MySundaySweater: Favorite records of the first half of 2012

We're just past the halfway mark of 2012, a chance to stop and take stock of what has already been a fantastic year in music. It's all down hill from here, as the days get shorter and shorter, leading inevitably to the shortest day of the year, also the final day on the Mayan calendar (ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!), also my 31st birthday. So we have that to look forward to.

But for now, the city is hot, hot, hot. My music taste seems to be seasonal, matching sounds to my surroundings like a waiter pairs wines to food. It somehow just works better that way for me, allowing my life to feel like a its own personalized music video. With that said, the records that I've spent the most time with are the ones that represented the rainy spring we had, a strange transition period that, for me, symbolized a time of anxiety as I finished my masters thesis and prepared to face the vast unknown of being overeducated and unemployed. I like making lists at any milestone point in the calender year. I know that this list will change, as the optimism and sense of unending possibility that comes with the start of summer infects my listening habits, we'll most likely find this list full of swetty electro jams by the end of August.

So far 2012 has been a year that has been all about follow up albums. The year has been less about discovering new acts for me and more about exploring new statements from acts who's catalogues sit firmly in my collection. Perhaps this is because I no longer have access to the massive promo input I did as a radio music director. Perhaps it's because, busy and distracted by school, I spent more time with bands I'm familiar with than I did scouring blogs for the hottest new thing. Either way, for better or worse, these are the five records I like the most in the first half of 2012:

Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It