Most blogged artists: indie act Memory Tapes out with new tracks

Memory Tapes, the recording alias of New Jersey-based chillwave-turned-pop artist Dayve Hawk, takes the top spot in The Hype Machine's most blogged artists chart on May 17. The former frontman of Philadelphia's Hail Social is set to release his sophomore effort,
Piano Player, on July 3, and bloggers are swapping singles from that album. Other artists in the day's top ten: American indie band Bon Iver.

To tease the new album, Memory Tapes released a single called "Today Is Our Life" that is described as "up-tempo, uplifting and slightly psychedelic" by blogger Hotcakes (likehotcakes.net). Memory Tapes "seems to have followed the footsteps of Toro Y Moi  by releasing a cleaner, sophomore followup to a breakthrough effort," writes blogger Another Dying Artform (anotherdyingartform.blogspot.com), adding that the new tracks "feature a less phased and pitch-bent sound in favor of lighter, carefree and confident reflection."

Bon Iver, a band formed by indie folk singer/songwriter Justin Vernon, has also climbed into the top ten. The band just released the first single, "Calgary," from its forthcoming album. "'Calgary' sounds a bit like the city itself - big, distilling and…icy," writes blogger Potholes in My Blog (potholesinmyblog.com). "It's also remarkably good, building lush textures and jagged electronics around Justin Vernon's falsetto."

The 10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on May 17 at 11:00 GMT:

Memory Tapes (+1)
Mayer Hawthorne (-1)
Bon Iver (reentry)
jj (+4)
Holy Ghost! (no change)
Death Cab for Cutie (+1)
Pictureplane (new)
Alex Winston (reentry)
The War on Drugs (reentry)
Okkervil River (-6)

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 Bon Iver perform as part of a video series for music website La Blogothèque:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Swa9CYgRk