Most blogged artists: Sufjan Stevens, Pete Yorn

Indie musician Sufjan Stevens continues to be the most popular act in the music blogosphere on August 31, according to The Hype Machine. Dream-pop duo Beach House and rapper Kanye West remain in second and third, while rock singer-songwriter Pete Yorn has just broken into the top ten.

Sufjan Stevens became one of The Hype Machine's most blogged acts on August 25 following the surprise release of a new 60-minute EP All Delighted People. The artist has now announced plans to release a full-length album, The Age of Adz (pronounced "odds"), on October 12. A track from that album, "I Walked," is now available as a free download at bandcamp.com. According to Stevens's label Asthmatic Kitty, the new album "shows an extensive use of electronics...and an obsession with cosmic fantasies...to create an explicit pop-song extravaganza, augmented by heavy orchestration, and maybe even a few danceable moments."

American singer and guitarist Pete Yorn first achieved widespread success with his critically acclaimed 2001 debut album musicforthemorningafter. He has since released three additional solo LPs and toured with bands including R.E.M., Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, and Foo Fighers. Yorn just shared the track "Velcro Shoes" from a self-titled studio album due out September 28. Consequence of Sound (consequenceofsound.net) says "the simple, straight-forward, guitar-centric nostalgia trip has all the complexity of a John Fogerty track (plus quadruple the rocking-ness) and the absolute simplicity and sheer child-like energy to make it a true emotional trip down Memory Lane."

The 10 most blogged artists on The Hype Machine on August 31 at 10:00am GMT:

• Sufjan Stevens (unchanged)
• Beach House (unchanged)
• Kanye West (unchanged)
• Ra Ra Riot (unchanged)
• Miami Horror (+2)
• The XX (+2)
• El Guincho (+2)
• Pete Yorn (new)
• Cee-Lo Green (-4)
• Ducktails (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