Dels feat. Joe Goddard & Roots Manuva – Capsize (Entrepreneurs Remix) by Entrepreneurs

Around that time a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist called Wouter de Backer started making sample filled tracks that got the attention of Oz’s (rather good) Triple J radio. He’s now better known as Gotye (pronounced like Gautier), released 3 albums and won a few ARIA’s (down under’s answer to the Grammys).

His new album Making Mirrors is out now and you can hear the whole thing on Gotye’s SoundCloud page. Or on just about any other music blog right now. With hints of Andrew Bird and Broadcast 2000 his quirky sample pop still manages to sound natural, maybe even lo-fi on occasions. I’ve picked out two of my favourites from the record:

Somebody That I Used To Know featuring Kimbra is a mesmerising heartfelt love lost song, and probably the most poppy on the album; it’s got a good video too.

Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) by Gotye

Smoke and Mirrors is full of all sorts of layers woven together into pop bliss. It makes you want to sway until you get the big build up towards the end of the song:

Smoke And Mirrors by Gotye

Brendan Angelides more commonly known now as Eskmo is an electronic experimental producer and recording artist based in San Fransico.

I’m sure that Entrepreneurs has taken a ton of inspiration from Eskmo. His bleeptastic hip hop soundscapes are impressive monuments created with grit and dirt. There’s so much going on, and it all comes together in some kind of harmonic thrust propelling you back 100 yards.

As I’m at a stag do I’m going to miss 4 June’s gig with Eskmo and Dels at Village Underground in Shoreditch. This makes me well up inside, but I’m sure by the time I’m at karaoke singing Stand By Me I’ll be drunk enough to forget all about it.

Here are a couple of tracks from his self-titled album Eskmo:

Eskmo: Moving Glowstream (Ninja Tune 2010) by Eskmo

Eskmo: Color Dropping (Ninja Tune, 2010) by Eskmo

You can buy Eskmo on Amazon and follow Eskmo on Twitter

The musician come graphic designer from Ipswich, Dels (born Kieren Dickins), is in a three album deal with Big Dada and can proudly include Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard amongst his fans. He is, like Gil Scott-Heron, a real innovator. Dels is a musician who happens to rap.

Dels’ first album GOB, is an experimental explosion of synths, beats and rhyme. ‘I am the architect of my thoughts where unicorn shit glitter are welcome aboard‘ is declaimed within the first 30 seconds of the record which pretty much somes up the rest of it. At the moment, GOB is leading my album of the year list – and would recommend listening to it now to really understand what Dels is all about.

You can find out more about him in his interview on my favourite podcast: Guardian Music Weekly. Here is one of the singles from the album, Trumpalump which features none other than Joe Goddard. Listen and you can see why he wanted to work with Dels and why I’m writhing with excitement every time I put this record on:

Trumpalump Featuring Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) by DELS

You can buy Gob on Amazon and follow Dels on Twitter.

Fishing is the experimental electronic pop duo Russell Fitzgibbon and Doug Wright from Sydney. Like the Avalanches they make big beaty tunes that turn your frowns upside down.

Their current single OOOO is a testament to their sunshine sound, and despite being full to the brim with ideas, samples and melodies, it all manages to merge into a happy and harmonious cacophony.

You can buy the LP and get a bonus EP with it. In the meantime have a listen to the OOOO and the b-side from the LP, Pee Green Bote, and give yourself a smile.

OOOO by FISHING

Pee Green Bote by FISHING

There’s something about his orchestral electro wonderment that I adore. It’s music that I listen to and can make me think, “this is why I love music”.

So I’m shocked and appalled with myself for managing to miss this gem I just shuffled upon. Gorecki Fix Up My Girlfriend Some More comes from Dan Black’s mix tape Weird Science released last year.

You can tell the renowned Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, who died in November last year, must be a big influence over Dan Black, with his use of minimal strings and choir to create lush landscapes. So in homage to the composer he mixed some of his music up with Busta Rhyme’s Gimmie Some More. Well he sort of mixed it, I’d call it something like, created an amazing track in which he took bits of both and made it his own:

Dan Black – Go Reck I Fix Up My Girlfriend by DigitalShellShock

In other news, as far as I can glean from his Twitter, it looks Dan Black is currently making a new album. I can’t wait already.

The adrenaline hit from watching horror films is not something I enjoy. Why spend a couple of hours stressing out. So do I like horror techno bassline dubstep tracks? Turns out I do.

Figure, a.k.a. Josh Gard, from somewhere in the Midwest, USA is terrorising my Friday afternoon. Massive dub tracks all about Zombies and Werewolves. I’d love to hear this in a massive club. At my desk trying to work I think I’m missing out on some of the ambience.

You can find a ton of his scary beats at Figure’s SoundCloud page.

Here is one of his latest tracks which can download for free as well. It’s proper hectic dubstep with a fantastic Shostakovitch style violin solo to open.

By the sounds of it I reckon Figure could mix the music from Bambi into something so hectic, even Jason Statham wouldn’t be able to keep up with it.

Figure – The Werewolf (Dubstep Mix) FREE DOWNLOAD! by Figure

The Phantom Band have been lurking since 2004, and in 2007 signed to London label Trial & Error. They now ply their trade locally with Glasgow indie label Chemikal Underground. Their third album The Wants was released in October 2010.

If I were to like Glavegas, then The Phantom Band is whay they’d have to sound like. The Scottish vocals of lead singer Rick Anthony weave yarns with plenty of Celtic charm over mesmeric experimental folk pop tracks. They are upbeat too which is probably why I like them over the tedious melancholy of Glasvegas.

Here are some tracks from The Wants. I think you’ll like them.

Into The Corn by ThePhantomBand

Everybody Knows It’s True by ThePhantomBand

Unlike Sheryl Crow, Jessica Lea Mayfield is far more experimental, her already excellent love forlorn songs are exquisitely embellished in their recordings and fashioned into great pop songs.

Tell Me, the title track from her second album, is succinctly described by fluxblog as,

a strange art pop composition with a careful arrangement that sounds like someone trying to find their way out of a maze of mixed emotions”

Can you think of a better way to describe it? I can only add how much I love this track – maybe should have been the first single from the album too:

Jessica Lea Mayfield – Tell Me (mp3)

Her new album Tell Me is out on 8 February and is available to pre-order on Amazon. You can download her latest single Our Hearts Are Wrong for the price of your email address:

Londoner Jamie Woon shows considerable talent on his first EP Wayfaring Stranger,  he is a great singer with a voice nestling between John Mayer and Antony Hegarty and his own music has R&B qualities.

Although a decent outing, Wayfaring Stranger was never going to set the world on fire. It did however lay the seeds for what is an unlikely but possibly ground-breaking collaboration.

After Burial remixed Wayfaring Stranger they have now worked together to produce a new single, Night Air. It’s magical. The beautiful electronic landscape is perfectly matched by Woon’s luscious vocals.

Jamie Woon – Night Air (mp3)

I can only hope that the album, due for release in spring 2011 from Universal will be equally ethereal. If it is, we may have a much needed male solo singer who makes music which makes you go, ‘WOW’.