Cansei de Ser Sexy

Infobox musical artist
Name = Cansei de Ser Sexy


Img_capt = Cansei de Ser Sexy performing at Rock en Seine
Img_size = 220
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Origin = São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Genre = Alternative rock Indie rock Synthpop Dance-punk Electroclash Post-punk revival
Years_active = 2003–present
Label = Sub Pop
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.csshurts.com/ Official website]
Current_members = Lovefoxxx
Adriano Cintra
Luiza Sá
Ana Rezende
Carolina Parra
Jon Harper
Past_members = Maria Helena Zerba
Iracema Trevisan
Clara Ribeiro

Cansei de Ser Sexy (pronounced|kɐ̃'seɪ dʒɪ ser 'sɛksɪ, literally "got tired of being sexy" in Brazilian Portuguese), better known worldwide as CSS, is a Brazilian band from São Paulo. Their songs have an electroclash sound, like their first EP's, but also plays indie rock and synthpop songs. With the explosion of the New Rave scene the band was labelled as being part of; and are sung in both English and Portuguese; their lyrics mostly concern pop culture.

History

CSS formed in September 2003, consisting of a group of friends. [ [http://www.gigwise.com/profile.asp?contentid=20647 Gigwise: CSS] ] Their name was taken from a reported quote by Beyoncé, who allegedly declared that she was "tired of being sexy". [ [http://www.prefixmag.com/features/C/cansei-de-ser-sexy/493 prefix Mag: CSS] ]

The band first achieved notoriety through the Internet. Some of its members, like Adriano Cintra, had been previously known in São Paulo's underground club scene, but not outside of the local alternative subculture. Others, like Lovefoxxx, were owners of popular fotolog and flickr pages. Their collective band fotolog also gained popularity and their songs were frequently downloaded from Trama Virtual's website (a Brazilian website loosely similar to MySpace Music). Trama Virtual invested heavily in the band, inviting a series of Brazilian and British journalists to report on them. Articles were printed in several Brazilian magazines and the British newspaper "The Guardian", [cite web|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1831472,00.html|title=Sexy Beasts|accessdate=2007-06-14|author=Sophie Heawood|date=2006-07-28|publisher=The Guardian] whose reporter, Peter Culshaw, was invited to see the band playing just before their signing for the debut, at a club in São Paulo. He predicted that they "could be the biggest band ever to come out of South America". [cite web|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,,1550898,00.html|title=Anyone for a spot of satanic samba?|accessdate=2007-06-14|author=Peter Culshaw|date=2005-08-21|publisher=The Guardian] Several songs by CSS were featured in mainstream media: "Meeting Paris Hilton" was featured in the Latin American broadcasting of "The Simple Life", "Superafim" was used in the Brazilian version of the "Big Brother" reality show, and "Computer Heat" was used in the South American version of the game "", including a version in Simlish. Still without a record deal, they released two independent EPs in 2004, and played that year at TIM Festival.

In 2005, they signed with the Trama Virtual label, and in October their first album was released in Brazil, along with an 7-track EP that was sold at concerts. A limited edition version of the album had a CD-R included, so that the buyer could burn a copy of the album onto the CD-R to give away as a gift. [ [http://www.gigwise.com/profile.asp?contentid=20647 Gigwise: CSS] ] In Brazil the album has reportedly sold 5,000 copies to date, but neither the album nor the singles have reached charts. Two music videos were also released: "Off The Hook" and "Alala". "Off the Hook" was directed by guitar player Ana Rezende, and filmed at the home of band members Carolina Parra and Adriano Cintra, where CSS recorded most of their songs.

In the beginning of 2006, CSS signed with Sub Pop to release their international debut album. The first single, released in June 6, was "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above", with an accompanying video directed by Cat Solen. In July, along with DJ Diplo and funk group Bonde do Rolê, they began their first international tour.

CSS sold as many as 60,000 copies in the US and Europe up to February 2007 (according to journalist Lucio Ribeiro in Folha de São Paulo). [ [http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u69195.shtml "Quase (muito) famosos"] ]

They played at various festivals across Europe in the summer of 2007, and were due to play Lollapalooza on 4 August, 2007 but they were held behind by United Airlines at New York Airport and missed it. [ [http://strangeglue.com/css-stuck-in-new-york-miss-lalapalooza/1507/ CSS Stuck In New York, Miss Lollapalooza] ] They did arrive in time for their performance at Virgin Festival in Baltimore the next day.

