prefer it to arular,you mean? better songs, more interesting production. (i like arular a lot too, don't get me wrong.)
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 1 October 2009 16:48 (fourteen years ago) link
The songs that fall down on Kala don't disrupt the flow of the album nearly as much as the songs that fall down on Arular, plus Kala doesn't have anything on it as aggressively annoying as "10 Dollar". Also, the more I played Kala, the more I liked the songs I found initially annoying, whereas with Arular I ended up disliking songs I initially liked ("Bucky Done Gun" being the big culprit there).
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 16:53 (fourteen years ago) link
(from my perspective, namely wishing more of Arular was like "Amazon" and "URAQT", Kala was a massive step in the direction I wanted her to go)
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 16:58 (fourteen years ago) link
the more I played Kala, the more I liked the songs I found initially annoying
this was especially true for me of "20 dollar" and "hussel."
but i still shut off the timberland track at least half the time.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:29 (fourteen years ago) link
timbAland, obv....
Arular doesn't HAVE any songs that fall down, top 5 album of the decade imo. About a third of Kala is sludgy and tedious and barely listenable. And Arular had better songs and production, some stuff on Kala seems undersketched and the whole album sounds dry and brittle where Arular sounded warm and colorful.
― suggestbannn/the lorax below (The Reverend), Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:50 (fourteen years ago) link
the whole album sounds dry and brittle where Arular sounded warm and colorful.
it's funny, that's almost the opposite of how i'd describe them. warm and colorful is exactly how i hear kala.
but i don' wanna fight, i love them both.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:19 (fourteen years ago) link
can't stand Arular - this album is miles better
― the taint of Macca is strong (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link
Amazon, on Arular, is unf--kwithable.
But I also love the last song on KALA (sans the horrible Timbaland vocal bit), so my opinion can't be trusted.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i only ever listen to maybe half (or less) of the songs on kala, but they're better than most or all of the good stuff on arular
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:31 (fourteen years ago) link
piracy is still my favorite, i think?
― THE DUSKY VISITOR APPEALS TO CÆSAR (gbx), Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:35 (fourteen years ago) link
So if we're really going down this route, here are the songs I fuck with on Arular:
Pull Up the PeopleFire FireAmazonSunshowersGalangHombreURAQT MIA
Here are the songs I fuck with on Kala:
Bamboo BangerBird FluBoysHussel$20World TownXR2Paper PlanesCome AroundShellsFar FarBig BranchSound of Kuduro
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link
No fair using the bonus tracks!
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:49 (fourteen years ago) link
I think I need to listen to these albums side by side to decide. My instinct sez that Arular is slightly better, but I also agree that the Piracy mixtape is the best thing her name is attached to.
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:54 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, this sums my position up basically. kala keepers = "bamboo banga", "hussel", "bird flu", "paper planes" - all some of the absolute best things m.i.a.'s done. to a lesser extent, "jimmy" and "xr2" are pretty good too, but there's nothing else on the album i really care about. whereas there's little on arular i dislike; maybe a caveat for preferring the dj marlboro remix of "bucky done gun" and the piracy funds terrorism version of "sunshowers".
― lex pretend, Thursday, 1 October 2009 18:55 (fourteen years ago) link
the piracy funds terrorism version of "sunshowers".
cosign
― sleeve, Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:15 (fourteen years ago) link
i dunno which i prefer, there's a few tracks from both albums i jam on the reg and i ignore the others on each. probably swing towards Kala tho.
― modescalator (blueski), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:30 (fourteen years ago) link
dunno why 'Come Around' gets hate either ("MIA doesn't live in a teepee" is a lame reason)
― modescalator (blueski), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:32 (fourteen years ago) link
also kala sounds so much better and bigger, as opposed to arular's cheapo aesthetic
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:34 (fourteen years ago) link
The Arular CD doesn't sound cheapy at all though. Just the original leaked mp3s.
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:50 (fourteen years ago) link
i have a real copy and all the production sounds kinda thin and digital to me. i think it's intentional and i like it, but i like the samples and percussion assaults on kala more.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:52 (fourteen years ago) link
it's definitely possible that my enthusiasm for arular was tempered by knowing and loving a lot of those songs in their piracy form first.
as for "come around," it's ok, but it's a sort of 2nd- or 3rd-rate timbo beat, and i think doesn't measure up to a lot of the rest of the album. it feels predictable in a way that most of kala doesn't.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:54 (fourteen years ago) link
"i have a real copy and all the production sounds kinda thin and digital to me."
