Congratulations to Alt-J on the success of their album An Awesome Wave, the winner of 2012′s Mercury Prize. We’ve been firm fans of the band since we first discovered Matilda on amazingtunes.com back when the band went under the name of Films and it’s been a pleasure to see the band’s music find a wider audience. No doubt the Mercury Prize exposure will help even more people discover an album we described a while back as:

a compilation of downbeat intricate melodies and delicate vocal harmonies, broken down and separated by a handful of short interludes. An Awesome Wave is a special album, to say the least.”

It’s been a great year so far for Alt-J and it’s a coup to have won such a prestigious award ahead of  artists such as Michael Kiwanuka, Richard Hawley,  Ben Howard. Let alone other artists who have featured on Amazing Radio like Django Django,  Jessie Ware, Lianne La Havas and Field Music.  

So, pats on the back all round for all involved. If you haven’t already seen Alt-J‘s performance for The Amazing Sessions then  you’re missing out. Take a look at their performance of Tesselate, recorded exclusively for us earlier this year.

Celebrating the best in British albums, The Mercury Prize shortlist highlights 12 records that have impressed over the last 12 months. The full shortlist reads as follows:

Django Django // Maccabbees // Jessie Ware // Roller Trio // Field Music //  Michael Kiwanuka // Richard Hawley // Ben Howard // Alt-J // Lianne La Havas // Plan B

We are so excited to see some of the bands we’ve supported heavily in the list. In celebration, let’s have a sneaky look back at Alt-J‘s live session for us:

The latest in our series of live gigs in London sees Amazing Radio curate ‘Alt Thursday’ at The Old Queens Head in Islington on 29th November.

We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to put on a free gig with three of the finest new bands the capital has to offer.

Freshly signed to the Transgressive imprint Paradyse Records, LULS are more than worthy headliners for us. Not only has their track Young graced the Top 10 of our very own Amazing Chart, but this London gig will come hot on the heels of their debut single Swing Low being released on limited edition 7” vinyl.

Despite having received plenty of positive attention for their song Graceland, MUST are still cloaked in a veil of mystery, so it’ll be great to see them unveil themselves as part of our live line-up. They say: “We’ve been keeping our cards close to our chests and locking ourselves away in studios across North London, recording in disused pig farms and writing in remote locations.”

Fellow Londoners Entertainment have been together for a couple of years now, but it’s only been in the last six months that we’ve heard them write and record under this name. Fruitful sessions with Rory Attwell aboard the Lightship95 have led to them creating a brilliant selection of new songs which are as hazy as they are catchy.

Come and see all three bands for free at the OId Queens Head on Thursday 29th November. Various members of the Amazing Radio team will be there spinning tunes on the night too, with doors opening at 7:30pm.

One of the biggest breakthrough acts of 2012, Haim, have announced their very first UK tour. Kicking off at Constellations festival on the 10th November, the tour will take in Glasgow, Manchester, London, Nottingham and Bristol. They will also perform at the iTunes festival in September in support of Ellie Goulding.

Having delivered us the magnificent Forever EP earlier this year, the three-piece are back in the studio putting the final touches on a new single. HOT. DAMN. This makes us excited.

We caught the band live at The Great Escape back in May and believe us when we tell you that you NEED to go see Haim at one of the following dates:

26th September – The Roundhouse, London (iTunes Festival w/ Ellie Goulding)
10th November – Constellations Festival, Leeds
11th November – Stereo, Glasgow
13th November – Deaf Institute, Manchester
14th November – KCLSU, London
16th November – Bodega, Nottingham
17th November – The Cooler, Bristol

You may remember that we leaked the news a month back that Shell Zenner had been nominated for the Association of Independent Music (AIM) Awards in the category of Indie Champion. The news is now official and the vote is open to the public. Shell is up against some impressive competition including new music pioneers Huw Stephens, Steve Lamaq and Spencer Hickman of Rough Trade.

Naturally we’re asking you to head over to the AIM website and cast your vote for Shell whose Amazing Radio show on Fridays from 1pm is one of the best outlets for independent musicians to get heard.

According to AIM, “The Indie Champion award is an award for someone who demonstrates unwavering support for the independent community” with the winner being announced at the award ceremony on 29th October at The Brewery in London.

VOTE FOR SHELL!

We are very excited to announce that Ruth Barnes will be our brand new Breakfast Show presenter!

Ruth currently presents one of our most popular shows, The Other Woman, on Sundays at 7pm and will take on the early morning slot every weekday from 7am-10am, from Monday 6th August.

Speaking of the new slot, Ruth said: “Taking on the Amazing Breakfast Show is a fantastic opportunity to get my teeth into daytime, mainstream radio. Well, as mainstream as we get on amazing. Our Breakfast show would be a specialist new music show on any other network. That’s what makes us unique, our fantastic new music playlist, live sessions and a sweep of what people are sharing on the web… it’s going to be a seriously relaxed and informative way to start your day.”

Programme Director Matt Jamison said: “Ruth is the perfect fit for breakfast on Amazing Radio. She’ll satisfy people’s hunger for new music whilst providing a sunny start to the day. She’ll also bring that specialist music knowledge to people’s breakfast time without all the po-faced beard scratching that’s often ascribed to music afficionados. I’m confident that Ruth will provide the best new music breakfast of any breakfast show anywhere in the world.”

Ruth has been praised by The Guardian and the Association of Independent Music for her unwavering support for emerging music, specifically for female musicians through her The Other Woman blog and radio show. The show began on London’s Resonance FM which lead to a weekly spot on Tom Robinson’s Introducing show on BBC 6 Music as his ‘Girl Music Guru’. She then landed a Sunday evening show on Amazing Radio, showcasing the best of female artists and female fronted bands. Ruth has also reported for BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live and BBC World Music. Ruth will continue to present The Other Woman on Sundays at 7pm on Amazing Radio.