Top of the Pods: XFM vs Tong

Slowly and surely over the last year, more people have been figuring out the wonder of Podcasts. Unless they've, heaven forbid, been a little illegal, most free podcasts are speech based. Finally now deals are being done and legal music based 'casts are beginning to appear.

If you're not yet familiar with the concept then this BBC guide will tell you pretty much everything you need to know. Putting it simply, you find a podcast you like, subscribe to it using iTunes or your favourite Podcast client, and hey presto, every time there is a new episode it will download an mp3 automatically which you can do anything you like with.

In the first of a regular feature these are the two podcasts that have caught the Londonist eye this week.

First up it's XFM who have teamed up with record label V2 to weekly release a 15 minute podcast focusing on one artist and containing full tracks. This week it's Elbow, and we can't help but think that surely they could have found someone a little more exciting to launch with, but hey ho. The podcast contains 3 exclusive versions of tracks from their latest album Leaders of the Free World and comments on each of them by band frontman Guy Garvey. Next week though it's the much more exciting The Rakes so it could be worth keeping an eye out on this one.

And second comes Pete Tong who this week launched his TONGCAST. Pete seems very excited about the podcast chart and begs us to please log on and download so I can climb above Chris Evans!!. Bless! Instead of being a BBC official podcast with snippits taken from shows like the Moyles 'cast, this is specially produced with 21 minutes of the hottest dance music akin to that which you'd hear on the Essential Selection. This week's show includes tracks from Bodyrockers, Tom Vek and Cream as well as a cheeky advert for his new CD compilation.

If you're a fan of Tong and all that he plays then you most certainly want to get your hands on this podcast, so grab it from here. We can't wait for next weeks!

Snoozy indie vs pumping dance? It's easy! Tong wins!