Most blogged artists: The Morning Benders, Gorillaz, Kiki Pau

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California indie pop band The Morning Benders is the most talked about musical act in the blogosphere on February 19, according to The Hype Machine. Making waves following the release of its single "Excuses" as a free download, the group is followed in second and third place by Vancouver garage-rock/noise-pop group Japandroids and Brooklyn rock band Yeasayer.

Gorillaz, British musician David Albarn's collaboration with a revolving roster of musicians, is moving up in the blogs in antipication of the release of Plastic Beach on March 8. "Stylo," the album's first single, was released in late January and is already seeing remixes by a variety of DJ/producers. One of the most popular remixes is by Philadelphia hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang.

Helsinki indie rock group Kiki Pau is another top talked-about artist of the moment. The band's second album, White Mountain, is due out in March, and the free track "An Old Song" is available in advance of the release. The single was shared as part of the Music Alliance Pact, by which bloggers from around the world share one track per month from their home countries. According to the MAP description, White Mountain "channels the classic sound of T.Rex, The Velvet Underground and left-field US guitar gods such as Pavement and Guide By Voices without forgetting a twist of Finnish pop."

The 10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on February 19 at 10:00 AM GMT:

• The Morning Benders 
• Japandroids 
• Yeasayer 
• Local Natives 
• The Radio Dept. 
• Toro Y Moi 
• Pattern Is Movement 
• Gorillaz 
• Kiki Pau 
• Atkinson-La Banda

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