M.I.A. - KALA

i'll convert you to this like i did The Knife

Geesh, fandango, is it necessary for you to come into every M.I.A. thread and bitch about how "overrated and shallow" her music is? And you're so condescending about it as well, I happen to quite like her lyrics. And "Boy" is pretty much all hook, so I don't get where you're coming from there either...

The Knife was a grower, this is sounding like an anti-grower...

but I do like it a lot more than her first, faults and all.

woah there! I've hardly said shit on ILM's MIA threads before now, and about condescending... I've got some way to go before I catch up with others here imo. I actually started posting on this one because I was honestly surprised how rad this seemed the first few spins... ok, now I'm not so sure, but I'm just going with the flow like everyone else seeing as it only just leaked... fucks sake.

I wonder how shallow a song called 'Boyz' would possibly have to be to be 'too shallow'.

fandango, is your plan to become completely disillusioned with this album by the official August 20th release date? you're making good time!

xpost: I post on another board that you do (the Bjork 4um), it's just something I noticed... it's like M.I.A. brings out the troll in you or something...

ha! I'm not trolling honestly! not especially eloquent unfortunately but... yeah, I find her problematic, and it kind of sours her music, there's just an aftertaste... hell, I'm hardly the only one, but at least this time, I'm undeniably impressed on some levels... isn't that good enough?

matt dc, you're redirecting something I said broadly onto a specific example which isn't what I really intended to say (about that one song).

and yeah, ILM -loves- these kind of "all hook" records, where I often find them flat (for all the effort) and ultimately sorta boring but I'm kind of resigned to that.

also, I'm not sure if I'm being condescending towards MIA or other ILM-ers, okay "overrated" I guess is a crit. of others so fair enough, perhaps it's just my reaction to the entire internet throwing me daggers when I dare to say she sucks at some things, but shallow, well that's just my feeling and I'm allowed to say it!

ABout Björk (see also upthread) the sad thing is I actually agree that this is musically, just the kind of genreless, fresh, enervating excitement I was hoping for from her new (and unusually dissapointing, for me) one :(

matt dc, you're redirecting something I said broadly onto a specific example which isn't what I really intended to say (about that one song).

Yeah I know, I was just sort of amused by the concept.

still sounding fantastic ten or so listens in - i never really liked arular like that much (at least in comparison to piracy funds terrorism), and didn't have high expectations for this, so it's great that it's turning out to be my pop album of the year so far. really looking forward to seeing her live again.

i can't believe that $20 doesn't piss me off - bootlegs in 2007? - but i guess it's just weird enough to work.

People who diss post-Bends Radiohead are not to be trusted, even when I think I might agree with them.

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xpost matt dc - heh :)

that dogging line is hilarious btw, she's got some really funny lines but for some reason I never seem to pick up on them IN the songs (unlike say, Missy) which might be why she sometimes comes across as a lot more academic than she should... also BAD hangover fwiw so apologies if I'm being particularly unpolite & harsh... typing rubbish to the interweb about all I'm good for today :x

The Bends is shit

half of the bends is shit.

'watching lost on cable'

i can't believe that $20 doesn't piss me off - bootlegs in 2007?

wha? how is $20 a bootleg? it's only a bassline lift, not even a sample!

blue monday + where is my mind = bootleg.

i think i like the slower songs better. eerier.

bury her vocals further in the mix.

maybe i just want an instrumental mix.

i don't know the 'where is my mind' thing. but it's hardly a bootleg cf rap music

the final (timbaland) track is growing on me

? what about rap music? she sings an entire verse + chorus of where is my mind, it's most of the lyrics to her song!

yeah someone who was in my office yesterday recognized the where is my mind lift immediately without knowing the m.i.a. song at all

Where Is My Mind is only about half the lyrics to the song, but the record itself, sonically, is so much more than just Blue Monday plus Where Is My Mind anyway.

I noted with amusement the Lex going "apparently it contains a Pixies reference" when he owns both the first two Pixies albums and therefore that song.

DAMN - i was this ][ close to asking what 'where is my mind" is?

Where Is My Mind is only about half the lyrics to the song, but the record itself, sonically, is so much more than just Blue Monday plus Where Is My Mind anyway.

yep, and i think that's why it cuts through my bootleg-phobia. every time i hear it it's slightly surprising to me that it doesn't jar or sound stupid, but something about the combination works. amusingly when i first heard the song i totally failed to pick up the blue monday steal until colette pointed it out, but the lyrics jumped right out at me.

zomg i cant believe that shed use pixies lyrics it ruins the song

WHAT IS WHERE IS MY MIND U GUYZ HALP

yours, lexski

he quit ILM so i am filling in

he quit ILM so i am filling in

praises be

i mean in all honesty id mostly rather she use other peoples lyrics than her own

well 60% of the time anyway

it's funny, the modern lovers - new order - pixies refs on this would probably, at various points in my life, either enthralled or annoyed me, and now i'm perfectly neutral about them.

more fascinating insights still yet to come

I can't stand "Boyz", it's so annoying.

Also, she comes across as a bit annoying herself in that new pitchfork interview.

I mean, I get that she probably faces ire from many people because she's a woman and from a third world country, but I personally don't give a shit about either of those things. If I don't like something, I don't like it. It's not because a woman made it, or an immigrant or a three headed dog, music is music (to me). She really beat into the ground the fact that "Nobody thinks a woman could have any ideas without a man behind her", and that's fucking stupid (in my eyes).

She also seemed to be a bit confrontational (I had never heard that "Diplo was the mastermind behind MIA" like she implys every article says), and especially towards a website that actually digs her. I can't imagine how it would have been if it was a SPIN magazine interview or something.

I think you are the only person who hadn't heard Diplo and MIA conflated. There were about a ton of threads and blog posts and articles when Arular that used them interchangeably.

Her comments weren't directed to people who dislike her music. They were directed to people who do like it but have to reason to themselves that she can't possibly be the one behind it, and that seems to be the case in a lot of articles.

And yes, the fact that nobody thinks a woman can have any ideas without a man behind her is stupid. This is why she is angry.

if they sampled actual chickens for "bird flu" this album jumps from a B to B+.

It does indeed have real chicken sounds.

oh shit

this album is FIERCE

going back and listening to "Arular", "Kala" sounds so much more brutal and confrontational and in-your-face.

i've only listened to this on shitty computer speakers at work -- can't wait to bump this on the car stereo -- i feel i'm missing out on a lot of the depth of the production on these clipped-range 1/8" jack fuckers

upon first listen this is boring compared to arular. what happened to the rhythms?!

uh hello, world town???

Hahaha what?

bird flue? $20? XR2????

"$20" is kind of boring.