SONGS I'M LIKING AT THE MOMENT



Animal Collective – Peacebone
Typically a beret-wearing, chin-stroking band of the highest order, critically-divisive noisemakers Animal Collective have finally made an song that, whilst still very pretentious, is nonetheless rather excellent. A kaleidoscope of electronic loops, Speak-And-Spell vocals and squelchy synths, Peacebone might be best described as the Go! Team as imagined by David Lynch. The initial lack of rhyme, reason or any modicum of sanity can be off-putting, but the disparate elements eventually coalesce into something with a certain off-kilter logic to it. And importantly, it recognises it’s own ludicrousness; it’s basically a novelty track (albeit a very cleverly constructed one) and it doesn’t pretend to be any more than that. Decidedly odd, but strangely addictive.

Arcade Fire – Maps
My favourite band covers Yeah Yeah Yeah’s modern classic. Less abrasive and rocky than Karen O, Regine Chassigne’s French lilt is the perfect match for the subtle, reserved folky-orchestral arrangement, and the instrumentation is just as awesome as you’d expect from the Arcade Fire. Easily on par with their Talking Heads cover they did back in ’05.

Beirut – In The Mausoleum
Pasty-faced wunderkind Zach Condon’s new LP “The Flying Cup Club” may have sidelined the Balkan sound of his critically-acclaimed debut for a more Parisien vibe, but his glorious folk is no less infectious for it. His arch vocals may be an acquired taste but the ukuleles, horns and fiddles that adorn his melodies are as irresistible as ever. The brilliant ‘Nantes’ is getting all the plaudits at the moment, but I personally have a soft spot for the Yann Tiersen-meets-Sufjan Stevens sound of ‘In The Mausoleum’, a song that mixes evocative Gallic influences with wonderful Arabic-tinged strings courtesy of Owen “Final Fantasy” Pallett.

Efterklang – Towards The Bare Hill
Obscure Danish post-rock may not sound like the most enticing prospect in the world, but Efterklang are one of the more intriguing bands I’ve discovered this year. If Sigur Ros swapped glacial majesty for deep wooded valleys, they might come up with something like Towards The Bare Hill, a song whose pizzicato violins, earthy percussion and xylophones strike out exquisitely complex, perfectly timed rhythms like an organic piece of clockwork. Married to traditional Scandanavian choral vocals and ultra-lo-fi production, it’s a unusual and atmospheric work that one could imagine scoring a ‘forest spirit’ scene in a Miyazaki film.

The Polyphonic Spree – Running Away
The multi-coloured robes may have given way to military garb, but Tim DeLaughter’s musical army still know how to craft an effervescent pop gem.
If you’ve heard any of their stuff before you’ll know what to expect; happy-clappy melodies, trippy lyrics and a hell of a lot of instruments, but unlike the overly indulgent sophomore album, they’ve realised this stuff is best in small doses and have accordingly compressed sixteen metric tonnes of joy into four glorious minutes. Not as essential as Soldier Girl perhaps, but a welcome return to form nevertheless.

Sunset Rubdown – Up On Your Leopard
The pinnacle of that incestuous Canadian music collective consisting of such indie luminaries as Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake and the Handsome Furs, Spencer Krug follows his sublime masterpiece “Shut Up I Am Dreaming” with “Random Spirit Lover,” an album that owes as much to Frog Eyes’ wild-eyed mania as the dense, keyboard-heavy sound of his previous work. The highlight is the fantastically named ‘Up On Your Leopard’, chock-full of demented sea-shanty accordians, mystical fairy-tale lyrics and a dramatic baroque sensibility that makes Arcade Fire look like Arctic Monkeys. The waltz that forms the latter half of the song is classic Krug; wilfully uncool, slightly unhinged but singularly catchy at the same time. Outstanding.