XOYO

Brooke Candy

Categories, Pop and rock

You may recognise Californian stripper-cum-rapper Jemina Parra, aka Brooke Candy, as the braided, metal-clad dancer in Grimes’s ‘Genesis’ video. Depending on your tastes, you’ll find her provocative, foul-mouthed pop-rap either incredibly irritating or...

Dub Pistols

Categories, Pop and rock

Barry Ashworth’s perennially touring big beat commandoes take to the stage for the millionth time. They’ll be blending hip hop, dub, ska and punk as ever at this Big Beat Reunion.

Machinedrum

Dance, House, techno and electro, Clubs, R&B, Garage, Funk, Soul

• Critics' choice

One of the most innovative producers around today, Machinedrum excels in crafting everything from ambient garage (in his Sepalcure project), rave-dashed house and footwork under his solo moniker and choppy, soulful funk via his JETS collab with Jimmy...

Durrr

House, techno and electro, Disco, Clubs, Nu-disco

• Critics' choice

Daft Punk aren't the only French dudes to rock some stellar disco vibes – just ask Joakim, whose fast-paced, electro take on the genre is a guaranteed party-starter. Joakim's new project, Everyone, is a collab with fellow disco devotee Kindness, and they're...

Soundwave Croatia Launch Party

Clubs

You might be looking forward to sunning it up at Croatia's Soundwave festival in July, but don't you think you ought to limber up first? Even if you're not going, get a taster at this all-dayer, which invites acts from the festival to prop up the line-up....

Night Engine

Categories, Pop and rock

One of those rare bands with an entirely appropriate name, Night Engine make huge, funk-based indie rock tracks that keep on pumping all night long.

Akala

Categories, Pop and rock

Mobo Award-winning rapper Akala – Ms Dynamite's little brother – headlines with his soulful hip hop. He's unashamedly pro-intellect – his lyrics are riddled with Shakespeare references, and he's written for the Huffington Post and performed in the British...

Zebra Katz

Categories, Pop and rock

• Critics' choice

Ojay Morgan (aka Zebra Katz) offers a weighty sing-speak, reminscent of Tricky, over bassy, electronic soundscapes. Check out his darkly minimalist break-out single 'Ima Read', and you won't be surprised by how quickly he got signed to Mad Decent.

Swiss Lips

Categories, Pop and rock

Synth-heavy rockers SL meld Killers keyboards and disco-worthy beats with a Mancunian accent. While their recordings are a little too polite, the party kicks up a gear when they play live.

Shout Out Louds

Alternative rock

Making a return this year with album number four, 'Optica', this Swedish outfit make beautiful indie pop.

Jagwar Ma

Categories, Pop and rock

Coming on like a baggier Dandy Warhols, this pair of Australians (including prolific producer Jono Ma) are all lanky grooves and undulating synths, although they've also been known to tap into a more Beatlesque vein of psychedelia.

Glasvegas

Categories, Pop and rock

• Critics' choice

With their bleeding hearts still pinned firmly to their sleeves, the Glaswegian alt rockers reappear. Their third album is called 'Later... When The TV Turns To Static' – which is a bit of a mouthful, but nothing compared to 2011's 'Euphoric /// Heartbreak...

Night Slugs at XOYO

Dance, House, techno and electro, Clubs, Garage, Funk, Soul

• Critics' choice

L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok's bassy, future-funkist Night Slugs label has become one of the most recognised and respected names on the underground, so a showcase from them is always welcome. Both label heads will be at XOYO to bust out their low frequency-delving...

Mayer Hawthorne

Categories, Pop and rock

• Critics' choice

Lush and infectious, retro-modernist soul from this Ann Arbor native, who counts Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson and Barry White among his influences, but draws the most inspiration from Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the legendary songwriting and production...

The Heliocentrics

Avant-jazz and free-jazz

Perhaps the true heirs of Sun Ra, The Heliocentrics – based in London – are a loose collective gathered around drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson. Their music is truly psychedelic, taking in transcendent jazz, fuzz-rock, James Brown's infinite...

Mikky Ekko

Categories, Pop and rock

Louisiana-raised Ekko – known to the taxman and his mum as John Stephen Sudduth – is a singer-songwriter and producer who got catapulted to fame when he featured on Rihanna's single 'Stay'. His debut album is still in the works, but to judge from the...

We Are Scientists

Indie rock

• Critics' choice

Keith Murray, guitarist and vocalist for these sharp indie rockers, was born in Williamsburg, New York City in 1977. That makes him the spiritual big brother of a whole generation of Brooklyn hipsters, but his group – including bassist Chris Cain and,...

Capital Cities

Electronica

Adding a Tupac sample to a Pink Floyd cover version is pretty ballsy, but fortunately Capital Cities' original songs stand up too. In the studio they're a electronic twosome, but on stage the Los Angelinos expand into a full band with guitar, bass and...

Tamikrest

Blues, roots and country, African music, Folk

• Critics' choice

Hailing from Mali, Niger and Algeria and singing in Tamashek – the language spoken by the nomadic people inhabiting the Saharan desert – this Tuareg seven-piece play dynamic, hypnotic and uplifting desert blues ahead of their third album.