Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Glasvegas
The Buzz: Latest UK saviors of rock gird their echoey guitar pop with a strong undercurrent of soul.
Listen If: You wish those old Motown singles were a little more keen on the distortion pedal.
Key Track: "Daddy's Gone," where vocalist James Allen does Ronnie Spector by way of Billy Bragg over "Be My Baby" tom tom hits.

The Band: Elzhi
The Buzz: Satellite Slum Village member gives hip-hop its soul back, turning out tough rhymes over grainy R&B productions.
Listen If: You want Kanye without the ego, with beats that are more throwback than throw-it-all-against-the-wall.
Key Track: "Guessing Game," which keeps an electric guitar sample twitching for nearly six minutes while Elzhi spells out the anatomy of rhyming.

The Band: Grouper
The Buzz: Avant-artist Liz Harris brings the noise, swaddling ethereal pop songs in gurgling clouds of distortion.
Listen If: You used to play Kate Bush records through a walkie-talkie for extra eerieness.
Key Track: "When We Fall," a hushed and somber funeral song glowing inside a skeleton of guitar.

Photo:Travis Schneider
Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Army Navy
The Buzz: That combative name is a bit of misdirection: these Seattle power-poppers write songs more suitable for lovers than fighters.
Listen If: You wish the Stone Roses were a little more forceful or Oasis were a little more restrained.
Key Track: "Saints," a bit of bounding jangle-pop guided by Justin Kennedy's plaintive, searching vocals.

The Band: Tough Alliance
The Buzz: Impish Swedes turn dance music inside out, making moody floor-fillers that mashup disco and house.
Listen If: Your favorite dance move is the wallflower classic: a slow, meaningful head-bob.
Key Track: "First Class Riot," where it seems the band ingested more XTC than ecstasy, resulting in a bright, yearning bit of Britpop.

The Band: <3 Svanhvit!
The Buzz: None yet, but there should be: this collection of Icelandic teenagers has one of the most satisfying live shows to come along in a while, delivering big, riotous group-sing pop songs that sound like exclamation points.
Listen If: You want the next thing before it happens, or have a soft spot for bands with more than 6 members and a saxophone.
Key Track: The new "Gluggin," where the band tones down its rambunctiousness to deliver a sweet, lilting ballad.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Gaslight Anthem
The Buzz: Earnest Jerseyites pair roaring chords with heart-on-sleeve sentiments.
Listen If: You were ever a member of a punk rock Springsteen cover band, or if you think Jesse Malin is the most underrated artist of our generation.
Key Track: "The '59 Sound," which employs a gang of guitars and a grand, hollered chorus in its consideration of mortality.

The Band: Human Highway
The Buzz: Pair of Canucks go all California '70s, writing airy AM anthems that balance atop a stack of pillowy harmonies.
Listen If: You not only identified the source of the band's name — a bizarre 1982 movie starring Neil Young — but you also own a contraband DVD copy.
Key Track: "The Sound," whose shuffling beat and tight guitar strums are the perfect accompaniment to the waning days of summer.

The Band: Koushik
The Buzz: DJ/Producer works up languid, Air-y jams that sound like drifting clouds, rolling seas.
Listen If: You've dreamed of some hybrid of hip-hop and easy listening.
Key Track: "Lying in the Sun," which tops Koushik's gentle-wind production with an equally airy falsetto vocal.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week pulls its highlights from Blog Fresh Radio.

The Band: Burial
The Buzz: Formerly anonymous dubstep producer reveals his face and name, ending thousands of cockamamie theories in one fell swoop.
Listen If: You've always thought reggae and R&B would sound better sped up, and made out of wires.
Key Track: "Archangel," where a baleful soul vocal is knocked around by big, blocky percussion.

The Band: Tittsworth
The Buzz: Manic, hyperkenetic DC DJ releases manic, hyperkenetic debut.
Listen If: You're staring down one last summer party — all you need is a soundtrack.
Key Track: "WTF," where the spectacularly sassy Kid Sister snarls and spits over a gleefully amphetimized disco track.

The Band: Richard Swift
The Buzz: Prolific California singer/songwriter veers from Bacharach pop to quasi-R&B, but tackles all with scholarly precision.
Listen If: You want a history of 20th century pop, and you want it done in about 45 minutes.
Key Track: "Would You," where Swift pulls off an impressive girl-group lead vocal — it's the Shirelles via David Lynch.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Hospital Ships
The Buzz: Fractured folk from Lawrence, KS, the Ships combine quavering vocals with delicate instrumentation.
Listen If: You'd like the Flaming Lips if only their songs were a bit tinier.
Key Track: "The Shots I Drank," a seasick nursery rhyme played out against rolling piano and hazy flutes.

The Band: Marching Band
The Buzz: Swedish duo crafts pillowy pop, brightened with bands of psychedelia.
Listen If: You spend Saturdays eating mushrooms and listening to the Shins.
Key Track: "Gorgeous Behavior," which is full of twinkling guitars and cascading AM radio harmonies.

The Band: Women
The Buzz: California band with un-Googleable name write lower-than-lo-fi pop songs.
Listen If: You like songs where you can see the stitching, and care more about melody than instrumentation.
Key Track: "Group Transport Hall," where a swift acoustic strum carries a spry, childlike vocal.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Black Kids
The Buzz: The backlash is on: formerly adored Florida band netted buzz this week for amassing blogosphere bile.
Listen If: You want to hear what every pasty 20something is arguing about on their LiveJournal.
Key Track: "Hit the Heartbreaks," which is all polished pout and pretty chorus.

