Ellie Goul-ding is Explo-ding

Number One album, Critics Choice Brit Award - it's all taking off for Ellie Goulding. Part of the Neon Gold alumni, along with Passion Pit, who is she currently supporting on their UK tour (and I saw her doing just that a couple of weeks ago), her meteoric rise to success has been pretty surprising. I'm coming to the conclusion, however, that while she's a great song-writer, the production isn't really there, in my opinion. I really didn't expect to think that, given that Fin Dow-Smith, better known as Starsmith, has produced all but one of her tracks on the album, and people I really respect have been touting him for big things this year. Yet the slew of awesome remixes really make his stuff for her look light weight.

First up is Jakwob's dubby remix of Starry-Eyed, adding some dirty dub-bass into the mix. Then Penguin Prison and Theophilius London had a shot at Starry-Eyed, making it more up-tempo, adding a bit more punch to the chorus. Probably my favourite of the lot however is Chiddy Bang's take on Under the Sheets. The Philadelphia duo have done awesome remixes of MGMT's Kids, which is currently floating around the UK chart as Opposite of Adults, as well as Sufjan Stevens and a host of other indie-tastic tunes. Their Ellie Goulding remix adds a more traditional hip hop beat into the mix with some brilliantly witty lyrics over the top. So much fun!

The Sound of London

For those of you tune into my radio show (Pet Sounds, Tuesday 2-4pm GMT on Pulse), you will be familiar with my "Sound of London" feature, where I profile a new(ish) band from London. Despite the musical cornucopia on offer here in London town, it's not always easy to find something that I like and is radio-friendly. Having said that, over the past few weeks, I've come across some amazing people, and I thought I would share them with you here.

James Yuill
So I'm massively late coming to the party with James Yuill - I first heard about him over a year ago, but dismissed him out of hand as not really worth my time. Wow, I was wrong. I found This Sweet Love while perusing one of the many best-of lists of last year, and if I had made one, I probably would have made it. Gorgeous, relaxed, Yuill was described in the Guardian as "Nick Drake given a machine pulse by New Order". This Sweet Love is heavy on the Nick Drake - perhaps why I love it so.

Bullion
There's a lot been written about the new 'chillwave' scene, including bands like Neon Indian, Washed Out and Memory Tapes, and primarily focused on the West Coast of the States. Well, Bullion is giving it a London flavour. He first came to attention because of his mash-up/mixtape of, called Pet Sounds in the Key of Dee, where he broke apart and put together in a fresh way the whole of Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys in homage to J Dilla, resulting in a beautiful yet also slightly disquieting experience. But his new single, Say Goodbye to What, takes that deconstructionist approach and gives it something of an edge - you can dance to this shit!

Starsmith
Starsmith's name is being touted about a lot these days as the man behind Ellie Goulding, winner of the BBC Sound of 2010 award, and thus officially crowned as The Next Big Thing. He's also done a series of high profile remixes for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. I have to be honest, I'm still a little on the fence about Starsmith and his oeuvre. Having said that, his remix of Sleepyhead with Ellie Goulding providing haunting vocals is outstanding - yet I'm wondering if that his due to Passion Pit's genius rather than Starsmith? Regardless, now Ellie's album is just about finished, he's set to work on his own stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is massive/awesome.