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  1. Obsessively blogging about pop music, pop videos, pop stars, and pop culture from inside the MTV headquarters in Times Square. We also have a slight Jonas Brothers problem. And a little fixation with Tokio Hotel.

    Contact us as buzzworthy@mtv.com and follow us on Twitter at @MTVBuzzworthy.

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Say hello once again to Chromeo; the dazzling, sleek electro-pop duo of Dave1 and P-Thugg. In this episode of "The 5," Chromeo, (who've released two full-lengths and a mix compilation for the DJ Kicks series) talk about some stuff... What stuff? That's the perfect question. It would appear that their love of quasi-ironic, ZZ-Top/"Legs"-referencing cover art is only matched by their dislike of domestic animals.

Chromeo also discusses the equal importance of Hall & Oates and Steely Dan, and the sartorial sensibilities of some of their favorite rappers.

Check out the brand-new MTV interview below, watch Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork" video, and listen to their latest single, "Night By Night" now.

Remember how famous that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack was a few years ago? I'm not a video game guy, but I used to play that one just to drive around and listen to the radio. Flipping between stations you could catch blips of Cutting Crew, Run DMC, Rick James, Hall & Oates, Motley Crue and A Flock Of Seagulls, all while enjoying a flamingo pink Miami sunset.

Well I got no time for video games anymore -- too busy fanning Tamar and feeding her peeled grapes -- but I just found out I can have pretty much the exact same experience, without all the hand-eye coordination, if I just throw on And Then Boom by Iglu & Hartly.

In fact, not only do these smart-assed Fracht-Rockers (that's frat + yacht) out of Los Angeles capture every bit of that Vice City sweetness, but they also cram all of it into every single song. You know that brilliant Frito~Lay product called Munchies that combines Cheetos, Doritos, Pretzels and Sun Chips? Iglu & Hartly are the musical equivalent of the cheese fix waiting in every bite of that genius snack. They've got new-wave disco synths, monster ballad bridges, rap breaks, and soul jazz smoothness bubbling up in every last jam.

Of course I realize that I've made an outrageous claim and will have to back it up. So, why don't you go ahead and stream all of And Then Boom here, download "Day Glo" and "Jump Out Of Your Car" below and see for yourself?

+ DOWNLOAD: Iglu & Hartly, "DayGlo" [mp3]
+ DOWNLOAD: Igly & Hartly, "Jump Out Of Your Car [mp3]

With Chester French, our MTV Featured Artist spots have taken a turn for the deeply weird. Aside from gracing us with the usual exclusive performance video -- the Hall & Oates-y Harvard hitmakers do "C'mon," "She Loves Everybody" and "The Jimmy Choos" live from a bumpin' garden party -- Chester French lend their preppy perfection to a series of creepy public service announcements.

As part of MTV's GYT ("Get Yourself Tested") campaign, D.A. Wallach and Max Drummey split up to lend a hand to women in need. In Wallach's PSA, he coaches a hirsute honey through the challenges of being... a little different. Drummey, meanwhile, shows an older woman how to let go of her pain by simply opening her mouth. I'd tell you more, but I don't wanna spoil the bizarre surprises waiting for you in these twisted clips.

What I will spoil for you, happily, is that Chester French's live performances give new life to their already pulsating singles. It's one thing to hear the smooth jams bump from a set of speakers, and another thing entirely to see the boys kicking them out live to the delight of undulating backyard ladies. So do go to the garden party, darlings.

Watch Chester French's MTV Featured Artist videos. But do stick around for the wacked GYT interludes. They'll mess you up. Here. I'll post one below...

When smooth-funk dispensers Tigercity write their name as a single word, they give it the connotation of a noun that means tiger-ness. Tiger-icity... As in, it was too dark to see the animal, but you could tell what it was by the tigercity of its movements. Inconsequential as that may seem, it's a fitting little quirk when you're talking about a band whose easy-riding jams feel like variations on Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger."

