazine - matilda https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/matilda en Provocative Alt-J Rides the Wave of Success With Debut Album, Tour https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1523-provocative-alt-j-rides-wave-success-debut-album-tour <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 17:18</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumalt-j%20%28canvasbackmusic%29.jpg?itok=XPBb51lZ"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumalt-j%20%28canvasbackmusic%29.jpg?itok=XPBb51lZ" width="480" height="286" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-J_(%E2%88%86)">Alt-J</a></em>, or ∆, flex their musical talents, featuring college <em>estudiantes</em> posturing under a barrage of melodic guitar and bass, punctuating keyboard, a singer's croon and a drum-set diagnosed with multiple personalities per DSM-V (thanks partly to drummer <a href="http://backstagerider.com/2012/06/13/alt-j/">Thom Green</a>'s refusal to play cymbals, replacing the cymbals with saucepans [this was done originally to conserve space in the jam sessions]).</p> <p>  </p> <p> While the musicianship stands on its own, there is a noticeable rift between the music and vocals, and they tend to collide for a provocative message. The message, when prurient, pulses inscrutable sexual dynamism (when Joe whispers the suggestive "let's tessellate" or the murderous thematics in "Something Good" and "Breezeblocks"), contrasting the 45 minutes of continuous foreplay (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotan_Project">Gotan Project</a>) or sexual tenderness (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Ocean">Frank Ocean</a>).</p> <p>  </p> <p> The premise of ∆ is simple. Resist definition. A note penned by the band (or intimate of) noted that a decisive sound bite for ∆ has yet to surface. This drives music journalists <em>loco.</em> Said Music journalists pride themselves on their ability to collapse a band's sound into relatable genres, akin bands/artists or slap them with an adjectival morass. While many have tried to encapsulate the aesthetic of ∆, none  has succeeded, resulting in reviews that liken the group to "Nick Drake meet the Gangsta Rap"; Radiohead (the ultimate cop-out comparison); Fleet Foxes and Mystery Jets (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/mvm5">BBC review</a>) and Adam Sandler (<em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/arts/music/alt-j-from-england-makes-its-brooklyn-debut-at-glasslands.html">New York Times</a></em>).</p> <p>  </p> <p> As their diverse array of tags indicate, ∆ finds no solace in performing within standardized forms of orchestration. Their sound swings from sexual to severe, and everything in between. "Matilda," ∆'s earliest release, is a paean to the film, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on:_The_Professional"><em>Leon: The Professional</em></a>'s climactic line: "This is from Mathilda." If Leon (simple on the surface, but a complex character when dissected) wrote a song to describe his affective relationship with Mathilda, this is it:</p> <p>  </p> <p align="center"> "Just like Johnny Flynn said, 'the breath I've taken and the one I must' to go on/</p> <p align="center"> Put the grenade pin in your hand, so you understand who's boss/</p> <p align="center"> My defeat sleeps top to toe with her success.</p> <p align="center">  </p> <p align="center"> Oh this is from/</p> <p align="center"> This is from/</p> <p align="center"> This is from Matilda"</p> <p align="center"> [View <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q06wFUi5OM8">YouTube Video</a>]</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumalt-j%20%28canvasbackmusic%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 283px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Lyrically, “Matilda” lacks depth. However, the configuration of the tune takes the subject matter to subterranean territory: the taboos between non-related child and adult relations. Within the context of the record, "Matilda" is the album's legend. It regresses into childhood (also present in "Breezeblocks" and "Dissolve Me") <em>verboten liege</em> (a constant thematic element that's most actively present in "Tesselate," a song about sinking back into nocturnal activity with an old flame) and the many faces of love.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While these themes will not ring novel, ∆ gives the content a sinister twist with their vocal and instrumentals. This provides the content a perversive tint, as if the lyricist tormented himself with the guilt of returning to an old flame; the underbelly of love is most evident in Breezeblocks lyrical refrain (stems from Maurice Sendak's <em>Where the Wild Things Are):</em></p> <p>  </p> <p align="center"> Please don't go, please don't go, I love you so, I love you so/</p> <p align="center"> Please break my heart/</p> <p align="center"> Please don't go, I'll eat you whole.</p> <p align="center">  </p> <p align="center"> [View <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo">YouTube Video</a>]</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong><em>An Awesome Wave</em> debuts in the United States on Sept. 18 on <a href="http://www.canvasbackmusic.com/">Canvasback Music</a>. Their U.S. tour begins in Sept. 12 at the <a href="http://www.boweryballroom.com/">Bowery Ballroom</a> in New York City.</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Tyler Huggins is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/alt-j" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">alt-j</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/awesome-wave" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">An Awesome Wave</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/alt-j-us-tour" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">alt-j u.s. tour</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-times" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New York Times</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-journalists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music journalists</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/thom-green" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Thom Green</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/matilda" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">matilda</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/breezeblocks" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">breezeblocks</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/youtube" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Youtube</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Tyler Huggins</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Courtesy of Canvasback Music</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:18:04 +0000 tara 1502 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1523-provocative-alt-j-rides-wave-success-debut-album-tour#comments