Caught in the Net: Emmy's funding makes the Great

For a while now bands have been cutting out the middle-man to use fan investment to finance their music through sites such as pledgemusic.com and kickstarter.com. A recent example is indie-folk artist Emmy the Great, who started raising funds for her second album a few months ago at pledgemusic.com/emmythe great.

Investment began at £8 to receive a copy of the album moving to numerous other offers of increasing value including solo performances and handmade artwork. I frequently notice such efforts and then forget to find out how they went. So it was refreshing last week to see that she posted a message ending her pledge drive as the project is now fully funded. Now, we just have to hear the album.

Invest in the Odd Future's market

The teen LA rap collective Odd Future – or to give them their full title Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All – are having a moment. They made their TV debut last week on Jimmy Fallon's US chatshow, when two members of the troupe, Tyler The Creator and Hodgy Beats performed their song "Sandwitches". It was a stunning performance; frenetic, loud, intense, unsettling and rather brilliant among other things. It culminated with Tyler leaping on Fallon's back while guest Mos Def screamed into the camera. Watch it at ind.pn/ ibzP8s, You can also download several of their mixtapes at oddfuture.com. The song is the b-side to Tyler the Creator's solo single "Yonkers", which is on iTunes . The rapper recently signed a one-album deal with XL records. The video for the moody track also caused a bit of a stir, featuring as it did, Tyler eating a cockroach and then appearing to hang himself. Mere shock tactics, you could argue, but the music, the images and the performances are all rather compelling and exciting. We'll be hearing much more about these guys, I suspect.

Hannigan out at the seaside

Another indie-folk inclined singer working on a new album is Lisa Hannigan. The Irish artist's debut LP, Sea Sew, picked up a Mercury Prize nomination in 2009. Now she's maintaining the nautical theme by recording her new effort by the sea in Wales. She's also documenting the process with photos and studio videos at lisahannigan.tumblr.com.

You should be so Lykke

Swedish singer Lykke Li has been raising expectations for her new album, Wounded Rhymes, with a drip feed of new songs and videos over the last few months. Last week she showcased another new song on her website lykkeli.com. The track, "Love Out of Lust" is a beautiful brooding ballad. Prior to release next week, the whole album is streaming at nd.pn/gL4jcA.

l.ryan@independent.co.uk