INDIE EAR MADNESS '08
INDIE EAR MADNESS: The Raconteurs Win National Title!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | 10:05 AM
(left: The Raconteurs' explosive offense was too much for Band of Horses to handle.)
Two of the finest independent bands in the world faced off last night in the National Championship of Indie Ear Madness. The Raconteurs, who made it here by knocking off Voxtrot, Billy Bragg, The Hives, Radiohead, and Vampire Weekend, faced fellow #2 seed, Band of Horses, who made it to the finals by defeating Islands, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Against Me!, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, and The Black Keys.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: Final Four Results
Sunday, April 6, 2008 | 4:32 PM
A little over two weeks ago we started out with the top 64 independent/indie-minded acts in all of music to determine the best band in the land. Following this weekend's Final Four action, two groups are left standing. They'll go at it this Monday night (April 7). Follow all the action, right here, on The Independent Ear:
(left: Ben Bridwell leads his Band of Horses into the Finals this Monday night.)
INDIE EAR MADNESS: Final Four Preview
Friday, April 4, 2008 | 8:50 AM
This weekend, the Final Four of Indie Ear Madness will take the stage. After some fierce tournament competition, The Raconteurs, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, and Band of Horses are the only indie/indie-minded bands in the country left standing.
To help prepare you for this weekend's Final Four, we have brought in some top-notch music analyts to breakdown each band's playbook:
Michael Azerrad
Renowned author, journalist, and musician (and blogger). Wrote critically acclaimed Come As You Are and Our Band Could Be Your Life. Also co-produced Kurt Cobain documentary, About a Son, and recently penned the R.E.M. cover story for the latest issue of SPIN.
Dave Powers
Former producer of MTV Networks' 120 Minutes and Subterranean. Editor and senior writer for New Music Nation. Supervising Producer of Sprint Exclusive Entertainment Music on Sprint TV.
Steven Smith
On-air host of Steven's Untitled Rock Show (Fuse) and co-host of The Sauce (Fuse). Contributing columnist for Alternative Press Magazine.
INDIE EAR MADNESS on Lunchbox
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 | 6:09 AM
We are down to four teams in our Indie Ear Madness Tournament:
Vampire Weekend
The Raconteurs
Band of Horses
The Black Keys
Hopefully you've been enjoying the action. If you don't like digesting your indie music with sports puns--fear not, the tournament ends this Monday. :P
It just occurred to me that some of you (for whatever reason) may not know that we also do a daily web-show here on IFC.com called Lunchbox. A new episode premieres everyday at noon, hence the "lunch" reference (although I'm sure some of you may not eat lunch until 3PM, but that's another story for another day).
Because I'm a little swept up in the madness, this recent episode of Lunchbox is all about the Final Four. Watch it NOW!
INDIE EAR MADNESS: What was Radiohead Thinking?
Sunday, March 30, 2008 | 9:52 AM
NORTH
1 Radiohead vs. 2 The Raconteurs
"Steady As She Goes" was the motto for The Raconteurs going into the Regional Semifinals against Radiohead. Besides playing their consistent brand of blues rock, they were hoping that Radiohead, one of the most gifted musical acts of the last 15 years, would veer off their game plan and do something completely out of left field (which the band has been known to do). The Raconteurs stuck with material from their first two albums, Broken Boy Soldiers and Consolers of the Lonely, while Radiohead shelved their well-known hits and decided to play Hail To The Thief, in its entirety, completely underwater (which appeared to be an odd homage to either Yorke's "Harrowdown Hill" video or the band's "No Surprises" clip). The Raconteurs advance to the Final Four.
(above: In one of the most bizarre moments of this year's Indie Ear Madness tournament, Radiohead decided to play an entire set underwater).
INDIE EAR MADNESS: Tim Fite Shocks Gnarls Barkley in Sweet-16!
Friday, March 28, 2008 | 10:40 AM
EAST REGION
1 Vampire Weekend vs. 4 Nada Surf
A battle of New York Indie was on display tonight--uptown vs. downtown, young upstarts vs. rock veterans. Vampire Weekend sounded tight again (as they have in the first two rounds). In the end, youth won out. Vampire Weekend squeaks through into the next round.
11 Tim Fite (left) vs. 2 Gnarls Barkley
The clock refuses to strike midnight for the Cinderella-story of the tournament, Tim Fite. Unbelievably he pulled off another upset victory tonight! Gnarls Barkley looked confused throughout the match-up. In the first half, Danger Mouse arrived on stage in his Wayne's World get-up, while Cee-Lo and the rest of the band were dressed in bathrobes. During the second half, Danger Mouse seemed more interested in Tim Fite's set, even asking him if he could produce his next album. A bit irritated, Cee-Lo began performing Goodie Mob songs, however the band didn't know how to play any of the instrumentals. Tim Fite takes down the #2-seed in a shocker!
INDIE EAR MADNESS: Sweet-16 Preview
Thursday, March 27, 2008 | 12:29 PM
Here's a preview of tonight's Indie Ear Madness Regional Semifinals. Since the action will be taking place deep into the wee hours of night, make sure you check back early tomorrow morning to see what musical acts made it into the Great-8 (that's right, we say Great-8 around here, none of that non-rhyming Elite-8 stuff).
Once again, the only place to follow all of this year's Indie Ear Madness tournament is on the Indie Ear Blog at IFC.com.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: 2nd Round (South Region)
Sunday, March 23, 2008 | 1:47 PM
1 R.E.M. vs. 9 Saul Williams
Possibly jinxed by being on the most recent cover of SPIN magazine, R.E.M. loses a close one against the red-hot Saul Williams. R.E.M. is the first #1 seed to fall in this year's tournament.
