Playboy's 2007 Music Poll

CRAB THE BALLOT

ROCK THIS VOTE

Rock and roll ebbs and flows, but one thin; is sure about 2007: This year witnessed a high-water mark for the genre. Hell, except for Kanye, SO and T.I., it felt as if hip-hop were barely even there. Instead, indie heroes like Spoon planted their flag in the mainstream, dinosaurs such as Van Halen and Led Zeppelin reunited for shows, old-school R6B belt­ers resurfaced and were reborn, and the singer-songwriter tradition of country was renewed by albums from Miranda Lambert (pictured here) and Cretchen Wilson. And with left-field breakout artists like Gym Class Heroes and Justice, as well as the now usual list of Internet geniuses, there was no shortage of wizardry and wonder for the sonic adventurer.

PLAYBOY'S

HERE'S THE OFFICIAL BALLOT. RIP IT OUT, VOTE AND THEN MAIL IT IN.

YOU CAN TICK OFF BOXES, OR IF YOU THINK YOU'RE SO DAMN SMART, WRITE IN

YOUR OWN FAVORITE ARTISTS. STILL TOO MUCH TROUBLE? YOU CAN ALSO

VOTE ONLINE (5) WWW.PLAYBOYMUSICPOLL.COM.

4. FOLD HERE 4,

i FOLD HERE 1

rf.Trrrr.-a

CACACACACA, SPOON ZEITCEIST, SMASHING PUMPKINS INFINITY ON HICH, FALL OUT BOY NEON BIBLE. ARCADE FIRE ICKYTHUMP, THE WHITE STRIPES WRITE-IN VOTE:

(

HIP-HOP ALBUM

GRADUATION, KANYE WEST U MS UP., T.I. CURTIS, 50 CENT FINDING FOREVER, COMMON HUSTLENOMICS, YUNG JOC WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST

ELECTRONIC ALBUM

SOUND OF SILVER, LCDSOUNDSVSTEM

CROSS, JUSTICE

IDEALISM, DICITALISM

FROM HERE WE CO SUBLIME, THE FIELD

WEARETHENICHT,

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS .

WRITE-IN VOTE:

COUNTRY ALBUM

LIVING HARD, GARY ALL

LETITCO, TIMMCCRAW

JUST WHO I AM, KENNYCHESNEV

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIENO, MIRANDA LAMBERT

WAGONMASTER, PORTER WAGONER

WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST

JAZZ ALBUM

A TALE OF COD'S WILL. TERENCEBLANCHARD

CORNELL 19S4,

CHARLES MINGUSSEXTET

FROM THE RIVER TO THE OCEAN, FRED ANDERSON & HAMID DRAKE

FOLLOW THE RED LINE,

CHRIS POTTER UNDERGROUND

THISMEETS THAT, JOHN SCOFIELD WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST

SOUNDTRACK

ZIDANE

ONCE

KURTCOBAIN: ABOUT A SON

THE HOTTEST STATE

INTO THE WILD

WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST

SONG

"REHAB," AMY WINEHOUSE

"CUPID'S CHOKEHOLD," GYM CLASS HEROES

"UMBRELLA," RIHANNA "STRONGER," KANYE WEST "GIRLFRIEND," AVRILLAVIGNE WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST

^WORLD MUSIC ALBUM j

LA RADIOUNA, MANU CHAO

K/UAM.I.A.

AFRIKI, HABIB KOITt

BOOKOFL/FE, I WAYNE

SUPER TARANTA!, COCOLBORDELLO

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-» MAIL IN YOUR ENTRY NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 15, 2007

4, SEAUTAPE i

CMECK (OXU FOR FAVORITE

BEST

LIVE ACT

DAFT PUNK

BEASTIE BOYS

THE POLICE

VAN HALEN

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

WRITE-IN VOTE:

BEST BREAKOUT ARTIST

JUSTICE

CVM CLASS HEROES

AMYWINEHOUSE

PLAINWHITET'S

PETER BJORNANDJOHN

WRITE-IN VOTE:

