| | |  | Traditional Blues | Home » » » Kala | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | THIS CD FEATURES A FREE RINGTONE AND MOBILE PHONE WALLPAPER (see insert for details) M.I.A. is hailed as one of the most freshly creative artists to hit the scene, paving the way for fierce and adventurous females to break the mold. With KALA, she pulls even more globe-trekking, and genre bending into her musical mix. Recorded in India, Trinidad, Australia, London, New York and Baltimore, M.I.A. has crafted an international sound that is as excitingly undefineable as it is infectious. The first single from KALA, "Boyz" was just listed at #1 Rolling Stone's Hot List, and #1 song of the Month in Blender magazine! "Electrifying" - The New York Times | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| August 21, 2007 | | Studio:
| Interscope Records | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 99 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Bamboo Banga | | 2. | Bird Flu | | 3. | Boyz | | 4. | Jimmy | | 5. | Hussel - M.I.A., Diplo | | 6. | Mango Pickle Down River - M.I.A., Adams, Brendan | | 7. | 20 Dollar | | 8. | World Town | | 9. | The Turn - M.I.A., Blaqstarr | | 10. | XR2 - M.I.A., Diplo | | 11. | Paper Planes - M.I.A., Diplo | | 12. | Come Around - M.I.A., Clayton, Timothy | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
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 Kala is the best album i've heard since ThrillerJul 29, 2010
First of all I would like to say I really enjoyed this album. Every time I pop it into my CD player my heart beat doubles. I discovered this album while reading an article about M.I.A in the Express(a Trinidad and Tobago newspaper), which stated that M.I.A came to our country to record some of its songs. Recently I got the chance to purchase it on amazon.com since it was not available in Trinidad. I must say this this my favorite out of the three albums and deserves more attention. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to have a heart pounding listening experience from beginning to the end.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Paper planes makes this CD buyable.Apr 24, 2010
Other then the song"Paper Planes" I found nothing else on this CD that captured my listening ability. I found the rest of it a mish- mosh of noise and at times it got annoying.
There's nothing M.I.A. on this album...Apr 13, 2010
As a huge fan of Santogold and a `not so secret' admirer of Lady Gaga, I was recommended M.I.A.'s album `Kala' by some friends. They thought I would really appreciate this experimental breed of pop music.
Yes, I appreciate it, but not without a few reservations.
I totally get into the whole chaotic feel of this type of music. The genre bending styles at play here are tantalizing and completely engulfing. You can't help but appreciate and admire the way someone like M.I.A. can blend her influences in total harmony. She is nothing short of interesting, but my reservations also lie within her strengths. At times this album can become overwhelming. She tries a little too much to show us everything she can do. There needs to be a limit. The reason for this is that, about halfway through we have heard it all and so some of the songs start to become redundant and uninteresting. Also, with M.I.A. tossing everything in your direction at once you can become disengaged from her music, considering it nothing but noise.
She has a tendency to lose herself inside the over-abundance of sound.
Songs like `Bamboo Banga' start off flawlessly but wind up running out of steam long before the end of the track (it's nearly five minutes long). It becomes repetitive. `Bird Flu' is a case of too much and maybe even two experimental. It's rather annoying. I hated `Boyz'. It gave me a slight headache. The chorus may be the worst thing on this entire album. It just comes over as obnoxious as apposed to inspired.
I know, this sounds like it's not going well, but hold on.
`Jimmy' is near perfection for me. The beat is obviously influenced by cultural upbringing and the jovial quality suits M.A.I. like a glove. The sing-song texture of the vocals is enchanting and exciting. Overall, this may be her finest moment on the whole album. She keeps up the excitement with `Hussel'. The track is more intense and far more experimental than `Jimmy', but this is the type of genre bending that works. She sounds convincing and keeps the listener spellbound.
And then that pickle song takes us on a nosedive towards mediocrity.
'20 Dollar' spikes us back up again, slinking its way into our eardrums with ethnic beats and techno distorted vocals. It doesn't have the `snap' that I would have wanted from it, but it is definitely memorable and entrancing. It has a very trance-like vibe to it. The next track, `World Turn', steps it up even more and proves to be one of the standouts on the album. It is chaotic and engaging but in all the right ways. It doesn't overdo it. M.I.A. polishes the floor with her swagger. She drops the tempo a tad for the exotic `The Turn', another album highlight that actually understands the importance of subtlety (something that M.I.A. hadn't really demonstrated until this point in the album).
`XR2' feels kind of awkward. It tries, but it fails in my opinion.
`Paper Planes' was a big hit and established M.I.A. as `one to watch'. The track is not bad, but I don't particularly care for it. I remember when I heard it for the first time and I was just underwhelmed. When M.I.A. was recommended to me I immediately recalled this song and thought that this album was going to hugely disappoint me. Thankfully, that was not the case. Still, `Paper Planes' is a decent track, although the chorus is a cluttered mess.
The closing Timbaland track, `Come Around', is a mediocre hip-hop track. It actually takes away from the authenticity of M.I.A.'s sound.
In the end I recommend this album, but like I said, with reservations. This is not your average musical experience. That's a good thing. It's nice to see artists thinking outside the box. M.I.A. may not be everyone's cup of tea, and she is certainly not an artist that one can listen to at anytime, anyplace, but she is the definition of an artist and she is definitely `one to watch'.
Underrated Alternative Hip Hop AlbumApr 05, 2010
Kala is a breath of fresh air in the Electronic and Alt Hip Hop genres, an amazing album with no punches pulled in terms of creativity. What I love most about this album is the inclusion of instrumentation that you typically don't hear on American radio stations, such as the urumee drums in "Bird Flu" (my favorite track).
Paper Planes was obviously the runaway single, made only more popular by being sampled in "Swagger Like Us" and used in the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. While the single is what got me to give Kala a listen in the first place, her other songs are what really persuaded me to buy the album from Amazon. If you like your music original and off the beaten path, you should absolutely give this album a listen from start to finish at least once.
MIA's more creative sideFeb 04, 2010
I really like Kala, and the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me. I feel each song has a unique, different flavor to it. It doesn't seem as forced as Arular. I enjoyed M.I.A.'s first album with it's poppy hits, but after a while it felt forced fed. With Kala, there's a smoother, more orchestrated effort by M.I.A. and guest vocalists. The beats are more soulful and hypnotic in their rhythms. And this album will make you move. Can't wait to hear the remixes on the dance floor, especially for 20 Dollar, XR2 and Hussel. Kala really showcases Maya as a creative artist rather than an overproduced number.
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