Back in October of 2008, BlogHer's Suzanne asked "Where Are The Women In Hip Hop?"

Whether you call them the 00s, the aughts, the aughties, the noughties or the naughties the decade is over. I had this discussion with someone on another forum: what sound or musical style defined the decade?

I was a little taken aback when I first heard Florence + the Machine much-hyped single, "A Kiss With a Fist." Not so much the subject matter -- you'd be naive to deny the history of violence in popular song (more on that latter) -- but the messages left in the band's Last.fm shoutbox: "First time listen........great!!!" "LOVE this." "Love the energy of this song. And Florence looks hawt rocking out in the video."

For a lot of music fans, 2009 was "The Year of the GaGa." Lady GaGa, that is, assuming you haven't been hiding under a rock for the past twelve months. But no new artist Grammy? Idolator says

A mere twelve hours after Halloween's end my cable provider's Sound of the Seasons station was playing holiday music. Aren't we supposed to wait until after Thanksgiving? At least? I'm not the only blogger lamenting the premature appearance of holiday tunes.