It’s time to invite the eclectic and electric French trio Margo into your lives. Tasty as crepes and stylish as a vintage Hermes scarf, the 11 songs on The Catnap are as seductive as Catherine Deneuve.
Opening with the sonar blips of “La Baumette,” Margo is stealthily addictive as opium. In fact, no smoke-filled room would be complete without the song “Take Me,” on which vocalist Melanie’s vocodered voice sounds like an accordion. “Warm” will make you want to loosen your collar, “The Rest” is “wonderfully fragmentary” and “My Cat” slinks in on velvet paws. The slightly bitter instrumental “Coffee Song” percolates at its own sweet pace, while “Luminous” provides a different kind of light.
THE CATNAP .
Margo.
Tsk Tsk.
***
Summer music doesn’t get much sunnier or balmy than the 15 tracks on the self-titled debut disc by the trio Mosquitos. Chris Root, Jon Marshall Smith and Juju Stulbach – a genuine girl from Ipanema – give Sergio Mendez’s nearly 40-year-old take on Brazilian beats a face-lift, and the results are as friendly as SPF 40 sunblock.
You will want to immerse yourself in the gentle downpour of “Rainsong” and “Boombox,” with its references to a boombox, suntan lotion and a guy who’s “so far out he fits right in,” is beach music extraordinaire, perfect for dancing in the sand. “Mosquito” is a fluttery theme-song and “Forever Song” is a vintage ’60s cinematic soundscape, complete with organ and Pony-beat. “Love Stew” simmers (“Feel the heat on our feet and between the sheets”) and “Policeman” calls for a dip in the ocean or on the dancefloor.
Brazilian music hasn’t sounded this immediate and fresh since Bebel Gilberto showed up at the party three years ago. “Juju And Blue,” about the singer and her cat, is an innocent love song, while the cool samba of “Pure Like Snow,” takes love to the next level.
MOSQUITOS.
Mosquitos.
Bar None. $23.99.
Why you can trust Xtra
