HELSINKI electro pop duo TV OFF have been steadily gaining momentum with frequent live appearances, some buzz-worthy digital singles, performances as far out as London and Tokyo, and their own monthly club night, but coming up with an album release has taken its sweet time. Their debut LP The Music Machine is finally out on 12 May.

”We started working on it about 2.5 years ago, but we set out with the notion that we want to do it right the first time,” says the duo’s male half Markku. ”It was part meticulousness and part healthy perfectionism.”

Music blogs are the medium of the day. it seems Five years ago MySpace was all the rage, bringing us Lily Allen and (ahem) Sean Kingston. Well, that’s completely passé now. Today savvy pop fans are scouring a quagmire of music blogs for the hottest new MP3s instead.

In this new order, blog aggregators – sites that collect the headlines and compress thousands of articles from blogs around the world into a continuous feed of music news – wield great power for stirring buzz around certain artists.

In that regard Helsinki indie rockers Kiki Pau were momentarily the most hyped Finnish band in February, when their digital single An Old Song shot to the top ten of...