REISSUE ALBUM

THE SONC REMAINS THE SAME, LED ZEPPELIN

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE CATALOG |OY DIVISION CATALOG

THE DOORS CATALOG ' \

COLOSSAL YOUTH, YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS

WRITE-IN VOTE:

FATS DOMINO

The Lower Ninth Ward's most famous resident took New Orleans R&B and made it mainstream. Over the past half century Domino has contrib­uted countless hits, including "Blue Monday" and "Ain't That a Shame." Those and many more were compiled this year on Greatest Hits: Walking to New Orleans. His rollicking piano and rousing voice sound as good today as they did way back when. Could Domino be the true father of rock?

THE POLICE

The most successful postpunk band-slowing domn the frenetic ticking guitars of the era with a kind dose of riddim—finally buried the hatchet

this year, to the delight of millions of fans still missing that magic mixture in Sting's solo career.

BEE CEE5

Though the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever is the excuse to listen to the band's com­mercial peak-"Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep Is Your Love"-recent reissues also remind us of the Cibb brothers' 1960s output. Songs like "Massa­chusetts" made them the Australian Beatles.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

It would be impossible to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love without San Francisco's most thrilling band. From the Grace

Slick showpieces "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the psychedelic guitar excursions and political sloganeering, this band was the shit.

SONIC YOUTH

These sonic experimentalists virtually created the New York avant-garde scene. Starting with shrieking walls of detuned guitar and evolving into propulsive pop and vocal hooks wrung out of sheets of noise, the downtown quartet opened the doors of perception for Dinosaur jr., Nirvana, Pixies and countless others.

T

AUSTIN POWER

INDIE HEROES SPOON OFFER TEXAS-SIZE GRANDEUR

This year the Austin band SPOON released its sixth album, a gorgeous whoosh of piano and guitar that both indie kids and classic rockers can agree on. The record's top 10 debut successfully built on the musical and critical momentum that has been picking up since 2002's Kill the Moonlight. We caught up with frontman Britt Daniel to discuss the new LP, one of our favorites of 2007.

PLAYBOY: The title of the album is Ca Co Ca Ca Co. Are you tired of answering questions about it?

DANIEL: No. That's what you have to do when you have one of the world's great titles. The way it came about is there's a song on the record called "The Ghost of You Lingers." Before it had a title or full words, we were referring to it as "Ca Ga Ga Ga Ca" because that's sort of what it sounds like. We always got a kick out of saying that title. Once I'd renamed it with more recognizable English words, everybody was a little disappointed. So we pulled that one out again.

PLAYBOY: What makes this LP different from your previous ones? DANIEL: It's louder. When records were made for vinyl they were mastered without tons of low end and bass because if they put too much bass on, the needle would jump and your record player would hum. It just didn't work with that kind of technology. That's the way I like records to sound. If you listen to Back in Black, Led Zeppelin IV and 7999, by Prince, they have solid, tight low ends. This is the first time we've had a record that sounds like that. PLAYBOY: You have a tradition of going away by yourself to write an album before you start recording. Where did you hide this time? DANIEL: I moved to Portland, Oregon, which allowed for a lot of time because I don't know many people up here. I went to Connecticut for a summer before Kill the Moonlight, and I went to Galveston before Gimme Fiction. I always get to a stage where I'm not getting as much done as I'd like and I need to do some concentrated work. A good way to do that is to go somewhere isolated. PLAYBOY: That sounds intense. What happens if the songs still don't flow? DANIEL: Someone once said to me that creativity likes to find you work­ing. If you put yourself in that situation, more stuff will happen than if you're just doing whatever you do and hoping something comes to you. Of course, sometimes it comes to you, sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't, you can get frustrated. I've learned the best thing to do is go watch a movie, get some Mexican food or have an iced tea, and then come back and listen and work on it again.

PLAYBOY: You've been in Oregon for two years. Do you miss anything about home? DANIEL: The food and Christmastime weather.

