As you may or may not have heard, a lot of people are getting all butt-hurt about M.I.A.‘s ‘Internet-inspired’ new record because it is a very noisy, very obvious rebel-against-the-rebels reactionary piece.
It is also kind of bad.
The album’s heavy reliance upon noisy sirens and over-driven guitar licks means that sometimes the songs will literally hurt your ears. She intentionally sings badly.The songs are not very danceable. And bad news for hipster douches: You’re not going to find a “Paper Planes” sequel here.
Nonetheless, there’s something sort of charming to me about this release.
I enjoy the tribal flow and lyrics of “Lovalot,” the anti-club banging, machine gun blaring appeal of “Steppin’ Up,” and I’m utterly obsessed with the carnal, pumping energy of “Meds & Feds.” I even kind of love “Born Free,” the Sri Lankan singer’s moderately successful attempt at producing her own punk anthem.
Sure, it’s no Arular–but it’s still got its perks here and there.
To celebrate the release, MuuMuse is proud to be giving away ONE VINYL COPY of M.I.A.’s new record, / \ / \ / \ Y / \.
To enter to win, send me an e-mail with the subject line “XXXO” telling me your favorite M.I.A. track, or tweet me with the following phrase: “I want to take a shot of TEQKILLA with @MuuMuse!”
A winner will be notified and selected on Friday, July 23. Good luck!
XXXO, B.