poptimists | Poptimists Review of 2006: Genre Of The Year

What was the sound of 2006? That's what we're asking in the second of our end of year polls, discussing the genre of the year. Contenders - drawn from your nominations - include...

Teenpop: Teen confessional and pop narrative (a la High School Musical) drove the genre on in '06 - more teen than ever.
R&B: From Bouncy's hi-gloss dramas through Ciara and Justin's takes on the Prince legacy to Cassie's minimal precision.
Electro: Still the sound of the clubs in 06 (like I'd know) and with big high street traction too.
Emo: The comment box's friend and the parent's foe - whatever it is, it's selling.
Nu Rave: A shot in the arm for indie or a lame NME concoction? 2006's most enigmatic genre.

(A special note: I didn't put "POP" in cos it's all pop, innit. I went for Teenpop as a more specific option, and one picked by as many people.)

[Poll #891678]

You can still vote in yesterday's poll - and still nominate in the remaining 8 categories. Final results collated in the new year!

Tomorrow I'm at home, with YouTube access, which means it's a good day to do the Video Of the Year poll.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

was it really that good a year for R&B? as opposed to 'business as usual' or even another year in which nothing changed, nothing really knocked THAT many people's socks off and things just got that little bit staler (i kind of agree with marcello about this)? i was bored of most things tho really.

even a bad year for r&b >>>>>>>>>> a good year for anything else

in terms of what actual genre ruled the year, the answer is MINIMAL HOUSE obv.

Nobody nominated Minimal House, I assume because it's a bit boring and only house spods on ILX really care about it. :)

My apologies for this crude and uncharacteristic baiting. I have every respect for minimal house. I don't know what came over me.

vive el presidente!

I would have mentioned minimal house as I've been listening to an awful lot of it this year, but my top ten singles are all pop, electro or rnb. By this I am counting Ellen A & co as electro, btw. Minimal = best dancing this year :-)

No one knows what to call it! I don't think anyone actually knows the difference between techno/electro/minimal any more.

Yeah, I assume people nominating "electro" were also including stuff like Lindstrom.

Down with cliquey microgenres!

'even a bad year for r&b >>>>>>>>>> a good year for anything else'

i thought you would say this. does it mean you agree it's been a relatively poor period for it? or if not do you think it will ever go through some period of stagnation eventually?

i think we over-empthasise the imortance of such things (there will always be one or two good tracks around in popular genres) tho.

i didn't like much of the minimal house i heard this year either alas. but an '06 min-house primer CD tracklist would be handy just to remind me what i'm missing once again hint hint

i don't think it's been a poor perios for r&b, and i don't think it will stagnate either - as far as i'm concerned every year is a great year for r&b! it's possibly more fractured than it was during the turn-of-century Golden Age, when everyone seemed to be working towards a commonly defined Timbaland/Neptunes-influenced futuristic aesthetic, which means that it has less of a hold as a genre over pop, because it's casting around in various directions at the same time: the artists Tom's mentioned are all doing wildly different things, and then you've got Amerie sampling Tom Zé, Pussycat Dolls taking it to the lowest common denominator generic level, LeToya hinting towards dirty south r&b, Yummy Bingham and her swing leanings, Brooke Valentine camping it up...

Poptimists Review of 2006: Genre Of The Year

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