Idolator: idolator pop 07

2007 in the Mix, Part Three: Think Locally, Listen Globally

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:30:29 EST

If there's a theme running through the third and final installment of 2007 in the Mix, our super-sized supplement to Idolator Pop '07, it's a curious mixture of localism and globalism. On the home front, the mixes by Minneapolis's Peter S. Scholtes and Baltimore's Al Shipley pay tribute to their hometowns (forming a troika with the Chicago-centric mix by the Windy City's Mairead Case). By contrast, the global dance-music scene gets a nod from Philip Sherburne, while Elisabeth Vincentelli, K. Leander Williams, and Douglas Wolk survey wider terrain. [Idolator Pop '07]

2007 In The Mix: R&B Goes Disco, The Ladies Of Country, Forward Into The Past, And More

Michaelangelo Matos — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:15:19 EST

Yesterday, Idolator Pop 07 began its second phase, with 13 write-ups on specially-made year-end mix-CDs from some of our favorite critics. Today we're proud to present another selection of mixes (tomorrow will be the third and last installment), including ear-opening selections from the great Rich Juzwiak (on R&B's moves toward the straight 4/4), Americana expert Amanda Petrusich going backwards and forwards, NPR regular Will Hermes pondering The Sopranos, and Country Weekly music editor Chris Neal saluting the women of Nashville. (I also contribute a mix of reissued tracks.)

2007 in the Mix, Part Two [Idolator Pop 07]

Parsing the Pop: Categorical Errors, Sez They

mmatos — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:14 EST

Inevitably, some of the ballot comments in this year's poll have taken our methodology to task. Fair enough—you can't satisfy everyone. And even if we can't help but respond to something like Julianne Escobedo Shepherd's suggestion that we eliminate albums and ask everyone to vote for 100 tracks with a knee-jerk, "Why, do you wanna tabulate it?," we still understand and appreciate the suggestion. Still, the most entertaining of these cavils comes from Kurt Gottschalk, who takes issue with our nomenclature.

First off, singles are singles. Ever since the pilgrims. I know the I'olator says it can be whatever songs we think are worth mention, but that's weak. Uphold and cherish the single, I say! Even if it's a single released via cell phone or something, like Prince's killer "Guitar." A tacky bit of shilling to be sure, but still better than Elvis Costello playing concerts only for people who hold the proper credit card.

Indeed. We're still happy with calling it Tracks—how else could I have voted for track 11 from the Jens Lekman album?—but someone's gotta stand up for beleaguered old-school hit-making. Or non-hit-making, as the case may be with . . . the vast majority of the songs Kurt Gottschalk voted for!

2007 In The Mix: Idolator Pop '07 Gets Personal

mmatos — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:00:24 EST

One of the reasons I was most excited about this year's Idolator Pop package was that my bosses ~~gave me enough rope to hang myself with~~ allowed me to pursue a project that enhanced the poll proper. Back when I edited a music section, for Seattle Weekly, I eschewed year-end Top 10s and asked a handful of writers to write and annotate a single-CD-length mix at the end of every year. The results were always illuminating, and I thought it might be cool to do that again this year—and given the scope of the poll, to ask a whole bunch of writers we admired to participate. That many of them said yes was even better—at least, we think so. So we present 2007 in the Mix, a series of write-ups we'll add to each of the remaining days this week.

First up: a baker's dozen that takes in everything from Joshua Alston's year in slow jamz, Jon Caramanica's roundup of posse-cut hip-hop remixes, and Chuck Eddy's all-over-the-place selection to Tim Finney's salute to the nu-Balearica, Matt Goldenberg's survey of the year in metal, and a blog-house extravaganza from Eric Grandy.

2007 in the Mix, Part One [Idolator Pop]

Parsing The Pop: Chuck Eddy's 150-Album Top 10

mmatos — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:30:00 EST

Obviously with all the tabulated lists to pore over, Idolator Pop '07 offers plenty for music geeks to read and argue with. The year-end mixes, which will go up later today, will offer yet more fodder for banter. But let's not forget the individual ballots, several of which make pretty good reading on their own. First prize for going over and above the call of duty undoubtedly belongs to Chuck Eddy, who not only offers an extra list of his 10 favorite EPs of 2007 but extends his Top 10 Albums to a whopping 150. In addition, he breaks them down by genre:

