Pop star of the year? Ladies and gentlemen, give it up one more time for Kanye West.

Before we hand over the gong and give Yeezy the mic – for a speech that will undoubtedly go on for a while – let's rewind.
Yes, we know you read the Top 10 album lists the other week and yes, we know you're fuming because we didn't include Emeralds or Darkstar or Tinie Tempah or Adebisi Shank – but hold your fire. Time for a dollop of context and some Venn diagrams.

2010 was the year pop finally digested what happened when it ate itself a while back. 2010 was a year joining the dots between pop's various staging posts was like embarking on a game of Twister. In 2010, keeping track of where pop was coming from and going was nearly impossible to do.

In 2010, you listened to music. It didn't matter if it was hip-hop or alternative or dubstep or pop or indie – it was music. And there was lots of it.

Yet the doom and gloom merchants railed on and on about the death of the industry. Sales of recorded music are down and fans aren't happy about shelling out for overpriced concert tickets. Every new technological innovation chips another shard from the infrastructure.

But such doom and gloom had no bearing on those who hear wild sounds in their head that they want to get out to the world. Yes, of course, it may have an effect on the long-term who, what, why, where, when and how of the process, but it doesn't stop the music.

At every turn, you found musicians, producers and singers crafting tracks that took everything we knew from the past, rejigged the components and brewed something new. You could call it po-mo, but let's leave that to the Barthes groupies.

Into this wonderful ball of confusion strode Kanye West. Traditionalists may wonder why he left it until so late in the year to release the game-changing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but traditionalists probably weren't paying attention to West's G.O.O.D. Friday scheme. Every week from the summer on, West supplied clues to what he was doing in a studio in Hawaii. Once he began hooking us up with the tunes, all eyes were on him. The Twitter and Ustream feeds? Just promo gravy.

This album is big – bigger than Godzilla. I'm still finding new lines and hooks, even after umpteen listens. Marshalling a larger cast than you'll find on the stage of an average Broadway musical with impeccable aplomb, West takes the notion of a pop album to a new whole level.

It's not just in the imagination and ambition on show – it's in how tunes like All Of the Lightsand Monsterare pitched and realised. He can do it. Time to listen to Yeezy.

DEAD LETTER CHORUS

Yet another Aussie band who deserve to be known and loved far beyond. We’re digging the Sydney outfit’s charming, sweet indie-pop tunes like Run, Wild, the title track from forthcoming second album and a reminder that it’s summer on the other side of the planet.

myspace.com/ deadletterchorus

FANTASTIC MR FOX

Already heartily endorsed by The xx, James Blake and Warpaint, Manchester producer Stephen Gomberg is the man to see if you're after space-age beeps, alien disco tunes and 24th century techno feasts. Check out the EvelynEP on Black Acre for the full story.

myspace.com/fmforigami

GAMES

The 1980s haven't gone away, you know, as this new get-up from Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford shows. Their Games That We Can PlayEP for Hippos In Tanks is wall to wall with quirky, kooky, occasionally cheesy nods to the decade of big shoulder pads and bigger hair.

myspace.com/gamesmusic

Hercules Love Affair My House(Moshi Moshi) Let's hope Andy Butler and co's second album, Blue Songs, is coming down the same soulful house tracks as this little smasher.

Katy B Lights On(Columbia) Monster pop tune from one of the acts to keep a close eye on in 2011, with perfectly pitched vocal assists from Ms Dynamite.

Breton Counterbalance EP(Hemlock) The dubstep label that introduced James Blake to the world takes a shine to the arty London-based music and visuals collective. Smart tunes, beats and ideas.

Young Galaxy Peripheral Visionaries(Paper Bag) Hugely infectious track from the Montreal band comes with plenty of Balearic depth thanks to Studio dude Dan Lissvik's production.

Lykke Li Get Some (Mike D remix)(LL) While we wait for our favourite Swedish pop act's Wounded Rhymesalbum (due in late February), Beastie Boy Mike D goes to work with the first single.