Week 5 - Cédric Chamoulaud

Indie band Alt-J Wins Mercury Prize

The English indie pop band Alt-J won on Thursday, November 1st, the prestigious Mercury Prize (the equivalent of the Prix Constantin), which rewards every year since 1992 the best British album of the year.With "An Awesome Wave", released in June 2012, had critical acclaim, especially in France where the band played in several summer music festivals. The disc was preferred to albums by The Maccabees, Django Django Richard Hawley and others.

For the history, the Mercury Prize was established in 1992 to honor the best album of the year by a British or Irish band and often favors the eclectism and unkwon bands. Indeed, from these beginnings, the Mercury Prize was part of the explosion of international carriers of bands like the XX in 2010, Arctic Monkeys in 2006, Franz Ferdinand in 2004, Pulp in 1996 and Portishead in 1995.

The next concert of the band in France will be at the Zenith in Paris on November 15th, in first part of the American band Two Door Cinema Club.