Kala

M.I.A. | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Label: XL Interscope
• Copyright: (C) 2007 XL Recordings Ltd. under exclusive license to Interscope Records in the USA
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 47:27
• Genres:
  • Alternative Rock
• ASIN: B000VAHFCK
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,048 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 138 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "I put people on the map who ain't seen a map." August 20, 2007

By W. E. Phillips VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

M.I.A.'s (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) amazing debut album, Arular, garnered many dedicated fans. One of them just happened to be mega-producer Timbaland. He was so enthusiastic, in fact, that he wanted to work with her for her sophomore release. Of course Maya obliged and she even cried tears of happiness. But before she could begin collaborating with him, a little--okay, a big--obstacle came up; the Sri Lankan was not allowed to enter the United States for ten months due to visa troubles. Some artists would just quit right then and there, but that's not how she operates. M.I.A. figured that if she couldn't come into the US, then she would go and create her art everywhere else on the globe. And that's what she did. Kala was recorded in many locations, including India, London, Australia, Africa and Trinidad.

Maya's first album, named after her father, was raw and unapologetically fierce. M.I.A. herself admitted the album was rather "masculine." However, Kala is, among other things, softer and more personal. It's only right that she named it after her mother. Maya's father doesn't think mom deserves the privilege. (Supposedly, the two are very competitive). But I would have to disagree with Papa Arulpragasam. When he left his family to become a freedom fighter, his jobless wife had to support her children and provide for them. Not only is she deserving of the title for respect's sake, but also because her struggle is represented in many of the songs. In tracks like "$20," Maya sounds less like the rambunctious girl we met on her debut and more like a tired and slightly bitter mother who has seen the cruelty of the world, trying to find hope and meaning somewhere. But still... there's strength! Power. (In the absolute best way possible, of course).

The album opens perfectly with the minimalist, shuffling mid-tempo beat of "Bamboo Banga." About two minutes into the song, the beat picks up and grows in complexity and Maya announces triumphantly that she is coming back with "powah powah!" (Couldn't have said it better myself). Up next is the energetic "Bird Flu," complete with the chanting of little village girls, booming tribal drums and the "ba-gok!" of chickens. "Boyz" is a fun and quirky summer jam that sounds straight out of a street parade. The track is laced with a collage of drums, an infectious "how many" vocal sample and whistling. "Jimmy" is a slightly reworked/re-written version of a Bollywood song Maya used to sing at parties for money as a child. The disco track is thoroughly entertaining with addictive strings and some electronic beeps added for a modern touch. While it is very different from anything M.I.A. has created before, it is a very welcome addition to the album for me. "Hussel" is the first song on here that takes on the serious tone I mentioned earlier. Over the ominous, synth-heavy production, which sounds straight out of a rainforest, Maya raps about the hustle and grind of raising money to help family and friends in need. Guest artist Afrikan Boy adds a nice universal touch. Speaking of guest artists, "Mango Pickle Down River" has a group of Aboriginal kids, the Wilcannia Mob, rapping with her. They rap about their adventures together over a buzzing, bumbling track. "$20" is the epitome of the tone I mentioned in the second paragraph. It is also probably Kala's most introspective track. Maya, sounding almost defeated, spits out random deep thoughts on her mind. "World Town" is by far the track that best resembles Arular musically. Still, the lyrics fit the album's theme. "The Turn," like many of the other tracks, finds Maya... singing. She actually sounds beautiful and very unique. The lyrics say it all: "Don't bother me with your mess/ I'm trying to do my best/ Get my head up out the stress/ When the money turns the world/ Your lovin' turns to less." The meandering groove is just amazing. "XR2," which she posted on her MySpace earlier this year, is a hyperactive, percolating club track with a catchy sped-up horn sample. Her vocal delivery is almost like her own version of the Ying Yang Twins' "Whisper Song." (Except... much better). "Paper Planes" has already become a fan favorite, and rightfully so. It samples The Clash's "Straight To Hell," it's an extremely catchy song that discreetly speaks on her frustration about the visa situation, the chorus mixes roaring gunshots and cash register "cha-chings!" and it's produced by ex-boyfriend, Diplo. What's not to love? The closing track, "Come Around," is the only one produced by Timbaland. While many of Maya's fans resent the song (while others pretend it doesn't exist), I happen to love it. Sure, it's a little more mainstream than the other stuff, but it's fun, bouncy and her swagger is irresistible. It's a good way too end the album, in my opinion.

Kala is a triumph. M.I.A. was faced with terrible misfortune, but rather than sitting around defeated, she traveled around the world, interacting with the people and recording a diverse, creative and just plain amazing album. This is by far one of--if not the--best CDs I've heard all year. I highly recommend.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Old person's review June 25, 2011

By Scott B. Saul

Format:Audio CD

I'm a 48 year old rock fan. My tastes favor funk, jam band, rock, blues and soul. I say this because I recognize that I may not be the most qualified, because of a generation gap, to evaluate this type of music.

