Danish singer Oh Land has been the source of a mounting blogospheric attention over the past few months, and it's not hard to see why.
Combining the off-kilter Scandopop sensibilities of Robyn and Lykke Li with a voice that reminds me a little of Arklow's finest Roisin Murphy, Oh Land embellishes her live performances with artistic flourishes and is a former student of the Danish Royal Ballet.
She's been releasing music in her homeland of Denmark for the past few years but looks set to go global in 2011 after inking a deal with Epic Records following a rousing set at the SXSW showcase last year.
Two tracks from her recent self-titled EP, 'Wolf & I' and 'Son Of A Gun', have really tickled my fancy, and I look forward to hearing more from her in the new year.
Gorillaz served up a generous Christmas gift to their fans this year when they debuted a new album, 'The Fall', in full on their website.
While everybody was getting their knickers in a twist about this unexpected release, recorded entirely on an Apple iPad, Owen Pallett (the artist formerly known as Final Fantasy) quietly unleashed his own festive treat - a collection of demos & instrumentals from his last album “Heartland”
Although one of the tracks on the 'Export EP' is entitled 'Owen's Voice', none of the tracks feature vocals by Pallett. Even minus his dulcet tones, the tracks are still well worth a listen.
Owen was also recently responsible for scoring the New York Times' excellent 'Fourteen Actors Acting' feature, which paid tribute to the actors that defined cinema in 2010. Among those included are Chloe Moretz, Jesse Eisenberg, Natalie Portman and James Franco, but my favourite is Tilda Swinton, presumably included for her role in the wonderful, 'I Am Love'.
One of the best gigs I had the pleasure of attending this year was when madcap Icelandic troupe FM Belfast played at the ABSOLUT Fringe in Dublin.
During the Summer, I posted this remix by Copenhagen-based producer Brynjar Bjarnfoss of my favourite of their tracks, 'Underwear', and I've been meaning to post about Brynjar's own musical venture the past couple of weeks.
Kúra sees Brynjar teaming up with his cousin, Reykjavik-based vocalist Fanney Ósk Þórisdóttir.
Their names may be a bit of a mouthful but their brand of glacial electropop goes down nice and easy. Their Multicolor EP was released this month and it's provided the perfect soundtrack to my snowy incarceration the past few weeks.
One of my resolutions for the new year is to read a lot more books. Over the past few months, I've dedicated the majority of my reading time to hefty 'lifestyle magazines', so weaning myself off these will be a major coup.
If I'm allowed the occasional concession, I'll more than likely indulge in Wonderland Magazine, who always feature a nice pick'n'mix of emerging musicians in their interviews and photoshoots.
The current issue features Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius and this video of Mike crooning 'Lookout, Lookout', a delicate ballad recounting the Mary Bell murders, was recorded during the shoot.
In other Perfume Genius news, a studio version of 'Dreeem', which I posted about before, has surfaced. It's one of three new tracks that were added to his album 'Learning' for its recent re-release.
Tips for 2011 are flying left, right and centre at the moment but, by virtue of the fact that the BBC's 'Sound of...' list compiles the predictions of over 150 music gurus across the UK, it's inevitably going to hold a bit more weight.
The past few years, the lists have been dominated by female-fronted acts, with Adele, Duffy, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, La Roux and Marina & The Diamonds all placing in the upper reaches. As such, it's refreshing to see so many great male artists in this year's shortlist.
Jai Paul and James Blake are two acts that I've posted about in the past and, with the right break, could conceivably convert their blogospheric hype to mainstream success.
Another act who, like both Jai Paul and James Blake, teams neo-soul vocals with electronic and post-dub arrangements is Jamie Woon. But whereas James Blake started out a more leftfield artist and has now begun embracing conventional song structures, Jamie Woon began as a singer-songwriter before gradually turning to the dark side.
There are of course the usual crop of indie bands, curveballs in the guise of dubstep-lite act Nero and grime act Wretch 32, and those pesky female fronted outfits.
The wispy Esben and the Witch could be a strong contender for a Top 5 finish, whereas big-voiced Birmingham lass Clare Maguire and spiky power-pop chanteuse Jessie J are also likely to feature in the final reckoning.
The full shortlist is as folows: James Blake, Anna Calvi, Daley, Esben And The Witch, Jessie J, Clare Maguire, Mona, The Naked And Famous, Nero, Jai Paul,The Vaccines, Warpaint, Jamie Woon, Wretch 32 and Yuck.
Around this time of year, music bloggers start squabbling about two things: who made the bloggiest albums of the year gone by, and who will yield the bloggiest albums of the year to come.
Three years ago, top of the list in the latter category was 19-year-old singer Adele, whose brand of 'blue eyed soul' was deemed most likely to be the next big thing. Sure enough, her debut album was met with critical acclaim and went on to shift millions of copies before earning her two Grammy awards, including the highly coveted Best New Artist award.
I never quite understood the hype and, although could appreciate that she was obviously talented, had her earmarked as 'not my thing'. These past few weeks, however, as morsels of her forthcoming sophomore album, 21, have been surfacing, I've found myself completely gripped by her music.
First came 'Rolling In The Deep', which the singer herself has described as a “dark bluesy gospel disco tune”. Pounding drumbeats and handclaps underscore the almighty vocal delivery and repeat listens draw you further and further in.
Next came the startling 'Someone Like You', a heartwrenching ode to lost love that sent shivers running down the back of my neck when I first heard her pitch-perfect performance on Later... With Jools Holland.
I've been fortunate enough to snatch a sneak preview of the album in full and can happily report that it is one of the first truly great albums of 2011.
The unsung hero of The xx, Jamie xx, put together this incredible remix of 'Rolling In The Deep', which although apparently will never see the light of day other than this poor quality rip, adds another dimension to my appreciation of the track.
Continuing to deliver music every bit as intriguing as his name, producer and singer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs has just unveiled the video for his latest track, 'Household Goods'.
I think I actually prefer the track to Garden, which has been a fixture on my playlists the past few months.
At one point sampling a Scottish gaelic choir, 'Household Goods' positively wreaks of 2011 and comes accompanied by a suitably bizarre video.
Ok, here we go. I've invested a vast sum of money (about 9 euro) in obtaining the sphericalnotions.com domain name and I'm determined to resuscitate my poor neglected plot of cyber-real estate.
A band whose debut album I've been meaning to rave about the past few months is Fenech Soler, who I first encountered via their remix of Marina and the Diamonds' 'Hollywood' this time last year.
Occupying a point on the musical spectrum somewhere between Klaxons and Friendly Fires, the band's eponymous debut is laden with glittering electropop gems, doused in shimmering synths and spluttering drumbeats.
Opening track Battlefields begins with choral-like vocals before breaking into a frenetic dance-beat tailor-made to set toes tapping. Anthemic ode to self-doubt Demons sounds like the most likely candidate to grant Fenech Soler chart success, while contemplative piano-led track Stone Bridge offers a rare reprieve from the frantic pace upheld for most of the album.
The band's trump card is undoubtedly frontman Ben Duffy's powerful vocals, which is especially impressive in the upper register and sets the band apart from the slew of keyboard-toting electropop acts currently clambering for our attention. In truth though, it's hard to fault any aspect of this package and Fenech Soler is one of the most impressive debuts of the year.
Danish singer Oh Land has been the source of a mounting blogospheric attention over the past few months, and it's not hard to see why.
