Guardian Music — With a compelling backstory that might even be true, Willis Earl Beal is hollering the blues so well XL has snapped him upHometown: Chicago.The lineup: Willis Earl Beal (voice, instruments).The background: Willis Earl Beal is the male answer to Cold ... more info

Guardian Music — Here are the 10 contenders for one of British pop's 50 most covetable awards. But who is your favourite?Once again, it's time for the Guardian first album award, our prize for the best British debut of last year. The 10 contenders from 2011 take in d... more info

Rollo & Grady — Image edited by Ben Kramer Yesterday we posted our annual feature in which our favorite artists list their top albums of 2011. Today we’ve enlisted some of our favorite music bloggers, music supervisors, comedians, DJs, journalists, and various ind... more info

Brooklyn Vegan — by Andrew Sacher James Blake at MHOW in October (more by Amanda Hatfield) The 22nd Annual Benefit Concert for Tibet House US is taking place this year at Carnegie Hall on February 13. Philip Glass, who is the artistic director... more info

Discobelle.net — New Yorker turned Angelino Gina Turner transforms the James Blake track “The Willhelm’s Scream” into a moody techhouse stomper. more info

XLR8R — Though you may have already heard the music of Welsh artist Ifan Dafydd (possibly here or here), those tracks were bootleg remixes of sorts, borrowing heavily from the music of Usher and Amy Winehouse. The tunes—which some people mistakenly thought... more info

Bridging The Atlantic — Turns out I was listening to a lot of hip hop this past year. 2011 saw some big name releases as well as many smaller names starting to move into the spotlight. Bon Iver and The Weeknd, I'm looking at you.Artists include Jay-Z and Kanye West, The Wee... more info

Pop Justice — In 'political popstar gone wrong' news, Kelly Clarkson has caused a bit of a hoo-ha on Twitter after professing her love and support for Republican Candidate Ron Paul. (Hollywood Reporter) (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kelly-clarkson-ron-pau... more info

411 Mania — Listen to "A Case Of You"... more info

Perez Hilton — We still so love him! Check out the latest single from James Blake (above) called A Case Of You! So pretty!!! more info