In this episode of BackStory, Michael Dion of New England Zoograssers Hot Day at the Zoo tells us the story behind their song "(My Sweet Baby) Boom Boom Boom." (Thanks to BreakThruRadio.com for the video!)

Congratulations to Sebastian! You've won a pair of tickets to see The Parlotones at New York's Mercury Lounge on March 8, and before the show, you'll be meeting the band! Here's the winning comment:

Me, my wife and my best friend Jego went to South Africa for the World Cup. We all felt in love with this beautiful country. When I saw ad from South African Airways about The Parlotones I had to check them out and... I felt in love once again ;) I hope to be in Mercury Longue on March 8th no matter what. If I, my wife and Jego can meet the band and let them personally know how much we liked SA... Priceless!

West Coast Parlotones fans, stay tuned for your chances to meet & see the band in Portland and Los Angeles! The next give-aways start next week!

In their final installment as our Artists in Residence for February, Seattle's Ivan & Alyosha take us on the road with them on the second leg of their tour. Will this be the last time they're taking shifts to drive themselves on tour? Could be, since they'll be blowing up at the 35 Conferette in Denton and then playing SXSW!

Last night, Delicate Steve and Akron/Family took to the stage of a sold-out Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY. The room was an eclectic mix of hipsters, music aficionados and indie-rock fans (sometimes as the same person). Delicate Steve, or the 23-year-old virtuoso also known as Steve Marion, recently burst onto the scene with the impressive (mostly) instrumental debut: Wondervisions, and Akron/Family have just released a highly energetic roller-coaster of a record (a title of which you should just look up. Trust me.)

Steve released the LP in February and has garnered all kinds of praise for it: from SPIN and NPR to the New York Times. He recently discussed the motivation for his song, “Butterfly” in our BackStory feature, which you can read HERE.

In this week's episode of Ivan & Alyosha's stint as our February Artists in Residence, they've given us exclusive footage of their performance at their EP Release party. Enjoy!

A larger version of this poster can be viewed at The Portland Mercury

Music fans of the Pacific Northwest are in for a treat this Memorial Day weekend, as the 10th anniversary of the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Gorge, Washington promises a myriad of musical legends, as well as your favorite indie bands. Sasquatch! will be so big this year, the festival will be four days long instead of the usual three. The lineup was announced last night in Seattle - here's a look at some of the bands who will be in attendance this year.

The Big Names

Foo Fighters: This Seattle-based band was confirmed a few months ago as this year's major Sasquatch! headliner. No doubt they'll play the last day of the festival, Monday, May 30, on the main stage, so diehard Foo fans will be smart as to not overexert themselves before their favorite band performs. In the meantime, Dave Grohl and the guys will release their new album on April 12, giving fans ample time to learn the new tunes.

Modest Mouse: Another big-name band with Washington roots, Modest Mouse hit mainstream success with the top-40 single "Float On" and a Grammy nomination for Good News For People Who Love Bad News. Not much has been happening lately with the group, but I suspect the opportunity to play the 10th anniversary of Sasquatch! was too good to pass up - they played the festival in 2003, 2005 and 2008. Let's hope this sparks more activity at the Modest Mouse camp!

We're thrilled to kick off a new chapter in our Artists in Residence series with Austin, Texas' StumbleDrunk. Today they offer their first episode, their song "Up All Night." Enjoy, and come back every Wednesday in January for more!

In this week's episiode of BackStory, The White Buffalo tells us the story behind his song "Oh Datlin', What Have I Done?"

"Oh Darlin'" is a character driven, twisted tale of unrequited love. Based on an imagined, very confused man, whom has recently lost his lover. He becomes more distanced and reclusive. Within his disillusionment, loneliness, and loss of faith in God, he begins to kill. He thinks that he is giving his estranged love the ultimate prize, human life. Some how thinking that these one of a kind gifts will once again regain her affection. It all end in a hanging.

As we welcome the new year, BestNewBands.com would like to take one last look at the magical, music-filled year that was 2010.

photo credit: Jesse Diener-Bennett

“Babies” - Via Audio

Jesse Diener-Bennett caught Via Audio in concert earlier this month, and had this to say:

“Via Audio ended their set with ‘Babies,’ which features the band at their funkiest. The song starts with a long, upward swooping synth chord, with which the members of the band – along with a few brave souls in the audience – raised their arms up. Then they brought them down and played the hell out of the song. It was a great ending to a really fantastic performance.”

Read the rest of Jesse’s review here.

“Babies” was also voted Best Song of 2010.

Well, I don't feel stupid anymore about buying tickets to San Diego's Street Scene after already buying tickets to see Chromeo at Hard Fest/Hard Summer in LA. Why? Because Hard Summer didn't happen.

I drove to LA tonight with high hopes after 3 years of missing Chromeo every time they came near me on tour. I picked up my dear friend and fellow Chromeo enthusiast, Chris, and we made it over to the Los Angeles Forum just in time for Chromeo's 9:55pm set.