Most blogged artists: M.I.A., The xx, Jamaica

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British rapper and activist M.I.A. is the most blogged act on The Hype Machine on April 27, following the release of her new single "Born Free" and a graphically violent accompanying video. Toronto electronic act Crystal Castles and Swedish pop group jj are in second and third, while other top ten acts include The xx and Jamaica.

South London band The xx, whose 2009 debut album was named among the best albums of the year by NME, Pitchfork, and The Guardian Critics Poll, is currently on tour with Hot Chip. Bloggers are sharing various mp3s and videos of the group's live performances, including a full show in Washington DC that is streaming online at npr.org and that Indieball (www.indieball.com) calls "shockingly good."

Up-and-coming French duo Jamaica released a new track, "I Think I Like U 2," earlier this month, the first leak from an album due out in August. That track is back in the blogs in the form of two remixes by DJs Breakbot and Buffalo Bunch. The duo has also released a mixtape of which Indie Music Speaker (indiemusicspeaker.com) writes, "Near-immaculate song selection with a clean 80's-era disco and classic rock sound that will give you goose-bumps and a stupid grin as each new track rolls out."

The 10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on April 27 at 10:00am GMT:

• M.I.A. (+6)
• Crystal Castles (-1)
• jj (-1)
• Caribou (-1)
• Gang Starr (-1)
• The xx (-4)
• White Hinterland (+1)
• The National (+1)
• LCD Soundsystem (-4)
• Jamaica (re-entry)

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