Collaborations with Gorillaz and Big Boi have made the Swedish quartet Little Dragon one of the more intriguing new prospects, arousing an interest which the piquant electro-soul stylings of Ritual Union more than bear out.

On 11 July they will return with their third album, the 10-track Skying, released on XL Records.

This week's Barometer playlist features Metronomy, Younger Brother, Young the Giant, Ben Westbeach, Rewards, Jukebox Collective, Det Vackra Livet and Kid Cudi.

Sun-splashed LA-based electro duo (and couple) Kisses sound a little like Hot Chip if they’d jumped in the Tardis to jam with late Eighties New Order alongside Talking Heads’ guitar. Listen out for them on a cool dancefloor near you.

The only time I've encountered F&M in the flesh was at a music quiz in my local pub, where they contributed unidentifiably fast techno versions of classic songs.

Sometimes, the best ideas are the simplest: take the in-your-face electro pop of, say, Hot Chip and then, instead of singing in that wry, detached art-school way, be a bit shouty and angry and punk rock.

Young MC DELS has been hard at work in the studio collaborating with Joe Goddard from Hot Chip for his second single. He took time out to answer a few teasers for Music Magazine

Sadly I was only able to make one day of Lovebox this year, but either I picked the best day by far... or the whole festival must have been phenomenal.

Books: 'Flash of the Spirit' by Robert Farris Thompson is a book I am reading now. It's about African and African-American art and philosophy. I often express ideas in my work related to current affairs and on a weekly basis I tend to read 'The Economist' and the weekend 'Financial Times'. For 'Crash Willy, a piece on show in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, I was influenced by the credit crunch and drew from both non-fiction resources as well as fictional tales, such as 'Death of a Salesman'.

Hot Chip's recently released fourth album is not called One Life Stand for nothing. The indie-electro band tell Elisa Bray why longevity is more important to them than fame

Joe Goddard may have achieved critical acclaim and commercial success as a leading member of Hot Chip, but that is clearly not enough for him. The artist is a member of the Graeco-Roman party collective, put out a solo album, Harvest Festival, last December and co-produced Little Boots's debut album. Now he has embarked on an intriguing side project.

First it was Valentine's Day (14 February). Then it was Shrove Tuesday (16 February). Then it was St David's Day (1 March). Then it was Mothering Sunday (14 March). Spot the connection? It's a dismal one. All of these spring feast days of one kind and another have had to be celebrated, in 2010, without daffodils.

Unlikely lads graduate in style

Having improbably won the love of the Hed Kandi honeys, Alexis Taylor and his Hot Chip boffins could have been forgiven for playing it safe and knocking out another dozen party anthems.