Tigercity is Bill Gillim (vocals) and Joel Ford (bass) -- Hampshire College alums who met playing pick-up basketball (badly) -- and their new found Brooklyn buddies Andrew Brady (guitar) and Aynsley Powell (drums). After a couple years of actively not becoming another NYC-based Velvet Underground / Television derivative, Tigercity have pushed through the noise with their compressed soul grooves.

In doing so, the self-declared unironic hipsters have played a major role in keeping the underbite alive in the Brooklyn music scene, playing unapologetically flamboyant Hall & Oates updates with their teeth clamped firmly on their bottom lips. Their van-bumpin', yacht-humpin ballads, like "Mallory" and "Fake Gold," will have you scrambling for your silk scarves, sequined pants and Sperry Top-Siders. Smooth, nasty and righteous, all at once. That's Tigercity. Listen/ love here.

Yo, 1983! Welcome back! Again! We've been busting out our moustache combs and scratching at our leg warmers all day over here, listening to this airy New Order-meets-Hall & Oates jam, "Big Bills." The instant new-wave-yacht-rock classic is the latest from underground Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus, with enchanting girly vocals courtesy of fellow '80s revivalist, Caroline Polachek of Chairlift (who you may remember from the dreamiest iPod commercial ever). And if Flosstradamus sounds familiar, it's probably because half of the DJ team, Josh 'J2K' Young, is Kid Sister's big brother!

Finally, maybe it's just the video's Lost In Translation-esque muted colors, breathy vocals and sleepy blur, but is anybody else picking up on a major Sofia Coppola vibe here? Not only is this new Flosstradamus clip overloaded with that moody Virgin Suicides ennui, but Caroline Polachek (good thing someone found a use for her!) is also a dead-ringer for the it-girl director. Doncha think?! Yeah you do.

Alright, we admit it. We're still slightly obsessed with Gym Class Heroes and their heavily tattooed frontman, Travis McCoy. And not just because he's dating this summer's bicurious It-Girl, Katy Perry. Or because he's only been to rehab once. Or even because he does crazy, spontaneous, unpredictable things (like hit unruly fans with microphones! And write angry, all-caps missives on his Tumblr!) yet refuses to confirm/deny reports that he and Tyga are tangentially related.

No, our one-sided infatuation with Travis and GCH stems all the way back to last December, when we first discovered they shared our massive (equally unrequited) fascination with Hall & Oates. Since then, we've been counting down the days until September 9th, when their new album, The Quilt, would simultaneously hit stores and gain its rightful place in our Shrine To All Things Travis.

Except, turns out today's our lucky day, because the album is ALREADY AVAILABLE ONLINE. Meaning now you won't have to wait until post-VMAs to hear all those crazy compilation tracks! So head over to "The Leak" to test-drive the guys' latest set and get your Hall & Oates fix by listening to Track 10 -- "Live Forever (Fly With Me)" on permanent repeat.

Then close your eyes and try not to think mean thoughts about Katy Perry. (We're trying. It's not working, but we're trying.)

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Remember when we used to basically stalk Gym Class Heroes (who are joining Paramore and Cobra Starship on the Warped Tour, which kicks off in June) in a non-threatening blogger way? Well we did, and it's been awhile, so we figured it was time to get back at it, because as every good stalker knows, you should never give up the fight, right?

Speaking of the good fight, with Travis McCoy out of rehab, Gym Class Heroes are following up As Cool As School Children (we love that album, but we're sorta sick of looking at the cover art at this point) with their next studio album, which is set for a summer 2008 release. Entitled The Quilt: Starring Gym Class Heroes, the cinematic new album will indeed feature the legendary John Oates, in addition to Busta Rhymes, Ne-Yo and Lil Wayne (speaking of people who might definitely qualify for detox.)

Read more...

