There's no convention without a party, and there's no party without music. In the next couple of weeks, conventioneers from blue and red states will converge on Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul to nominate Barack Obama and John McCain, offering a great chance for each group to party down with their favorite tunes.

Plenty of artists sing about politics, but which ones are singing at politics? We assembled a list of the bands playing at each convention using an Associated Press article as a starting point, including one song for each artist, to provide a sonic representation of each party's sound. To keep things fair, we selected the first song that showed up on imeem -- or failing that, YouTube -- for each artist (with the exception of the Beach Boys' "Feel Flows," which is just too good not to include).

Interestingly, the RIAA is covering its bases by hosting shows at both conventions, both parties are throwing Jambalaya-themed fundraisers for New Orleans and Flobots are performing at both (updated). That's about all the two conventions have in common, though, musically speaking.

The Democrats' list is longer, hipper and more varied, while the Republicans favor country music, classic rock, religious themes and American Idol. I'm generalizing, of course -- draw your own conclusions and vote below.

Continue reading "Democrats or Republicans: Whose Music Is Better?" »