At the same time, I AM a big music fan that would never exclude any type of music from partaking. Whether I enjoy the genre or not, good music is good music.

M.I.A. is definitely an exciting artist (I hope this is her vision and not more the work of a production team). She's gorgeous, exotic, creative, energetic and provocative. This is daring and wild stuff. It's actually more than just "music" since there is so much of an aural color going on.

"Paper Planes" and "Jimmy" are my highlights. The sampling is remarkable and, in some ways, scary and alarming (gunshots used percussively?!). I also like them the most since they resemble conventional song structure.

Now, my age is going to show...the rest of the songs are interesting, but it's hard to categorize them as songs since, to me, they resemble chants...which eventually grow tiresome. Some of these tunes sound like cheerleading routines put to a variety of sonic expressions.

I have seen clips of her performing and she does not come close to replicating this stuff live. I'm not just referring to the obvious sampling, which will be obviously lost out in performance, but also the high energy.

M.I.A. is a diamond in the rough. If she can take her daring, innovational wildness, apply it to a little more conventional songwriting structure (like "Paper Planes"), yet still retain that exoticism ( I know easier said than done), then I feel she extends her appeal.

To listen to this in a private situation (Like the car or I pod) is probably much different then the exictement this illicits in a club/party atmosphere.

35 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kala September 13, 2007

By Mike Newmark VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

To understand what makes Kala succeed so brilliantly is to realize why so many anti-war albums fail. Exhorting a message is easy. Getting people to sit up and pay attention is a much more formidable task, one that's proven too tall an order for the likes of the Flaming Lips, Nine Inch Nails, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, From Monument to Masses, and dozens of others. Kala sets itself apart by pulling off the neat hat trick of sounding both urgent and joyous--something that the Sri Lankan M.I.A. (née Maya Arulpragasam) managed to do with 2005's Arular, but which gets presented here to an incredible new extent. Perhaps Arulpragasam became a musician to push a point, but Kala is better poised for a club than for brow-furrowing headphone listening or a street protest; it is music first, a message second.

Surely, Kala is some of the most exciting world-electronica fusion the United States has heard since, well, Arular. The production on "Bird Flu" is so chillingly perfect that you might forget that the song has no melody to speak of. Here and elsewhere, M.I.A. exploits the universal and pleasurable properties of percussion to draw us into Kala's world; unless you actually live there, your knowledge of Sri Lankan music is probably nil, and M.I.A. is the most accessible guide one could hope for. Tribal drumming and modern-day electro exist alongside each other as naturally as oil and vinegar, while M.I.A. plays to and uproots our expectations by taking world music clichés and turning them on their heads, whether it's the hilarious pygmy-like shouts in the war-paint-covered "Bird Flu" or the ersatz strings in the 1982 Bollywood cover, "Jimmy". If anything, Kala hammers home Sri Lanka's status as a hotbed of multiculturalism. Its music is African, Indian, Middle Eastern, British and wryly American all at once, and I can imagine no better environment for an anti-war cry than one in which musical styles coexist this peacefully.

M.I.A.'s exhortation strategy is fresh, uncommon, and sledgehammer-blunt. "Fight on!", the album cover shamelessly reads, and it's clear that M.I.A. considers a move toward peace as literally that: a mobilization that requires as much force as soldiers are willing to devote to a war. Her fight-fire-with-fire approach results in music that's more bracing and confrontational than Arular while still avoiding sounding militaristic, instead coming off like a cheerleading squad that means deathly serious business. M.I.A.'s voice often feels like a drum, pounding away about the price of AK-47s in Africa, forgoing a fashion career for the sake of protest, being hassled about immigration papers and what it might be like to blow up the fighters in her dreams. She stands above the dreck as a paragon of self-confidence, while even allowing some humor to peek through on "Boyz": "How many no money boyz are crazy, how many boyz are raw? / How many no money boyz are rowdy, how many start a war?" (The `z's aren't there for nothing.) Of course, when Nigerian M.C. Afrikan Boy reproachfully spits, "You think it's tough now? Come to Africa" on "Hussel," we don't dare laugh.

Perhaps most phenomenal is how M.I.A. made a better album than Arular by grabbing the reins herself. For Kala, she aligned herself with UK house producer Switch, whose relatively hands-off approach allowed M.I.A. to have a greater say in the production and arrangements than she had on Arular (heretofore considered DJ Diplo's album above all). It shows; Kala sounds like the album M.I.A. wanted to make, all the way down to the slinky swamp song "The Turn." In fact, "Come Around" is the only track I can think of in which Timbaland's foray behind the boards actually makes the song less interesting than what surrounds it. If M.I.A. wasn't an international superstar before Kala's release, she likely will be and certainly deserves to be; this is her album, reflective of her vital personality and compelling statement of purpose at every single turn. In an era riddled with ghostwriting, lip-synching, showboating and O-Town, few recording artists alive are less deserving of M.I.A.'s own namesake than M.I.A.