M.I.A. Live

M.I.A. is in the middle of a short UK tour before heading back to the U.S. and I caught her show the other night. Luckily it was better than the whole live on Letterman disaster. It would be great if she had a full live band but the M.I.A. live set up is her and singers with a DJ, horn and gunshot FX a plenty. She turned a pretty reserved crowd into the closest you could get to a baile party on a freezing cold December evening.

Both M.I.A.’s albums take in the ‘real’ world music of today from Rio funk to African and Asian sounds. As a performer M.I.A.’s smart and sexy enough to succeed in America without being repackaged as a Timberland girl, not that she would ever go for that anyway. On first listen Kala seemed disappointing compared to the immediate fix of her Diplo produced debut Arular. But hearing Kala’s tracks live with the full visual show takes you on a world wind tour of a world and culture that is left out of the mainstream. M.I.A.’s music is that rare thing today, dance music with real political thought behind it. She seems incredibly focussed on getting her message across her own way, much to her benefit.

Her new single Paper Planes has the most crossover potential of all the tracks on Kala apart from the contentious gunshot sounds that MTV apparently don’t like. Below is the new video for the track. If it seems a bit tame M.I.A. originally wanted to shoot it in Ecuador but due to time constraints touring the States, the video was made on a day off in New York. So it’s kind of MTV friendly but you do get a cameo from Adam Horovitz and Mike D of the Beastie Boy’s. I’ve posted up Bamboo Banger a highlight from Kala, M.I.A. opens her set with the track and it’s a pretty good way to start it.

Paper Planes Video


M.I.A.-Bamboo Banger

Kala at Amazon

M.I.A. website