M.I.A. - KALA

she really is our Gavin Rossdale

i mean new Gavin

"paper planes." partly attributable to being played on every "pineapple express" tv ad for the last 2 months.

she really is our Gavin Rossdale

does that make diplo gwen?

I've only bothered to listen to Kala the whole way through twice. Arula still gets the odd play, though.

you mean arugula.

kala is still my almost-4-year-old son's favorite album. his favorite songs keep changing, though. lately it's been "20 dollar" and "hussel."

best toddler ever

I can't comprehend only bothering to listen to Kala twice.

also heard paper planes on some olympic filler, maybe one of those "holy shit look at what michael phelps eats!" spots.

i don't know that it proves or disproves anything and it could just mean she'll be the 2008 men without hats, but in re the last four years of snarking about whether she'll "make it," m.i.a. has a top 5 u.s. single as of this week.

-- tipsy mothra, Thursday, 14 August 2008 15:56 (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Together we made it (you see we did it niggaz!)
We made it even though we had our backs up against the wall (c'mon)
Forever we waited {ha ha!}
And they told us we were never gonna get it
But we took it on the road (to the riches) on the road (to the ghetto)
On the rooooad (and the projects to this bangin instrumental)
On the road (ride with me) on the road (we come and get it)
On the rooooad (yeah, yeah, yeah!)

Kala sounds GREAT now. I've really come around to it.

I'll give it another shot at some point.

if i want to hear anything, it's just the first three tracks and maybe the paper planes remix w/bun b

The tracks from this that I always play through no matter what:

Bamboo Banger
Hussel
$20
XR2
Paper Planes

The track I always skip:

Jimmy

i don't like 'The Turn'

I like the queasy vibe of "The Turn" but I don't always want to hear it; when I'm in the mood, though, those quavery tremolo filters on the synths shoot right through me.

The track I always skip:

Jimmy

This is the only song on the album that's any good!

"Jimmy" is a total chik song. i can tell, i'm a chik. She's smart though, she keeps the guys interested by bringing girls up on stage to dance during live performances.

a Frankie Knuckles remix that does something with the Bollywood hook would sound incredible.

Jimmy used to bother me a little, but it's really grown on me. Overall, I think this is one of the most perfect albums of the last few years.

i like paper planes and jimmy, but the rest didn't grab me so much.

she really is our Gavin Rossdale

does that make diplo gwen?

-- lex pretend, Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:03 AM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

either that or Albini

Weird year for 'internet hype acts hardly anyone in the real world likes'. MIA in the US top five, Wiley and Dizzee both with massive hits in the UK, when did With Every Heartbeat come out again?

There's a four or five-year lead time on these things presumably.

ILX: so far ahead of time its parents haven't even met yet

"Jimmy" rules, but I like the original better ("Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" by Parvati Khan, which is the exact same song without M.I.A. on it). I've yet to figure out if there are other Bollywood tracks out there that are such good catchy disco numbers. Any recommendations?

HANDS UP
GUNS OUT
REPRESENT
THE WORLD TOWN

There is so much awesome sloganeering on this album.

that chorus is just a reworked version of a Baltimore club song ("hands up/thumbs down/represent that d-town").

if i want to hear anything, it's just the first three tracks

I'd extend this out to four, but this is def. no Arular

that chorus is just a reworked version of a Baltimore club song ("hands up/thumbs down/represent that d-town").

Oh okay, I hate the song now.

i was just saying, jeez.

i think that's the reason i don't get into jimmy that much, it just feels jacked.

I don't get into "Jimmy" because that's the song where her voice is the most irritating.

I love it when her voice is straining to hit those notes on the last verse!

A masterpiece, IMO. The only two records better than this are the White Album and Pink Flag.

^^^ link to your old-skool sockpuppets

Thanks in part to the movie soundtrack placement, "Paper Planes" and the various "Swagger Like Us" remixes are everywhere---I keep hearing it in the background at the Tampa Rays stadium during their baseball playoff games, "Paper Planes" is the # one song on one of D.C.'s r'n'b /rap stations, and it's been all over the top 40 pop station too. Wayneandwax.com linked to the remixes awhile back.

update on ongoing toddler appreciation: the other night i was putting him to bed, and sometime between where the wild things are and lights out, he started chanting, "ussell ussell ussell, grine grine grine..."

http://hotbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/best-paper-planes-remix-by-far/

Oh here it is, Sean F. at Vibe posts some of "Paper Planes" remixes

http://blogs.vibe.com/rapidshare/2008/09/this-paper-planes-thing-is-way-out-of-control/

But you've probably heard 'em all by now anyway

My meathead post-frat downstairs neighbors who have no taste in music (they usually don't listen to it, just have whatever ball game on), had a party last night and I heard M.I.A., Yeah Yeah Yeahs and MGMT. Friggin weird. I wonder if Kala will climb back up to the top 50 and push it to over 500,000.

I hope so, it feels like such a zeitgeisty album its a shame only losers like us know about it!

paper planes peaked at #4 on the billboard hot 100. i don't even know what those charts mean anymore, but i found that bizarre and actually sorta heartening.

i find this woman irritating beyond all explanation

bun b briiiiiiiiiiiiings it

Any further word on her retirement/non-retirement?

I heard she's currently recording with Blaqstarr a Tom Waits cover of 'way down in the hole'.

The retirement is/was temporary. She's currently expecting.

They reissued the album this week with a bonus disc containing 5 or 6 extra songs - not just remixes. Anyone know what those are?

1 Bamboo Banga
2 Bird Flu
3 Boyz
4 Jimmy
5 Hussel - MIA & Afrikan Boy
6 Mango Pickle Down River - MIA & Wilcannia Mob
7 20 Dollar
8 World Town
9 Turn
10 XR2
11 Paper Planes
12 Come Around - MIA & Timbaland
13 Paper Planes (Allstars mix) - MIA
14 Boyz (Akon mix) - MIA
15 Shells - MIA
16 Get It Up - Radioclit & MIA/Santogold/Gorilla Joe
17 Far Far - MIA
18 Big Branch - MIA
19 What I Got - MIA
20 Sound of Kuduro - Bukara Som Simesta & MIA

lol gorilla joe