AWmusic

Previously:
#76-100

Next in the series:
Part 3: #26-50
Part 4: #1-25

Numbers #51-75:
#51 Creator by Santogold w/ Switch and Freq Nasty (myspace/video -unofficial was canceled?)
The intro is risky, brave and wildly effective.
#52 Crystal Stilts by Crystal Stilts (myspace)
A song should be good if it’s your band name.
#53 I Wish I Could Keep You by Little Pictures (myspace/live)
This song makes me wish I was a kid again.
#54 In The Kitchen by The Pomegranates (myspace/live -poor visual quality)
A song I want to play on the guitar.
#55 Never Miss A Beat by Kaiser Chiefs (homepage/video)
The kids on the street, are scary! Shiiet.
#56 Death To The Los Campesinos! By Los Campesinos! (myspace/video)
“I’ll be control-alt-deleting your face with no reservation”.
#57 Marry Me Annie by Matthew and The Arrogant Sea (myspace)
Hey Annie, I’m serious, MATAS is a great band.
#58 Whiite Fantaseee by Slim Twig (myspace)
How about an Asian fantaseee?
#59 Dance Dance Dance by Lykke Li (myspace/live with Bon Iver)
Lykke Li’s hips lie and she’s shy. I’m in love.
#60 Galaxy Of The Lost by Lightspeed Champion (myspace/video)
Emmy The Great makes this song gold. Weird video.
#61 Skinny Love by Bon Iver
Bon Iver should try BBW. Morbidly Obese Love anyone?
#62 Good Time by Brazilian Girls (myspace/video)
I just want to have a good time too.
#63 Can’t Shake It by Kate Miller-Heidke (myspace/video)
I can’t dance either though this song is danceable…
#64 New Soul by Yael Naim(homepage)
I’m a new ipod product with a new catchy song.
#65 Boneless by The Notwist (homepage)
Great song off a slightly disappointing album.
#66 Shadow Falls by Hello, Blue Roses (myspace/live)
Awesome duet, too bad they were bashed by Pitchfork.
#67 Get Better by Mates of State (myspace/video)
“Forget your politics for awhile”. 2008 was a tough year.
#68 Xavia by The Submarines (myspace)
The Submarines don’t let me down in this song.
#69 Home Sweet Home by Those Dancing Days (myspace/video)
A perfect holiday song.
#70 Not Your Savior by Peasant (myspace)
Peasant keeps it honest, leave him alone.
#71 Call It A Ritual by Wolf Parade (myspace)
I enjoy Spencer Krug’s metaphorical writing.
#72 Black Rice by Women (myspace/live)
Best Song that ends in a whimper.
#73 The Rip by Portishead (homepage/video)
Just beautiful.
#74 That’s Not My Name by The Tings Tings (myspace/video)
Wait..what is her name again?
#75 Gila by Beach House (myspace/live)
Giiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

4. The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath

The Mars Volta are the most well known act in the world of intense progressive rock, and with this album the band has renewed its title as king. Bedlam surely is not a major departure from anything they’ve released previously, but it is the most intense encapsulation of the band’s abilities. Almost as if to apologize for the droning, anti-climactic nature of Amputechture, this album is relentless from start to finish, with a momentum that barely takes a breath for the entire 75 minute assault.
The Mars Volta – Metatron

3. Beast – s/t
This Montreal band has been touring with You Say Party! We Say Die! on a relatively unsuccessful tour that seemed endless up until now, but with this new record they have finally broken out. Falling somewhere between Nine Inch Nails, RATM, Portishead, and Muse – it’s Alternative, Hip Hop and Industrial, all tied together by the intense and all encompassing voice of Betty Bonifassi. Though one or two tracks on the album drag on, it’s strength is in powerful epics like Fingerprints and Devil. A must-listen of 2008.
Beast – Fingerprints

2. Portishead – Third
It seems like every album we`re so priviliged to get from this band is more incredible than the last (sadly Portishead does not adhere to the “album every two years” rule). But this isn`t 90s trip-hop anymore, this is 21st century Portishead. Songs like Machine Gun are darker and more haunting than ever before, but others like The Rip are some of the most beautiful songs ever written in the world of alternative genres. This album blends both jarring and pretty sounds like few records I have ever heard in my life.
Portishead – Machine Gun