CSS caught an unlikely break when their song "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" was used in a worldwide television commercial by Apple Inc. for the iPod. An 18-year-old British student, Nick Haley, used the song in a homemade 30-second commercial for the iPod Touch that he created and then posted on the video sharing site YouTube on September 11, 2007. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/business/media/26appleweb.html Student’s Ad Gets a Remake, and Makes the Big Time] ; October 26 2007, "New York Times"; Stuart Elliott, Retrieved November 11 2007] Creative executives from Apple's advertising agency, TBWAChiatDay, saw Haley's creation, contacted him, and enlisted him to remake it as a broadcast version. [cite web
url=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/26/apple_to_air_student_made_tv_ad_aperturebackup_updates.html
title=Apple to air student-made TV ad|accessdate=2007-10-27|author=AppleInsider Staff|date=2007-10-26|publisher=appleinsider.com] The spot began airing in the U.S. on October 28, 2007, and later in Japan and Europe. Due to the song's exposure in the US, it hit #63 [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3088156&cdi=9507334&cid=11%2F24%2F2007 The Billboard Hot 100: Music Is My Hot Hot Sex] ] [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=769852&model.vnuAlbumId=781685 Billboard Artist Chart History for CSS] ] on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the highest charting single by a Brazilian band in the history of the chart. Coincidentally, the same song had been used in a promotion for the competing Zune media player a year prior. [cite web|url=http://www.zune-online.com/news/zune/ipod-touch-ad-uses-music-from-a-zune-ad.html|title=iPod Touch ad uses music from a Zune ad!|accessdate=2007-10-30|author=Kostas Tzounopoulos|date=2007-10-30|publisher=zune-online.com] In March 2008, the music video for the song amassed over 112 million views on YouTube, making it the most-viewed video on the site, but it has since been removed.

Their singles "Alala" and "Off The Hook" have been featured in the video game "Forza Motorsport 2". "FIFA 08" also features "Off The Hook".Fact|date=November 2007 Their song Jager Rock, features in the soundtrack of "FIFA 09".

In April 2008, Iracema Trevisan left the band; Adriano Cintra replaced her on bass guitar. The band is currently working with a session drummer [ [http://www.nme.com/news/css/35861 NME] ] , Jon Harper of The Cooper Temple Clause.

"Rat Is Dead (Rage)", the first single to be taken from their forthcoming second album was made available as a free download from the CSS website in April 2008. The band's second album "Donkey", was released on July 21, 2008 with first single proper, "Left Behind", preceding it earlier in the month.

Discography

Albums

* "Cansei de Ser Sexy" (Trama) - 2005 (Brazil)
* "Cansei de Ser Sexy" (Sub Pop/Warner) - 2006 (International) UK #69
* "Donkey" (Sub Pop/Warner/Trama) - July 21, 2008 UK #32, US #189

EPs

* "Em Rotterdam Já É uma Febre" (EP, independent) - 2004
* "A Onda Mortal / Uma Tarde com PJ" (EP, independent) - 2005
* "CSS SUXXX" (EP, Trama) - 2005 (Brazil)

Singles

Remixes

*Tiny Masters of Today - "Hey Mr. DJ" (2007)
*Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya - "Fuck Friend" (2007)
*The Wombats - "Kill the Director" (2007)
*The Mules We're Good People (2007)
*The Little Ones - "Lovers Who Uncover" (2007)
*Bonde Do Role - "Office Boy" (2007)
*The Cribs - "Men's Needs" (2007)
*Lonely, Dear - "The City, The Airport" (2007)
*Asobi Seksu - "Strawberries" (2007)
*Kylie Minogue - "Wow" (2008)
*Tetine - "I Go To The Doctor!" (2008)
*The B-52's - "Funplex" (2008)
*Digitalism - "Pogo" (2008)
*Bloc Party - "Mercury" (2008)
*Lykke Li - Little Bit (2008)

References

* [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/canseidesersexy/canseidesersexy Review at www.metacritic.com]
* [http://www.cloudspeakers.com/en/artists/Cansei-de-Ser-Sexy/305161 Review at www.cloudspeakers.com]
* [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=124&csid2=946&fid1=32760 Interview with www.exclaim.ca] August 2008

External links

* [http://www.csshurts.com Cansei de Ser Sexy official website]
*myspace|canseidesersexy
*YouTube channel|csstv|CSS
*lastfm|CSS
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/css Cansei de Ser Sexy] on Flickr
* [http://www.subpop.com/catalog/artists/css Cansei de Ser Sexy at Sub Pop Records]
* [http://www.stomp.com.au/product.aspx?productid=689870 CSS at Stomp Entertainment]

Interviews and live reviews

* [http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/jz/1689/Cansei+de+Ser+Sexy:+%22The+Gayer+the+Better!%22/ Adriano Cintra talks about Donkey, gay karaoke & The Beatles]
* [http://vfestbeta.com/2008/04/14/watch-css-gold-coast-vfestival/ CSS @ Gold Coast VFestival video feature - virgin.com/music, April 2008]
* [http://www.dazeddigital.com/features/css-back-to-brazil/ CSS Back To Brazil Feature - Dazed Digital, February 2008]
* [http://www.planbmag.com/content/view/470/42/ CSS first UK cover feature - Plan B Magazine, October 2006]
*"The Guardian", [http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,1949438,00.html "Brazil nuts!"]
* [http://www.krugermagazinetest.co.uk/content/view/254/10107/ Interview with CSS on www.krugermagazine.com] , 21 January, 2007
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/events/hub/galleries/1189/ Live performance on BBC]
*"The Times", [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1722441.ece "I predict a riot"]
*"The Times", [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article663320.ece "Brazil Nutters"]
*"The Independent", [http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article2442685.ece "CSS: Too sexy for São Paulo"] , published 13 April 2007, retrieved 12 June 2007.
*"The Telegraph", [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2008/07/19/bmpopcdwk119.xml Donkey Review]