Poptimists Review of 2006: Genre Of The Year

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

Re: Boys on one side, girls on the other

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Lyrical resonance isn't necessarily indicative of emo though - I mean I agree with everything you say about writing lyrics on yr pencilcase &c (which I did as a teenager!), but eg just because Cassie's lyrics resonate with me on an emotional level does not mean that Cassie is emo.

And while I don't deny that angst is big for teenagers I'm not convinced that overt angst (rather than angst sublimated beneath macho fronting or pop platitudes) is so dominant - the equivalent would be imagining everyone in my year at school being into Tori Amos and Courtney Love. (Although having said that all the boys did seem to like Nirvana.)

(Of course emo is dominant among teenagers on livejournal though!)