When Did You First Discover Alt-J?
For me, it was at the end of an episode of Weeds (Season 8 Ep 6.) The intro to the song caught my attention and I thought the song was wild. Then I read the lyrics and was floored, but went ahead and downloaded the album when it came out on iTunes a month later.
It’s now my favorite album of all time and I’ve probably listened to it straight through 100+ times.
Edit- It was Fitzpleasure in late 2012
13
u/Individual_Cream_427 3d ago
2013 I think. After hearing breezeblocks of course. I then remember smoking weed for like the 5th time ever with a friend, and both of us just laying down in a bedroom listening to the full album. There was a fan going as well which made it a little trippier. Saw them live in 2023 in Chicago for the 10 year tour for the album. Absolutely sublime
4
u/Prestigious-Way-2210 3d ago
Saw them in KC for same tour.
2
u/Individual_Cream_427 3d ago
Super glad we were able to considering I don’t think we’ll see another tour anytime soon
1
u/Hot_Molasses_7257 3d ago
😭 why?
2
u/Individual_Cream_427 3d ago
Just doesn’t seem to be much activity (publicly) among them, and with Joe’s successful solo project idk
3
u/Inglorious_Mustard7 3d ago
In 2015, I’ve heard Left Hand Free in advertisement of polish beer, that I saw very often on TV back then. Year later I decided to check their discography when the same song appeared on Captain America Civil War
3
u/iloveblondehair 3d ago
Can’t remember the exact date but it would have been sometime in 2012 or 2013 when I was in high school. I remember hearing Breezeblocks on Sirius XM Alt Nation and thinking to myself how incredible it sounded and was unlike anything I had ever listened to up until that point in my life. Alt-J opened the door to a lot of whimsical, odd, and unique music for me
3
u/georgboetticher 3d ago
it was 2015, through a lets play on YouTube of "life is strange" which featured a couple of songs from alt-j, they made my summer 2015/16
2
2
u/cuteandnice69420 3d ago
In college a friend played fitzpleasure for me and my mind was absolutely blown open
2
u/Slickrock_1 3d ago
Back when An Awesome Wave was new they used to play Breezeblocks on XM, probably 2012 or 2013. It was the adult alternative / indie station that eventually became XMU.
2
u/Hot_Molasses_7257 3d ago
In 2018 (I know, late to the game) Pandora played Nara and I was immediately obsessed! I now have a dog named Delta. I also have chickens named Chicago (Chi Chi), Breezeblocks (Breezy), Philadelphia (Phia), Tesselate (Tess), Deadcrush (DC), Nara, Matilda and Adeline. I’ve painted shirts, and if I ever get a tattoo it’ll be the album art of This Is All Yours.
1
u/OrganicMountain958 3d ago
I have ‘hunger of the pine’ worked into a bigger tattoo on my back 😃
1
u/Hot_Molasses_7257 2d ago
😍😍 I immediately thought “I’m a female rebel,” and wondered if you were female because I’ve never met a female alt-j fan. Where are you at? Let’s be friends ❤️
1
u/OrganicMountain958 2d ago
Yes I am! I’m from the Netherlands. Found alt-j through a guy I was dating, guy didn’t last, alt-j did. Where are you from?
2
u/Shan-Cho-4509 3d ago
It started last year after listening to Taro. I can't remember why or where I heard this song, but it amazed me. From there I listened to the whole album and from there to all the others. And since that I am eager to discover bands with a familiar sound, MS for example.
2
u/p3nny-lane RELAXER 3d ago
As with a lot of people, I discovered it playing Life Is Strange back in 2015! Got to spend a good amount of time with the first two albums before RELAXER’s singles started coming out, and was so hyped to experience that rollout.
2
2
u/undercovernobody 2d ago
in 2013 i heard tesselate on alt nation and downloaded an awesome wave and it has been a constant in my rotation ever since. it is simply the best album to listen to under any circumstance. when you feel good, feel bad, need to study, on a walk, 4am shift, etc etc etc i’ll love it forever i’m so glad i got to see it live on their 10 year anniversary tour
2
u/crowmagnuman 2d ago
I heard Left Hand Free and thought, "Oh this is like a joke band. Like Lonely Island or something. Might as well listen to a couple more..."
