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Bands We Like: Foster The People

Posted 7/20/11 5:30 pm EST by in Bands We Like, Music


By Zachary Swickey

By now, most people have already caught wind of indie-popsters on the rise Foster the People. The LA-based band has been storming the pop charts with their hit “Pumped Up Kicks,” from their breakout debut album, Torches, which was just released in May. The group is currently on a mostly sold-out club tour, but who are the guys behind the catchy pop sound?

Foster the People formed just two short years ago when vocalist/guitarist and unofficial band leader Mark Foster ventured West out of Ohio in pursuit of a music career. He worked the typical menial jobs – pizza delivery, telemarketing – but thanks to his knack for networking and artistic flare, Foster eventually began rubbing elbows with the young talent in Hollywood.

Before long, Foster got the big break he was looking for (or so he thought) when he received a phone call from the A&R team of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records. According to an interview with the LA Times, the publicist for Dre could not verify any of Foster’s story, but the singer claims to have walked away from a deal as he did not want to become the “white crossover soul artist” that the label had envisioned him as. Foster prefers bands like Blur and wanted to make “glitched-out electronic music” rather than be told what to perform.

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Jamming at the 2011 All Good Music Festival

Posted 7/20/11 5:00 pm EST by in 1


Photo and Story By Suzy Perler

Photo and Story by Suzy Perler




From July 14-17, 25,000 fans jammed all weekend to 40 hours of continuous music at the 15th annual All Good Festival. The friendly laid back vibe and breathtaking scenery at Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, WV, provided the perfect backdrop for this all-star festival, produced by Tim Walther and Junipa Conteno of “All Good Presents”. Festival favorites included Furthur, featuring Phil Lesh & Bob Weir, Primus, Warren Haynes Band, Pretty Lights, Moe., Umphrey’s McGee, The Everyone Orchestra (pictured above), Dark Star Orchestra, Greensky Bluegrass, Keller Williams and many more. Intimate artist interviews, unique performances, workshops, ferris wheels and fireworks completed the All Good experience in this family friendly environment.

The festival kicked off with the progressive bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum with music continuing on until 3:30am with STS9. Saturday, 7/15, included Matt Butler and the Everyone Orchestra. Conducting with cues written on an erasable whiteboard, Matt creates the most unique improvisational jam session ever. Star artists included members of moe., Dark Star Orchestra, Toubab Krewe, Jennifer Hartswick, Zach Deputy, Marco Benevento, Hot Buttered Rum and many others. The music continued with the Warren Haynes Band leading up to Furthur’s four-hour rocking set of Grateful Dead favorites. Umphrey’s McGee kept the crowd going until 4am as another full day of music continued into the night with Moe, Primus and Pretty Lights.

The final festival day, 7/17, included the up and coming Greensky Bluegrass performing a lively mix of traditional bluegrass mixed with rock ‘n roll covers. Continuing the spirit of the Grateful Dead experience, Dark Star Orchestra kept everyone dancing until the sun set over the hills and the festival had come to a close. The music and energy still rang in the air as fans packed up their tents and gear, dreaming of doing it all again next year.

Your Love For Britney Spears And Lady Gaga Continues: Divas Nearly Split Vote In VMA Nomination Poll

Posted 7/20/11 3:45 pm EST by in Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Newsroom Poll, VMAs


The nominations for the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards will be announced tonight at 11PM EST during a live stream event. We’re pretty psyched and wondered who you thought would lead the nominations this year.

We asked and boy did you respond. Our “Who Will Lead the 2011 VMA Nominations” poll tallied a staggering 841,711 votes by the time it closed at 3PM EST today, and the results were dominated by your two favorite pop stars: Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.

We’re starting to see a pattern here. When we asked who you thought had the best album and song of the year (so far), we received a similarly massive response. In both of those polls, Spears and Mother Monster towered over the competition as well.

So here we are again. Which diva do you want to see score the most VMA nominations tonight? Results are after the jump! Read More...

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Mermaids Are Old News! What Other Mythical Creature Should Lady Gaga Dress Up As?

Posted 7/20/11 2:30 pm EST by in Lady Gaga, listicle


By Stefan Doyno

I don't know if you guys have been keeping up with world news, but there are some serious issues going on right now. And by serious, I mean mermaids.

