Bands break up all the time. Sometimes it's amicable and they agree to quietly go their separate ways to pursue "other musical ventures." And sometimes they tell the truth, after the years of resentment and ego boil over into backstage brawls or verbal beatdowns that make working together unbearable.

And then there's Jay Reatard. The scarily prolific 29-year-old punk from Memphis whose released dozens of singles and albums over the past decade under various names recently split with the members of his live band.

Oh boy did he.

In the midst of a U.S. tour, the sometimes antagonistic singer/guitarist known for mixing it up with overly zealous fans dropped the hammer, real hard, on former drummer Billy Hayes and bassist Stephen Pope via Twitter on Tuesday.

"Band quit! F--- them!" he tweeted. "They are boring rich kids who can't play for s--- anyways. Say hello to your ugly and boring wives, I mean lives guys. Suck it." The Woodie-nominated rocker followed that up a bit later with the lament, "So who wants to see just how terrible it is to play in my band? I mean, it's so so hard. I promise it's the worst."

With a European tour just a month away, Reatard later told England's NME that he's working on getting a new band in time for the dates. "I'm going to be auditioning new members soon and I really hope to make it to Europe and start fresh," he said. "All the bulls--- aside, our band is a really easy one to be in. Ride in the van, listen to jams, load in gear, eat great food, drink free beer, get paid well, load out, go to the hotel, repeat. I honestly love those guys no matter what my dumb Twitter post says. They kinda quit out of nowhere. Me and the tour manager thought it was a joke!"

If you woke up this morning with a certain tingle on the left side of your body, don't panic — you've probably got a severe case of March Madness. Either that, or you're having a heart attack and should probably go directly to the emergency room. Seriously, go! Now!

Still here? Good. That means that you're as fired up for the NCAA men's basketball tournament as we are. You've probably already printed out your bracket, eyed a few upsets and chipped $10 into the office pool. But, if you're like us, you're probably also looking for that inside edge ... a few tips that'll have you cutting down the nets (and counting some cash) on April 6, when the NCAA champ is crowned.

Well, we think we've found it: Music.

That's because this year's field of 64 (or actually, 65, given that Alabama State and Morehead State will tip off Tuesday for the right to be crushed by #1 seed Louisville) has a decidedly musical flair. There are colleges from huge sonic hot spots who have a legitimate shot at taking home the title, and a bunch of low-seeded teams from places with solid musical pedigrees that could end up shocking the world. Heck, Moby, Three 6 Mafia and Daniel Johnston are all in the conversation.

So, for your wagering benefit, here's our look at Musical March Madness — our favorite teams, based solely on their musical roots: famous alumni, hometown scenes, etc. May it guide you to victory. Hey, it's probably as reliable as flipping a coin.

Read more...

We here at MTV News are a pretty diverse bunch, so the views expressed by some in our more official-type year-end lists (like James Montgomery’s Top 25 Albums and Best Songs, and the Mixtape Monday Awards) are not necessarily shared by the rest of the newsroom. So, this week we gave everyone else a chance to chime in with their own lists and explain (or defend) their choices. You’ll find the staff faves of 2008 all together here.

By Christopher "CJ" Smith

2008 Year in Music: Were you listening to the punk-rock underground?

2008 was a year where lo-fi, sh--gaze and weirdo-punk reigned supreme in this formerly straight and narrow-minded indie fan's life. Fleet Foxes? F--- that pretty-boy sh--. TV on the Radio? Been there, done that. Vampire Weekend? LOL.

Every record in 2008 seemingly was an exercise in how not to make interesting and/or exciting music. It was in the bedrooms, basements and garages, however, that musicians WERE taking chances and creating fun new pop landscapes smothered in noise, tapping into their punk lineages, crafting terrific garage rock and, above all, writing hooks that wouldn't leave your head for days.

These 20 records are a good starting point for a year that was rife with melodies, glorious fuzzy noise and static. They've all got MySpace pages, so take a listen to what they're doing and hear what you may have missed.

Read more...

This in from MTV News producer (and lo-fi punk born-again) CJ Smith:

We just put up a special piece (like a Christmas special?) on the wave of punk bands doing it lo-fi these days. What can I say? It was a flimsy excuse to hang with LA's No Age, Columbus' Times New Viking and Psychedelic Horses***, Memphis' Jay Reatard, and Detroit's Tyvek. But there was so much more I wished we could have included from even more locales -- from Portland's awesome up-and-comers Eat Skull, France's barrier-breaking Cheveu, Brooklyn's beautiful Vivian Girls, and many others.

This just goes to show how strong this movement really is: once I got into it, it consumed me and changed my perception to the point where I don't really want to listen to much else. [Ed: There is a pill for that.]

So I've got something for you: a very cool mixtape using the awesome music site Muxtape -- which is probably one of the most amazing sites for music sharing (in this case, mixtape-sharing) to come along in quite some time. You simply upload music to your computer, set the track order, and bang! You've got your very own mixtape and web address that you can send to others to rock out.

So here's my attempt at doing our lo-fi punk piece justice, in mixtape form. Just please make sure to listen as directed. The instructions are sooooo complicated.

When you see MTV News producer CJ Smith’s report on the burgeoning lo-fi punk movement (clip above), you’ll notice that the phenom is spreading out around the country. From LA’s No Age and The Smell, to Portland’s Eat Skull and Little Claw, to Memphis’s Jay Reatard, the artists are from all over the place. But key to the movement -- in fact, it wouldn’t be the same without it -- is a zone in the USA known as the Rust Belt. That’s right, the same Rust Belt that Barack and Hillary have been courting in recent weeks, whose economy is largely in the dumps, is home to some of our most exciting music.

From Philadelphia’s Clockcleaner and the venerable Siltbreeze label, all the way west to Lafayette, Indiana’s TV Ghost, I-70 seems to be ground zero for lo-fi punk. The unexpected ground zero seems to be Ohio’s capital, Columbus. That city’s home to the most prominent of these bands, Times New Viking, whose two-minute-long offerings of fuzzed-out pop punk, on full display on this year’s “Rip It Off,” earn them frequent comparisons to those other Ohio icons, Dayton’s Guided By Voices. “We definitely came of age with that kind of stuff,” said Beth Murphy.

Less fuzzy but no less rowdy and raucous, is fellow Columbus band Psychedelic Horses***. They’re also a trio that doesn’t shy away from button-pushing -- take for example what they had to say about a much-lauded Brooklyn band that inspired their song “New Wave Hippies.” “It’s about Yeasayer,” said Matt Whitehurst. “These bands aren’t pushing boundaries, they’re not passionate, not original, and aren’t saying anything to their audience. They’re wasting their talent.”

Head north from Columbus and you hit Toledo, and beyond that Detroit -- both hometowns to members of urgent band, Detroit-based Tyvek, who told us that it could be the perpetually struggling economies of the Rust Belt states that contribute to a sound that is so raw and relentless. As Kevin Boyer told us, “People have given up on trying to get a real job in Michigan. Everyone’s like, ‘Let’s just start a band.’”

So as Clinton and Obama wrestle for votes in their next battleground, Indiana, spare a thought for how hard times make for good music. That seems to be the case right now in the lo-fi punk hotbed of the Rust Belt.

Now let’s figure out a way to let Michigan’s voice be counted, please?

· No one is saying you shouldn’t go see Jay Reatard live, but it might not be a bad idea to wear a helmet and shoulder pads.

· Keith Richards has 3,000 guitars and has played only ten of them. Insert joke about other things he has in large quantities.

· What producer wears a 12-inch top hat and parties with 45 bottles of premium champagne?

· If you live in Pennsylvania, Michael Moore wants you to vote for Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, not so much.

· The Pitchfork Music Festival, taking place July 18-20 in Chicago, has added a bunch more acts to this year’s roster, including: Ghostface & Raekwon, Dinosaur Jr, Mission of Burma (performing their classic album, Vs., Jarvis Cocker, The Apples in Stereo, Jay Reatard, the Dirty Projectors, and F--- Buttons (who were awesome last night in New York).

· Up until now, the only thing Prince and Dave Matthews have had in common is their mutual affinity for busting out the "guitar face" when soloing. But the jam king is borrowing a page from his purple majesty’s playbook and bundling vouchers for a free downloadable iTunes live-albums with every ticket purchase to his band’s upcoming summer tour. The live albums will be compilations of the best performances from the summer gigs, and will be available in September, but only if you get your tix at a venue serviced by Ticketmaster.

· Can't wait till Tuesday for Fall Out Boy's Live in Phoenix CD/DVD set? You can stream the whole shebang over at Buzznet or Friends or Enemies right now.

· Police reportedly arrested Poison drummer Rikki Rockett (born Richard Ream), 46, on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport on a rape warrant issued in Mississippi.

Our Thursday recap is up and bursting with raves about Vampire Weekend, MGMT and Clipse, but you can also check out more detailed accounts at the You R Here blog. What happened yesterday? Well...

· Serj Tankian, Ben Harper and Tom Morello raged against the war at Stubb's

· Yo La Tengo took on a Velvet Underground cover right in front of Lou Reed at the Levi's/Fader Fort

· My Morning Jacket sported the same old beards but played brand-new songs at the Austin Music Hall

· Islands combined calypso, prog and mime makeup at Cedar Street Courtyard

· The Duke Spirit inspired an entire audience to sing backup at Cedar Street Courtyard

· Jay Reatard delivered one blistering punk metal blast after another at Vice