Boared to death

If you hadn’t already been made forcefully aware of the fact over the last few weeks by the incessant drip drip drop of the April showers counterpoised against the rising heat of exam season, we find ourselves already more than a third of the way through the human races’ final year on Earth (bloody Mayans).

Aside from the coming apocalypse, time flies when you’re writing essays the morning they’re due, and as a consequence, the veritable bounty of gorgeous new music that’s been buzzing about on the airwaves and in the blogosphere might well have passed you by.

Fear not: to go along with Josh and Harriet’s excellent revision albums guide: (https://theboar.org/music/2012/may/6/sound-and-revision/) here’s a top up for your musical knowledge – a 12 of 2012 thus far. There’s even a Spotify playlist at the end in it for you lucky people (and some YouTube links for you cavemen/women who have no conception of who Jonathon from Spotify is):

**Grimes – Visions**
Containing my two favourite singles of the year thus far, Canadian export Claire Boucher a.k.a. Grimes, pulls together dream-pop and electronica under the umbrella of her hipster-goth-singer-songwriter malarkey – and it’s marvellous.
Key Cut: Genesis

**Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory**
Oscillating brilliantly between epic angst and hyperkinetic fun – often in the same track, Cloud Nothings make a huge step up on their second album.
Key Cut: Wasted Days

**Death Grips – The Money Store**
I recently described Death Grips as sounding like a sugar-covered dragon. Whilst perhaps excessively adorable in imagery – somewhat glossing over some of the most acerbic, dissonant and downright brutal elements of their music – it does sum them up fairly well. The dragon might literally be depraved but damn it if he ain’t catchy as hell.
Key Cut: I’ve Seen Footage

**Beach House – Bloom**
Beach House have steadily refined their sound, a distinctive atmosphere of glossy synths and sonorous guitar elevated by Victoria Legrand’s mesmeric voice album by album, attaining the reward for years of craft with a record shaping up to be one of the album’s of the year.
Key Cut: Myth

**Arthur Beatrice – Midland 7”**
Arthur Beatrice have been trying their darndest to be so far under the radar that they can’t even see the radar (their website domain is brilliantly entitled www.onlinepresence.info). So when they emerged with this lush, woozy, swooping, mesmeric (ad nauseum) track, it was a true treat in a business ever-increasingly keen on opening up its wares to all and sundry, smearing buzz-artists all over the place like a toddler first discovering finger painting in its flailing attempts to stay afloat – yeah we see you Lana.
Key Cut: Midland

**Chairlift – Something**
When they’re not producing one of the most interesting music videos of the year (check out Met Before it’ll make your day) Chairlift take some downtime churning out some of the most deliriously delightful pop songs you haven’t heard this year.
Key Cut: I Belong in Your Arms – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_aTOyFRwJ0
Animal Collective – Honeycomb/Gotham 7”
New Animal Collective can only be a good thing. In this case it’s a truly sonically captivating, possibly mental but absolutely brilliant thing. Get on it.
Key Cut: Honeycomb

**Burial – Kindred EP**
‘Kindred’ quite honestly feels like a seminal moment in the career of Burial and in the history of that malleable and misused genre of dub-step. Undoubtedly as a result of giving himself nigh on half an hour over three tracks on this EP, a huge range of sounds are carefully constructed layers are developed and explored, unfurling and expanding into something that particularly so on the title track feels truly like an artistic statement of intent – this is where I’ve been, this is where I am, this is where I’m going.
Key Cut: Kindred

**Portico Quartet – s/t**
Scottish Jazz/Electronic fusion four-piece (you don’t say, well done Christopher) occupy a similar night time mode to Burial but they replace the cold, harsh halogen glare of headlights with the warm glow of pub patio heaters. I lost that analogy somewhere.
Key Cut: Ruins

**St. Vincent – Krokodil/Grot 7”**
A record story day exclusive, St. Vincent reaches a whole new territory with this cut – the distortion pumped up to max, channelling Sonic Youth and utterly relentless – Annie Clark really lets loose and the results are…’cray’.
Key Cut: Krokodil

**The Men – Open Your Heart**
I unexpectedly fell in love with this album. In a decade so far severely lacking in frankly just plain good rock music (seriously Foos had to bail us out last year and Springsteen this year). Running the gamut from all out punk-rock on ‘Cube’ and ‘Animal’ to the Dylan-esque ‘Candy’ The Men tick a whole bunch of boxes. And they’re good boxes to be ticking.
Key Cut: Turn it Around

**John Talabot – fin**
Spanish electronic producer produces rich, immersive and exquisitely hypnotic house music particularly when Pional gets involved on Destiny and So Will Be Now. Tis’ groovy.
Key Cut: So Will Be Now…

**Boared to Death Spotify Playlist:** http://open.spotify.com/user/thoma/playlist/57pD44P66F6jPp8odN8C2P