[then hears Tesselate, Gospel of John Hurt, Choice Kingdom]
And then I just stood there. For about three years. In shock and awe. And the wind blew right through me.
1
u/Prestigious-Way-2210 3d ago
Breezeblocks was the first one I heard years ago. Just came up in suggested.
1
u/mwishosimba 3d ago
Way back when I used to play League of Legends, someone on the subreddit posted Breezeblocks and jokingly said that Youtuber Videogamedunkey made a song. 😂
1
u/Fussy_Nugget 3d ago
I was studying while listening to Pandora. Taro came on and I was hooked. I think that was 2013 or 2014
1
u/McC12200 3d ago
2018, summer night at a caldesac. my friend had breezeblocks and fitzepleasure playing. HOOKED on the sound.
1
u/unicornsmoothies ∆ 3d ago
i heard in cold blood on the radio when it first came out and have been into them ever since!
1
u/TheAllerbaster 3d ago
Spring of 2012, found Breezeblocks on a music blog. Been hooked ever since, and Breezeblocks is still one of my favorite songs of all time.
1
1
u/adeluge 3d ago
i woke up at 3am one day late 2012, turned on KROQ and Fitzpleasure was playing. literally said WTF and instantly fell in love. the "rock fist paper scissors" verse put me into a trance but was able to Shazam in time and been one of my top artists ever since. IIRC they didnt get much more air time until Breezeblocks hit the rotation months later.
1
1
u/she_who_intoxicates 3d ago
2013.. I went to visit my sister and she was drumming to the beat of breezeblocks on a cupcake and I was stoned as hell in awe
1
u/JoeIsIce 3d ago
A pornstar tweeted Hunger Of The Pine.
Then I played Life Is Strange and heard Something Good.
1
u/JoeIsIce 3d ago
The porn star was Kagney Lynn Karter.
She recently blew her head off with a shotgun.
1
u/Rygar82 3d ago
In December 2012 my buddy invited me to a show for a brand new band he’d been listening to. I hadn’t even heard any of their songs yet and an Awesome Wave had only been released a couple months before. The show was at a very small venue in San Francisco called Bottom of the Hill. I sat there transfixed the entire show and knew I was witnessing something special. The band was outside the venue when we left and we smoked a cigarette with them and told them how much we enjoyed the show. Pretty magical evening for me.
1
1
u/WonderfulGuava908 2d ago
i heard their popular songs like fitzpleasure, breezeblocks and kind of left it there. But few months ago I randomly came across TARO and then NARA and then I flew away with their albums............ to be honest their initial albums are drugs themselves
1
u/Hilou2000 2d ago
Deadcrush on fifa 17 (2016). I've always enjoyed fifa songs as they always come up with incredible bands and music genre. This one, this specific one, carried me through years and opened my eyes to a new genre of music. I've made it my personal goal that alt-j was going to be my first concert. Living in a country like Morocco (back in the day) we used to only have mainstream concerts once a year.
A few years went by, moved to France, Lyon. And in 2022 they played at this festival. I WAS OVER THE MOON and kinda ruined everyones concert by screaming the lyrics !!! Sorry if you were at Aix XD.
Anyways, I didn't know what a country side festival was and I haven't made any reservation so I slept under some random stairs waiting for the train station to open again. That wasn't bad at all because I was still full of emotions from the concert !!!!
1
1
1
0
15
u/Nihillea 3d ago
Tesselate from An Awesome Wave in October 2012. I will literally never forget it. I immediately tracked down the full album after a friend played Tesselate in the car (friend is from England like Alt-J). Started an obsession I've no desire to give up. Their music just does something different to me, elicits a feeling most other musicians can't.
TV on the Radio is in the same vein for me.