Pop Playground was Stylus Magazine's wide-ranging pop culture column — chart analysis, singles reviews with numerical ratings, producer profiles, genre primers, and cultural commentary. Todd Burns ran a pop singles focus group. Gavin Mueller wrote about Pharrell and reggaeton. Andrew Iliff filed dispatches on pop music in Vietnam. It covered everything from Avril Lavigne to Christina Aguilera to UK garage, treating mainstream pop as worthy of the same serious attention as any indie record.
| Top 50 Songs of 2007 |
Stylus Staff |
(12) |
2007-10-31 |
| Top 50 Albums of 2007 |
Stylus Staff |
(33) |
2007-10-31 |
| Top Reissues: 2007 |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2007-10-30 |
| The Final Ever Stylus Annual Haiku Marathon |
Stylus Staff |
(13) |
2007-10-30 |
| Battles: Live in Bristol |
Nick Southall |
(1) |
2007-10-15 |
| Best of All Possible Worlds: Kristofferson’s Wine, Women & Song |
Derek Miller & Stewart Voegtlin |
(0) |
2007-10-12 |
| Meet The Stinsons |
Stewart Voegtlin |
(0) |
2007-10-08 |
| Saturday Night Barn Dance #005 |
Thomas Inskeep |
(0) |
2007-09-27 |
| Band Logos |
Matthew Ingram |
(10) |
2007-09-21 |
| Sugar Shock #013: Bunnies, Traps, and Slip ‘n’ Slides: An Interview with Brie Larson |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-09-19 |
| Saturday Night Barn Dance #004 |
Thomas Inskeep and Josh Love |
(0) |
2007-08-31 |
| Vanishing Point: ‘70s Directors Today |
Paolo Cabrelli |
(0) |
2007-08-23 |
| Visiting Nick Drake |
Ryan Foley |
(0) |
2007-08-22 |
| Michelangelo Antonioni |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2007-08-07 |
| Sugar Shock #012: Downgrade U |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-08-01 |
| Sugar Shock #011: Omg is Like Lindsay Lohan Like Serious Like? |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-07-06 |
| Scraping the Barrel 010 |
Ned Raggett |
(0) |
2007-06-01 |
| Sugar Shock #010: Irony, Honesty, and the Like-Like |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-05-23 |
| Saturday Night Barn Dance #002 |
Thomas Inskeep and Josh Love |
(0) |
2007-05-04 |
| Robot Tornados: The Videos of Kate Bush |
Mike Powell |
(0) |
2007-04-20 |
| Sugar Shock #009: It’s a Hair Thing |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-04-04 |
| J’Accuse: Jarvis Cocker |
Dom Passantino |
(0) |
2007-03-09 |
| Something You’ve (Never) Heard Before |
Julie Pinsonneault |
(0) |
2007-03-06 |
| Debonair Lullabies |
Alfred Soto |
(0) |
2007-02-22 |
| Sugar Shock #008: Outside Looking In |
David Moore |
(6) |
2007-02-21 |
| Two or Three Things I Know About Ricky Bobby |
Nathan Gelgud |
(0) |
2007-02-08 |
| Sugar Shock #007: The Tween Trap |
David Moore |
(0) |
2007-01-24 |
| James Brown |
Mallory O’Donnell |
(0) |
2007-01-09 |
| The Best of 2006: Reissues, Collections, and Compilations |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2006-12-22 |
| The Alternative Christmas Album |
Sam Roudman |
(0) |
2006-12-20 |
| The Second Annual Stylus Haiku Marathon |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2006-12-19 |
| Sugar Shock #006: Screwed: The Lost World of Shelved Teenpop |
David Moore |
(0) |
2006-11-08 |
| Eye Art |
Mike Powell |
(0) |
2006-10-27 |
| The Boredoms: The Side Projects |
Stylus Staff |
(8) |
2006-10-26 |
| We Are Punk: Disinterested Sound as Soul Discharge |
Stewart Voegtlin |
(0) |
2006-10-25 |
| NME C81 |
Ryan Foley |
(0) |
2006-10-17 |
| Auditory Tourism: Pop in Nam |
Andrew Iliff |
(0) |
2006-10-12 |
| Sugar Shock #005: What Has She Done? |
David Moore |
(0) |
2006-09-21 |
| Here It Goes Again: The 2006 Video Music Awards |
Andrew Unterberger |
(0) |
2006-09-05 |
| Sugar Shock #003: Pieces of “I” |
David Moore |
(0) |
