Our rundown of the biggest and best songs of 2007 will sound strangely familiar whether you're a regular Top 40 listener or completely out of touch - from that "umbrella, -ella, -ella" song to t …

The Natalie Portman-approved indie pop of the Shins and a certified banger from Britney Spears on the same playlist - you are not, in fact, seeing things. You are being treated to the best of both worl …

The sound of modern soul, urban contemporary is the synthesis of funk, soul, and slick beats. And if that synthesis is glossier than the old-school grit, make no mistake; these 25 essentials have all t …

Between American Bandstand on TV, Alan Freed's concerts at a theater near you, and flicks like The Girl Can't Help It exploding across silver screens nationwide, by 1958 rock 'n' roll was …

Considering just how visionary Krautrock was during the '60s and '70s, it's hard to believe the term started as a U.K.-based stab at electronic German music. At the time, British journalists didn't qui …

If you've made it this far down our Krautrock Essentials, you probably know the names Kraftwerk, Neu!, and Can by now. But Xhol, Gila, and Mythos? No, those aren't the kind of artists you hear n …

Framed by the Depression and the Civil Rights movement, the golden age of American folk music was marked by idealist dreams and harsh realities. From Woody Guthrie to Martin Luther King Jr., whose spee …

You can't really think '50s without thinking Frank and Dean, whose musical supremacy would go unchallenged until a young lad from Tupelo, Mississippi, pushed them all the way out of the mainstream into …