MIA

im not sure that 'at least shes not gwb' is a good enough reason to give her a pass for being just as cartoony

― its like why GROCERY BAG and not saddam? (deej), Friday, June 4, 2010 8:38 PM (31 minutes ago)

lol thread connections

so what did people think of the fashion spread in the magazine? the silence is deafening!

burn baby burn

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/pixel.gif

i haven't really read hardly any of this thread, but i agree with Dan, and tbh i find myself lazily falling into this kind of judgment of M.I.A. myself all the time.

Dan, if you haven't read it already, I think you would dig the essay "Where Have All the Natives Gone?" by Rey Ch0w.

hs have you read [nabisco]'s piece yet

That Diamanda > Timbaland thing linked way upthread is batshit but this line is A+

"The BIGGEST problem with your sampling, TOOL- LW(u)B(e), is that afterwards our music smells of your shit."

(no idea what TOOL-LW(u)B(e) means)

nabisco's piece is really good, and o. nate is also otm with this:

I think MIA astutely realized that the vagueness around this concept of "terrorism" was a double-edged sword

i mean, piracy funds terrorism was a great, cheeky, punky title at its precise moment, and her positioning was definitely a response to the way "terrorism" was being used by the bush administration and western governments more generally, as a pretext for all kinds of neo-imperialist bullshit. otoh, responding to that is in itself basically accepting a western framing of the subject, and nabisco is right that her basic framing really is western no matter what kind of global-south persona she likes to put on.

on the other other hand, it's interesting to me how much all of this discussion really kind of mirrors the debates about the social relevance/responsibility of gangsta rap 15-20 years ago. in both cases you have artists indulging violent fantasies and adopting fashionably rebel personas, while insisting that they're just telling it like it is. (and you wouldn't understand, cuz you're not from the 'hood.) in that sense i think she's been successful at taking the gangsta template and expanding it to fit her needs.

the lyrics to Born Free make it a better response song to the recent controversy.

Also, MIA isn't REALLY incendiary. It has like the tone of being incendiary, but saying, "I'm not pro peace, I'm pro violence," is pretty banal under scrutiny. Is she saying that she believes that political difference should be settled through violence and not compromise? Is she saying that all politics are founded on coercive power? Is she saying that all states have a history of violence that they cover up? Is she saying that genocide is good if you don't get along with the people you like? Is she saying sometimes it just feels good to hit something? I mean, it's sound incendiary, but it's not actually saying anything at all.

the whole "saying nothing" claim falls apart if you're pulling four distinct possible interpretations for an offhand NYT quote.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/13/mia-feature-miranda-sawyer
Guardian piece and whatnot.

http://www.7digital.com/artists/m-i-a/y/?src=HottestBoxuk

Snippets of every track right there.

really stoked for this. "tell me why"!!!

http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-hirschberg-is-wrong.html

Regardless of the crap nature of Hirschberg's article, the phone number thing was a straight-up dick move.

A hilarious straight-up dick move.

let's just keep repeating those two sentiments eternally.

"radical music journalism", eh

the only fitting sort to cover m.i.a.'s "radical political music"

"Regardless of the crap nature of Hirschberg's article, the phone number thing was a straight-up dick move.
A hilarious straight-up dick move."

Does Buddyhead still post Fred Durst's new phone number every Ash Wednesday?

http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-hirschberg-is-wrong.html

Okay, as someone who thought the Hirschberg story was a piece of shit, I kind of feel obligated to tell this person that massively brownnosing M.I.A. will not convince her to fuck you.

What would M.I.A. think if Hirschberg had posted her cell phone number? Dick move?

M.I.A. doesn't use technology created by the CIA, duh

So any thoughts on the album yet? The two reggae-ish cuts are sort of weird, and I liked Meds and Feds better when it didnt have vocals and was called "Treats" but otherwise, it's pretty decent. Mostly unexpected/not at all reminiscent of the first two albums - a less direct/foreseeable step but a neat one nonetheless.

It Takes A Muscle is a cover of.. this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMVX5EH4lvs

Supposedly this has leaked...and there's been no discussion. It can't be that disappointing right?

I heard it leaked in pretty low quality.

Apparently I have "standards" about leaks.

i really don't think any conclusions can be drawn, at this point, about what the critical and/or popular response to the album will be. in fact, if i had to guess, i think the backlash against mia won't arrive until album no. 4.

ppl will care about the record itself for at least a week

i rather like it. it's sharp and noisy.

So any thoughts on the album yet? The two reggae-ish cuts are sort of weird, and I liked Meds and Feds better when it didnt have vocals and was called "Treats" but otherwise, it's pretty decent. Mostly unexpected/not at all reminiscent of the first two albums - a less direct/foreseeable step but a neat one nonetheless.

― Alex in Montreal

Then you might want to listen to the source sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnSuRHiW988

I have! That was what I meant. I adore the Sleigh Bells LP and when I heard that Derek Miller would be doing some production on /\/\/\Y/\ I had anticipated Sleigh Bells-esque beats for M.I.A., not a straight rip of one of my favourite moments on Treats, marred by so-so vocals.

lol ok sorry, I sort of expected you already knew the source sample but didn't want to draw any conclusions since it seems noone else has mentioned the Sleigh Bells connection in this thread. Yeah, gotta agree MIA's vocals on this one are extremely lazy... feels like she's excusing her apathy by quoting post-punk.

I mean on the whole album, not just this song.

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201007/mia-profile

no mention of truffle fries

When GQ asks me for a 7,000-word piece on M.I.A., I agree quickly. (M.I.A.—what fun!) The next day, I wake up with buyer's remorse. Did they say 7,000 words?

what the

is that really

who the hell is g4ry sht3yngart -- never seen that byline in GQ before from what i can recall

Novelist who wrote "The Russian Debutante's Handbook" and "Absurdistan"; some of his work has been featured in the New Yorker.

lol for all the similarities in our cultural interests jordan there are clearly some large non overlapping territories

yeah i don't read the new yorker

hes a pretty famous novelist

you know, for a novelist

I should write that line down.

maybe he should stick to novels

She also drops finer lyrics than just about anyone with a gold chain knocking against his chest.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there it is

lmao super ilxor convo just there

xp

Seven thousand words, though. Holy shit.

For me, listening to contemporary hip-hop is just a way to summon an attitude, to blend in with a more powerful person's sense of himself and to pretend that I also possess some of that ineffable power

i meant message board ilxor btw not ilxor 'ilxor'

I think to myself, The refugee is strong in this one.