2006-07-19 |
| Syd Barrett |
Mike Powell |
(0) |
2006-07-12 |
| Underground Folk: The Primer |
Ned Beauman |
(0) |
2006-07-05 |
| Trying to Find Arif Mardin in “Arif Mardin” |
Scott Woods |
(0) |
2006-07-03 |
| It’s Enough: Sleater-Kinney |
Alfred Soto |
(0) |
2006-06-28 |
| Sugar Shock #002: MySpacing, Part I |
David Moore |
(0) |
2006-06-21 |
| Sugar Shock #001: The Year in Teenpop (So Far) |
David Moore |
(2) |
2006-05-17 |
| Didn’t Know a Heart Could Be Tied Up and Held for Ransom |
Alfred Soto |
(0) |
2006-05-09 |
| What Have They Done For Us Lately? |
Andrew Unterberger |
(0) |
2006-04-21 |
| The Divas |
Richard Juzwiak |
(0) |
2006-04-20 |
| I Didn’t Mean to Turn You Inside Out |
Mallory O’Donnell |
(0) |
2006-04-20 |
| Jay Dee: A Hip-Hop Craftsman |
David Drake |
(0) |
2006-02-13 |
| The Stylus Magazine Inaugural Haiku Marathon 2005 |
Stylus Staff |
(16) |
2005-12-29 |
| Top 10 Labels of 2005 |
Stylus Staff |
(13) |
2005-12-28 |
| The Best Bazombo Trance Band this Side of Kinshasa |
Mike Powell |
(1) |
2005-12-21 |
| Tokenism: This Joyless Endeavor |
Brad Shoup |
(0) |
2005-12-21 |
| Tokenism: The Lonesome Cowboy |
Jeff Siegel |
(0) |
2005-12-07 |
| CMA’s 2005: State of the Country |
Thomas Inskeep |
(3) |
2005-11-11 |
| Patriotism, Nostalgia, Cocaine, and a Bunch of Other Things That Have to do with ELO: A Primer, of Sorts |
Mike Powell |
(0) |
2005-10-28 |
| Selling Out |
Brad Shoup |
(0) |
2005-10-19 |
| Selling Out: Be Fruitful and Multiply (Your Fanbase) |
Edward Oculicz |
(26) |
2005-10-12 |
| Live: Erstquake 2 |
Joe Panzner |
(6) |
2005-10-07 |
| Selling Out |
Cameron Macdonald |
(0) |
2005-10-05 |
| Music Criticism |
Ian Mathers |
(0) |
2005-09-21 |
| Disconnecting the Dots: Getting Critical with Music Critics (And their Readers) |
Stewart Voegtlin |
(0) |
2005-09-14 |
| Writing About Music: Where Have We Been? Where Are We? Where Are We Going? (2003 Edition) |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2005-09-07 |
| Nostalgia |
Ross McGowan |
(7) |
2005-08-10 |
| Nostalgia |
Ian Mathers |
(0) |
2005-08-03 |
| Lollapalooza 2005: The Report |
John M. Cunningham |
(0) |
2005-08-02 |
| The Problem With Indie |
Josh Love |
(0) |
2005-07-27 |
| The Problem With Indie |
Dom Passantino |
(0) |
2005-07-13 |
| Rockism Revised |
Mike Powell |
(0) |
2005-06-15 |
| Rockism Reorientation |
Erick Bieritz |
(0) |
2005-06-08 |
| Rockism |
Ned Raggett |
(0) |
2005-06-01 |
| American Idol: The Hit Factory |
Thomas Inskeep |
(0) |
2005-05-25 |
| Bongoflava: The Primer |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2005-05-12 |
| The Rebirth of the Track |
John M. Cunningham |
(0) |
2005-04-13 |
| The "Death" of Hip-Hop |
David Drake |
(0) |
2005-03-16 |
| Country Music Tells The Red States How To Think |
Anthony Easton |
(0) |
2005-03-10 |
| Old School, New School, Need To Know This: Hip-Hop’s Last Rites |
Rollie Pemberton |
(0) |
2005-03-02 |
| I Love 2004 |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2005-01-26 |
| Evanescence: Anywhere But Home |
Dave Queen |
(0) |
2005-01-19 |
| The Top 40 Worst Albums of 2004 |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2004-12-24 |
| The Top Five Labels of 2004 |
Todd Burns |
(8) |
2004-12-15 |
| Stylus Videodrome, Volume III |
Sam Bloch and Todd Burns |
(0) |
2004-12-01 |
| Reggaeton: The Survival Guide |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2004-11-03 |
| Stylus Videodrome, Volume II |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2004-10-20 |
| Generative X |
Dave McGonigle |
(0) |
2004-10-01 |
| Bert Kaempfert : A Forgotten History |
Jim Cassius |
(0) |
2004-08-18 |
| Dancehall: The Survival Guide |
Dan Pollard |
(0) |
2004-08-04 |
| Lyrical Breakdown : Bring Da Ruckus |
