Most blogged artists: jj, The xx, Gorillaz

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On Friday, the most blogged artists of the moment according to The Hype Machine are Swedish pop group jj and Texas band Spoon, in first and second place. In third is South London fourpiece band The xx, whose 2009 debut album xx earned major recognition from music reviewers.

The xx, whose members the blog Stereogum (stereogum.com) calls "melancholic twee minimalists," was named that site's best new act of 2009, and xx was named among the best albums of the year by NME, Pitchfork, and The Guardian Critics Poll. The band just embarked on a tour of Europe, is set to perform at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, in April, and has tour dates scheduled with Hot Chip and jj in the spring.

The Gorillaz, who are due to headline the Coachella Festival in April, are in sixth place in the blogosphere. British musician David Albarn's collaboration with a revolving roster of musicians will release a third studio album, Plastic Beach, on March 8. Surving the Golden Age (survivingthegoldenage.blogspot.com) wrote on January 21, "The blogosphere has been clamoring over the new Gorillaz single, 'Stylo.'" Tuneage (tuneage.tumblr.com) calls the track, which features Bobby Womack and Mos Def, "a minimalist-disco tune that plows ahead on top of Damon Albarn's rhythmic, mantra-like singing."

10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on January 22 at 10:00 AM GMT:

• jj
• Spoon
• The xx
• Surfer Blood
• Vampire Weekend
• Gorillaz
• Beach House
• Massive Attack
• Toro Y Moi
• Seabear

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://hypem.com