That's funny cuz I was shocked when I first heard the CD how much thicker, lusher and louder it sounded to me than the mp3s.
― Alex in SF, Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:55 (fourteen years ago) link
wait, it's all coming back to me and i think those might still be the original mp3s on my ipod, and i never bought a copy. oops.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 19:59 (fourteen years ago) link
what a difference a good mastering job makes, i'm guessing.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:00 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't think arular is thin, i just think it's not quite as sonically varied.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:23 (fourteen years ago) link
that's true, but kala's variation is in quality as well as styles
― lex pretend, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:26 (fourteen years ago) link
Eh, I disagree with that; IMO the whole album runs from fucking amazing to great with the most annoying "misstep" being "Jimmy".
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:27 (fourteen years ago) link
"About a third of Kala is sludgy and tedious and barely listenable. And Arular had better songs and production, some stuff on Kala seems undersketched and the whole album sounds dry and brittle where Arular sounded warm and colorful."
THIS
the kala songs i dig i DIG, kwutimean? but the ones i don't care for i never wanna hear. meanwhile i can fuck with pretty much EVERYTHING on arular
― YOUR MOMS SPOT HERON WITH NO HANDS I'M SMACKIN HER (Beatrix Kiddo), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:30 (fourteen years ago) link
gimmie these:
Bamboo BangerBoysPaper PlanesThe one with the kids on it, holy shit
― YOUR MOMS SPOT HERON WITH NO HANDS I'M SMACKIN HER (Beatrix Kiddo), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
and that "teepee" line drains the album of likeability/cred, it's just a horrible, horrible moment
it's like the dead scream of whatever
― YOUR MOMS SPOT HERON WITH NO HANDS I'M SMACKIN HER (Beatrix Kiddo), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:33 (fourteen years ago) link
I really started to love this album when I saw her in October 2007 – these songs boomed when performed.
― Roman Polanski now sleeps in prison. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, the "teepee" line is . . . regrettable.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:34 (fourteen years ago) link
lolz it says a lot for how much attention I pay to her lyrics that I have no fucking clue what song the infamous "teepee line" is in
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:34 (fourteen years ago) link
you've got your priorities right, basically
― modescalator (blueski), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:36 (fourteen years ago) link
That "teepee" joke is so bad it's funny. If it was Sarah Silverman guest-rapping you all would have laughed at it.
― o. nate, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
lolz irony of ironies that it's in noted amazing lyricist Timbaland's verse on "Come Around"
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:38 (fourteen years ago) link
has there been a arular v. kala poll yet?
― circa1916, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Kala blew me away a couple of months ago when I relistened. The lyrics, such as I understand them...I'm ambiguous about them morally, but that's part of what makes it interesting.
― Euler, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
much prefer kala to arular. you folks saying arular is "warm and colorful" and kala is "dry and brittle" are weird.
― circa1916, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:42 (fourteen years ago) link
the one with the kids is fucking terrible.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:42 (fourteen years ago) link
don't get the Jimmy hate. one of the best tracks on the album
― the taint of Macca is strong (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:43 (fourteen years ago) link
so is Mango Pickle! (ie the one with the kids)
maybe I just like MIA for all the wrong reasons
the one with the kids is fucking awesome and most of them are better rappers than she is
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:44 (fourteen years ago) link
i put that shit on and i'm like yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
with the most annoying "misstep" being "Jimmy".
Haha, for a while that was the only song on the album I could abide.
― katherine helmand province (jaymc), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:44 (fourteen years ago) link
ftr, for those who like "Mango Pickle Down River":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQgIk3fV8zI&feature=player_embedded
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:47 (fourteen years ago) link
i like jimmy a lot, can't stand mango.
really hoos? i feel like i've heard more than a few kids who could rap circles around those kids.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:49 (fourteen years ago) link
(btw I know the same point I made about MPDR can be made about "URAQT" but I also like the original version of that one)
― a misunderstanding of Hip-Hop and contracts (HI DERE), Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:50 (fourteen years ago) link
I like the song very much, but the music is almost completely lifted from that Bollywood film score, isn't it? Her vocals were okay, and the lyrics are hardly the best on the disc (they are a nice change-of-pace from the vague political/radical themes). It seems to me that much of the credit for this song has to go to the original, unless there's something I'm missing about her remake.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 1 October 2009 20:50 (fourteen years ago) link