Search - M.I.a. :: /\/\ /\ Y /\ [Deluxe Edition]

Rubadubadub

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 07/13/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A challenging, yet exciting album.

W. E. Phillips | USA | 07/17/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the past, M.I.A. had the luxury of releasing her albums quietly. Her feisty debut, Arular, was quickly devoured by fans of her prior mixtape with Diplo, Piracy Funds Terrorism, and immediately garnered overwhelming critical success... but not much else. Word of mouth caused her sophomore album, Kala, to debut at an impressive number 18 on the Billboard 200, but she still remained a relatively well-kept secret in the music world until one of the album's tracks, "Paper Planes," crept up and became the surprise mega-hit of 2008, while also almost single-handedly winning the album a gold certification from the RIAA.



Suddenly, Maya had gained commercial success to match the critical praise, which I'm sure she found incredibly hard to grapple with; all of a sudden, this outspoken, opinionated, passionate, but ultimately misunderstood artist--who was accustomed to small venues and notoriety strictly limited to the Pitchfork crowd--was being heard and watched by millions. Millions who, quite frankly, don't "get it." Millions who, although they now have a newfound desire to listen to her, don't necessarily want or have the intelligence to truly hear her. During the months leading up to the release of her third effort, her words have been twisted, her jokes have been misconstrued, her political statements have been dismissed as empty threats (or, even worse: publicity stunts), and her lyrics have been robbed of their meaning by the mainstream audiences and media. To quote a track from Arular, it seems this crowd of new fans would rather see her as "fun for the people" than "armed and equal." Even more detrimental, though, was the now infamous profile of the artist for a May issue of the New York Times Magazine, in which the author, Lynn Hirschberg, reduced Maya to a walking contradiction: a silly, hypocritical, and paranoid little Tamil girl who rambles on and on about the injustice of the recently defunct Sri Lankan Civil War that she knows nothing about (even though she lived through part of it and her father abandoned her family in order to become one of the most notable figures of the Tamil struggle, mind you), all while idly munching on truffle French fries, anxiously waiting to return to her son and wealthy fiancé at her million-dollar-plus abode.



Well, on M.I.A.'s third effort, /\/\/\Y/\, the apparently self-contradictory facets of her personality work to her benefit, ultimately creating a widely varied and exciting, yet balanced, listen. It's hard to imagine the thrashing duo of angry, loud, gritty, anarchic, and slightly hard to digest rock-inspired "Born Free" and "Meds And Feds" could be coming from the same woman who on just the track before--the wandering, sing-songy "It Iz What It Iz"--frankly states, "they all got issues, but I got a bit more." The artist herself explains it best on one of the album's highlights, the smolderding and quietly rebellious "Lovalot:" "I really love a lot, but I fight the ones that fight me." This sort of dichotomy between her aggressive, playful, Arular-esque and her more vulnerable, introspective, Kala-esque self is spread throughout. " The reggae-infused "It Takes A Muscle," one of Diplo's only contributions here, is the closest thing to a love song she has ever crafted, while the first four song chunk will satisfy anyone craving the rambunctious, adventurous Maya from her first effort.



"Steppin' Up" is the most impressive track of the bunch, and it immediately stands out as such. How could a song that begins with percussive power tools not? "Teqkilla," with its cheeky, alcohol-referencing lyrics, is also a standout. The closest thing to "Paper Planes" here, in regards to effortless catchiness, is the endearingly naïve and earnest "Tell Me Why." (If any one song from this album becomes a bonafide smash hit single, it'll be this favorite. My other guess would be the ethereal "Space," whose spacey environment is rudely--and brilliantly--interrupted by cluttered rhythms as soon as the listener becomes a bit too comfortable. "XXXO," the first official single, also has some pop appeal.) And two of the bonus tracks, the scatterbrained "Internet Connection" and the soothing, R&B-like "Caps Lock, (along with the awesome lenticular album cover), prove to be highlights and reason enough to choose the deluxe edition over the slightly cheaper standard edition.



The production on this album, handled by M.I.A. and the likes of Rusko, Switch and Blaqstaar, is simpler and more rough-around-the-edges than her past two efforts, and is much more concerned with electronic music, the internet and America, in contrast to the world travels that inspired Maya's previous world music melting pot of an album. This may turn some people off, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not as complex, layered, or textured as Arular or especially Kala, but there are still some extremely intrepid moments here, like the playground of sound Rusko builds at the end of--and throughout--"Teqkilla" and the many interest ways Maya uses auto-tune, not just to enhance her voice, but moreover, to add interesting distortion and nuance., among other aural experiments heard on this record.



To put it simply, /\/\/\Y/\ is not as polished or complex as her two previous classic, five-star albums. So is it a failure in regards to living up to the utter brilliance of her past efforts? I suppose, if you must look at it in this light. But is it a failure in regards to creating a still great, homogenous, and exciting album? Absolutely not.



This will end up being a polarizing album, for sure. Critics like Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly, and Time Magazine have already indicated that they have no clue what to make of it. But part of me thinks Maya wants it this way. Maybe this will, in one fell swoop, alienate and eradicate all the Lynn Hirschbergs in her fanbase, who don't want to see her progress, challenge herself, or leave the box they've put her in. Let's just hope she doesn't post all of their cell phone numbers on Twitter!"

It's confusing but very good and unique.

Scott D. Chiemingo | 07/15/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really loved her first two albums. Very consistent in style and groove, with lots of influences wrapped up in a coherent idea. This new album is all over the place, but still interested me. "Born Free" had me hyped since I first heard it all over the net. A;png with that wild violent video. It was so punk and epic. The rest of the album is nothing like that track but I find the whole lot fitting as a whole. I think you have to to be into lots of different styles to like this album. Plus into M.I.A. altogether. The lyrics are very very good. Her British accent drives me crazy. And AutoTune works on some of these tracks better than I've ever heard.



Tracks:



The Message - Makes sense.

Steppin Up - Industrial club anthem?

XXXO - Stands up against any modern pop song around

Teqkilla - Really pumped up electro pop, Nothing like it

Lovalot - Good lyrics, ok artsy groove

Story To Be Told - eerie and worldly

It Takes a Muscle - Feel good song

It Iz What It Iz - Interesting melody but distant

Born Free - Bad ass

Meds and Feds - Harsh but good if you can stand it (headache probable)

Tell Me Why - Beautiful and epic (relief from the last track)

Space - Chill and sweet

Caps Lock - Skipped

Believer - Too mono-tone and repetitive

Internet Connection - Just cool and funky (I thought of Tom Waits)

Illygirl - Strange last track, very B-side and not good



That's enough to justify the album, every song is completely different. You can't say that with most stuff out there.



Only gripe is that these songs seem to be very hard to match live as far as I've seen online. I would see her show anytime though.







"