1. Brazilian Girls – New York City
Behold what I would argue is not only the best experimental/alternative album of 2008, but the best record of the year, period. Exotic, intense, beautiful, sexy, bizarre, and mindblowing. It`s hard to put to words what this album does to you when you listen to it, but you may be a different person for listening all the way through just once. An incredible live act, and an equally impressive studio band, Brazilian Girls are exactly the kind of boost the alternative world needs in this unprecedented oversaturation of bands lobbying for our attention.
Brazilian Girls – Nouveau Americain

I’ve created this list based on 3 things:
1) it made my feet move.
2) it made me put the sh&t on repeat.
3) it made me put it on a playlist.

A. Let’s Go To War – Burn Down The Disco. This group is from Toronto and have opened for M.I.A. and Santogold, and performed at the Virgin fest. This track crosses the “urban” boundaries in my opinion, a nice mix of rock/urban/electro. I love: The intro, the bridge and the riff through the song.
Let’s Go To War – Burn Down The Disco

B. Brazilian Girls – Losing Myself. I’m pretty sure this is not a “single”. But, during their show at the Diesel house (which I weakly reviewed, lol), this track stood out to me most from their 2008 LP. I love: the bilingualism and the strangeness of her voice during the chorus.
Brazilian Girls – Losing Myself

C. Yelle – Je Veux Te Voir. This track is a re-release from 2006. Yelle is French singer from France. The intro is similar to the beginning of the 20 Fingers’ 90s track Short D*ck Man. I love: her high pitch annoying voice, the electro beat and the bridge.
Yelle – Je Veux Te Voir

D. Björk – Earth Intruders. It’s nice to see Timbaland produce something outside his tim-box and evidence that he’s beyond pop. Björk is always producing something innovative and then singing it weirdly. This song sounds like a dance march for funk and freedom I love: the lyrics, her weird articulation, and the beat.
Bjork – Earth Intruders

E. Robyn – Cobrastyle. I’ve always liked Robyn, even when she was a pop star. Robyn came back these last two years an independent artist with a dance movement. Her album is excellent, but this track is most electro danceable for me. I love: the lyrics (I press trigger, I don’t press people button) and the bass line.
Robyn – Cobrastyle.mp3

F. Kanye West – Love Lockdown. I so wanted to do this LP review, someone beat me to it. lol. Anyway, I was thoroughly impressed with this 808 album because it’s Kanye somber, electro and outside his box. The lyrics are weak as hell. I’ll make it an exception on this track because it’s heartfelt. I love: the Auto-tune, the tribal drums on the 808 and the simplicity.
Kanye West – Love Lockdown

G. N.E.R.D. – Spaz. There’s no doubt that N.E.R.D.’s Everybody Nose is a cool electro/dance track too… but Spaz‘s drum-n-bass effect works so much better for me. I always like N.E.R.D.’s work anyway, but this song, it’s a step towards what I want to hear from them. I love: the lyrics “Spaz if you want to…” damn right, the drum-n-bass beat and the mix of rock for the chorus.
N.E.R.D. – Spaz.mp3

H. Santogold – You’ll Find A Way (Switch and Sinden Remix). Of course everybody loves Creator, that’s her anthem (I do too). You’ll Find A Way is always overlooked in favour of L.E.S. Artistes. This track though is “tough” though… I love: the opening beat, the whispers and the bridge.
Santogold – You’ll Find A Way (Switch and Sinden Remix).mp3

I. Janelle Monae- Sincerely Jane. A lot of people like Many Moons more, but I think it sounds too “Outkast”ee for me. Sincerely, Jane is an original urban track that’s danceable with live horns.. mid-tempo dancing maybe, lol, but I still groove to it. I love: the lyrics, the scratching, the live horns, and her voice.
Janelle Monae – Sincerely, Jane

J. Weezer – Troublemaker. Yes, I’m well aware this is not a dance/urban/electro track. But… this track is just so much fun and makes me want to rock out the dance floor. These self-proclaimed nerds’ guitars and drum line makes me move. I love: always the nerdy and sarcastic lyrics, the beat, the little interruption bridges… “I’m gonna be a rock star… marrying a biatch”. lol. This is my anthem of the year. I know.. I’m a total geek. Yes, and the buildup bridge, works every time.
Weezer – Troublemaker.mp3

