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8A - Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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OURTESY OF DISNEY
Wholesome is the new raunchy.
'Arular' brought the heat, but 'Kala' is
By Lloyd H. Cargo IDaily Arts Writ
While it's hard to call an album
that barely scraped the charts a cul-
tural phenomenon, M.I.A.'s debut
Arular was exactly that within a
certain scene. Loved or hated pas-
sionately by anyone exposed to it
(but mostly loved), Arular repre-
sented everything good and awful
about the Internet hype machine.
Her incredible
biography (which
needs no rehash- ****
ing - Wikipedia,
kids), her over- M.I.A.
the-top style and
her provocative Kala
political declara- Interscope
tions overshad-
owed her deft
blend of dancehall, electro and
grime that was either infectious,
annoying or annoyingly infectious,
depending on who you asked.
Soaring eBay prices for hastily
released promo copies left no doubt
that it was an important album
before it was even officially released,
but it was hard to say whether or not
anyone would care about it once it
was no longer the hottest shit on
the Internet. That bizarre hyste-
ria surrounding M.I.A. that didn't
even necessarily have to do with the
music itself made the prospect of a
sophomore effort even more daunt-
ing than usual. Even those of us who
loved Arular didn't think M.I.A. had
another great album in her, espe-
cially since no one was sure if Aru-
lar was great or just the flavor of the
moment.
The knowledge of all of the above
extra-musical circumstances will
hopefully make this seemingly con-
tradictory judgment of Kala make
sense: This album is better in nearly
every way. It's easier to listen to,
more diverse, with better lyrics
and tighter beats and yet it'll never
be as highly regarded as Arular.
Weird, right? With a couple years
of perspective it's clear that Arular
is truly a classic - honest, undeni-
ably original and still fun even if it's
no longer fresh. That context lends
an important critical depth to music
that had imminent potential to be
dismissible.
Kala is not, instead it's now. It's
no surprise that the beats are tight
- the album features some of the
hottest producers this side of main-
stream hip hop (Switch, Diplo,
Blaqstarr and Timbaland), but its
M.I.A.'s newfound global perspec-
tive that makes the album so
relevant. M.I.A. was always
worldly wise, but now she's
expanded her outlook from
Sri Lanka and London to
include Africa, Australia
and Jamaica. And while the
bold proclamations are still
there ("I put people on the
map that have never seen a
map"), Kala's songs are less
about her own experiences
than the trials and tribula-
tions of the less fortunate.
Witness the Switch/
Diplo produced banger,
"Hussel." Birdcalls melt
into synths that bubble
and belch while the
refrain of "Hustle, hus-
tle, hustle / grind, grind,
grind" turns the near-
cliched ghetto mantra
into a call to arms rather
than a cocksure boast.
MC Afrikan Boy sidles
in with a guest verse that
begins with "You think
its tough now, come to
Africa," and his words and
his accent are menacing
enough to make you wantto
tear up your passport, climb
back into bed and countyour
blessings.
"Mango Pickle Down
River" takes things
a step further.
The song is built
around a didg-
eridoo sample
and plodding
beat that
See M..A,
Page 10A 3f ! >
The biggest movie
of the summer?
cOURTESY OF
MIAUK.cOM
The image
the Village
People wish
they could
have rocked.
fall the movies I could
discuss from the summer,
why am I choosing this
one? I could go into the increas-
ingly symbolic properties of
"Harry Potter." I could tell you
why "Transformers" was better
the second and
third timesI
I saw it. I
could ask why 5
Bret Ratner
is allowed to
market his
movies as "a
Bret Ratner
film." But I
won't. The TASSI
movie I'm talk-
ing about wasn't even in theaters.
It's "High School Musical," and
it's ridiculous.
Since I haven't watched the
Disney Channel since they
stopped rerunning "Duck Tales,"
I hadn't heard anything about the
original film until a house of 21-
year-old women I know started
obsessing over it. They had the
soundtrack, which they looped
all day, and whenever the movie
was on TV they stopped whatever
they were doing (class included)
and watched it dutifully.
Bewildered and somewhat
disturbed, I managed to avoid the
issue until this summer when the
hype that came with the sequel
became too deafeningto ignore.
My responsibility as film editor of
the Daily (it's on TV but it's a film
nonetheless) became clear, soI set
my Tivo to record one of the 24
times the two movies played dur-
ing the week on Disney.
I liked it.
I was stunned when my foot
tapped to such songs as "Break-
ing Free" and "We're All in This
Together" and found myself real-
ly worried that Troy would screw
up his chances with Gabriella and
that Sharpay was going to win the
talent show. And in the sequel,
when Troy sang about forgetting
who he was? Man, I felt that.
Apparently I wasn't alone. A
massive 17.2 million other people
quickly made the sequel the most
watched made-for-TV movie of
all time. If they each had paid
$8.50 for a movie ticket that
night, that's close to a $150 mil-
lion opening weekend. No doubt
the discounted children's tickets
would have knocked down that
sum considerably, but regardless,
this was one of the most success-
ful movies of the summer and it
wasn't shown on a single theater
screen. People are calling it the
"Grease" of our generation, and
that strikes me as accurate. It's
been a long time since a musical
has been fun for everyone who
watches it, not just select cliques
of Broadway enthusiasts.
Although Zac Efron may look
like an over-tanned pixie, he is a
suitable lead as Troy. Who knows
if he can actually sing - the entire
movie is lip-synching - and who
knows if he can actually act, but
he's likeable enough, and his
winningsmile has propelled him
to the cover of Tiger Beat every
week since the original movie
debuted last year.
The rest of the cast is affable.
Vanessa Hudgens, as Efron's bet-
ter half (and they're dating in real
life - how precious), consistently
bubbles with joy like she just
got licked by a puppy. Even the
villain, Sharpay (played by the
hot-in-certain-lighting Ashley
Tisdale) turns good at the end
of each movie, when everyone
learns their respective lessons
and explains them in one last
massive song and dance number.
It ain't no
'Duck Tales,'
but it'll do.
Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing,
but whatever, it's fun. Not every
movie has to be of substance.
Once in a while a little bit of fluff
is just what we need. Sometimes
you want to watch a movie where
you're 100 percent sure every-
thing will work out in the end.
The guy will get the girl and the
home team will make the last
basket at the buzzer. It's a Disney
Channel original movie - this is
the way it has to be.
It's also kind of a return to
innocence. When's the last time
you watched something with no
sex, no violence and no swearing
that entertained you? That may
sound loaded, but think about it.
The happy couple doesn't even
kiss in the first movie; the only
violent scene is someone yelling
in Zac Efron's face about "gettin'
his head in the game." And swear-
ing? Someone calls Gabriella
"Einsteinette" once.
It's all too upbeat not to enjoy
at least a little bit, and with an
inevitable third chapter due
sometime in the next year, the
phenomenon is perpetuating
itself ina "Saw"-like fashion and
will be around until you can't
stand hearing about it anymore.
That may have already happened
for some of you, but others will be
waiting. As for me, I wouldn't say
I care too much one way or the
other. But if Tivo records it, hey, I
might just watch it.
- Tassi doesn't understand that
admitting he liked "Transformers"
is worse than his love letter to
"High School Musical." E-mail
him at tassiumich.edu.
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