mtvU is the college-dorm targeted branch of Viacom’s pop-cultural giving tree. While most of its boughs are wilting when it comes to recognizing relevant music, this university-centric twig at least maintains some semblance of staying evergreen, if only because their demographic roots turn over almost as quickly as tastes and trends tend to. So, and this is the last word I’ll use to pummel this metaphor, welcome to the Woodies: an award show that’s suitably schizophrenic, occasionally amusing, and at the very least, a peek into one network’s idea of what makes for collegiate taste. Some of the category nominations makes sense, like having college-rap clown Asher Roth up against other scene standouts like MGMT, Kings Of Leon, and Silversun Pickups for the grand prize Woodie Of The Year. Or pitting Phoenix and Animal Collective against each other in the best live act category. But there are plenty of headscratchers (Passion Pit in the breaking-artist category against … Grizzly Bear. Huh?) and a bunch of bands you’ve never heard of. So peruse this list, which also has nods to Jay Reatard, Major Lazer, Amanda Blank, and YYYs, if only to know what Viacom thinks the kids are into:
Via mtv.com:
Woodie of the Year
?
- Asher Roth
- ?Kings of Leon
- ?Drake
- ?MGMT
- ?Silversun Pickups
The Breaking Woodie
- ?Grizzly Bear?
- Never Shout Never?Wale?
- La Roux
- ?Friendly Fires
- ?Passion Pit
Left Field Woodie
- ?Amanda Blank
- ?Janelle Monáe
- ?Major Lazer?
- Jay Reatard?
- Tech N9ne
Best Video Woodie
- ?Matt & Kim, “Lessons Learned”
- ?Dead Weather, “Treat Me Like Your Mother”
- ?Death Cab for Cutie, “Grapevine Fires”
- ?Anjulie, “Boom”
- ?Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll”
- ?Kid Cudi, “Day N Nite”
Performing Woodie
- ?Green Day
- ?Phoenix
- ?3OH!3
- ?Animal Collective
- ?POS
The Good Woodie (Social Impact Award)
- ?John Legend, Show Me Campaign?
- Wyclef Jean, Yele Haiti
- ?Kenna, PlayPumps?
- Jamie Tworkowski, To Write Love on Her Arms?
- Ra Ra Riot, John Ryan Pike Memorial Foundation?
- Alicia Keys, Keep a Child Alive/ AIDS activism
The Woodies will be taped at Roseland Ballroom on 11/18 with an air date of Friday 12/4 at 10 p.m. ET on mtvU, MTV, MTV2 and Palladia. One time I went Spank Rock invaded the blogger cage and started drinking liquor out of a girl’s stiletto before getting kicked out, which is precisely why Spank Rock should be invited to all of your parties.
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1) AC and Phoenix are kinda boring live and everyone who’s even a fan can admit that.
2) The video of the year will go to the MTV-funded Matt & Kim.
3) The “Woodie of the year” title conjures up really TMI thoughts.
Are you kidding? Phoenix is incredible live.
I’ll agree AC tends to get a bit distracted in their own jamming and winds up kind of incoherent.
Animal Collective is boring live? Phoenix is boring live? Have you ever left your computer to see a show?
No, I’m too busy masturbating over new Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend songs to actually go outside in the real world.
I’ve seen Phoenix live a few times and I wouldn’t say they’re a great live act. They sound good but otherwise its just a bunch of guys standing around playing instruments relying on lights to get the crowd’s energy up. They might as well have nominated The Strokes while they were at it.
I guess this is Viacom’s bush tax cut at work;)
Chuck, you know exceedingly little about Viacom’s finances. A 2003 tax cut on INDIVIDUAL shareholder dividends netted Redstone and it’s individual shareholders a nice profit, but he also recently owed over 800 million dollars. Viacom has had 3 rounds of substantial layoffs since that 2003 payday to it’s individual shareholders;)
wheres kanye?
Woodie of the Year
??
MGMT
The Breaking Woodie
?Grizzly Bear?
Left Field Woodie
?Janelle Monáe
Best Video Woodie
??Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll”
Performing Woodie
?Phoenix
Any award show that puts Animal Collective against 3OH!3 is a show that I’m not watching.
i feel like manatees created this list
College kids don’t listen to 3OH!3, and HATE Asher Roth…and since when is Green Day suppost to be cool among college students??? So, Animal Collective probably will win the best performing woodie, because they are pretty good live, and woodie of the year, I dunno, probably Drake will win.
I hope Tech N9ne wins
My Gambles
Woodie of the Year
MGMT (But really anyone other than Asher Roth)
The Breaking Woodie
Passion Pit (These guys came out of nowhere..hence Breaking Woodie)
Left Field Woodie
Major Lazer (Guns Dont Kill People Lazers do…amazing)?
Best Video Woodie
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll” (Up in the air)
Performing Woodie
Phoenix (Enough said)
The Good Woodie (Social Impact Award)
Alicia Keys, Keep a Child Alive/ AIDS activism (It’s all good)
These nominations turned out much better than I could have imagined. Way better than in past years.
phoenix doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.
If you saw who won last year’s Woodies, 3OH!3 and Asher are guaranteed to win, unforunately.
I approve of this for the sheer ridiculousness of that matchup.
Green day? again? didn’t they win something at the big awards show? you can’t be at the VMAs and here. green day is not a collage band… they grew up. just as silly as if REM were on here cause they’re hip with those kids in college…. right……… and of course asher is on the list. I mean he says college in the song and shows stuff like beer pong in his video… so you know, he’s like bona fide