Posts Tagged ‘M.I.A.’
Quick Spin: Street Sweeper Social Club – The Ghetto Blaster EP
As mentioned before, Tom Morello is a very busy man. He is still working with Boots Riley as Street Sweeper Social Club. Their self titled debut album was released in 2009, to some mixed reactions. The album was bursting at the seams with its politically charged lyrics that everyone would have expected from The Coup or Rage Against The Machine (or even Morello’s Nightwatchman alter-ego.) being smoothly by Riley and the always impressive guitar playing that Morello is known for. It was an album that is amazing…on paper. The execution of it did leave something to be desired. That is not to say that the album is terrible by any means, but both of these artists’ styles needed a bit more blending. When the songs worked, they were amazing, but the rest needed more tweaking so that they could mix together better.
If The Ghetto Blaster EP is a sign of things to come from this duo, then all of us have something to be excited for. The 7 song EP features three new songs (”Ghetto Blaster”, “The New Fuck You”, and “Scars”), three covers (M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”, The Coup’s “Everythang”) and a remix of one of the better songs from their eponymous debut “Promenade”.
More after the jump
You expect confrontation when it comes to M.I.A.
She’s blazed paths on the strength of wildly fresh sounds and uncomfortable politics – inciting just as many death threats as dance parties.
But trailblazing as a career is tough to pull off.
And this is especially so for an artist like M.I.A., who is so heavily dependent on her producers to make top-notch beats. Without them, she’s basically dead in the water. And as /\/\ /\ Y /\ (henceforth called Maya) displays, even with a solid beat in tow, her provocateur personality sometimes comes across as blissful ignorance.
2010 has already seen a good deal of solid albums be released, and it doesn’t look like the output will be slowing down anytime soon. Here’s a roundup of some the most promising albums set to hit shelves later this year (or early next year):
* Kings of Leon are in the studio working on their fifth album. Their last album shot them into the stratosphere as far as fame and popularity are concerned, so it will be interesting to see how they follow that up. Initial word is that the guys are “exploring their progressive side” on the new disc.
* M.I.A.’s new album has received a title but had its release date pushed back. It will be called / \ / \ / \ Y / \ (aka “Maya”) and will be released on July 13 rather than the original June 29 date.
I’ve got two new music videos for you on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon. One will make you wince; the other will make you smile with pure joy.
First up is M.I.A.’s video/mini-movie for the song “Born Free.” And let me get this out of the way to begin with: THIS VIDEO IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK, AND IT INCLUDES SOME NUDITY AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. Do not watch this video if those things will offend you or get you fired. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Anyways, I couldn’t help but think after seeing this video that M.I.A. had been watching the latest episodes of South Park, what with the violent ginger kid revolution and all. But yeah, I realize this is a serious video, so enough with the jokes. Just watch (unless you’re at work):
After the jump, meet Frank, the funkasaurus rex.
New M.I.A. Song/Video
M.I.A. has a new album due out this summer – the follow-up to her groundbreaking sophomore effort Kala.
Today, she released a new song via Twitter called “There’s Space For Ol Dat I See.” It’s unknown at this point whether the song will appear on the new album, but there’s probably a good chance that it will.
Check it out:
M.I.A. – There’s Space For Ol Dat I See
Like a lot of her music, I wasn’t crazy about it at first, but it definitely grew on me. The song is a departure from the frenetic club-ready beats and world influences of Kala, choosing instead a more laid-back spacey electronic beat. The song tapers off with a Nine Inch Nails-like keyboard glitch-fest. But the biggest difference between this song and the Kala set is that M.I.A. shifts away from predominantly rapping in order to feature her singing – and it’s not bad. In fact, M.I.A. told Rolling Stone that she plans to do more singing on the new disc.
So give it a listen, and let everyone know what you think in the comments.
-Sam