boom boom and a ka-ching!
So not to stoke the Kala fire even further, but Maya did a session on KCRW yesterday in which she performed several songs from the Best Record of 2007, and also answered a few of Nic Harcourt’s questions (thanks to Gorilla Vs. Bear for the heads-up on this). also, if you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a pretty combative interview with Ms. Arulpragasam up at Pitchfork in which she raises some compelling points (sample quote: “I just find it a bit upsetting and kind of insulting that I can’t have any ideas on my own because I’m a female or that people from undeveloped countries can’t have ideas of their own unless it’s backed up by someone who’s blond-haired and blue-eyed.”) i have a feeling the M.I.A. tornado is only going to gain velocity over the next few weeks, but it’s not like she doesn’t deserve it. And if there are any of you reading who still don’t have Arular, well, you know what to do.
I’m really looking forward to KALA (v disappointed it won’t be available on eMusic in the U.S.). But I hope the hype over this disc doesn’t overshadow the August 21 release of another great disc: The New Pprnographers’ Challengers, which has as many top-shelf songs as Twin Cinema.
Hopefully, there will be enough public attention to appreciate both discs. As a bonus — unless I’m mistaken — Challengers will be available on eMusic in the U.S. As it happens, I couldn’t wait, so I bought the Exec. Edition, which allows me to stream the full disc now, well before the release date.
I found the tracks I heard off “Arular” really, really boring. Am I bad? (Answer: Yes. But I love myself anyway.) But it’s hard to get too excited about a followup.