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An Awesome Wave

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Untitled

An Awesome Wave is the debut studio album by English indie rock quartet ∆ (Alt-J), released on 25 May 2012 by Infectious Music. The album includes the singles "Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure", "Breezeblocks" and "Tessellate". It peaked at number thirteen on the UK Albums Chart, and also charted in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. An Awesome Wave won the 2012 British Barclaycard Mercury Prize.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
BBC Musicvery favourable[3]
Drowned in Sound8/10[4]
Mojo[5]
musicOMH[6]
NME8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media4.8/10[8]

An Awesome Wave received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[1]

MusicOMH was the most enthusiastic, saying that "while An Awesome Wave sees the band mix a vast range of styles and instruments it never feels forced or over-complicated... This won’t be the last we hear of this utterly compelling four-piece."[6]

Drowned in Sound described An Awesome Wave as "a beautifully rounded, awesome debut album" and said "Whatever alt-j were aiming for with their debut album, they have managed to prove their value as talented musicians, literary enthusiasts and imagery aficionados."[4]

Jenny Stevens of NME gave An Awesome Wave a positive review stating, "The charm of Alt-J's musical scatterbrain is that it works. On the surface, this is smart alt-pop, but Alt-J have messed with the formula just enough to make this a brilliantly disquieting debut. In refusing to submit to the rigours of a genre, they might just have made themselves masters of their own."[7]

Jen Long of BBC Music gave the album a positive review stating, "This album spans every workable idea, genre, and influence that can be crammed under the guitar music umbrella, yet it never feels disorientating. Instead, what swoons gracefully through speakers is an entirely comprehendible and accessible collection of beautiful pop songs."[3]

Allmusic felt that the album was "occasionally guilty of pretentiousness" but that "these eclectic arrays of sound are woven together in a manner so effortlessly that the results never feel forced or contrived... Alt-J's wave is far more awesome when it's at its most schizophrenic."[2]

Mojo magazine, however, was more negative, stating that the band "aim for 'cryptic experimental pop' but hit 'pompous whimsy'" and that "the whole album is uncertain and unconvincing".[5]

Similarly, Pitchfork Media gave the record 4.8/10, referring to the songs as essentially "draining, elongated MOR tunes".[8]

Commercial performance

An Awesome Wave entered the UK Albums Chart at number nineteen on sales of 6,720 copies.[9] After winning the Mercury Prize, the album reached a new peak position of number thirteen, selling 13,527 copies.[10] The album has since sold 86,013 copies in the United Kingdom.[10]

Singles

  • "Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure" was released as the lead single from the album on 24 February 2012. "Matilda" was re-released on 10 December 2012 following the band's Mercury Prize win.
  • "Breezeblocks" was released as the second single from the album on 18 May 2012.
  • "Tessellate" was released as the third single from the album on 13 July 2012.
  • "Something Good" was released as the fourth single from the album on 28 September 2012.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Gwilym Sainsbury and Thom Green

