Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, rock and pop. They garnered acclaim and commercial success and are regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music.

Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz' music has featured collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.

Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. The band formerly included lead vocalists Jonny Craig and Kurt Travis, bassists Eric Lodge, Jason Ellis, and Tim Feerick, and guitarists Alvaro Alcala, Sean O'Sullivan, Zachary Garren, and Josh Benton. The lineup has changed numerous times since their inception. Swan and Mingus are the only band members who have appeared on every studio album.

Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, backing vocals). Former band member Andy Nicholson (bass guitar, backing vocals) left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released.

Arctic Monkeys were heralded as one of the first bands to come to public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed. Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history, and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. It won Best British Album at the 2007 Brit Awards. The band's second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), was also acclaimed by critics and won Best British Album at the 2008 BRIT Awards. They went on to release Humbug (2009) and Suck It and See (2011).

Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin. The band's work is characterized by an eclectic exploration of styles, including psychedelia, freak folk, noise, and electronica, with the use of elements such as loops, drones, sampling, vocal harmonies, and sound collage. AllMusic's Fred Thomas suggests that the group "defined the face of independent experimental rock during the 2000s and 2010s."

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring member in 2009 and replaced Imaad Wasif, who had previously held the role. According to an interview that aired during ABC's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular.

Madvillainy is the only studio album by American hip hop duo Madvillain, consisting of rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib. It was released on March 23, 2004, on Stones Throw Records.

My Bloody Valentine are an Irish-English rock band formed in Dublin in 1983 and consisting since 1987 of founding members Kevin Shields, Colm Ó Cíosóig with Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe (bass). Their music is characterized by dissonant guitar textures, androgynous vocals, and unorthodox production techniques. They are credited with pioneering the 1990s genre shoegaze.

Neil Stephen Cicierega is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, singer, YouTuber, musician, songwriter, puppeteer, artist, and animator. He is known as the creator of a genre of Flash animation he termed "Animutation", the Harry Potter puppet parody series Potter Puppet Pals, and several music albums under the name Lemon Demon. He also released a series of mashup albums under his own name that have since gained a cult following.

Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, formed by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass, who later left and was replaced by Edith Frances. Crystal Castles were known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi melancholic homemade productions. They released many limited vinyl singles between 2006 and 2007 before releasing four studio albums between 2008 and 2016.

Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London, consisting of Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash. They are guitar-fronted and have experimented with different genres, including folk, electronica, world music and indie rock.

The band were given the opening slot on 2006's V Festival after winning a competition. They subsequently released two EPs and their debut single "Evening/Morning". Since then, the band has released five albums including So Long, See You Tomorrow which topped the album charts in February 2014. The band has toured worldwide as a headlining act, playing North America, Australia, Europe and Asia.

In January 2016, the four members announced that they would pursue solo projects. Ed Nash recorded music under the name Toothless, and released his debut album in early 2017. Frontman Jack Steadman, under the name Mr Jukes, released his debut album in 2017.

Two Door Cinema Club are a band from Bangor, Northern Ireland. The band formed in 2007 and is composed of three members: Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday, and Kevin Baird.

Fun is an American pop rock band based in New York City. The band consists of Jack Antonoff, Andrew Dost, and Nate Ruess.

Ratatat is a Brooklyn-based electronic rock duo consisting of Mike Stroud and producer Evan Mast.

Daniel Dumile ( DOO-mə-lay; July 13, 1971 – October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and "supervillain" stage persona, Dumile became a major figure of underground hip hop and alternative hip hop in the 2000s. After his death, Variety described him as one of the scene's "most celebrated, unpredictable and enigmatic figures".

Born in London, Dumile moved to Long Island, New York, at a young age. He began his career in 1988 as a member of KMD, performing as Zev Love X. The group disbanded in 1993 upon the death of member DJ Subroc, Dumile's brother. After a hiatus, Dumile reemerged in the late 1990s. He began performing at open mic events while wearing a metal mask resembling that of Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom, who is depicted on the cover of his 1999 debut solo album Operation: Doomsday. He adopted the MF Doom persona and rarely made unmasked public appearances thereafter.

Yoko Kanno (菅野 よう子, Kanno Yōko, born March 18, 1963) is a Japanese composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime films, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, Kids on the Slope, Genesis of Aquarion and Terror in Resonance, and has worked with the directors Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichirō Watanabe and Shōji Kawamori. Kanno has also composed music for pop artists Maaya Sakamoto and Kyōko Koizumi. She is also a keyboardist, and is the frontwoman for the Seatbelts, who perform many of Kanno's compositions and soundtracks.

Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder.

Flying Lotus has released seven studio albums‍—‌1983 (2006), Los Angeles (2008), Cosmogramma (2010), Until the Quiet Comes (2012), You're Dead! (2014), Flamagra (2019) and Yasuke (2021)‍—‌to critical acclaim. He has produced much of the bumper music on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. He also contributed remixes for fellow Plug Research artists including Mia Doi Todd.

In 2012, Flying Lotus began rapping under the persona Captain Murphy, based on the Sealab 2021 character of the same name. Ellison kept this fact a secret for several months, finally revealing his identity several weeks after the release of his first rap mixtape: Duality (2012).

