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What were the 80 most important musical recordings, artists, trends, events, and performances of 2008? What were the eight things this year that broke our hearts—or, at least, our ears? We’re happy to announce 80 ’08 (and Heartbreak), Idolator’s year-end overview. The list is below the jump.
Oh HI! It’s dickdogfood. I welcome you to Idolator’s liveblog of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Now before I became a quasi-anonymous commentator legend, I was known as Michael Daddino. (I still am, in certain obscure circles.) Once, during that long-gone era, I watched 24 hours of MTV and wrote about it on the internet in real-time; thus the concept of the liveblog was forged in the smithy of my soul. And today I return to my old stomping grounds, all Proverbs 26:11-style, to point and laugh at…well, what’s it going to be today, kiddies? What’s it gonna be? Contrite Britney? Egotasmic Kanye? The JoBros making their inevitable Fleet Foxes move? Nickleodeon crossovers? Candidate cameos? Overrehearsed spontaneity? Underwhelming medleys? Regrettable covers? A smidge of actual entertainment? Yes, we are likely to get them all: the stars will it so. The handwringing and the laughter begin after the jump.
Earlier today, the R&B blog SoulBounce came up with an idea we’re kicking ourselves for not having come up with first: the editors’ and their friends’ (and their comments box’s) choices for the “Universally-Adored Soul Classic That [They] Hate.” (Funniest moment: site editor nOvaMatic’s dis of Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go,” one of two: “My god, is this song potato salad? Must it be at every Black gathering?” Funny it appears here so soon after they named it one of the all-time greatest soul songs, but then nOva didn’t write that one.) We like this idea so much that we’ve decided to rip it off, using a different category. After the jump, we’ll will pick our Universally Adored (or so it seems) Alt-Rock Classics We Hate.
Hi everyone! If you Google Blog Search the term “idolator” as often as I do, you’ve probably heard that Gawker Media has sold the site you’re currently reading to the social-networking site/Pete Wentz blog host Buzznet, and that I’ll remain in the driver’s seat through the change in ownership. There’s not much else to say about it right now, really–but in the interest of jacking up pageviews, I’ve posted Nick Denton’s memo announcing the changes after the jump. (Rereading it now reminds me that we need an update to the long-out-of-date-anyway conflict of interest laundry list pretty soon. But you guys will keep me in check about that sort of stuff, right?)
Which ’08 prez candidate did R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe recently claim to be weirdly, conflicted-ly smitten with after a late-night TV appearance? The one who’s hellbent on denying him his civil rights, among other hilarious schemes to upend our way of life once he beats the lady or the African-American guy.
Our year-end countdown ends with a pair of songs that are, when you get right down to it, pretty much polar opposites of one another. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.
For those of you still slightly bewildered by the Gerard Vs. Bear saga, a quick recap: He (or she) is an anonymous music blogger (or blogette) who enjoys nothing more than smacking around other music bloggers. In the last few weeks, GVB has been posting more than ever, becoming semi-famous enough to inspire some tawdry slash fiction; the whole ordeal is like Primary Colors for the Oink set. So who is Gerard? Our completely speculative guesses after the click-through.
Yesterday on All Things Considered I talked about new albums from a few Simon Cowell-shepherded artists with host Guy Raz: Carrie Underwood’s Play On; Kris Allen’s self-titled debut; Adam Lambert’s For Your Entertainment; and Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream. (This segment has caused some consternation among the more insane Idol fans out there, especially some who think I was unfairly slamming Kris for being “’90s.” If they only knew how much I loved that decade!) [NPR] More »