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:

Boston two-piece Sonnymoon create a strange and intriguing hybrid of R&B, intelligent electronica and ambient textures. As alumni of Berklee College of Music, their influences are rich and diverse, from jazz to dub reggae to avante-garde; and all are expertly executed, stirring these influences into something wholly new and exciting.

The duo balance Dane Orr’s tight, glitchy beats and Anna Wise’s delicate, whispered vocal with perfect poise throughout their eponymous album. The track featured above, Nothing Thought, is a perfect introduction to the album which is also accompanied by this psychedelic video:

Sonnymoon is out on September 17th through Plug Research.

Today we were sent an image of two people wearing a furry bunny head and a fox head. Of course, we took to the blog. Oh, and there’s a glorious, hazy lens flare. TRY AND STOP US WRITING ABOUT THIS.

Don’t get us wrong, we listened to the accompanying track too. It’s effortless and languid as it meanders through hushed vocals, laid back instrumentation and that hooky chorus. Little shimmers and tingles creep in and out as the track floats around you; testament to Dom Morley‘s light and airy production.

The lyrics are touching as well; “Write me boy, with the reasons that you like me“. It’s cute and charming, reminiscent of passing love letters across a classroom. So consider this our love-letter to INK, with a doodled heart and IDST written on it.

INK are a London two piece and Ink Goes On is the first glimpse into their world that we’ve been offered. We can’t wait to hear more. Be sure to grab this track free from the player above!

Oxford indie outfit Spring Offensive are no stranger to Amazing Radio. We’ve been shouting about their particular blend of emotionally charged and effecting indie-pop for some time now. We even invited them over for a live session, that’s how much we love them.

They make a staggering return with their new track, Not Drowning But Waving – a five and half minute epic with impassioned lyrics and a powerful climax. The track creeps and builds with subtle instrumentation and stunning four part harmonies before clattering to its finale of jarring guitars, howls of feedback and smashing drums. We think this might be their best offering yet.

It is accompanied by a deliciously bleak video, directed by the band’s own Matt Cooper. The video plots a narrative following the eb and flow of the track and is played out with stunning imagery. Check it out below.

This week the band embark on a huge (seriously, huge) European tour to promote the track. Check out the full dates over at their website. The track is available digitally now and will be available on limited edition vinyl when the tour kicks off.

This track from Kitsune‘s Swedish twins, Saint Lou Lou, has mesmerised us from the moment we first heard it. Today they unveil the stunningly beautiful music video to accompany it. The artistic black and white shots collide perfectly with the floating and atmospheric sounds of Maybe You. Director Philippe Tempelman has captured the dark undercurrent that flows throughout the ghostly track and transferred it to film in a wonderful fashion.

We also invented a game that you can play with the video. Load the video up and let it buffer fully. Then just click anywhere along the time line for an incredible piece of art. We recommend 1 minute, 36 seconds in.

Maybe You is out now on Kitsune.