Here are my five (well, six) musical tips for 2010. I don’t expect any of them to become big in the way someone like Ellie Goulding will become a superstar but their names will almost certainly enter your field of vision in some respect. They all have the ability to produce something really special this year.

Gold Panda

Already cited (somewhat surprisingly) in the BBC’s Sounds Of 2010 list, Gold Panda is going to have to embrace his media attention sooner or later. Taking influence from techno, glitch, electro, noise and even pop, he creates a truly unique style of electronica that is interesting, intense yet always very pretty. Great live too.

Check out the rest of my recommendations after the jump..

Clock Opera

I feel extremely honoured to have signed this band’s first single to the Pure Groove Records label at the end of last year. Clock Opera are a very special band. Think Animal Collective meets Four Tet but also ignore that because such lazy comparisons don’t do the band justice. Their music is epic and momentous and, out of all my picks, has the best chance of truly breaking through to ‘the people’. For the time being, though, they are our’s and we should treasure them.

L-Vis 1990 & Boy 8-Bit

Two picks in one here. The ‘electro’ scene has become so fragmented as of late that picking the next big names is quite tough. L-Vis and Boy 8-Bit are two characters who have both emerged from a rather constraining ‘bass heavy’ dance scene and are now making records that sound like nobody else. All the greatest dance artists have understood the importance of being bombastic in their music – just look at pretty much every Chemical Brothers single for pointers. That one track that stays in your mind as you walk out of a club at seven in the morning. Watch out for some special moments from these two.

Darwin Deez

Darwin Deez is my favourite new indie act, hands down. The music is total sunshine pop packed into simple, perfect songs. No bravado and no posturing. The world actually seems a better place when I listen to these tracks.

Azari & III

After the disco explosion of last year, everyone is tipping that the next logical step will be a revival of ‘early house.’ Who knows! What is for certain is that this record always sounds like a proper classic and could work on all kinds of dancefloors. I’m always a fan of club music which makes people smile (rather than seriously stare/gurn) as they move.

Visit Stopmakingme’s myspace page here.