Before I switch into year end list mode (I have some fun stuff planned for next week), I want to sneak one last post in — one I should have written a long time ago.
All the way back in August, when I was in Duck, NC and the weather was a slightly warmer shade of unpredictable, friend of the blog Travis sent me a message about Alt-J, asking whether their debut full-length was available for purchase anywhere online. I tried (and failed) to dig up a working link — turns out it hadn’t been released in America yet — but what I didn’t do is listen to it. The album was just a few clicks away on Soundcloud, yet for whatever reason, I didn’t reach for it…
… until Tuesday.
Now I know why everyone (except Pitchfork) has been so excited about An Awesome Wave. It’s fantastic. And while I’m not going to dive too deep into the reasons why — there are zillions of articles and blog posts out there if you’re interested — I do want to pass along a heartfelt mea culpa to Travis. I should have listened. Why didn’t I listen? I could have been riding out in front of the Wave, enjoying reviews and reactions and sharing the album with others, but I balked, a la Kate Bosworth in Blue Crush. It’s tragic, really.
If you’re still in the dark about this really special group, don’t make my mistake — sample a track from An Awesome Wave below and click here to grab the album from iTunes. The sooner the better.
You Hear That 