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/\/\ /\ Y /\ - Limited CD |
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Artist:
M.I.A
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £15.99
Our Price: £7.89
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Disc 1:
| 1. Message, The | | 2. Steppin' Up | | 3. XXXO | | 4. Teqkilla | | 5. Lovalot | | 6. Story To Be Told | | 7. It Takes A Muscle | | 8. It Iz What It Iz | | 9. Born Free | | 10. Meds And Feds | | 11. Tell Me Why | | 12. Space | | 13. Internet Connection | | 14. Illygirl | | 15. Believer - MIA & Blaqstarr | | 16. Caps Lock |
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 A Tamed Tiger, 2010-07-17
'Maya' is Mathangi Arulpragasam's third album. 'Arular' (2005) and
'Kala' (2007) were both quite extraordinary recordings and heralded
the birth of an idiosyncratic and radically beguiling new talent.
The clarity and power of the little sonic marvels generated by her lively
imagination were as challenging and enigmatic as they were hugely enjoyable.
The wild rhythmic world she created was addictive, innovative and inescapable.
With 'Maya', however, something rather wonderful has been lost.
The edgy lyrical constructions, open-textured arrangements and coherently
infectious ribald rhythmic joy of her past material has all but disappeared.
In it's place is a cut-and-past jumble of half-formed ideas and sketches.
The overall sound of the album is willfully saturated in distortion and
fails to generate any kind of real visceral energy. This former tiger now
sounds very tame. Celebrity sometimes comes at a cost methinks!
(It's worth stepping back in time to hear Nicolette Suwoton's wonderful
1996 album 'Let No One Live Rent Free In Your Head' for a taste of what
can be achieved when politics fuses feverishly with unbridled passion!)
For a moment, here and there, things do come alive, notably on 'Meds and Feds'
which manages to whip up a bit of a storm in an otherwise undifferentiated pool
of mediocrity but I could find little enthusiasm for much else in this tired offering.
Time will tell whether or not MIA can find her way back to earlier glories.
Her recent marriage to Ben Brewer (son of Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman jnr)
sounds very cosy indeed. I await the next installment with baited breath.
Disappointing.
Rubadubadub, 2010-07-14
If an android ever decided to travel the world and make hip-hop music, the result might be something like M.I.A.'s third album, "/\/\ /\ Y /\" (which I'm going to call "MAYA" because it's easier to type!). All that world music gets put on the backburner here -- "MAYA" is M.I.A.'s deliciously odd hip-hop wrapped in a metallic electronic shell, but somehow there are only glimpses of her colorful, eccentric style.
It opens with blurry computerized vocals rambling about iPhones and the web. That segues into electric drills, frantic beats,and M.I.A. sounding like an android dominatrix, "I light up like a genie and I blow up on this song/Aladdin; no kiddin', boy I need a rub... Basslines and cars anything fast/Know who I am, run this f***in' club!"
After that, she launches into the clubbier electropop of "XXXO", which is the sort of fun but fluffy song that they turn into lead singles. The really good stuff happens when that song ends -- hypnotic singsong raps, schizophrenic synth circuses, chilly spacey electronica, gently funky pop, powerful eruptions of booming rap and clattering drums, wild spurts of grinding rock, swipping stretches of slow electronica, and echoing galaxies of poppy rap.
It was actually kind of a sad experience to listen to "MAYA." I started out wildly excited by M.I.A.'s new electronic sound, imagining the wild, weird things she would do with those effects. But as the album played, I kept thinking over and over, "Well... that song was nice. Not great, but nice. Maybe the next one will be the awesome one.... and that song was nice too, but not great..." That pretty much applies to the whole album.
Now don't get me wrong -- M.I.A.'s musical genius shines brightly on some of these songs. "Teqkilla" is pure insane delight, and there are flickers of genius with "It Takes a Muscle" and the booming "Born Free." Her warm voice gets to both rap and sing here ("You could try to find ways to be happier/You might end up somewhere in Ethiopia/You can think big with your idea/You ain't never gonna find utopia!"), sounding alternately innocent and brashly hot-blooded.
But it feels like M.I.A. wasn't entire comfortable with all the keyboards, electronic twiddles and power tools, because in at least half these songs she doesn't really DO anything with what she has. There's an electronic beat, some reverb voice, a few sound effects... and that's it. As a result, songs like "Tell Me Why" and the clubby "It Iz What It Iz" are just typical electropop, and"Story To Be Told" is downright boring.
