Miss Violetta Beauregarde

Imagine the ranting crack whore on your corner had an art degree and moonlighted as frontwoman for the Locust. That's Miss Violetta Beauregarde, a young Italian lady who delivers on the promise M.I.A. failed to fulfill: Girls make the best sonic terrorists. Her second album Odi Profanum Vulgus Et Arceo (translation: "I hate the common crowd and I spurn them") might be called grind-hop, or glitch-thrash, but after you take these 16 rusty ninja stars to the forehead, you'll be too busy twitching to death to care.

MVB controls an undead army of crippled electronics, layering up frantic drum-machine pulses with overdriven bleep squalls and defibrillating bass. Her main weapon is her voice, an unholy instrument that flips between hyperactive singsong, catfight scream, and full-on grindcore bellow. The whole record frequently runs off into total chaos (like on snare-and-scream "The Man Who Shot at Squirrels"), but succeeds best with a little structure, like the catchy dirge "Try to Misunderstand This One," which sounds like a very dark Le Tigre jam. "I Am the Tiananmen Square Guy and You All Are the Fucking Tanks" is both a deadly evil pop anthem and an MVB mission statement. — Frances Reade