 

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What could be more "sexy sexy" than '70s/'80s soft-synth rockers Hall & Oates? Um, we can think of about a thousand things, but that didn't stop Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy and Matt McGinley from hitting up the Beacon Theatre in New York's Upper West Side last night to catch Daryl and John in action.

We spotted them sitting down the row from us (eeeek… we're busted too) taking in H&O's combo Christmas-Greatest Hits show. And though from where we were sitting, Hall & Oates sorta resembled the Indigo Girls, and despite the fact that the sax not only drowned out the vocals (AND the "Soul Violins") but was also cranked up to eardrum-obliterating levels, and that a long-, wavy-haired Hall sorta looked like Don Imus, and that their tedious rendition of "The Christmas Song" sounded like elevator muzak, it was worth it all to watch all the old folks (soooo many Mom Jeans) dance to "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" once the band finally got into the good ish.

Read more...

gym_class_heros.jpgMkay, serious VMA update, folks. Unfortunately we had to say "cheerio!" to Best New Artist nominee Lily Allen's appearance and performance at the VMAs due to Prez Jorge and the U.S. Gubment. Ms. Allen had her work visa repo'ed and she had to cancel tour dates in addition to her VMA appointments. Boo! But… and not that she could ever be replaced, coincidentally we've got more artists on the performance bill! Gym Class Heroes (also a Best New Artist nom), Lil Wayne, Female Artist of the Year nominee Nelly Furtado, Common, Monster Single of the Year nominee T-Pain, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo, whose "Smiley Faces" video is nominated for Best Editing, and Australian pop singer Daniel Merriweather will all be doin' it live.

We love all of the aforementioned artists, but we've got a serious crush on Gym Class Heroes, and we don't care who the hell knows. And while there isn't a Best Live Performance award, we're pretty sure Gym Class would have it on lockdown, since they've got Vegas under their proverbial studded belts -- their latest video, "Clothes Off," was shot there.

Check out the super self-referential video -- they're playing their own song, "Viva La White Girl," in the opening shot and watching their own "Cupid's Chokehold" video. And in true Decaydance style, the video's packed with cameos, including Pete Wentz as a slots-playing Elvis, checking out Travis McCoy's butt and members of Vegas' own Panic! At The Disco as dancing, poker-playing furries. Watch the video below… oh, and just so you know: Gym Class is also prepping a Hall & Oates mash-up album to be released around the new year. Like we needed yet another reason to love them.

gym_class_heros.jpgMkay, serious VMA update, folks. Unfortunately we had to say "cheerio!" to Best New Artist nominee Lily Allen's appearance and performance at the VMAs due to Prez Jorge and the U.S. Gubment. Ms. Allen had her work visa repo'ed and she had to cancel tour dates in addition to her VMA appointments. Boo! But… and not that she could ever be replaced, coincidentally we've got more artists on the performance bill! Gym Class Heroes (also a Best New Artist nom), Lil Wayne, Female Artist of the Year nominee Nelly Furtado, Common, Monster Single of the Year nominee T-Pain, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo, whose "Smiley Faces" video is nominated for Best Editing, and Australian pop singer Daniel Merriweather will all be doin' it live.

We love all of the aforementioned artists, but we've got a serious crush on Gym Class Heroes, and we don't care who the hell knows. And while there isn't a Best Live Performance award, we're pretty sure Gym Class would have it on lockdown, since they've got Vegas under their proverbial studded belts -- their latest video, "Clothes Off," was shot there.

Check out the super self-referential video -- they're playing their own song, "Viva La White Girl," in the opening shot and watching their own "Cupid's Chokehold" video. And in true Decaydance style, the video's packed with cameos, including Pete Wentz as a slots-playing Elvis, checking out Travis McCoy's butt and members of Vegas' own Panic! At The Disco as dancing, poker-playing furries. Watch the video below… oh, and just so you know: Gym Class is also prepping a Hall & Oates mash-up album to be released around the new year. Like we needed yet another reason to love them.