Kala-fornication

Evidently, the vocoder will not have its vengeance until it has reconquered all of pop music.

The saga continued earlier yesterday when M.I.A. dropped her much anticipated follow up to 2005's much anticipated and critically acclaimed Arular. So in case you missed Monday's listening party or you simply don't care, the album is called Kala and it's been quite the hot topic in the blogosphere, inciting outernational dance floor ecstasy while unnerving folks who fret over its culture-as-commodity aesthetic.

Seattlest will spare you a complete review of Ms. Arulpragasam new endeavor. We figure the transnational, cut-paste-mash-mix-stream eclecticism has caused such a Web 2.0 buzzfest that hip to be square Seattleites are probably saturated with Kala koverage. After all, M.I.A. released her Kala’s first single on, among other formats, custom USB memory sticks and, if hadn't already downloaded the album weeks ago, continuously streamed her album on her MySpace account the week before its release. Welcome to the twenty-first century everybody! Plus, everybody and their mother seems to have already blogged about this album, either praising M.I.A.'s persistently edgy ingenuity or dismissing her ambiguously political approach to music.

That said, the blogger purist in Seattlest can’t help but, at the very least, list a few things to pique your interest (because Kala is a jam… not the jam, but a jam):

1) Grimy sample of The Pixies’ "Where Is My Mind?"
2) Aboriginal hip-hop kid’s group
3) Evidence that Timbaland still can’t rap
4) Afrikan Boy shit talking "first-world" problems

Because in a complicated world of non-fat lattes, temperate climates, bicycle sportswear and condo locations, we could all use a bit of shit-talking from an African national MC.

Seattlest just hopes no one steals her visa before she gets a chance to perform in Seattle, a date which remains to be seen.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Michael Burlin in Arts & Events on August 22, 2007 12:00 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

Hey, it happens. I mean, are you really going to not like something just because someone/something you disdain likes it as well?

I mean, Thriller is a great album from the brains of a musical genius (Quincy Jones) and a talented performer (MJ)(of course, of course, my opnion). It also happens to be one of the quintessential "pop music machine" albums of all time. So if your comment was meant as a diss, it doesn't connect with me.

Maybe we should just put this discussion to rest.

guest

Yup and apparently that "pop music machine" has the same taste as you do!

guest

BLENDER... yikes.

I guess that's the pop music machine for you.

guest

heh, no worries. I was obviously misunderstood your reply.

BTW I came home today to find BLENDER magazine in the mail with 2 more articles about MIA and how "cool" her music is. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait this fad out. :)

guest

No, no, no, no, no. Of course not. I had assumed that you had only listened gotten a chance to listen to the Mollywood-influenced tracks off the album - and I note the most recent single as one here. There are other significantly (again my opinion) un-Mollywood-related tracks on the album to which I figured you hadn't yet listened.

Just so you know, I think arguing over music preferences is silly and apologize if I came off as confrontational. I guess my only beef was dismissing white people's interest in M.I.A.'s music as pure ethno-fetishism. I know there are ignorant people out there who are allured for those reasons, but I at least tried to attribute my interest to something more musically minded/beat oriented. I'm a huge fan of Diplo, Switch, and DJ Blaqstarr who all produce on the album - so I was looking forward to their contributive sounds too.

guest

So you assumed I don't listen to anything but Mollywood tunes (I'm not even from that part of India btw) just because I said I was Indian?

guest

Woah, didn't mean to come off as rude and I guess my tone made me sound like a pot calling the kettle black there. Ultimately, I guess it just comes down to a matter of what's your flavor. I'm not so much a fan of the Mollywood tracks myself, I just thought that if you had heard more, perhaps non-Mollywood tunes (which I mistakenly assumed you hadn't) you might change your tune.

To clarify about the danceability business - I was just addressing folks who tend to "hate" certain music/artists when I figure they could at least recognize why people appreciate it rather than simply dissingi t. No PR here, I could care less whether or not you by the album, guess just got carried away about something I've been looking forward to that fulfilled my expectations.

cheers

guest

in it's most basically form one can at least recognize it's danceability.

Wow. Now that's one hell of a recommendation, Professor. Over-analyze much?

It's got a funky beat. And I can bug out to it! In a ethnically decentralized, non-culturally-fetishistic, cross-genre manner, of course. Fnord.

guest

Wow, does this girl have a PR firm working for her or what? I was not expecting such a swift educated response on her music/background et al.

I haven't bought any of her albums (and don't expect to) but have heard quite a few tracks (the best ones I'm assuming) on her myspace page. I also saw her video on youtube after SPIN magazine had a nice big article about her a couple of months ago.

And as for my "ethnicity giving me some sort of critical authority over a British national's creative approach to music".

Of course my ethnicity would color my judgment of this "British national's" music esp. since I've heard some of the songs she ripping off and can quite easily make the connection of her music being bad Mollywood music. Most white folk would not be able to make that comparison.

guest

Have you even listened to her album?

While she does incorporate a lot of what many consider cheesy, Mollywood elements, its merely one of many transcultural genres that she's influenced by. Well this doesn't necessarily answer the cultural tourism questions posed by the success of her album in predominately Western music scenes, in it's most basically form one can at least recognize it's danceability.

It's a little presumptuous to immediately dismiss her success as a white folks' exotic fetishism when her sound has been developed as part of a much broader musical mashup and cross-genre narrative. That, and I don't understand how your ethnicity gives you some sort of critical authority over a British national's creative approach to music, whether you dig it or not.

guest

I'm Indian and I don't really get all the hype surrounding MIA. Most of her music that I've heard sounds like crappy Mollywood music (no not Bollywood, Mollywood. Look it up!) and she isn't even that good a rapper.

I guess most white ppl don't quite know how to react to that kind of music and just assume its cool esp. since she somehow seems to be big among the web 2.0 and semi-hippy crowds.