Can you believe that Katy Perry had the audacity to steal the "mermaid" idea from Lady Gaga? Yeah well, neither can I. But now the tables have turned, with Bette Midler calling Gaga out for dressing up as the mythical creature as well. The veteran singer even went on a bit of a Twitter rant defending her originality.

"I’m not sure @ladygaga knows that I’ve performed my mermaid in a wheelchair for millions of people -- and many of them are still alive….." Middler tweeted on Friday. She later added, "Dear @ladygaga Ive been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980-You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker t*ts-mermaid's mine."

Whoa. Let's all calm down.

Obviously mythical creatures are all the rage right now, so here are some original ideas that won't get Lady Gaga into so much trouble!

Yeti
Also known as the Abominable Snowman. The Yeti is an ape-like cryptid that inhabits the Himalayan region of Tibet, Nepal and India. If anyone can pull this off, it's Gaga. Just imagine a lot of white fur.

Centaur
Forget the wacky shoes, if it's height she desires, then a Centaur is what she needs. The Centaur is an Ancient Greek creature that has a human upper body while the lower half consists of horse. It can be done. She hatched from an egg. It's not like we're reaching for the stars here.

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Justin Timberlake And Jimmy Fallon Revisit Hip-Hop In ‘History Of Rap 2’

Posted 7/20/11 1:00 pm EST by in Justin Timberlake, Television


Justin Timberlake

From MTV RapFix:

Late night host Jimmy Fallon and singer-turned-top billed actor Justin Timberlake already thrilled fans of NBC's “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” with their first rendition of the “History Of Rap” backed by the Philadelphia Hip Hop house band The Roots back in September, with the video going viral on the Internet. The pair joined forces again last night with a new version of the famous rap songs mash-up, “History of Rap 2” – and according to many happy fans around the Web, it appears the fellas have another smash clip on their hands.

Opening with a brief cover of Kurtis Blow’s infamous “The Breaks” track, the pair ripped through classics from everyone to Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, Vanilla Ice, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Black Sheep, Salt-N-Pepa, and even 50 Cent before ending with a crowd-rocking version of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” with the studio audience joining in. On Twitter, the video of Fallon and Timberlake running through a bevy of hip hop’s best has been posted numerous times since the wee hours of the morning with nearly nothing but positive comments.

Check it out after the jump. Read More...

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Britney And Gaga Are Splitting Our VMA Poll Right Down The Middle: Rally For Your Girl Here!

Posted 7/20/11 11:29 am EST by in Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Newsroom Poll, VMAs


Britney Spears

The nominations for the 2011 Video Music Awards will be announced tonight in a live stream event at 11PM EST on MTV.com featuring special surprise guests. Are you excited? We think you’re excited!

Actually, we know you’re excited. How? Because you have been blowing up our “Who Will Lead The MTV VMA Nominations?” poll. And once again, you are making your feelings about two very popular pop divas very, very clear!

As of 11AM, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears lead by a wide margin. The pop princesses split the vast majority of the vote pretty evenly, leaving Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kanye West and Adele in the dust.

Our poll closes at 3PM EST, so now’s the time to rally for your favorite artist. Are you a Britney fanatic who wants to see the Femme Fatale rule the VMA nominations? Or are you a Little Monster pushing for Lady G? And what about the rest of you? Someone is out there buying Adele’s record … support your girl (and tell your friends to do the same)!

Vote now after the jump! We’ll have the final results for you later today! Read More...

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Celebrity Marriages That We Hope Have A Fairytale Ending

Posted 7/20/11 8:30 am EST by in divorce, Jennifer-Lopez


Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony

By Danielle Genet

It seems that every time we grow accustomed to a celebrity marriage, they split up. We loved Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz, Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman, and Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds.We were rocked once again when Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announced their surprise split on Friday.

Since we’re still trying to recover from the shock of the Lopez-Anthony split, we thought we’d take a look at some more stable celebrity marriages instead. These couples make us believe that fairytale happy endings are possible.

Beyonce and Jay-Z
Music geniuses Beyonce and Jay-Z privately married in April of 2008 and help us keep our faith in love. They are each other’s biggest fans and keep their romance life private, opting instead to let the public focus on their successful careers. Recently, Beyonce teased that she and Jay would possibly be starting a family soon. If Beyonce and Jay-Z were to split … well let’s not even go there, it hurts too much to even think about!

