2012′s Best Albums: Idolator Editors Pick Their Favorite 10

December 6th, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Here at Idolator, the editors have been continuously sifting through 2012′s releases and poring over tracks to suss out the best of the best. Of course, let’s face it: it was a dire year as far as consistent, solid albums are concerned. Forget the lack of a breakout smash like Adele‘s 21 (which, to be fair, is an anomaly in this day and age) — despite steady sales for Mumford & SonsBabel and One Direction‘s Up All Night, there wasn’t that clear-cut collision of critical praise and commercial crossover with any album, save for maybe Taylor Swift‘s Red.

And, well, lo and behold — Red made our list. As did nine other standout LPs released over the past year that span several genres. After all, cha-ching is not what defines a good album; it’s simply a blend of both songs that impact our daily lives made by artists who tap into a collective commonality and some damn fine hooks.

Flip through the gallery above to see what Idolator’s resident music fanatics Robbie Daw, Carl Williott, Sam Lansky and Erika Brooks Adickman chose as their favorite albums of 2012.

 

Taylor Swift & LL Cool J Beatbox “Mean” At The Grammy Nominations Concert: Watch All The Performances

December 6th, 2012 // Leave a Comment
Taylor Swift LL Cool J Perform
And A Liar! And Pathetic!
Taylor Had A Ball
Taylor Swift
Watch Taylor Swift's AMAs performance. Read More »

Taylor Swift and LL Cool J were on hosting duties at last night’s The Grammy Nominations Live special, where the nominations for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced between performances from Maroon 5 and some other people, but mostly Maroon 5. Yes, Adam Levine performed both “One More Night,” “Moves Like Jagger” and “Payphone,” while Hunter Hayes opted to sing the nominees for Best Pop Vocal Album. It was weird.

But surely the most memorably odd moment of the night belonged to Swift and LL, who performed Swift’s song “Mean” — beatbox-style. Watch that up top, then head after the jump to see the rest of the performances. More »

Passion Pit “Carried Away (Viceroy Remix)”: Idolator Premiere

December 6th, 2012 // Leave a Comment
New Passion Pit
breaking dawn part 2 soundtrack
Hear their Breaking Dawn Part 2 track. Read More »
Passion Pit On SNL
passion pit snl
Watch Passion Pit's SNL debut. Read More »
Gossamer Review
passion pit gossamer
Here's our take on Passion Pit's sophomore album. Read More »
Passion Pit Live
Passion Pit Governors Ball 2012
Check 'em out at Governor's Ball 2012. Read More »

Passion Pit‘s Gossamer was one of the prettiest albums of the year, and “Carried Away” was one of the cheeriest, most infectious songs of the bunch. So it’s only fitting that Viceroy — whose motto is “Summertime, all the time” — decided to remix Michael Angelakos‘ track.

Viceroy’s remix keeps the song’s original foundation, but his treatment ditches the slinky-to-lush and quiet-to-loud transitions in favor of a more uniform dance pulse. It’s got bursting bubbles of electro, a handclap breakdown and even some clean guitar riffs. Check it out below. More »

PSY’s “Gangnam Style” Earned Him Roughly $8 Million: Morning Mix

December 6th, 2012 // Leave a Comment
PSY, 2 Chainz & Diplo
MTV EMA's 2012 - Exclusive Arrivals
Diplo says he hit the studio with PSY and 2 Chainz. Read More »
1D vs. The Wanted
zayn malik max george
Zayn Malik and Max George beef on Twitter. Read More »
Where He's From
jay z where im from
Watch Jay-Z's Barclays Center documentary. Read More »

Did You Hear?

:: PSY earned at least $7.9 million from iTunes sales and Youtube clicks for his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” The more astonishing fact, though, is that the tune raked in a paltry $60,000 in his native South Korea. [AOL Music]

:: Jay-Z is not a fan of the unauthorized biography Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z went from Street Corner to Corner Office. Author Zack O’Malley says when he bumped into Hova at an event and introduced himself as the book’s writer, Jay responded thusly: “That book was horrible.” [MTV RapFix]

:: The Wanted were supposed to drop an album late this year to go head-to-head with One Direction‘s Take Me Home, but we now know they delayed it because it just wasn’t ready. “It was meant to be this Christmas, but it wasn’t ready yet so… we’re thinking around April, we’ll have something ready,” Jay McGuinness said at the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball. [Billboard]

:: Snoop Dogg‘s reggae project is happening, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. The Snoop Lion album Reincarnated will be distributed by RCA in early 2013. [Complex]

After the jump, find out which music acts you can find on the tube today. More »

Grammy Nominations: The List Of Who’s Up For What, Including Frank Ocean, Fun. & Taylor Swift

December 5th, 2012 // 1 Comment
Taylor Had A Ball
Taylor Swift
Watch Taylor Swift's AMAs performance. Read More »
Holiday Fun.?
The band warms up the holiday chestnut "Sleigh Ride". Read More »
Frank Comes Out
Frank Ocean
Read Frank Ocean's letter about his first love. Read More »

Once again, Taylor Swift and LL Cool J came together for a little Grammy co-hosting pomp and cheesiness — this time for The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!, which was broadcast from Nashville. Swift herself, no stranger to racking of industry nods and statues, found herself up for Record Of The Year (for her Hot 100 chart topper “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”). But it became clear early on that a pair of artists were favorites with capital Fs — well, at least one capital F — this time around: Frank Ocean and fun. (both up for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best New Artist).

Head below to see the list of nominees for the 55th annual Grammy Awards, which will air live on CBS at 8 p.m. EST on February 10, 2013. More »

SXSW 2013: Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira, Skylar Grey & More Added To Lineup

December 5th, 2012 // Leave a Comment
"Cloud Aura"
charli xcx cloud aura
Watch Charli XCX's lo-fi video. Read More »
"C'mon Let Me Ride"
skylar grey cmon let me ride
Skylar Grey teams up with Eminem on the playful track. Read More »
Sky Has A Sad
sky ferreira sad dream
Watch Sky Ferreira's "Sad Dream" video. Read More »

After seeing the initial SXSW 2013 lineup, we were disappointed by the dearth of pop groups. But the festival just rolled out a long list of additions that features some of our favorite young acts, including Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX and Chvrches. Here are even more names that piqued our interest, and it’s quite possible we missed some: Alex ClareAngel HazeM83‘s pal Big Black DeltaBlondfire, Lianne La Havas,  Major Lazer, MS MR, Paloma Faith, Sklyar Grey, Travi$ Scott and ZZ Ward. The music festival takes place March 12-17 in Austin, TX. For the full list of additions, head here.

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