CD REVIEWS

M.I.A., Mekons

Sri Lanka's M.I.A. is back in action; Mekons embrace the dark side

Sunday, August 19, 2007

M.I.A. - 'Kala'

(XL)

It's something of a thrill that Maya Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A) isn't the pan-flash her detractors assumed her to be after her much-hyped-but-eye-popping debut album "Arular." She did, at times, seem a little too good to be true: a British/Sri Lankan MC whose songs seemed to synthesize whole genres of beat-science into a brew that was both playful (the double-dutchy "Galang") and nominally political (the album was named after her Tamil Tiger father.)

The prominence of those politics feels a bit overstated a few years later; "Arular" was a killer party record as much as anything else. In fact, "Kala" won't dull the hype at all – it would surprise nobody if it's an album that most critics agree on — but it also feels like the reality check after the party.

Dense like a subway map, loud like a Saturday night street corner, "Kala" (named after her mother) moves from Indian film samples to tribal electro-house blips to various ways hip-hop has morphed as it's flown around the world. "Hussel," a duet with (heavily processed) Nigerian rapper Afrikan Boy, "XR2" and "Paper Planes" are the only tracks produced by Diplo, long held to be the musical chops behind the M.I.A. machine. (Check out her venomous interview in Pitchfork to read how she feels about that particular conception.) Timbaland produces "Come Around"; since he's been the sound of radio pop on and off for 10 years, it's easily the dullest track.

For most of the songs she teams with electro-house producer Switch for something altogether darker, grouchier and more abstract (the difference between real-world motherhood and being a professional rebel/terrorist, perhaps?) Most tracks eschew pop structure for pounding patters ("Boyz," "Bamboo Banger") and rolling riffs (the Bollywoody "Jimmy"). Her politics still seem a little too indecipherable, but maybe that's just her accent. And just because you demand to be taken more seriously doesn't mean that you will be. But once again, it's tough not to give her the benefit of the doubt. – Joe Gross

Recommended: "Hussel," "Boyz"

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Mekons - 'Natural'

(Touch and Go)

The Mekons' first album of new material since 2002's anthemic anti-war screed "OOOH!" feels a lot more like 2000's underrated "Journey to the End of Night." There, they sounded utterly defeated, sold out by the British leftism they'd lived and breathed since their DIY beginnings. "OOOH!" bucked up in the face of an actual global conflict, and '04's "Punk Rock" found them covering their own punk roots, but now they're back to sounding as if they're ready for the end times.

"Natural" finds them holed up in the middle of nowhere, plucking (mostly) acoustic instruments and wondering when the bombing will start. This is Mekons music as detailed, sometimes plodding campfire songs, acoustic guitar, violin and hand-held percussion, a sound that's ready for an extended absence of electricity. So they take perverse pleasure in nature ("Shocking Curse Bird") and realize there are only a few ways to deal with the inevitable ("Give Me Wine or Money"). Once they went to heaven and back. Now they find themselves in a handbasket, sure of where it's going. — J.G.

Recommended: "Dark, Dark, Dark," "The Old Fox"