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]

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...