Market share for unarguably "country" releases within my top 150 is 25.33%, slightly edging out unarguably "metal" releases' 24.67% (though for fairness' sake, both of those numbers discount country-verging rock by people like Kid Rock, Black Angel, John Waite, and Mississippi Mudsharks, and both also exclude punk/glam/garage-leaning titles by people like the Sirens, the Eat, Black Lips, and Crash Street Kids). Market share for albums released on non-major-distributed indie labels (thus, disqualifying imprints like Big Machine, Show Dog, Wind-Up, Shout! Factory, and Blue Note) is a whopping 69.33%—104 albums out of 150. Only a baker's dozen or so of those, though, would be likely to pass muster as Pitchfork-approved "indie rock" (though big-label releases by Lily Allen, M.I.A., Simian Mobile Disco, the Hives, White Stripes, and Modest Mouse probably would, oddly enough), which may well mean I am properly supporting alternative entrepreneurs in the age of cut-throat mega-merger post-capitalism without kowtowing to any widely marketable bohemian subculture per se'. For eight of the albums below, the only "label" I could come up with was a band website, and for probably at least another ten or so, I have serious doubts that any other artists record for the band's label. So who knows—maybe I'm more indie than you are.

Maybe he is and maybe he isn't, but it's probable that Eddy is crazier than all the other voters combined. Salut!

Ballot: Chuck Eddy [Idolator Pop Poll]

Let's Do It Again: The 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll is Live

mmatos — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:00:20 EST

We've been waiting as patiently (or not) as you have, and it's finally here: The second annual Critics Poll is now open for business—and this time we've expanded it a little. Today, you get the poll proper: Albums, Tracks, Reissues, Artists, plus essays by myself, Jess, and Maura. And then, a few other treats. We've commissioned a number of our favorite music writers to create a year-end mix-CD and annotate it for us—and you—and those will be rolling out, a few per day, throughout the week. We hope you enjoy it.

Idolator Pop '07 [Official site]

Only Nine Blog-Days Left Till Idolator Pop 07 Polls Shut Down

mmatos — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:45:16 EST

Hi again. Been about a week and a half, so let's do this again: If you were expecting a ballot for this year's critics' poll, but didn't receive one, please drop a line to poll@idolator.com and we'll look into it. (A number of ballot e-mails have had trouble getting through, even in one-on-one following up.) If you write regularly, we might have your e-mail address already, but it never hurts to ask. (If you're not sure we have it, please include information about where you write; the fewer "gimme a ballot" e-mails with no information we get, the better.) And if you think someone you know should vote, by all means send them our way. Remember, the deadline for voting is Friday, Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. EST, and you can e-mail your ballot to the poll address as well as (or instead of) voting online.

Yet Another Idolator Pop 07 Reminder

mmatos — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:52:13 EST

Yep, we did this a few days ago, and we're going to do it again in the future, so feel free to skip over us to get to the Harp list. However: If you're expecting a ballot for this year's critics' poll, but didn't receive one, please drop a line to poll@idolator.com and we'll look into it. (A number of ballot e-mails have already been reported to have ended up in spam folders—or not to have arrived at all. Ugh.) Chances are that if you write regularly we might have your e-mail address already, but it never hurts to ask. (If you're not sure we have it, please include information about where you write; URLs of clips help a lot.) And if you know someone who should vote, by all means send them our way. Remember, the deadline for voting is Friday, Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. EST, and you can e-mail your ballot to the above address as well as (or instead of) voting online.

Idolator Pop 07 Update

mmatos — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:45:25 EST

Just a quick reminder that if you're expecting a ballot for this year's critics' poll, but didn't receive one, to drop a line to poll@idolator.com and we'll look into it. Also, if you received your invite but have been having trouble with the ballot itself, the glitches affecting them over the weekend have been fixed, so go ahead and try again. (Take it from someone whose ballot had the same faults.) And remember, the deadline is Friday, December 21 (5 p.m. EST), and you can email your ballot to the above address as well as (or instead of) voting online. Thanks!

Let's Do It Again: Announcing The 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll

mmatos — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:45:00 EST

A few Idolator readers who write about music may have noticed an invitation in their inbox today; still others will be receiving one soon. We're proud to announce the 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll (Idolator Pop 07 for short), our continuation of last year's Jackin' Pop survey. (Of course we changed the name. You didn't think we'd call it that twice, did you?) But the early invite doesn't mean the deadline is early: we're asking for ballots no later than Friday, December 21 at 5 p.m. EST.

Chances are if you write about music regularly we've already got an invite on its way to you, but if you want to be considered, email poll@idolator.com and include your name, your email, links to your blog and/or some pieces you've written during 2007. (If you primarily write for print, the name of your outlet[s] and a short list of recent work would be great; URLs to web-available work is even better.) We're proud of last year's poll and expect good things from this one as well. So should you.