Metaphorical Music is Nujabes' first solo album released in 2003. It offers a combination of hip hop and instrumental jazz, and features artists like Shing02, Substantial, Five Deez and Cise Starr. Despite the fact that the album has contributing vocals from several artists, it is roughly classified as a breakbeat album.

Scott Hansen (born February 7, 1977), known professionally as Tycho ( TY-koh), is an American musician, record producer, composer, and songwriter based in San Francisco. He is also known as ISO50 for his photographic and design work. His music blends multiple stylistic components, including downtempo guitar, analogue synthesis, and ambient elements such as breathing and found sounds of weather broadcasts and dialogue.

Tycho's first EP, titled The Science of Patterns, was released in 2002. The first Tycho album, Past Is Prologue, was released in 2006. At this time Tycho was a solo project created by Hansen.

Tycho signed to Mom+Pop and Ninja Tune in 2019 but has also released music on Ghostly International, Merck Records and Gammaphone Records. The fourth studio album, Epoch, received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album in the 2017 Grammy Awards.

American Football (sometimes stylised in all lowercase as american football or americ anfootball) is an American rock band from Urbana, Illinois, originally active from 1997 until 2000, and again beginning with 2014 and onwards. The band was formed by guitarist/bassist and singer Mike Kinsella (formerly of Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc and currently of Owen), guitarist Steve Holmes (also a member of the Geese) and drummer and trumpet player Steve Lamos (formerly of the One Up Downstairs, one-time member of the Firebird Band and Edward Burch & the Staunch Characters, and currently of the Geese and DMS), who has since left the band.

Despite the group's short initial lifespan, their self-titled debut album became one of the most acclaimed emo and math rock records of its era. American Football reunited in 2014, with Kinsella's cousin Nate Kinsella joining the band, and has since released two more albums, both bearing the same name as their debut: American Football (2016) and American Football (2019).

Animal Crossing, known in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori+, is a 2001 social simulation game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is an enhanced version of the Nintendo 64 game Dōbutsu no Mori, which was only released in Japan earlier the same year, and was followed by another edition, Dōbutsu no Mori e+, in 2003.

Animal Crossing is an endless and non-linear game in which a human takes up residence in a village inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. The main goal of the game is to save money in order to pay off the mortgage on the human's house. This requires collecting natural materials and selling them. The human can engage in everyday life in the village, interact with the animals, attend events, and contribute to the village's development. The game's western localization differs significantly from the original release in that Japanese holidays and cultural references are replaced with Western ones.

Katamari Damacy (lit. 'Clump Spirit') is a third-person puzzle-action video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in March 2004 and in North America in September 2004. Designer Keita Takahashi struggled to pitch the game to Namco's superiors, eventually seeking student aid from the Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory to develop the project for less than US$ 1 million. As director, Takahashi emphasized concepts of novelty, ease of understanding, and enjoyment.

The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations, and Moon, which were inadvertently destroyed by his father, the King of All Cosmos. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to human beings to mountains, until the ball has grown large enough to become a star. Katamari Damacy's story, settings and characters are highly stylized and surreal, often both celebrating and satirizing facets of Japanese culture.

Ace Attorney is a series of visual novel adventure video games developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, was released in 2001; since then, five further main series games, as well as various spin-offs, prequels and high-definition remasters for newer game consoles, have been released. Additionally, the series has seen adaptations in the form of a live-action film and an anime, and has been the base for manga series, drama CDs, musicals and stage plays.

Jet Set Radio Future is a 2002 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Xbox; it is a sequel to the Dreamcast game Jet Set Radio (2000). As a re-imagining of the original game, it features improved gameplay mechanics, updated graphics, larger open world environments, new characters, a new soundtrack and multiplayer gameplay. The player controls members of a street gang that use inline skates to traverse a futuristic Tokyo, spraying graffiti, challenging rival gangs, and evading authorities. Like Jet Set Radio, Future uses a cel-shaded style of animation.

Jet Set Radio Future received critical acclaim for its gameplay, music, and art style. It won several awards and was nominated for many others. After its initial release, it was bundled with new Xbox consoles with Sega GT 2002 on a dual-game DVD.

Katamari Damacy is a third-person puzzle-action video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in March 2004 and in North America in September 2004. Designer Keita Takahashi struggled to pitch the game to Namco's superiors, eventually seeking student aid from the Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory to develop the project for less than US$ 1 million. As director, Takahashi emphasized concepts of novelty, ease of understanding, and enjoyment.

Ōkami (Japanese: 大神, lit. "great god" or "great spirit") is an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months after the release, a port for Wii was developed by Ready at Dawn, Tose, and Capcom, and released in 2008.

Set in classical Japan, Ōkami combines Japanese mythology and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the Shinto sun goddess, named Amaterasu, who took the form of a white wolf. It features a sumi-e-inspired cel-shaded visual style and the Celestial Brush, a gesture-system to perform miracles. The game was planned to use more traditional realistic rendering, but this had put a strain on the graphics processing of the PlayStation 2. Clover Studio switched to a cel-shaded style to reduce the processing, which led to the Celestial Brush concept. The gameplay is modeled on The Legend of Zelda, one of director Hideki Kamiya's favorite series. The game's name is a pun, as "ōkami" can mean either "great god" (大神) or "wolf" (狼) in Japanese.