PHOTOS: Buraka Som Sistema @ Bowery Ballroom

Live, the Portuguese/Afro/Brazalian collective Buraka Som Sistema provides so much aural stimulation and visual eye candy, it's hard to discern what element makes their show so titillating. It's a toss-up between their progressive kuduro beats, go-go like percussion, MIA-esque eclectic sampling, early 90's hip hop covers, multi-lingual lyrics that span from Portugal to Africa, squirt-gunning, confetti- throwing, or bootie-shaking Brazilian dancers. Whatever is in their special sauce, it works: getting the crowd flailing, girls grinding on stage, boys taking their swine flu masks off and waving them about, kids crowd surfing, and an entire sold-out crowd of despondent New Yorkers onto their knees and then bounding into the air like apes just to see if they can collectively make the floor quake. That said, if you haven't seen them live yet, we bid you to, before they are packing stadiums world-wide. No joke. We'd bet a black diamond on it.

Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba (Wegue Wegue) (Hot Chip Remix)

Buraka Som Sistema's RCRD LBL Page

Buraka Som Sistema @ Bowery Ballroom