Mp3 of the Week: Best Music Poll -- New Artist Nominees

So, Best Music Poll is a little thing we do with our brothers and sisters over at FNX every year, as yet another way of drumming up bragging rights for local rock/rap/pop/jazz/dj/etc supremacy. It's a time-honored tradition to bitch about who got nominated, talk shit about how your favorite band is way better, and stuff the ballot box for the Dresden Dolls -- or at least, that's what we do in-house. But the voting is also open to you fine people, and the general idea is Grammy-like, in that it's a process of dubious scientific value that produces great publicity for everyone involved, and is generally an excuse for us to throw parties, bring in huge bands, sprinkle the internet with great mp3s, and cause a ruckus. In other words: a real good time.

Past BMP concerts have been pure insanity. Usually we shut down Lansdowne Street and pack every club, as well as an outdoor stage, and then we throw an even bigger gig over at the Pavilion. This year, with Lansdowne Street temporarily a construction zone, we thought we might end up with a slightly less antic affair, since it's just the big stadium-rocking Pavilion show. Then they decided to book Amanda Palmer. Amanda, you may recall, has this weird thing where she turns into a batshit stripper whenever she gets within eyesight of a BMP logo. So who the fuck knows. Also on the bill: Death Cab for Cutie, Bob Mould, Presidents of the United States of America (still together: who knew?). Last year, we also added more than bragging rights to Best Music Poll: we gave out the opening slots to a bunch of the winners. This year that'll continue: two of the winning bands will open the Pavilion gig. So start clicking; your favorite bands will thank you later. Tickets for the Best Music Poll Concert, May 10 at the BOA Pavilion, go on sale this Saturday at 10 am.

For our money, the best category in the whole poll is Best New Artist: some of us think that this year's Best New Aristist nominees are actually way better than the bands nominated for Best Local Act. But this is no one dude's poll, so feel free to tell us how fucking wrong we are on all counts: there's a write-in option for every category, which means if someone wants to stuff the ballotbox for Tunnel of Love, Turpentine Bros, or Motherboar, we won't be mad at you.

In any case, let's kick off what we hope will be a running argument about who the best new band in town is, defined loosely as "a band that hasn't been nominated for anything in Best Music Poll before." You can jump right to that category here, or just point your browser to www.bestmusicpoll.com anytime you please.

DOWNLOAD: Drug Rug, "Day I Die" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Passion Pit, "Sleepy Head" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Pretty & Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Tulsa, "Shaker" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Wild Light, "New Hampshire" (at MySpace)