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Words by: Chris Pacifico :: Images by: Christie Harrison
Diplo, CSS, Bonde Do Role :: 07.21.06 :: Mummers Museum :: Philadelphia, PA
Marina Ribatski :: Bonde Do Role |
There are three words which you'll need to be familiar with in order to comprehend this review. The first word is "Mashup" - a recording that merges, synchronizes, and splices the instrumental and vocal aspects of two or more recordings to equal one song, usually done by digital means or by mixing records like a DJ. The second is "Brazil" - the largest nation in South America with a population of 190 million people. Brazil is slightly smaller than the United States and rich with culture, a festive atmosphere, and lots of music, causing one to throw their inhibitions to the wind. Last but not least is a "Mummer" - a person in an acting/dancing troupe who dons elaborate, colorful costumes and dances in a 7-mile long parade early in the morning every New Year's Day in Philadelphia with a string band included as a great handful of the parades participants are still intoxicated from partying the night before. And would you believe these people have their own museum? And shows are thrown there?
On this particular night, it happened to be sold-out with people scattered about the front of the building before the doors even opened. There were more folks looking for a scalped ticket than there were those who had them to sell. Perhaps it was because Philadelphia's own Diplo - the famed producer, DJ, and brainchild of the music and club collective Hollertronix - was throwing a bash as part of a tour to kick off his new label Mad Decent, along with the first band that he inked? Or perhaps it was the fact that a 25 dollar ticket included an open bar?
Ribatski & D'eyrot :: Bonde Do Role |
Upon entering the Mummers Museum, the place seems like a display of Mardi Gras memorabilia, but as you approach the downstairs level where the stage is, it seems more and more like an acid trip gone comically awry. There's even a long plaque on the wall, which serves as a de facto Hall of Fame to all their string band members and dancers over the years. The lighting is rather dim for a live performance, but that didn't harm the evening's festivities one bit.
First to take the stage was Bonde Do Role, hailing from the city of Curitiba, Brazil, who were instantly discovered and signed by Diplo as the first artists on his label. Consisting of DJ Rodrigo Gorky who obviously couldn't give a rat's ass about copyright issues, and MCs Marina Ribatski and Pedro D'eyrot, Bonde Do Role churned out their own brand of Portuguese rhymes over a barrage of mashups, tangible samples, and arena rock guitar riffs, which are sampled as well. With plenty of booty house bass intertwined in their tunes, Ribatski dry-humped every speaker and a few of the concert-goers as well and shook her rump in various forms of dirty-dirty dancing.
With a drunken member of the crowd intermittently tooting his air-horn, Bonde Do Role played tracks like "Melo Do Tabaco" with a beat that consists of the mashing up of the instrumental components of Alice in Chain's "Man in the Box" and Tone Loc's "Wild Thing." When writing this tune, Bonde Do Role obviously didn't feel the need to write a chorus because the late Layne Staley's wordless "yaaah yaaah yaaah yie yie yo" did just fine. Between tracks, Ribatski would spit out sexual innuendos in English, and in the middle of them, she would point at specific people and shout, "Hey, you're not dancing!" Their set was closed out with "Solta O Frago," and while most of the crowd wasn't fluent in their language, they were able to wave their hands and scream along to the "OLE!" part.
Lovefoxxx :: Cansei de Ser Sexy |
Up next was Sao Paulo's very own Cansei de Ser Sexy, better known as CSS, who started out their band as a joke three years ago only to gain enough online buzz and become the first South American band signed to the Sub Pop label. CSS is led by the outgoing Luisa Matsushita, a.k.a. Lovefoxxx, and play a brand of frolicking pop with a punk rock backbone, disco edge, chirping synths, and brittle guitar licks. It was at this point in the show when the open bar seemed to have set in for most of the crowd, making them dance even more to CSS's winsome, cutesy hooks.
Tuneful ditties such as the call-and-response "Alala" were played as well as "Fuckoff is not the Only Thing You Have to Show." Other numbers with memorable choruses like "Artbitch" ("Lick lick lick my art tit/ suck suck suck suck my art hole") and "Meeting Paris Hilton" ("The bitch said 'yeeeah'") were fun enough to ensure that people were crowding the merch table to pick up a copy of their new self-titled album.
Diplo :: 07.21 |
Upon playing the jingly "Alcohol," Lovefoxxx held the microphone up to various people and asked what kind of booze they liked; most of the replies were loud, inaudible, and slurred screams. This eventually led to the part of the evening where Lovefoxxx scaled the stair banisters and started smashing all the half-empty, plastic cup floaters when a member of the event staff angrily screamed, "Hey, are you gonna clean all those up?!!" only for her to roll her eyes and keep singing.
The final artist on the bill was the man of the hour himself, Philly's own Diplo, serving up the platters that matter with a mélange of break-beat, techno, hip-hop, ragga, and everything else mashed up into one. His mixing skills were in full swing as he mixed Juelz Santana's "There it Go (The Whistle Song)" and mashed it up with the Beastie Boys' "Sure Shot." Then he took "There it Go" once more and blended it with The Bangles' 1986 hit "Walk like an Egyptian." So many DJs these days are merely faded out prima donnas who charge 40 bucks a ticket to simply fade one record into the next, and act like they're something special because they play at high-end clubs for debutants and socialites (i.e. Oakenfold, Tiesto). But Diplo is a turntablist in the truest essence of the term, whose skills on the wheels of steel are a force to be reckoned with.
CSS on TOUR WITH LADYTRON
09.20 | Miami, FL | Studio A
09.21 | Orlando, FL | The Social
09.22 | Atlanta, GA | Variety Playhouse
09.23 | Asheville, NC | Orange Peel
09.25 | Washington, DC | 9:30 Club
09.26 | Philadelphia, PA | Theatre of Living Arts
09.27 | New York, NY | Webster Hall
09.28 | New York, NY | Webster Hall
09.30 | Boston, MA | Avalon
10.01 | Montreal, QC | Metropolis
10.02 | Toronto, ON | The Docks
10.04 | Cleveland, OH | Beachland Ballroom
10.05 | Columbus, OH | Wexner Center
10.06 | Chicago, IL | Vic Theatre
10.07 | Lawrence, KS | The Granada Theater
10.09 | Denver, CO | Bluebird Theatre
10.10 | Salt Lake City, UT | The Deopt
10.12 | Portland, OR | Dante's
10.13 | Seattle, WA | Showbox
10.14 | Vancouver, BC | Commodore Ballroom
10.16 | San Francisco, CA | Filmore
10.17 | Los Angeles, CA | John Anson Ford
10.18 | Solana Beach, CA | Belly Up Tavern
10.20 | Dallas, TX | Gyspy Ballroom
10.21 | Austin, TX | Stubb's
10.22 | Houston, TX | The Meridian
10.24 | Tempe, AZ | The Clubhouse
formdiplo.com
myspace.com/canseidesersexy
myspace.com/bondedorole
JamBase | Philadelphia
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