Most blogged artists: Beirut and Jay-Z and Kanye West drop new albums

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American indie band Beirut, fronted by Zachary Francis Condon, debut in The Hype Machine’s most blogged artists chart on August 10 with the release of their third album, The Rip Tide. Also back in the blogosphere are rap titans Jay-Z and Kanye West, who dropped their much-anticipated joint effort Watch the Throne.

“ The Rip Tide is Beirut's third long-player, and it continues Condon's love affair with baroque instrumentation,” writes blogger Jonk Music. Beirut, who also just performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago, launched in 2006 as Condon’s solo project but has since expanded into a full-fledged band, know for its unusual blend of Balkan folk and gypsy sounds with modern indie rock.

Blogger reviews are also in for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s collaborative album Watch The Throne, which dropped digitally on August 8 and will release physically on August 12. “The record is clearly the product of West’s distinct vision, with Jay-Z doing his professional, precise Jay-Z thing,” writes blogger Fluxblog. “Have to say that Kanye sort of killed Jay on this one,” adds blogger Unpiano.

The 10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on August 10 at 11:00 GMT:

Jens Lekman (no change)
Neon Indian (no change)
Air France (+1)
Beirut (new)
Tycho (no change)
Porcelain Raft
Male Bonding (+1)
Chromeo (-1)
Ap
Jay-Z and Kanye West (reentry)

Launched in 2005, The Hype Machine aggregates information from more than 1,000 music blogs worldwide. Known for identifying up-and-coming artists, the site enables music fans to easily find out what music is hot in the blogosphere and to instantly hear and buy mp3s.

http://www.hypem.com

See Beirut perform as part of a video series for music website La Blogothèque: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R781LDKOVJE