MTV IGGY

Hello all you global music fans! It’s Friday! That means yet another round of amazing new artist from around the world for you to discover and vote on. We’re talking about the artist of the week poll. You have until next Friday morning at 11 a.m. EST to vote for the musician or group you think should be our artist of the week. The winner will be featured on our home page. Ready? Yeah, you are.

Dutch Uncles

Dutch Uncles’ fondness for irregular time signatures has earned them a reputation for intellectualism, like a highbrow brand of indie bearing the smarts of math-rock while carrying the crystalline torch of disco. On their third album Out of Touch in the Wild, the Manchester band have practically mastered that peculiar approach to pop, affording them the stability needed to cultivate a new motif: Pitting the polished against the seedy.

Carmen Villain

Carmen Villain is a stunning beauty of Norwegian and Mexican heritage who spent a decade modeling for top designers and posing on magazine covers before she decided to leave that world and pick up a guitar. The sounds that came out of that guitar were fractured and intense, a corrupted take on the blues that expresses not sadness but the swirling weirdness of the mind. Her first album, Sleeper, was released this March, featuring Carmen herself playing almost all the instruments. Purposefully a bit off-kilter and rough around the edges, the record creates this very rich, very complete sonic world that sucks you in right away.

Ryan Hemsworth

Journalist-turned-beatsmith, Ryan Hemsworth has been making music that swims in the same ethereal waters as some of today’s most sought-after hip-hop producers. Brought up in Nova Scotia, Canada, Hemsworth started producing electronic music during university, after a brief affiliation with guitar music – rock, to be precise. Since switching to his laptop, his production skills have been in high demand.

Tigerlight

Growing up between Helsinki, Berlin and London, Tigerlight has juggled roles within the media. Not only is she a singer, DJ and producer, but she also writes weekly comedy sketches for Crissy Criss’ D&B show on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Then there’s her work as a backing vocalist for The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent, where she supported Beyoncé, Robbie Williams and Westlife, no less. Despite spreading her talents with quite a few DJs from across this latest wave of dubstep – including Document One, Far Too Loud and Dodge & Fuski – perhaps her most favored producer has been High Rankin, with whom she has recorded numerous tracks.

A K U A

The video for “Gravity” is the perfect visual encapsulation of the aquatic suspension you feel from listening to A K U A’s harmonies. The R&B singer from Montreal is in character as a fish-tailed siren of the sea being coveted by admirers. The gently gargling beats in her production enhance the aquatic theme, but instead of lulling you to a gentle slumber, you become buoyed by a mixture of seduction and heartache. A K U A writes her own material and co-produces her music with Andy Bauer of Twin Shadow and Martin Rodriguez.

“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think, Oh bondage! Up yours!”

If this mantra is already close to your heart, you might want to skip to the next paragraph. If not, you should know that this phrase made a significant cultural imprint on the world after it was first performed by the seminal English punk band X-Ray Spex in 1977. Lead singer Poly Styrene’s holler “Oh bondage! Up yours!” grew into a feminist rallying cry and she is considered a godmother to the Riot grrrl movement of the 1990s. Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex were firmly anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist and in their later years participated in charity works for causes such as refugees and ending racism.

Sadly Poly Styrene passed away from breast and spinal cancer in 2011. But her philanthropic spirit will live on at the X-ReSpects: X-Ray Spex Tribute concert on Sunday June 30th at Webster Hall in New York City. The Shivering Brigade, The Suzan, and Militia will be performing songs from X-Ray Spex’ 1978 album Germ Free Adolescents. Contributions will benefit War Child, an organization that “helps rebuild war-affected communities to provide the support necessary for children to experience a stable childhood.” The concert continues the work started in the album Rebel on the Underground: A Tribute to X-Ray Spex put out on Permanent Wave Records last year, with proceeds benefiting Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

Congratulations to K-pop rookie Lee Hi and to all of her loyal fans! The young singer with the jazzy style is our artist of the week. Once her supporters started voting their was no competition. She has a unique and soulful style, so it was heartening to see the outpouring of support from all over the world. She first caught our attention in the gorgeous video for “Rose.” Check it out:

Jon E Clayface is a rising name in London’s underground circuit, as a producer, DJ and MC, and today he releases his debut album, Different State Of Mind – which is up for free download. The 13-track instrumental compilation chills with dubstep, flirts with grime, and pays jungle and D&B a quick visit. “This album is a collection of some of my favorite beats from 2010 up to now,” says Jon E Clayface. “Some close friends have described it as being a deep-thinking, emotional mix of material, with some chilled-out tracks but also heavier, more hard-hitting tracks. I got a lot of inspiration from ambient music, grime, drum & bass, and classical, and I really like the outcome.” So do we! Listen and download after the jump.

Former artist of the week 5 Miles to Midnight first caught our attention with their island flavored alt-rock track “DIMIT,” featuring soca legend Fay-Ann Lyons. But there’s more to them than even that intriguing fusion suggested. The Trinidadian six-piece’s new track is an intense and emotionally raw power ballad that’s getting a bit of radio exposure. With its bluesy, guitar-driven melody it’s much more of straightforward rock song. The band collectively had this to say about the track:

Control is one of our edgier songs and it is meant to be “in your face” with a touch of rebellious. It depicts the decision of a person to take the reigns of his own destiny even if he has no idea how to navigate the sea of life. He can feel life within him, and that’s all he needs.

Watch for the release of their debut EP this summer.

Kuwaiti composer Fatima Al Qadiri is bringing her cerebral deconstructions of modern electronic music to Europe this summer (with a brief stop in New York). If you missed it the first time around, check out this interview we did with her about her last EP, Desert Strike, which was based on her experiences with military video games during and after the first Gulf War.

Summer 2013 Tour
June 8: Uppsala, Sweden @ Volt Festival
June 11: Lisbon, Portugal @ ZBD
June 15: Barcelona, Spain @ Sonar Festival
July 11: New York, USA @ MoMA PS1
August 2: London, UK @ Deviation, XOYO
August 4: Katowice, Poland @ Off Festival
August 9: Oslo, Norway @ Øya Festival

From 2004’s “Pow” to now, east London’s Dexplicit has been consistent with releasing forward-thinking grime cuts – working the crème de la crème of British MC talent along the way. DXP’s latest collaboration is with Boy Better Know’s Frisco, who blesses the producer’s stabby, sub-bass creation with his signature skippy flow to bring us soon-to-be club anthem, “Dirt With My Gloves On.”

Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez is usually known for playing percussion or keyboards in bands The Mars Volta or Zechs Marquise. As a child, his mother encouraged him to pursue the piano as an addition to the drums that he preferred, so he would always have the opportunity to perform as a solo act. While on tour with his other bands, Rodriguez-Lopez concocted with the synthesizer-driven sounds of Eureka the Butcher, his alter ego. Those works have been collected in the album Music for Mothers, set for release May 28.

The full album stream for Music for Mothers is available today. Check out how he chops up alien synth lines and stuttering rhythms to create otherworldly electronica worthy of any momma’s praise.