It’s a difficult task traversing the indie music scene in the Internet’s web 2.0 era. It’s even more difficult attempting to encapsulate all the sensational groups in one column.With sound-editing software becoming more affordable and the web providing less barriers to entry, the volume of killer new groups making waves is insane.

New buzz bands pop up daily, and if you’re a subscriber to RSS feeds from sites like Pitchfork Media, then what I am about to share with you is old hat.

I see myself as a liaison between the ultra-informed and the casual listener. I’m somewhere in between: I am aware of a lot of what is going on, but only insofar as what strikes a chord with me.

I want to hear about music in layman’s terms, like how a friend might tell me about a band at a party.

I want to take that attitude and apply it to this article about a few killer indie acts I’ve discovered this semester. YouTube them, check them out, and if you like them, try to buy some of their stuff and support them.

Brits invaded our blues rock revival in the ’60s, and now they’re taking over our bluegrass revival.

Mumford and Sons is taking notes from the Avett Brothers on impassioned punk performances using old-time instruments, this London crew is hitting it big. “Little Lion Man” finds them on the charts, and the chorus is an instant soundtrack for breakups everywhere.

Die Antwoord – The one word to describe this South African dance-rap duo is a word they made up: “zef.” Ninja, the group’s rail-thin, Joe Strummer look-alike emcee, explained in a Rolling Stone article that “zef” means being in such a zone musically that you forget to care what anyone thinks.

Yolandi, his petite and spunky sidekick, is going to be breaking indie hearts everywhere. She’s gorgeous, wild, cute and scary all at once. They look like they just came from an all-night rave and they have the kookiest, wildest beats and rhymes.

As the group’s name suggests in Afrikaans, their native language, Die Antwoord is “The Answer” – at least to mundane rap. Watch “Enter the Ninja” and “Zef Side.”

In Dead Man’s Bones, actor Ryan Gosling sings spooky piano hymns with chorus help from a group of spooky school kids. Listen to “In the Room Where You Sleep.”

Nicki Minaj is a sensational new female rapper who’s kicking it with the best in the game right now: check out her lengthy, freaky rap on Kanye West’s “Monster” for further information.

She’s smoking hot right now after winning “Rookie of the Year,” “People’s Choice” and “Made You Look” (fashion) awards at the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Neon Indian had my theme song hot-weather laziness: “Deadbeat Summer.” Relaxed electronic grooves and hazy vocals abound with this group. It’s like hippies with drum machines and synthesizers.

For another great laid-back electronic jammer, check out White Williams “New Violence.”

These are several neat bands I’ve been exposed to over the past year or two. If you heard of them forever ago, good for you.

If you haven’t, even better because you are about to find one of your new favorite artists. Joanna Newson, Fleet Foxes, M.Ward, Passion Pit and Chromeo are worth checking out, and that’s about all I can list before I start just doing that annoying thing where you ask someone what music they like and they just list every band they know.

Last thought – how awesome is that new Cee-Lo Green single “F*** You?

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