Top 10 CURRENTLY ACTIVE pop groups, IMHO (like you care...).

[Kazak]

10. Movietone
9. Pram
8. The Flaming Lips
7. Air
6. Broadcast
5. High Llamas
4. Belle and Sebastian
3. Tortoise
2. Komeda
1. Stereolab

Good stuff throughout.

[RandomKoolzip]

1. "pop" groups? They seem pretty solidly indie or alternative to me.

There's a few on major labels, there...

By "Pop" I thought you were gonna say Destiny's Child, etc.

Maybe by pop you mean they utilize the Tin Pan Alley method of writing and recording their music, i.e. producer-driven, non-rock. (Well, the Flaming Lips have been Rock in the past, until they abandoned real drums for canned ones...) And Tortoise is DEFINITELY Rock music, no matter what their "post-rock" rhetoric may lead the listener to believe.

[Kazak]

3. Okay...My favorite "groups" then.

I say "groups" because there a few individual producers types that I really like a lot too...Vibert, Laswell, Zorn, etc...

[Kazak]

4. BTW,...

I first saw the Flaming Lips live in 1987. I pretty much know their history. But, their most recent output definitely fits into the pop mold, as I use it. I think they all pretty much do.

[coloradodem2005]

...

My picks:
1. Audioslave
2. Sevendust
3. A Perfect Circle
4. Tool
5. Radiohead
6. Dave Matthews Band
7. Disturbed
8. Foo Fighters

That's all I can think of right now.

[rstarobi]

2. Super Furry Animals

I'd definitely put the Super Furry Animals up there above B&S. If the definition of pop is broadened, Outkast should be in there too.

[Kazak]

5. See...I don't know 'em all...

I'll have to check them. Suggestions?

[rstarobi]

6. Latest album is:

Phantom Power - it should be fairly easy to get in the US - they're a Welsh pop band - influenced by Beatles, Beach Boys heavily, with a more techno backing. Very eclectic, with great songwriting. Their website is: www.superfurry.com

They've got a US tour coming up in the next month or two.

[Kazak]

7. Is that album...

representative of their best?

[rstarobi]

8. Hard to say

It's my current favorite, but they have a habit of switching styles between albums - their first album, Fuzzy Logic is more traditional drug induced brit-pop, but then their second album, Radiator amps that up to a more focused level of weirdness. Guerilla, their third album goes in a much more electro route, then Mwng (Welsh for mane) is an all-Welsh garage album. Rings Around the World is a very heavily produced pop record, and Phantom Power is a slightly less produced, more honest version of that.

I think it's very difficult to say which is most representative, as their sound changes so frequently (often mid-album). I mentioned Phantom Power because it should be the easiest to find in the US. My first SFA album was Radiator, then Fuzzy Logic, then Guerilla, if that helps any.

[tigerbeat]

9. i guess refer to "high fidelity" if you need a definition of "pop"...

....'cause i feel that the term has been unceremoniously stolen by bands like n'sync, britney spears, etc.....

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. Belle and Sebastian
8. Foo Fighters
7. The New Pornographers
6. Supergrass
5. The Negro Problem
4. Semisonic
3. Lilys
2. Fountains of Wayne
1. The Flaming Lips

normally i'd stick XTC at the top of this list, but i'm not sure if they even qualify for "currently active" anymore.