NO I.AM IN TEAM

MAIN PEA LEAVES THE POD FOR SOLO LP

The world-conquering BLACK EYED PEAS have already spawned a hit solo act in Fergie. Now the band's mastermind, Will.i.am, is stepping out with his own album, Songs About Girls. Though he's contributed to recordings by a who's who of today's biggest stars-including Busta Rhymes, Justin Timberlake, the Game and Lupe Fiasco-his new LP is refreshingly light on guests, fostering the feel of a proper album. PLAYBOY: Most Black Eyed Peas fans who know you for your rapping skills will probably be surprised by how much you sing on this disc. When did you discover you could sing?

WILL.I.AM: I've always sung my melodies to myself, but I had other people sing them on the records. Macy Gray always cheered me on to sing, and when I did a song called "A Dream" with Common last year, he told me the same thing. Those people gave me the confidence to actu­ally put out records that I sing on.

PLAYBOY: Snoop is the only guest on this album. Before starting, did you make a conscious decision to limit the number of collaborators? WILLIAM: I didn't want any guests. I've been collaborating with the Black Eyed Peas for 12 years. I wanted it to be a solo project on which I step out as a solo artist and not just as a producer-rapper dude who has a lot of friends. PLAYBOY: The album tells the story of the end of your long-term relationship with your girlfriend. Was the emotional level of the songs a reason to limit the guests?

WILLIAM: That's the main reason. I didn't want to say," Yo, Nas, I need you to spit a verse about my girl cheating on me, and I need you to gimme 18 about when I cheated on my girl and got caught." That ain't the cool thing. PLAYBOY: Is it harder to write an emotional song like "Over" or a catchy party tune like "The Donque Song"?

WILL.I.AM: It was hard to write "Over" because that relationship was over four years ago. To remember what I felt like was tough. The hardest thing was to have an album full of emotional songs like "Over" and "Heartbreaker" and bal­ance it with fun songs. "I Cot It From My Mama" is a fun track, but it also describes what I would go through when a girl and I would break up and I would go out with my homies. If I were to score on those nights, it would sound like "The Donque Song" and "I Cot It From My Mama," where you're just spitting to chicks. The best way to get over a broken heart is to go jibbing. PLAYBOY: You've played shows all over the world. Do you have to change your lyrics in any countries?

WILL.I.AM: In China the minister of culture reads your lyrics before you perform. But the Chinese let us play "Let's Get Retarded" and "My Humps." I guess they don't know what "My Humps" means.

MIRANDA WRITES

SONG CRAFT FUELS HER CONTINUING RISE

MIRANDA LAMBERT is a country-music prodigy. After making a splash in her home state of Texas while still a teen­ager, she placed third in USA Network's Nashville Star competition, paving the way for what ultimately became her platinum debut album, Kerosene, released in 2005. Besides earning a Crammv nomination, she has received

additional props from industry insiders for writing most of her own songs. This year she released the follow-up, again mostly self-written, and has become an outright sensation-praised for her songwriting, stage presence and musical integrity.

PLAYBOY: When you're out with your girlfriends, what's one song you have to dance to?

LAMBERT: "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child. Anything by Beyonce, really. I love her. I've been to two of her shows. We're on the same record label, but I haven't met heryet.

PLAYBOY: Your album is called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Are men afraid of you? LAMBERT: Honestly, I don't think so, but I could be wrong. I don't notice. Part of me hopes they are.

PLAYBOY: You grew up in Lindale, Texas, population 4,300. What's a typical Saturday night like in Lindale? LAMBERT: For me, I just sit on my deck and have a beer. I live right on the lake. On a typical Saturday the town shuts down around 10 o'clock. If you don't have a party to go to, you're pretty much done for the evening. PLAYBOY: What's the worst hangover you've had this year? LAMBERT: When I was on tour with Dierks Bentley and the Randy Rogers Band, I went to an afterparty, and no one was there to tell me not to have that sixth lager bomb. The next day was a really bad one. PLAYBOY: Do you have a Texas hangover remedy we should know about? LAMBERT: A greasy cheeseburger and some sweet tea. That always works for me. PLAYBOY: Do you like hunting?