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Will and Jada are another powerful duo that seem to be a match made in heaven. Married in 1997, they have two adorable kids together (you may know Jaden and Willow) and always support each other in whatever venture he/she embarks on. They also created the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation to fund charitable organizations focusing on educational projects and urban, inner-city and family welfare.

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Check It Out: MTV’s New Weekly Web Series ‘Bigger Than the Buzz’

Posted 7/19/11 6:15 pm EST by in MTV News, Music


By Chelsea White

In light of all of the endings we’ve had to cope with as of late (the finale of the "Harry Potter" franchise, the demise of J.Lo’s marriage, the exodus of Charlie Sheen’s remaining goddess, etc.), isn’t it high time for a new beginning?

We gave two of MTV.com’s foremost pop culture connoisseurs free rein to let loose on everything they’re most obsessed with in pop music and pop culture that week. The result: The pilot episode of our new weekly web series, "Bigger Than the Buzz"!

Tamar Anitai is the managing editor of MTV Buzzworthy and James Montgomery writes MTV News’ Bigger Than the Sound column, and neither one can STFU about pop music and pop culture. They devote each day to dishing out all of the need-to-know happenings, sounding off on their favorite videos and swapping notes on up-and-coming artists. We decided to put their gift for gab to good use by dragging them out from behind their computers and in putting them in front of our camera, so you could get involved in the conversation.

Each week, Tamar and James invite you to join them as they breakdown the week's most pertinent moments in pop music and pop culture over a tall glass of milk. (Fun fact: James hates milk! If you look closely you can see the nausea in his eyes.) In the debut episode they chat about everything from mermaids to VMAs and we can’t wait to hear what you think – not only about each topic, but about the pilot too! So leave us some comments, Tweet us and them (@MTVBuzzworthy and @positivnegativ) with #BTTB and let us know if you’re pickin’ up what James and Tamar are puttin’ down.

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Hip-Hop All-Stars In The Booze Business: We Rate The Product

Posted 7/19/11 5:30 pm EST by in Lists, Pharrell


Pharrell Williams

By Zachary Swickey

Pharrell Williams, hip-hop producer and connoisseur of all the finer things in life, is the latest musician to plunge into the liquor business with the announcement of his own alcoholic beverage, which is designed specifically for women.

Dubbed “Qream,” the lady drink will come in two flavors – Strawberry Qream and Peach Qream – when it hits shelves nationwide later this month. Partnering with one of the world’s largest spirit makers, Diageo, Pharrell not only helped develop the flavor of the ultra-premium cream liqueur, he also designed the bottle and will serve as the brand’s cultural ambassador through its advertising campaign.

In a statement to AllHipHop, Pharrell said, “Qream was created for contemporary women who work hard and want to relax with friends at the end of the day. I want them to reward themselves ‘deliciously.’ Women make up half the population and Qream is about celebrating that power.”

Pharrell knows a thing or two about swooning ladies, so he may be the perfect guy to develop a premium cream liqueur for the fairer sex. However, the booze business has plenty of other rapper-branded drinks to give Pharrell and Qream a healthy amount of competition.

Below I provide my opinion on the most notable and tasty. Read More...

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Poll: Who Do You Think Will Lead The VMA Nominations?

Posted 7/19/11 3:51 pm EST by in VMAs


Adele

Here in the MTV Newsroom, we're gearing up for big upcoming announcement of the 2011 MTV Video Music Award nominees. In the meantime, we were wondering who you think is going to walk away with the most nominations. Which artists and videos really rocked your world this past year? Were you won over by the most notorious man in VMA history, Kanye West, and his ballet epic “Runaway”? Did Adele’s simple and elegant “Rolling in the Deep” capture your heart? Or was Katy Perry’s sparkly homage to loving who you are, “Firework,” more your speed?

And how can we forget your favorite divas: Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. These two ladies blew up our polls for favorite album and song of the year (so far), but do “Till the World Ends” or “Born This Way” have what it takes to take down Rihanna’s many hit videos from the year that was (“Only Girl,” “S&M,” “What’s My Name?”)?

Only time will tell, but for now, let us know who you think will lead the VMA nominations by voting in our poll below. Read More...

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