Finally, a graphic picture of bikini clad women squatting… I’m loving it, kinda. Not going to get ahead of myself.. the music might suck, despite what my friend told me. Of course, I didn’t know the songs, so I really couldn’t tell you which song they started and/or ended with. I will tell you what I heard and how it sounded. I now have their entire collection, done more research, and I recognize some tracks (so ignorant, I know.. lol). They played these songs (as far as I know): Corner Store (great performance); Pussy (she asked everyone to sing, pointed the microphone at people’s face, even went to the guard and asked him to sing — he just stood there like the bad ass that he is); St. Petersburg; Losing Myself (love this track); Strangeboy (what a cool song); Ricardo; I Want Out; Good Time; Jique and Sexy Asshole. If you know their stuff, you can see most of those songs are from the new album (New York City). My favourites were: Sexy Asshole, Losing Myself and Corner Store. Here is a basic 411 on the BG. Brazilian Girls consists of 3 members: Sabina Sciubba (singer), Didi Gutman (keyboardist) and Aaron Johnston (drummer). Sciubba grew up in Europe and sings in different languages, switching from French to English to Spanish to German. I only know 2 of those, so half the time I don’t know what she’s singing about. Their music is a mix of electronica, lounge with heavy Spanish influences.

Overall, I’d say the performance was good, kinda boring to be truthful. It was a very weird location because Diesel Playhouse is set up with tables. It was more like watching a show rather than engaging in a music concert, which bored to me death. Even though, I did enjoy the music and I liked her live singing… I really could have stayed home and watched it on TV. I’m sure a lot of people like the show, and I could see why. However, the size of the location just didn’t allow the concert to be as intimate as they wanted it to be. Frankly, for me, this kind of music is reserved for when I’m talking to my friends and I need something in the background. I really wouldn’t sit there and watch someone sing it to me live.

Pussy by Brazilian Girls
Losing Myself by Brazilian Girls
Sexy Asshole by Brazilian Girls

The difference between Black Kids and Brazilian Girls is simple, when doing an image search on these bands, when you searched for Black Kids pre-internet fame you had terrible racist imagery while searching for Brazilian Girls you got almost naked, bikini wearing women. It also doesn’t hurt if I were to place the statement “hot sexxxy naked Brazilian girls” to get random traffic from users looking for porn in this post (oh wait I just did)

As everyone mentions about Brazilian Girls, they have just one female member in Sabina Sciubba and even then none of the members appear to Brazilian. Sabina could have you fooled though, she uses her prowess of being able to speak 5 major languages in English, German, Spanish, French and Italian. Too bad there isn’t some Portuguese. I’ll forgive them for the band name though as some critics get hung by bad band names a lot of the time.

“New York City” an album titled after the city in which the band formed, starts with St. Petersburg a simplistic track with vocals from Sabina that is spoken word. It’s an interesting track that doesn’t quite do it for me. The next track is Losing Myself, which is a solid track that mixes in English and French quite well (I can tell when it’s French…poor recognition on other languages). I hate the hook “I’m Losing Myself” which is repeated quite a number of times but the song itself is both danceable and surprisingly dense mixing in a variety of elements with a drumline.

“Berlin” – another track titled after a major European city starts off like it’s an orchestra and Sabina singing beautifully. It starts off with a foreign language…French and English are used for different verses but I think German is involved (obvious with the title?). This track is great for the changing in languages and it’s beautiful to hear. Halfway through it kicks in with a piano-esque keyboard intro that mixes well with the trumpets and various elements of the orchestra.

Instead of just constantly repeating myself at the wonderful use of language my favorite song is “Good Time”. Good Time features a fan little baas line and is probably their most accessible and poppiest song.

I’ll give the Brazilian Girls some credit, I was a bit skeptical about liking them as they tend to change styles from song to song. They aren’t afraid to risk it and no song sounds the same. I found myself hating a few things here and there but it’s electro at its finest. It isn’t straight up pop which I tend to have a bias for as well.

I also want to drop a comparison to Ladytron as they use differences in languages in various tracks.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5

Berlin by Brazilian Girls

Good Time by Brazilian Girls

Buy this album at: CD Universe & Insound & Amazon