(left: Saul Williams knocks off R.E.M., the first #1 seed to fall this year)
INDIE EAR MADNESS: 2nd Round (East Region)
Sunday, March 23, 2008 | 11:14 AM
11 Tim Fite vs. 3 Moby
Maybe underestimating Tim Fite, Moby came into this contest with just two turntables (telling his full-on band to stay home). What was also a little confusing was that Moby began spinning slow-tempo chill-out music. Apparently he had stayed out late the night before and didn't even realize what time it was--he thought he was spinning an early-morning after-party instead of competing in the Second Round of Indie Ear Madness. Tim Fite was on-point as usual and managed to score his second upset victory of the tournament.
(above: Tim Fite upsets Moby in the Second Round of Indie Ear Madness.)
INDIE EAR MADNESS: 2nd Round (West Region)
Saturday, March 22, 2008 | 9:43 AM
1 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks vs. 9 The Presidents of the U.S.A.
Many critics disagreed with the Indie Ear Selection Committee's #1 seeding of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. Sarah Pesin (one of our Indie Ear bloggers) even threw a temper tantrum when #16 seed Foals lost to the Jicks in the First Round (she had Foals going to the Sweet 16). Malkmus and his band took this to heart and played inspired music out on the stage today. The Presidents threw a couple cover songs late into their set, but it wasn't enough to stop the one-two punch of Malkmus and Janet Weiss.
(left: Stephen Malkmus leads his Jicks into the Sweet 16)
INDIE EAR MADNESS: 2nd Round (North Region)
Saturday, March 22, 2008 | 8:35 AM
1 Radiohead vs. 9 Anti-Flag
What a match-up! There was a time where it actually looked liked Anti-Flag was going to breeze past Radiohead. During the first half of the competition, Radiohead experimented and tinkered with a lot of their droney, electronic material from Kid A and Amnesiac (there were some songs, that even the most ardent Radiohead fan, couldn't recognize). Noticing that they were going to get beat by a punk band from Pittsburgh, Thom Yorke and crew began pulling out hit after hit from The Bends and OK Computer. Once the band launched in "Just", "My Iron Lung", and "Paranoid Android", Anti-Flag's upset run was over.
(above: Radiohead had to rely on their big hits to move past Anti-Flag)
INDIE EAR MADNESS: First Round
Friday, March 21, 2008 | 2:21 PM
Indie Ear Madness
First Round, South Region
March 21, 2008
1 R.E.M. vs. 16 Crystal Castles
Wow, R.E.M. playing like late 80's/early 90's R.E.M.! Crystal Castles had no chance.
8 MGMT vs. 9 Saul Williams
Saul Williams' rhyme delivery was perfect from the floor tonight. When Williams is on, he's very hard to beat.
5 PJ Harvey vs. 12 Xiu Xiu
Many times during this match-up it seemed like Xiu Xiu was just happy to be in the presence of PJ Harvey. No upsets here, Harvey glides through to round two.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: First Round
Friday, March 21, 2008 | 12:00 PM
Indie Ear Madness
First Round, East Region
March 21, 2008
1 Vampire Weekend vs. 16 My Brightest Diamond
Vampire Weekend's momentum continues as they roll convincingly over the talented songstress, My Brightest Diamond.
8 Thurston Moors vs. 9 Liars
Though Thurston Moore entered the tournament with an acoustic guitar (rather than his trademark squalls of feedback), but he adapted quickly and taught his young protégés that he's still the King of Noise Rock even when he's not making much noise at all.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: First Round
Thursday, March 20, 2008 | 3:22 PM
Indie Ear Madness
First Round, West Region
March 20, 2008
1 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks vs. 16 Foals
The veteran presence of Stephen Malkmus and Janet Weiss (a senior transfer from Sleater-Kinney) was a little too much for Foals to handle.
8 Bauhaus vs. 9 The Presidents of the U.S.A.
It took two encores and a double-overtime to decide this one. The breakdown portion of the Presidents' hit "Peaches" helped eek it out for the Seattle power trio.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: First Round
Thursday, March 20, 2008 | 12:59 PM
Indie Ear Madness
First Round, North Region
March 20, 2008
1 Radiohead vs. 16 Ting Tings
Radiohead wins big--no surprise here.
8 Cat Power vs. 9 Anti-Flag
Anti-Flag's front-four outdoes Cat Power (who left halfway through the competition)
5 The Kills vs. 12 British Seapower
A lot of people had British Seapower advancing in their brackets, but The Kills won convincingly.
INDIE EAR MADNESS: Key First Round Match-Ups
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 | 9:34 AM
Tomorrow afternoon the 64-band Indie Ear Madness tournament will begin. Only one independent/indie-minded music act will be left standing following the fierce competition. Don't forget to print out your brackets and follow the action daily. Competing this year, we have a handful of veteran acts as well as many up-and-coming new talents. Radiohead come into the tourney as this year's favorites, but upstarts, Vampire Weekend, Gnarls Barkley, and Tapes 'N Tapes are looking to bring home their first National Title. Here's a look at some intriguing first round match-ups:
INDIE EAR MADNESS 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 | 8:07 PM
Welcome to Indie Ear Madness 2008--the tournament to decide who is the best independent/indie-minded act in all of music today. Much like the NCAA Men's & Women's Basketball tournaments, this contest will take place over the next three weeks. The 64 bands competing in the tournament were chosen by the Indie Ear Selection Committee. To qualify for the competition each act had to (1) currently be on tour, (2) recently put out an album, or (3) have a new album that will be released in the near future.
Make sure to fill out your brackets and check back daily for all of the results.
First Round
March 20-21
Second Round
March 22-23
Regional Semifinals
March 27
Regional Finals
March 29
Final Four
April 5-7
Continue reading to view brackets...
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