alt-J - This Is All Yours

alt-J

This Is All Yours

22 September 2014

Infectious

 

2.5 stars out of 5

 

 

Leeds “folk-step” trio and Miley Cyrus fans alt-J are coming at you now with their second LP, This Is All Yours. The record provides the much needed missing link between the English progressive folk scene of the ‘70s and the dubstep movement of the last decade or so, because obviously we needed this. (That was sarcasm—this record isn’t needed by anyone, plus there is so little dubstep present here that one suspects it’s some sort of diluted homeopathic dubstep.)

 

There’s some really awful stuff on this album. “Left Hand Free” is some sorta Rolling Stones wanking session that melds seamlessly into the next track, “❦ (Garden of England),” a medieval flute tune. (That was sarcasm—it’s a complete failure to meld.) “Choice Kingdom” is the best attempt to copy Radiohead since everything Coldplay ever did. (That was sarcasm—even Coldplay makes a better Radiohead than alt-J.) “Hunger of the Pine” is the best use of a Miley Cyrus sample ever. (That was sarcasm—the sample is completely pointless and doesn’t have anything at all to do with the song itself or its lyrics.) And it’s all downhill after that.

 

It’s probable that the only ways to enjoy this record are 1) while the volume is turned down to zero; 2) while you are deaf; or 3) while you have bad taste, the kind of taste that people who have listened to only three records in their lives have, two of those records being The Fame and The Fame Monster. It’s a fail in all categories, though the wall-painting disaster that is the cover art does look like it would taste good if it were a sugary confection.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger