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MTV's Musical March Madness: Phoenix Vs. Phish, The Strokes Vs. MGMT

Posted 3/17/11 11:30 am EST by in Music


It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

Welcome to the East bracket, the last of the four regions of the first round of the 2011 MTV Musical March Madness tournament. The East contains some of the most elite and critically-acclaimed squads in the entire field, and it should make for some amazing match-ups.

Just as a reminder, first round voting continues through Sunday night (March 20), and you can catch up with any match-ups you might have missed here. Let's get to the match-ups!

(5) Phoenix vs. (12) Phish
Phoenix spent most of 2010 elevating themselves to new heights, scoring more hits from their 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (including the bouncy "Lisztomania"), headlining Lollapalooza and selling out Madison Square Garden. Phish continue to be one of the most popular touring acts in the world and have one of the most massive Internet presences of any rock band. Which one will find themselves in round two? You decide!

(4) The Strokes vs. (13) MGMT
After a four year hiatus, the Strokes are back with a vengeance. They went on a well-received reunion tour last year and have an excellent new album called Angles hitting the streets next week. MGMT took some lumps in 2010 (their second album Congratulations was a very polarizing release), but they remain one of the key members of the modern indie rock community. Which New York favorites will move on?

Watch Dick Bagwell and Vincent Twice break down this year's bracket!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV News' Musical March Madness: Sweet 16 Voting Closes Tonight

Posted 3/30/10 11:50 am EST by in Music


There won't be any new polls put out today, but the voting for the Sweet 16 round of MTV News' Musical March Madness continues today. All polls will close at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night (March 30), at which point the Elite Eight will be set. Most of the Sweet 16 match-ups are still pretty tight, so even if you're favorite band is behind in the standings, there's plenty of time to stage a comeback with some well-organized clicking. Take a look at how we got here, and then give a gander at the current slate of games.

(6) Phish vs. (15) Coheed and Cambria
A heated head-to-head. Coheed and Cambria currently leads the race, but the Phish fans in the comments section keep declaring "P.A.W.: Phish Always Win." Can they follow through on their promise?

(9) Adam Lambert vs. (13) Alice in Chains
The grunge veterans currently have a commanding lead over Lambert, though you can never count the Glamberts out of any competition involving their favorite "Idol" star.

(2) Muse vs. (14) AFI
AFI went on an early run, but the people who turned Muse into a stadium-filling international phenomenon have also put them ahead in the standings. But it's still anybody's game.
Read More...

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MTV News' Musical March Madness: Phish Vs. Coheed And Cambria, Adam Lambert Vs. Alice In Chains

Posted 3/29/10 6:00 pm EST by in Music


It's Musical March Madness! The sprawling bracket — both a parody and a tribute to the NCAA basketball tournament, masterminded by MTV News' James Montgomery — takes the 65 biggest names in rock, splits them up into four regions, assigns them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 65. Over the next few weeks, we will present a series of polls that will allow you to vote for the match-ups presented in MTV News' Band Bracketology. You vote for the winners, we'll keep advancing the seeds and, in the end, we'll have some sort of champion. What will the winner receive? Little more than our esteem (as well as that of the fans) and some Internet bragging rights.

It's the last of the Sweet 16 pairings, this time in the South bracket. This particular section of the tournament has been especially cutthroat, with a lot of close calls and even more trash talk between fan bases. Who will move on? Only you can decide!

(6) Phish vs. (15) Coheed and Cambria
Even with Panic! at the Disco and the Young Veins going at it elsewhere in the tournament, the biggest showdown of the Sweet 16 is right here. Perhaps anticipating the match-up, the hardcore fans were already building a case for their favorites in the middle of second round voting. But which group of fans will rally stronger to put their favorite group over the top?

(9) Adam Lambert vs. (13) Alice in Chains
Each of these two teams overcame surging opponents in the second round to make their way to the Sweet 16. Lambert crushed a surging Creed, while Alice in Chains kept the dream alive by topping Nick Jonas (proving that sometimes experience does pay dividends). Will the grunge veterans keep pushing forward, or will they be toppled by the online army of Glamberts?

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The 'Phish 3D' Trailer: A Jamming Good Time

Posted 3/26/10 1:25 pm EST by in Music


Over Halloween weekend in 2009, Phish brought back a rich tradition. They took over a giant tract of land in Indio, California (the same site that hosts the annual Coachella festival) and spent three days playing super-sized sets to thousands of devoted fans (including a full-length "musical costume" — a cover of the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St.). They called it "Festival 8," and they took along a camera crew to capture it all. The resulting film is called "Phish 3D." It hits theaters on April 20 and the trailer just premiered.

The trailer looks like it will be an incredible experience for any fan looking to get up close with the band during extended versions of "Suzy Greenberg." But it doesn't give away any clues as to what form the 3D effects will take. Will it just be in-your-face guitar solos, or will they go out of their way to take advantage of the technology? No matter what, here are the songs that will sound (and look) best in 3D.

"You Enjoy Myself"
At the end of a 22 minute version of this favorite, the group broke down into some wacky scatting and let lighting director Chris Kuroda do his thing. A third dimension will make it extra psychedelic.

"I Didn't Know"
Any time Jon Fishman breaks out his vacuum cleaner, it's a good time.

Anything from Exile on Main St.
During the band's full-length cover of the Rolling Stones' classic album, they got an assist from Sharon Jones (she of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings fame) on backing vocals, and her sweet soul on tracks like "Tumbling Dice" and "Shine a Light" will be welcome.

Anything from the all-acoustic set
Mostly because we want to see these delicious Festival 8 donuts in 3D.

What are you most looking forward to in the 3D Phish movie? Let us know in the comments!

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MTV News' Musical March Madness: Dave Matthews Band Vs. Phish, Mastodon Vs. Coheed And Cambria

Posted 3/26/10 11:30 am EST by in Music


It's Musical March Madness! The sprawling bracket — both a parody and a tribute to the NCAA basketball tournament, masterminded by MTV News' James Montgomery — takes the 65 biggest names in rock, splits them up into four regions, assigns them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 65. Over the next few weeks, we will present a series of polls that will allow you to vote for the match-ups presented in MTV News' Band Bracketology. You vote for the winners, we'll keep advancing the seeds and, in the end, we'll have some sort of champion. What will the winner receive? Little more than our esteem (as well as that of the fans) and some Internet bragging rights.

Last night's NCAA basketball games featured a tremendous double overtime tilt featuring Kansas State and Xavier, as well as Butler's upset over top-ranked Syracuse. The voting in Musical March Madness remains aggressive, and most of the second round voting remains tight. Today, we plow through the South bracket in preparation for the Sweet 16 on Monday.

(10) Mastodon vs. (15) Coheed and Cambria
Both bands pulled off first round upsets using their individual brands of prog-friendly headbanging. Now they are entrenched in a great second round tilt. This is a great section of the tournament, because no matter who wins either of these games, the Sweet 16 will have a metal versus jam showdown that will be epic.

(3) Dave Matthews Band vs. (6) Phish
Two of the jam universe's biggest titans won their first round match-ups handily, but only one can stand alone. A longshot prediction: Whoever wins this match-up will make a run to the finals. But which one will it be?

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MTV News' Musical March Madness: Phish Vs. MMJ, DMB Vs. Them Crooked Vultures

Posted 3/23/10 12:10 pm EST by in Music


It's Musical March Madness! The sprawling bracket — both a parody and a tribute to the NCAA basketball tournament, masterminded by MTV News' James Montgomery — takes the 65 biggest names in rock, splits them up into four regions, assigns them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 65. Over the next few weeks, we will present a series of polls that will allow you to vote for the match-ups presented in MTV News' Band Bracketology. You vote for the winners, we'll keep advancing the seeds and, in the end, we'll have some sort of champion. What will the winner receive? Little more than our esteem (as well as that of the fans) and some Internet bragging rights.

The voting in the South region is already heating up, so let's get to our next two opening round match-ups.

(3) Dave Matthews Band vs. (14) Them Crooked Vultures
A cluster of rock veterans going head-to-head here, and DMB's constantly evolving sound and vision goes up against the supergroup composed of Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. That's a lot of rocking experience in a single power trio, but DMB have seven studio albums, a ton of live recordings and legions of devoted followers behind them. Will that stand strong against the power of the underdog Vultures?

(6) Phish vs. (11) My Morning Jacket
The jam kings are probably ranked a little too low (though they did score a higher seed than the University of Vermont), and they've got some stiff competition with the also jam-centric My Morning Jacket. My Morning Jacket probably have the better records (they put out the best Prince album the Purple One never made in 2008's Evil Urges), but Phish host their own three-day festivals. Who will reign supreme?

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Phish Turn Up The Volume But Can't Turn Back The Clock In New York

Posted 12/4/09 2:10 pm EST by in Music


By Adam Rosenberg

I saw Phish last night. A lot of people did (Madison Square Garden is a pretty large room), but it was new for me. I've seen them perform in concert more than 70 times over the years, but not once in the past almost-decade. Granted, they spent part of that period on hiatus, so no one was seeing them then. But I fell off that train in 1999, catching only sporadic shows until mid-2000. So last night was a sort of homecoming. And I have to say, as cynical as I've become of that scene in the years I've been away from it, the show was fan-damn-tastic.

For starters, the setlist really delivered. Enjoyment of a Phish setlist is largely a personal thing; different songs move different folks, and this is a band with a catalog that — between originals and covers — is literally hundreds of songs deep. The selection last night fit what I'd want to hear almost all the way through. Some killer, seriously funked out covers of "Boogie on Reggae Woman" (Stevie Wonder), "Cities" (Talking Heads) and "Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from '2001')" (the version made popular by Eumir Deodato) highlighted the night, along with searing versions of originals like "Stash," "Down with Disease," "Piper," "Fluffhead" and "Free."

Then there's the light show. Seriously, if Phish want to really evolve what they do, they ought to wise up and stick a rack directly over the head of lighting engineer Chris Kuroda. He sits behind and a little above the soundboard, surrounded by lit candles and glowing LCD screens, a mad wizard conjuring up colorful shifting landscapes tailored to each song.

As good as the show was, the night wasn't perfect. Read More...

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Adam Lambert, Justin Bieber, Kris Allen And Britney Spears: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 11/25/09 2:15 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


The holidays are upon us, and with Thanksgiving showing up tomorrow, we're taking off early this week here in the MTV Newsroom. (Don't panic, though — we'll still be your top source for any breaking news.) Before you put the turkey in the over, gorge yourself on pumpkin pie and pass out while watching the awful Raiders game, check out what you might have missed during this short but eventful week.

» Adam Lambert grabbed all the headlines with his performance at the American Music Awards. After getting canceled on one morning show and getting picked up by another, Lambert took us through his much-maligned performance moment by moment.

» Lambert wasn't the only "American Idol" contestant who was popular this week. Last season's winner Kris Allen proved he has personality to spare in this collection of hilarious outtakes from his lengthy interview with MTV News' Jim Cantiello.

» Justin Bieber went to England to open a pair of shows for Taylor Swift and all he got was a cast on his leg.
Read More...

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Phish Frolic Through Rock's Back Pages In Cincinnati

Posted 11/23/09 5:45 pm EST by in Music


I will say this upfront to avoid the inevitable flames from the Phish Nation: I am not a Phish fan. I don't have anything against the godhead jam rock quartet from the great Northeast. I just missed the train to Weekapaug Junction in college and dug deeper into old school punk when so many of my Madison, Wisconsin contemporaries were getting their spin on.

I've seen the group twice before: Once near the very beginning of their career explosion when they played a small theater in Madison around 1990 (complete with their old shtick of trampoline jumping and vacuum cleaner solos) and then again in 2000 at Radio City Music Hall in a gig I vaguely recall being way more intricate and massive than the Hoover days.

And then I saw them again on Saturday (November 21) night at U.S. Bank Arena in my hometown. See, I have an inordinate amount of good friends who live and die by Phish and who are constantly trying to convert me to their cause even as I try to lure them to the Muse/Decemberists side. With a sold-out two night stand in my own backyard, I couldn't resist giving it another shot.

After traversing the shockingly brazen open-air drug bazaar that sprouted on the concourse outside the venue, we made our way inside and the sights and smells (oh, the smells) of my brief late 1980s dalliance with the Grateful Dead nation came rushing back like ... well, you know how that one ends.

I'll dispense with the talk of the onion soup-thick haze that predictably choked the air the second the group took the stage and just say this: I totally get it. To a true outsider, and avowed music geek, watching Phish do their thing for more than three hours is like taking in a master class from a fellow "33 1/3" junkie.

I'm told this was a classic set, and from the opening strains of "Wilson," I could tell both why the band decided to get back together and why their fans were ecstatic at the news. Read More...

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Lady Gaga, Kris Allen, The Backstreet Boys And Tokio Hotel: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 10/9/09 5:10 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


The chill in the air is enough to convince us that fall is actually here. So rather than hitting the backyard barbecue, it's time for leaf peeping, pumpkin carving and watching college football. But before you wrap up the last of your work for the week and hit the nearest hay ride, be sure to check out everything you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom blog, from the deep dirt on Lady Gaga to some pre-emptively rejected Kris Allen album titles.

» Before Lady Gaga was a fashion-forward hit machine, she was just a New York University student desperately trying to eat a salad without hurting anybody.

» Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell forced the group to bow out of a bunch of promotional dates because he caught swine flu, but that didn't stop us from celbrating the release of the group's new album This Is Us.

» On "Dancing with the Stars," Debi Mazar and Tom DeLay both did the loser shuffle. Meanwhile, Chuck Liddell is gaining some serious skills, but the competition is still Mya's to lose.

» Kris Allen's debut album doesn't have a title yet, and MTV News' Jim Cantiello wants him to know what not to do.

» In other correspondent news, James Montgomery wrote some lovely things about Pink — so lovely, in fact, that she tweeted her gratitude.
Read More...

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