That's an awfully daunting question. What sort of music do you normally listen to?

Classical, jazz, hip hop, world, some folk/country and such. And pop (i.e. top 40) is very easy to keep track of so no need to recommend like.. Drake or Rhianna to me. That's why I said "indie-type" music.

You can of course recommend past bands to me like Eric Clapton or something but I'm really wondering about groups and artists that are relevant currently.

Oh another genre I'm extremely ignorant of is electronic type of music along the lines of Daft Punk or... uh.. is Miike Snow electronic?

Idk. Or dangermouse or something I really have no idea what I'm talking about as I'm sure you can tell.

Anyone think they can taxonomically break down the genres and subgenres of this kind of music for me?

I'm not musicologist (if that's the correct term) so I can't give you a breakdown of genres nor am I big into electronic but some places to start might be:

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Caribou - Andorra

My list is pretty limited by what electronic I listen to but I those are my favourite so I'd suggest youtubing a single or two from each album to see what direction you're most inclined to go in.

The National, The Black Keys, Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, the Shins, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire are all pretty famous and relevant bands in this 'genre.' They are also very different and of different vintages so you will probably find something you like. You could also just look at the lineups at the big festivals -- Coachella, Sasquatch, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. If a band is playing an evening slot at any of those places, they are definitely a popular 'indie' band.

also, Bon Iver - Bon Iver is more or less the consensus album of the year (Grammy nomination, Pitchfork #1, Paste #1, etc) so I would start with that.

Regarding electronic music, before you delve into it deeper, this guide might be a good starting spot:

http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

http://i.imgur.com/cIQrx.jpg

There you go. Not necessarily my favorites, but mostly good stuff.

The biggest problem but also the greatest thing going is just how much music there is. And how much coverage there is. You can likely find almost anything you want. But you likely need a starting place.

For me its easy because I tend to try and support local artists I go to websites like herohill.ca, southernsouls.ca, cbc radio 3 or weird canada to find a lot of my music. Being so broad it might be harder.

Frank makes a good points about year-end lists. Might be worthwhile reading through the lists per Pitchfork, Paste or Popmatters. Or even Stereogum or Prefix but they are both user-voted bullshit. Read the blurbs and try out some bands.

When I asked this question like 6 years ago I was told to check the following:

Iron & Wine
Ben Kweller
Modest Mouse
Death From Above 1976
Muse
LCD Soundsystem
!!!

The Decemberists, The Fiery Furnaces, Poets of the Fall are not exactly indie for me (I don't like the usual indie sound) but some people would definitely lump them in as well. Since you don't care for exact labels, they should work just fine.

Lol who'd you ask 6 years ago?

Ian Li

That might not actually be true... I don't remember.

Bon Iver are a good band and the style of music is an independent sound that is popular at the moment. I would classify it more like "new folk" than pop though. Other bands of that ilk include Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, Devandra Banhart, Bower Birds, Okkerville River, Animal Collective...

For a more indie pop rock sound I would suggest Foster the People are worth checking out.

For a more electronic sound if you already like MGMT, you might also like the New Zealand band Naked and the Famous or the british group Ou est la Swimming Pool (the lead singer is dead now though alas), or M83.

Regarding the term "indie" - originally it just meant independent (as in not on a major lable). The term indie rock varies - it can be anything from low-fi jangly guitars (Pavement), for example to more thrash hard rock sound (like Nirvana). Indie pop usually means that music is quite melodic - and more quirky rather than aggressive sounding. (I consider the Velvet Underground to be the god fathers of all Indie pop rock) Indie Electronic music on the other hand - I think that can all be traced back to New Order.

Other than the ones already mentioned, I'd add:

My Morning Jacket
Company of Thieves
Tune Yards
The Naked and the Famous
We Are Augustines
The Joy Formidable

Also, when I'm looking for something new, I'll tune into kexp.org. It's a Seattle radio station that specializes in this type of music, they have a lot of good stuff and, much like other stations and music sites, they're putting out their top albums and songs of the year soon.

I actually never listened to the new Bon Iver album. I liked the last one but wasn't blown away with it so I just never bothered to d/l (and obviously not buy) the new one. Listening to it now though. It's phenomenal.

This is good keep this coming I appreciate this. I had heard of many of these groups but never gotten around to remembering them/caring before. Will look them all up now.

Which ones did you like the most and we can suggest more along that route.

About Bon Iver being the album of the year, I've also seen a few rankings put Civilian by Wye Oak up there, or near the top at least.

If the Rolling Stones were and earthquake, then the Brian Jonestown Massacre is the aftershock; I highly recommend them. Take It From The Man! is considered their most accessible album, I think. Somebody above mentioned Danger Mouse: Look up what he's a part of and what he's produced and you'll find some good stuff, especially the massive collaborative album, Dark Night of the Soul. Someone else mentioned LCD Soundsystem, they're quality. If you want something unlike anything else you've ever heard I would suggest Caribou's latest album, Swim. It might be like walking on the moon to you. Anyway, favorites of mine are...
The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas
The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Spacegirl and Other Favorites
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Thank God For Mental Illness
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Peel Sessions
Cake - Comfort Eagle
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Probably the most relevant as far as "indie" is concerned, I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned)

Based on your tastes, I think you would like these albums the best:
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast/Useless Creatures
Andrew Bird - Plasticities
Beirut - The Flying Cup Club
Beirut - Elephant Gun - EP

Cheers.

Note: The newest album on here is from 2009 (Noble Beast) and the oldest is from 1993 (Spacegirl & Other Favorites). All I'm saying is that I'm not exactly on the cutting edge.

eh no worries about that i'm decidedly less so. old school hip hop is about as modern as it gets for me.