The Band: Ida Maria
The Buzz: Norwegian vocalist Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen powers through brash power-punk with snide, sneering panache.
Listen If: You've spend the last year wishing someone would show those Scandinavian buzz bands where the volume knob was.
Key Track: One of the hands-down best singles of 2008 (never mind that it technically came out in late '07), "Oh My God" starts like PJ Harvey and explodes into full-on neurotic chaos. Check the video for the full freakout.

The Band: Sic Alps
The Buzz: Take in the trash! Deliciously scuzzy San Fran duo got no time for fancy production.
Listen If: You've got a soft spot for the No-Fi Outta Tune Roughed Up Blues.
Key Track: The blown-out garage number "Message From the Law," which does acid-washed Nuggets rock on a 25-cent budget.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from some buzzworthy acts on the Hype Machine.

The Band: Wale
The Buzz: DC rapper with nimble flow nips funk and go-go, proving brainy and fun aren't mutually exclusive.
Listen If: You used to go straight from debate meets to nightclub teen nights.
Key Track: "D.C. Gorillaz," with it's wise-ass chorus, "You ain't got a chance, if you ain't got a dance." Wale's Seinfeld-sampling Mixtape About Nothing is available for free at elitaste.com.

The Band: A-Trak
The Buzz: Kanye's touring DJ nets a Nike mixtape and a tiny sliver of the spotlight.
Listen If: You fully believe in the ability of synthesizers to be funky.
Key Track: "Say Whoa," which is that "Oh Yeah" song from Ferris Bueller updated for the 21st Century.

The Band: Seun Kuti
The Buzz: Son of Afrobeat great carries on father's legacy, band, sound.
Listen If: Two drums are two too few, and you often fantasize about creating a James Brown marching band.
Key Track: "Mosquito Song," where scurrying percussion and hazy brass wrestle for supremacy against a busy, bobbing bassline.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from some buzzworthy acts on the Hype Machine.

The Band: J*Davey
The Buzz: LA electro/soul combo smoke up a sequencer and sigh over the resulting beats.
Listen If: You wish the new Erykah Badu record was longer, or you miss old, weird Prince.
Key Track: "Turn the Lights Out," which delivers big streaks of synth and pulsing rhythms.

The Band: Dead Heart Bloom
The Buzz: Brainchild of singer/songwriter Boris Skalsky, DHB deliver giant-sized guitar noise topped with gianter-size religious cynicism.
Listen If: You think the National and American Music Club are upbeat.
Key Track: "Come Back," a sublime combination of dour, druggy vocals and corkscrewing guitars. It couldn't be easier to hear, either: the band is giving away their entire EP for free.

The Band: Chris Letcher
The Buzz: South African Singer/Songwriter crafts songs that sound like dawn: low and creaky, slowly building to a big burst of light.
Listen If: You're a sucker for tricky orchestration, pleading vocals and big theatrical flourishes. Or you kinda like Arcade Fire.
Key Track: "Deep Frieze," which opens with a twinkle and crescendos with a great boom.

The Band: Ladyhawke
The Buzz: Pouty New Zealand chanteuse (real name: Pip Brown) stimulates your Lauper gland.
Listen If: You can complete this lyric: "I remember hating you for loving me/Riding on the __________."
Key Track: "Back of the Van," a song so terrifically '80s you can almost taste the Aqua Net.

The Band: Tanya Morgan
The Buzz: Never mind the name — Tanya Morgan is a hip-hop trio with an affinity for soul breaks, big beats and complex, conscious lyrics.
Listen If: You can name the four essential elements of hip-hop, and you're bummed that most popular rappers cannot.
Key Track: "Threemcees," which introduces the world to the concept of a "bi-polar bear." Which is perhaps a distant relative to the "Hypochondrioctopus"?

The Band: Black Ghosts
The Buzz: London electro duo gaining traction thanks to a recent Diplo remix.
Listen If: You used to play Colecovision just for the soundtracks.
Key Track: That Diplo remix of "Repetition Kills You," which twists the band's bright bounce down 10 octaves until it sounds like something from Violator.

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from the charts at BlogFreshRadio.

The Band: Cool Kids
The Buzz: Chicago duo do old-school hip-hop with pride, passion and plenty of punchlines.
Listen If: You also miss the sound of an 808, and prefer T La Rock to T-Pain.
Key Track: "What it Is" off the upcoming Bake Sale EP, where the pair freewheel over a track that would do Eric B proud.

The Band: White Williams
The Buzz: Weirdo electro new wave with pitch-bent vocals, LED synths and whole canyons of empty space.
Listen If: You find yourself saying the words "Man, Tubeway Army were so underrated" with alarming frequency.
Key Track: "Violator," whose twinkling electronics and strange spirals of sound will probably make your calculator and your microwave amorous.

The Band: Young Knives
The Buzz: Hip-dork Brit band overloads songs with words, riffs.
Listen If: You really could have used the concept of the "hip dork" 10 or 15 years ago.
Key Track: "Up All Night," where guitars zig-zag over bouncing-ball bass and Henry Dartnell's self-aware Cockney pout.

[Photo: Getty]