M.I.A. - KALA

she's not 35

xpost

yeah I agree. and it stands out since it's so sing-songy and a lot of the rest of the album is fairly harsh.

I love Jimmy and Paper Planes, and like much of the rest ... really the only one I'm not that into is $20, it sounds like a bad mash-up .... the smooshed-together elements aren't digested enough, you're like "oh she's singing the Pixies over New Order." which in itself is not very interesting.

i guess i should go buy this now

I was disappointed by this. By the beats as much as anything (I've always considered MIA more of a toaster / accompaniment than someone who can really take control of a track). Then again, I don't like Switch, so maybe it's not surprising. Too much trebly noise, not enough rhythm, and limited one note basslines.

i guess i should go buy this now

Okay I think "The Turn" is maybe an order of magnitude better than everything else on this album.

Yep. There's a few other decent ones. Overall the album disappoints.

$7.99 sale price at Best Buy today.

When asked to confirm M.I.A.’s age, a spokeswoman at Interscope waffled between 30 and 31; her manager, Tiffany Steffens, said that M.I.A.’s passport gives her age at 32. Like many details of her past, it can’t be verified very easily. from New York Times article

"An Itinerant Refugee in a Hip-Hop World" for those of you quibbling about her age.

By BEN SISARIO
Sunday August 19, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/arts/music/19sisa.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

first impression (which may not hold up) is that this is better than arular. tougher, louder and poppier all at the same time. in any case, not remotely a disappointment.

haha I totally read that as "An Internet Refugee"

tipsy mothra OTM. The highs aren't as high as Arular, but its a much more even album. After her absolutely atrocious Lollapalooza set I was set for more disappointment, but I was pleasantly surprised after my first listen.

really enjoying this record

I don't know how generous I'm being towards M.I.A.'s intentions, but I'd think she wouldn't just shoe-horn some Pixies lyrics into a song unless she thought they had some meaning she wanted to convey. (Unless, of course, her sole intention was to flip some geeky whiteboy rock-crit wigs.) Just sayin'.

i liked this MUCH more than arular

never really listened to arular, kala is a good record, sounds great in the car, yay

"Paper Planes" oh wow

yeah "Paper Planes" is far and away my favorite thing she's done so far. Even as much as it seems a departure for her somehow? I've just been playing it over and over the past couple of weeks.

Aside from the "Straight to Hell" sample, what else does "Paper Planes" take bits from? The "all I wanna do is *shotgun* *shotgun* *shotgun* *shotgun* and *reload* *cash register* and take your money" is definitely a quote, I just can't place it...

All I wanna do is a zoom zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom! just shake your rump!

The Pixies again!

The above-mentioned video for "Jimmy":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPUe9Xn9ZE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epoetv%2Ecom%2Fvideo%2Ephp%3Fvid%3D22008

Some really impressive animation work in this.

I'd think she wouldn't just shoe-horn some Pixies lyrics into a song unless she thought they had some meaning she wanted to convey.

sure -- she's building on the psychological dislocation of the original by adding geographic and economic dislocation to it. adrift in the global economy, etc.

@Telephone thing: Wreckx N Effect - Rumpshaker.

maybe i'm just overly familiar w/ the pixies song. the modern lovers bit in bamboo banger doesn't rub me wrong at all.

the speech impediment on that -- "woad wunnuh woad wunnuh" -- makes me think of the elmer fudd version of "fire." but that's ok. elmer's cool.

paper planes
mango pickle

I like the first few tracks that remind me of PiL.

I can't stop listening to "Paper Planes"

I'd suggest she indulge her post-punky side more (def. preferable to goin' Timbaland, her heart's not in Nelly Furtadoing), but then I'm worried we'd get more stuff like "$20."

there's a track that reminded me very much of a track off the gang of four's yellow ep. or the vibe of a lot of the slits/raincoats. that kinda forlorn melodica thing.

i'm enjoying this record much more than i expected to.

same here, I wasn't even curious to hear it until like a week ago

my favourite tracks are the ones i heard before getting the album with the exception of Paper Planes - as good as everyone says, pretty much. think $20 may actually be my favourite tho along with the singles.

OMG I have been caning this all week - and it's all completely awesome apart from the Timbaland track. The only thing I didn't like on Arular were the skits, but I hate skits.

Also enough with the circumspection. I'm pretty sure she just likes the Pixies and New Order. You couldn't live with the Frischmann for any length of time and not like them; also 32/33 is sufficient age to be a first wave raver - 13/14 in '88. I'm also disturbed by the mental pictures Christgau is painting, but that's an 'improvement' on just BORING me as per usual.

I'm really not feeling this album AT ALL. :-(

The first track swipes off The Perfect Kiss, too...

You may find enjoyment of the record is enhanced by one of those cars with bass bins and Class C narcotics.

I certainly find that with the new Darren Hayes double LP

This ain't a patch on her first album, which had higher peaks and was more consistent to boot. "$20" and "Paper Planes" are the worst things she's done, why are they getting the hype?

Actually, that's probably unfair. The better half of this is genuinely exciting.

conversely i don't get the "$20" hate. pixies aside, i love the big dubby sound of it.

stunt opinion injury

no! it's got a nice drone. i don't know what the problem is.

It just kind of drones.

drone is ok by me.

who the fuck listens to this bullshit

good point.

i mean, "zing"!

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/NewAnswersControllerServlet?boardid=41

(xpost)

what kind of fool wants to hate on 'Boyz' anyway?

I guess it's not even worth mentioning at this late date, but I *wish* Timbaland didn't have to take a verse.

His vocals seem so out of place. Her lyrics are cryptic and vaguely political, then he awkwardly crashes in with his tired "I'm the MAN baby doll" shtick.

The disc is great, tho.