by Chris Ryan
LCD Soundsystem's sophomore effort, Sound of Silver, has won the second annual Idolator.com Critics Poll, besting M.I.A.'s Kala in the albums race. And in a turn of events about as surprising as the sun coming up this moring, Rihanna's "Umbrella" was named single of the year.
Continue reading "All My Votes: LCD Soundsystem Wins Idolator Crtics Poll" »
The Internet, for better or worse, is a great experiment in democracy, giving everyone a critical soapbox to shout from. That can be a wonderful thing, but it does make for a daunting number of year-end “Best Of” lists. Certain artists appeared with predictable regularity: M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Panda Bear, Arcade Fire and The National all got ample amounts of love. We’ve sorted through the web’s detritus to come up with a handful of our favorite lists, from the mainstream to the underground and the just plain bizarre.
And if the following links don't quite satiate your need for meta-list craziness, check out the archival work of those
gracious overachievers over at Largehearted Boy.
by Matty Karas
Commercially speaking, 2007 was a worse year for pop music than 2006, which was worse than 2005. The Internet is ruining everything. As of this writing, exactly five albums have sold as many as two million copies this year. Two are Disney soundtracks, one a classic-rock album available only at Wal-Mart, one a Christmas album, and one a rock band that got its break on "American Idol" (thank god for "American Idol"). Fortunately, actual rock fans don't subscribe to Billboard or look at Soundscan every week. They just turn on the radio or go to clubs or surf YouTube and MySpace in search of Lil' Mama or Lil Wayne or a lil' techno or a lil' acoustic number. Or they actually watch "American Idol." Or make their own music. When everyone else is bitching about the rain, they simply open an umbrella and carry on. In all those ways and more, 2007 was a fantastic year for pop.
The more we reflect on the year in rock, the more it feels like a long afternoon spent at the multiplex. There were well-anticipated (if only occasionally) satisfying blockbusters, nubile starlets debuting in breakthrough roles, and a sprinkling of art-house crossovers. Like sequels to our favorite flicks, the parade of marquee reunions offered both spine-tingling and unsightly results. The year's other rock-related stories, like Phil Spector's trial, Van Halen's roller coaster and the lumbering maneuvers of the record industry, were chock-full of surprise endings. Here are the top 10 memorable rock'n'roll moments of 2007.
by Dan Shumate
'Twas an exciting year for alternative, indie and punk. There were many a fine album, most notably from LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, M.I.A. and Spoon. Radiohead's DIY approach to selling music demonstrated how a single band could instill change in an entire industry. Indie rock went top 10. Against Me! and the return of Bad Brains revived punk's feeble pulse. And Daft Punk blurred the lines between performance art, theatre and live concert. And now, for the top 10 highlights of 2007 ...
Rhapsody hip-hop editors Sam Chennault and Toshitaka Kondo linked up to try and make sense of it all. Read on for their take on the year’s 10 biggest trends, events and releases.
Country music chart-hawks and industry movers might be pleased to check out our 2007: The Year In Country playlist. But the following top 10 twang-based list is a bit more personal. I've been the Country Music Editor at Rhapsody for over eight years now, and 2007 was the first year that I went to Fan Fair in Nashville. It was there that I attended countless live performances and met a sea of truly interesting people, so some of those experiences helped make up this list. And as my luck would have it, there were some really crazy and cool things happening on the sidelines that couldn't go unmentioned. Of course, there were some albums and songs from off the beaten path that I'd like to share with you too. So here it is, my top 10 list of what I remember most about country music in 2007.
Rhapsody's 2007: The Year in Christian Music playlist headlined that CCM had grown three sizes this year. Now we bring you the rest of that story: an American "Idol"'s gospel debut, Christian acts rocking "Grey's Anatomy" and the House of Blues, plus heaps more. Read on for the top 10 moments in Christian/gospel music of 2007.
Yes, we work with -- and listen to -- music all year long. But we're not agnostic eunuchs -- we got views on what's good, what's bad, what's ugly, and we express these to each other, loudly and boisterously (sometimes, even explicitly). And the Rhapsody Poll is where our collective opinion stands up and gets counted - literally.
Here's how it worked. Every Rhapsody staffer offered their favorite 10 albums of 2007, the top 90 or so albums cited were put in a pool, and each member of the Rhapsody editorial staff assigned points to their favorite ten of those (10 points for #1, 1 point for #10). (The song poll was a complete free-for-all.) Capiche? Enjoy!
by Chris Ryan
Judged by the habits of Rhapsody listeners, 2007 was a year ruled by women. As it should be. Despite the disproportionate male domination on the release schedule, fully half the albums and songs in the Listener's Favorites Top 10 (compiled from Rhapsody statistics) were by ladies, including both top album and top song spots, and the top four songs. So roll on glamorous sisters, girlfriends, big girls, good girls and back-to-black girls. And may '08 see your success reach beyond the pop realm. We'll be listening.
