Never seen anything quite like Brazilian Girls at the Rex last Friday, and it seemed like some of the crowd -- those few hanging around the back -- hadn't either. I mean, Pittsburghers at a rock show grooving to dubby, cheerfully X-rated odes to the female body? Too good to be true. The sound system didn't seem quite live up to the band's low-end power, but it's hard not to love live, echoplexed-out vocals (especially when they're from Sabina Sciubba, dressed as some sort of ninja). Like any good buzz band, the Girls drew an inordinate number of hairy-palmed dudes, groupies, wannabes and music writers (not always mutually exclusive categories, to be sure).
You may know him from Firehouse Lounge or from Metropol a while back; if you're a techno-geek you might know his work as Euphoria. But for more than a decade, Monroeville-based DJ Strobe's been pulling in a tidy amount of remix work -- everything from Norah Jones and The Killers to Missy Elliot, Ultra Nate and DJ Krush. Now he's been commissioned by Koch records to remix Unk's "Walk It Out," which hits digital download stores in January.
Can't wait that long? You can catch DJ Strobe spinning house with 7UP and Elysium Saturdays at Firehouse Lounge. (Speaking of which, that place can be alright -- last time I was there, the guy getting the most dancefloor action by far was a bespectacled guy with a bad comb-over in a wheelchair.)
Everyone says you gotta find your niche. Eric Himan may be currently based in Pittsburgh, but the tattooed singer-songwriter's found that his niche is on the road playing clubs, coffee houses, colleges and gay-pride fests. That constant schedule has earned Himan a reputation as a hot, out troubadour, and perhaps inspired the title of his latest record, the slick, independently released Everywhere at Once. Catch Himan on Dec. 7 at Club Café. C'mon, who else do you know who's shared a stage with Cyndi Lauper and Ru Paul?
Speaking of local singer-songwriters, it's time for Kevin Finn's annual birthday show, so come out and wish the indie crooner a happy birthday at The Quiet Storm on Dec. 9. Also performing will be Julie Sokolow and Workshop. The band's currently logging some recording hours in the basement of a Wilkinsburg warehouse. You may know one member, Scott Silsbe, from a different type of workshop -- he's one of the editors of online literary journal The New Yinzer, www.newyinzer.com.