No.TitleLength
1."Intro"2:37
2."❦ (Ripe & Ruin)"1:12
3."Tessellate"3:02
4."Breezeblocks"3:47
5."❦ (Guitar)"1:17
6."Something Good"3:38
7."Dissolve Me"3:59
8."Matilda"3:48
9."Ms"3:59
10."Fitzpleasure"3:39
11."❦ (Piano)"0:53
12."Bloodflood"4:09
13."Taro"5:05
14."Hand-Made" (hidden track)2:37
iTunes deluxe edition bonus tracks[11]
No.TitleLength
15."Breezeblocks (Alt-J vs. NOC// Mix)"3:06
16."Breezeblocks (B-JU Remix)"3:59
17."Breezeblocks (Rockdaworld Remix)"4:41
18."Breezeblocks (Submerse Remix)"5:06
19."Breezeblocks (Tom Vek's SFX Remix)"5:18
20."Fitzpleasure (bretonLABS Remix)"4.23
21."Fitzpleasure (Dave Sitek Remix)"3:18
22."Fitzpleasure (Jim James 'Apple C' Remix)"4:20
23."Fitzpleasure (The Internet of Odd Future Remix)"4:30
24."Matilda (Ghostpoet 'Gang Panang Adlit' Remix)"3:49
25."Something Good (BlackBox Remix)"6:29
26."Something Good (Fort Romeau Remix)"4:36
27."Something Good (The Invisible BMC Remix)"5:08
28."Something Good (Tong & Rogers Remix)"8:22
29."Tessellate (Anstam Remix)"3:58
30."Tessellate (Ben De Vries Remix)"4:06
31."Tessellate (BlackBox Remix)"5:55
32."Tessellate (Broadbandits Afro Mix)"5:27
33."Tessellate (Dam Mantle Remix)"6:17
34."Tessellate (Marlais Remix)"3:53
35."Fitzpleasure (Live From The Africa Centre 14.04.12)"4:03
36."Taro (Live From The Africa Centre 14.04.12)"4:23
37."Tessellate (Live From The Africa Centre 14.04.12)"4:26
38."Bloodflood (SARM Acoustic Version)"3:33
39."Matilda (SARM Acoustic Version)"3:59
40."Something Good (SARM Acoustic Version)"3:39
41."Tessellate (SARM Acoustic Version)"3:02
42."Breezeblocks" (music video)3:47
43."Tessellate" (music video)3:01
44."Something Good" (music video)3:39

Personnel

Credits for An Awesome Wave adapted from album liner notes.[12]

  • Charlie Andrew – producer
  • Dick Beetham – mastering
  • Mark Bishop – producer (14)
  • European Space Agency – cover photo provider
  • Rachael Lander – cello (13)
  • Kirsty Mangan – string arrangements (all tracks); violin (3, 13)
  • St Ronan's Chamber Choir – additional vocals (12, 13)

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification
United Kingdom[27] Gold

Release history

Region Date Label Format(s)
United Kingdom[28] 25 May 2012 Infectious Music Digital download
28 May 2012 CD, LP
United States[29] 18 September 2012 Canvasback, Atlantic Records CD, LP, digital download

Album Artwork

The album artwork for An Awesome Wave is a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh.[30] The image in each of the three layers was acquired by the European Space Agency's Envisat Earth-observing satellite, taken separately on 20 January, 24 February and 31 March 2009. The overlaid image (titled Ganges' Dazzling Delta[31]) exposes a multitude of colours arising from the variations in background radiation occurring between the three acquisition times.

References

  1. ^ a b "An Awesome Wave – Alt-J". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b O'Brien, Jon. Alt-J – An Awesome Wave > Review at AllMusic
  3. ^ a b Long, Jen (21 May 2012). "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". BBC Music. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. ^ a b Singleton, Ruth (26 June 2012). "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". Mojo. No. July 2012. p. 94.
  6. ^ a b Baber, Andy. "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". MusicOMH. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  7. ^ a b Stevens, Jenny (25 May 2012). "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". NME. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  8. ^ a b Snapes, Laura (28 September 2012). "Review: Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". Pitchfork Media.
  9. ^ Jones, Alan (3 June 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow LP sells 40k". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  10. ^ a b Jones, Alan (5 November 2012). "Official Albums Chart Analysis: Adele's 21 leaves Top 30 after 92 weeks". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 21 December 2012. (subscription required)
  11. ^ "An Awesome Wave (Deluxe Version) by Alt-J (∆)". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  12. ^ An Awesome Wave (CD liner notes). Infectious Music. 2012. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  14. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  17. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 8 November 2012". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  19. ^ "Top 10 Independent Artist Albums, Week Ending 8 November 2012". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  20. ^ "2012 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  21. ^ "Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  22. ^ "2012 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  23. ^ "2012 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  24. ^ a b c "Heatseekers Albums – Week of October 06, 2012". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  25. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Dance Albums 2012". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  26. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2012" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  27. ^ "British album certifications – Alt-J – An Awesome Wave". British Phonographic Industry. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type An Awesome Wave in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  28. ^
  29. ^
  30. ^ "ESA - An Awesome Wave". European Space Agency.
  31. ^ ""Ganges' Dazzling Delta"". European Space Agency. Retrieved 2 March 2013.


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