LAMBERT: I like hunting deer. I shot a deer that scored a 145 last year. I shot it with my bow. I also own a rifle and a couple of shot­guns and pistols. I go hunting with my dad and my boyfriend-the men in my life. My mom doesn't hunt, but she likes to cook. We bring home the meat, and she makes it taste delicious.

DJ REKHA

She's New York's premiere spinnerof bhangra, baile and other far-flung beats. Now the woman who helped launch M.I.A. in the U.S. has applied her tastemaking to a new mix tape called Base­mentBhangra. We asked her to describe her top five floor fillers, "jimmy," by M.I.A.: "Classic 1970s Bollywood, lyrically updated in true M.I.A. style." "Solta o Fran-go," by Bonde do Role: "Fun, digestible, the ultimate party music." "LDN (Warbox

remix)," by Lily Allen: "Maybe it's the rewinds, dancehall vocal drops and distant fog horns, or maybe because it's about London, my birth­place and second-favorite city, but I love this." "#1 Punjabi," by Circus Amok Band: "Quirky meets irreverent; this makes you want to join the circus." "Basement Bhangra Anthem," by D] Rekha: "Personal plugs aside, I got to kick it with Wycief in the studio for this."

HOTTUNES

NEW SOUNDS AND RECENT HIDDEN GEMS

1

"TROUBLED SON," WORKING FOR A NUCLEAR FREE CIP Sludgy neo-baggy with a more sinister edge than vintage Madchester.

"FIGHT & KISS," WE ARE WOLVES

Buzz-saw electronics, guitars and shout-along vocals from French Canadians.

"TAKE ME TO THE RIOT," STARS

If Coldplay were still cool, the result would sound like this.

"FLUNKY FOR YOUR LOVE," PIECES OF PEACE

Some 1970s supafunk from the reissue of the band's debut album.

"WE NEED LOVE," HARD-Fl

A swaggering rock do-over of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love."

"COURAGE," TALKING DRUMS

Tom Tom Club-like cut from Sonar Kollektiv's 1980s electro compilation.

"ENDLESS," DAVE GAHAN

Throbbing, aching track from affecting solo LP by the voice of Depeche Mode.

"KILL THE DIRECTOR," THE WOMBATS

For a gurgling electro-wave version of this jittery Brit hit, get the CSS remix.

"SEE EMILY PLAY," PINK FLOYD

The blueprint of psych-pop from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn reissue.

[i| "SPOOKY," CLASSICS IV

Rare soft-rock hit with Zombies groove on American Bandstand boxed set.

"I AM A LADY," HER MAJESTY'S SOUND

Slinky cocktail-friendly breakbeat from Petrol's Burlesque sampler.

"IT'S THE BEAT," SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

Analog synth-pop with brassy-dame vocals from thoroughly fun LP.

"THE OPPOSITE OF HALLELUJAH," JENS LEKMAN

Bedroom chamber-pop perfection from brooding Swede's great second album.

"RESCUE TEAM," )OHNOSSI

Young Stockholm duo rocks out with equal parts verve and melody.

"KNIGHTS," CRYSTAL CASTLES

From the latest Kitsun£ Maison collection, this is washed-out, buzzing electro.

"FIND WHAT YOU GET," BANG GANG

Fragile homegrown indie showcased on this year's Iceland Airwaves festival comp. "RUN INTO FLOWERS," M83

Check out the "Midnight Fuck" remix from volume four of the Standard series.

" "ROCKLAND," T0MC3 & PRINCE PO

Po and guest Del tha Funkee Homosapien flow over a nice Bay Area beat.

"FRIENDS," WEEN

Usual bonkers Ween stuff: This track is Ziggy Stardust doing the macarena

jil "RICH WOMAN," ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS

Haunting harmonies and spooky guitars on this shockingly good record.

OOWNLOAO FREE EXCLUSIVE TRACKS BY WORKING FOB * NUCUUR FREE CTTV. WE ARE WOLVES AND STARS AT PLAVeOY.COM/MAGAZINE/CDS.