"MAYA" has brilliant songs here and there, but M.I.A.'s creative hip-hop seems to have taken a back seat on this one -- those flashes of genius are stuck between halfhearted electronica that just needed more musical TLC.
M.I.A. goes industrial..., 2010-07-15
I've read a few articles recently criticising M.I.A. for contradictory and naive lyrics. Whether true or not, this doesn't spoil my enjoyment of /\/\/\Y/\ as I subscribe to the Simon Reynolds school of thought that pop music isn't poetry and that lyrics shouldn't be dissected too much. Does anyone think The Clash's debut album would have been better if Joe and Mick has sat around reading the Conservative party manifesto in detail instead of learning another chord and shouting "Repression!"? I deliberately draw the comparison with punk, as although /\/\/\Y/\ contains a couple of slices of pure pop in the catchy `XXXO' and `It Takes A Muscle', for the most part the album is abrasive and intense. `Born Free' samples Suicide and has an intro reminiscent of `Mr Self Destruct' by Nine Inch Nails. In fact there are a quite few industrial moments, Rusko producing 5 of the most atonal and bass heavy tracks, including `Steppin Up' which is sprinkled with the sounds of drills. So as should be expected from M.I.A. by now the album is a thrilling pick `n' mix of hip hop, dancehall, dubstep, dance and punk. Although I didn't expect to discover Maya is a fan of the brothers Gallagher - sample lyrics: "Standing at the station, in need of education" and "I would drink alcohol with the words to Wonderwall"!
Diversion Ahead!, 2010-09-04
Her mixtapes were fantastic, ARULA was impeccable and KALA was a treat - MAYA on the otherhand seems a lil out of place. Think cosy Christams scene with the weirdo family member banished to the snowy outdoors, forced to watch the family through a fogged window.
"let me in, i'm awesome too!"
"don't u dare look at it! continue to eat your turkey - now!... Kala?! did you hear what i just SAID!?!"
Put simply, there's something missing on this here MAYA, it's as if the magic has been replaced with something much less inspiring, namely fear or even loss of passion. Hear me out...
ARULA was brimming with beautiful madness, with lyrics that collided with bass to create a truly stunning piece of art. Her political sway was never lost in the drums and her personality was never overshadowed by the expectations of the industry. She made her stance and marked her territory with refreshing defiance, she had arrived!
KALA was a triumph with energy levels and inspiration dripping all over robotic circuitry with ridiculously deep story lines and symbolism that simply left you open mouthed with their pitch perfect delivery. The album was fun. You heard it on BOYZ you heard it on HUSTLE and most definitely heard it on MANGO PICKLE. The album gave a nod to its predecessor, took the baton and ran, making waves as it did so.
now this brings us to MAYA... don't get me wrong, the album is good - but MIA is a whole other level above merely 'good'. The album packs a punch (but then again, so does my granny) but unlike my granny MAYAs impact seems to have been swallowed in self doubt and subsequently doesn't make as much of an impact as it should have or could have done. MIA has always been on the outskirts but when Paper Planes came out, suddenly the nay-sayers became fans and MIA was embraced into the inner circle of wide spread musical acceptance. *shudder*
To me, this is why MAYA opts for shin kicks instead of dropkicks and flesh wounds instead of a down-right massacre. MAYA appears to take everything MIA stands for and sprinkles a lil sugar on it to make it an eeny weeny bit more palatable to the new comers.
I like the album but i really did struggle to listen to it from start to finish. It is painful to listen to because it's as if MIA is holding back, and biting her tongue to save herself from offending the very industry that she once stuck two fingers to. Disappointed fans may say "don't be harsh, she's in control and is going in a new direction", this may be true but when you no longer recognise the person driving this 'new' direction, then we kinda have a /\/\ajor problem, don't we?
3 stars ***
 Will challenge your ears (in a good way!), 2010-08-06
MAYA is simply the most intesting album I've heard this year. It is, at times, a difficult listen (lots of loud, distorted synths and drums) but this is regularly contrasted with some well produced more straightforward pop. 'Born Free' is a highlight and actually improves on the Suicide sample on which it is built. It's great that such a talented young woman is making music that challenges the anodyne nature of so much modern pop.
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0634904249724
Format: Limited Edition
Label: Beggars Banquet
Manufacturer: Beggars Banquet
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Beggars Banquet
Release Date: 2010-07-12
Studio: Beggars Banquet |
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