Scott McKeating |
(0) |
2004-07-28 |
| BET Steps Out |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2004-07-14 |
| Euro 2004 |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2004-06-23 |
| How Napoleon Dynamite Crashed Our Party |
Akiva Gottlieb |
(0) |
2004-06-15 |
| Peace Off |
Dom Passantino |
(0) |
2004-06-09 |
| Haters Wanna Hate |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2004-06-02 |
| From the Back of the Shelf |
Nick Southall |
(0) |
2004-05-26 |
| Fred Durst Has a Blog |
Gavin Mueller |
(4) |
2004-05-12 |
| Eurovision 2004: Part Two |
Edward Oculicz |
(0) |
2004-05-06 |
| Eurovision 2004: Part One |
Edward Oculicz |
(0) |
2004-05-05 |
| 57 Listeners (And Nothing On) |
Dom Passantino |
(0) |
2004-04-22 |
| Cigarette Demography |
Gavin Mueller |
(5) |
2004-03-31 |
| Stylus Sells Out... |
Nick Southall |
(0) |
2004-03-04 |
| Welcome to the O.C. Bitch |
Andrew Unterberger |
(0) |
2004-03-03 |
| Hip-Hop Fashion: Poppin' Tags |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2004-02-18 |
| 46th Annual Grammy Awards |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2004-02-11 |
| The Lounge Revival Cometh |
Nick Southall |
(0) |
2004-02-05 |
| Hipster or Not? |
Gavin Mueller |
(4) |
2004-01-28 |
| Screwed and Chopped: The Survival Guide |
John Brandt |
(1) |
2004-01-14 |
| Sincerity and Shit |
Scott McKeating |
(0) |
2003-12-10 |
| Dim Gash: The All New Top of the Pops |
William B. Swygart |
(0) |
2003-12-03 |
| Bottom of the Pops |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2003-11-26 |
| Best Singles of 2002: Addendum |
Stylus Staff |
(0) |
2003-11-19 |
| Fred Durst and the Fall of Limp Bizkit: Freddy's Dead |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2003-11-12 |
| The Fall of Ja Rule |
Scott McKeating |
(0) |
2003-11-05 |
| Me Against The Madonna |
Edwin Faust |
(0) |
2003-10-29 |
| American Idol's Failure: Broken Promises |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2003-08-13 |
| Authenticity in Pop Music |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2003-06-18 |
| April 2003 Hip-Hop Round-Up |
Brett Berliner |
(0) |
2003-05-20 |
| Riddim Nation |
Scott Plagenhoef |
(0) |
2003-05-06 |
| March 2003 Hip Hop Round-Up |
Brett Berliner |
(0) |
2003-04-15 |
| Cause Without A Rebel: Madonna's American Life Video |
Edwin Faust |
(0) |
2003-04-08 |
| Mapping Generations: When's the Next Sea Change Due? |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2003-03-18 |
| Eminem: America's Ambassador of Hip-Hop? |
Brett Berliner |
(0) |
2003-03-03 |
| The Stagnation of the American Charts |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2003-02-10 |
| 50 Cent: Meet Your Next Hip-Hop Mega Star |
Brett Berliner |
(0) |
2003-02-03 |
| American Idol: The Early Favorites |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2003-01-27 |
| Cry Me A River: The Arrival of a New Justin Timberlake |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2003-01-13 |
| Pop Music Focus Group |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2002-11-25 |
| The Next Big Thing |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2002-10-28 |
| The Five Point Plan for Michael Jackson |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2002-10-21 |
| Dirrty: The Best Single of the Year? |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2002-10-07 |
| Why The Evening Session Must Die |
Nick Southall |
(0) |
2002-09-23 |
| The Unlikely Pop-Starhood of Pharrell |
Gavin Mueller |
(0) |
2002-09-16 |
| The 2002 Video Music Awards |
Matthew Weiner |
(0) |
2002-09-09 |
| August 2002 Hip-Hop Round-Up |
Brett Berliner |
(0) |
2002-09-02 |
| Shemo |
Todd Burns |
(0) |
2002-08-19 |
