album/tracks of the week

Sorry for the lack of writing a review for last week's (last time i did this was three weeks ago) weekly music reviews...i was just too damn busy with work, summer school finals, and other shit. so this week's album of the week is more loaded than it typically is.

so here is this week's albums of the week:



M.I.A. "Arular": I could see many people pondering in their heads right now, "since when did (insert my name) started listening to rap and hip-hop music?" Yeah, I know. I review and listen to a lot of rock/pop albums but who says I close my mind to other forms of music. I'm not an indie kid or hipster like what people labeling me. I remembered being introduced to Jay-Z and P-Diddy around the late 90s when I was a kid. I think I was just being ignorant in my high school and junior high school years (I lived in a cave). Before I review, we need to get rid of some myths surrounding rap and hip-hop music.

1) Rap is not (c)rap as most people put it. Maybe they're listening to what goes out on MTV and don't realize that there are rap groups and artists that are capable to put out great intelligible lyrics and beats.

2) Sampling is not a cheap way of creating music as most people think it is, it takes skill and hard work. I've tried doing it but I've always done a sloppy job (I will get better). And not only that, sampling could be considered art. When Dangermouse sampled The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album, I thought it was genius. So I don't know how people could criticise sampling when it really gives the music a much more unique sound than the typical cliched guitar rock I see in bands such as The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand (ok...I like their stuff, but you gotta admit that it's already been done before). So why hate when The Beatles were even the pioneers of sampling (listen to "Tomorrow Never Knows").

3) And no, not all rap is about drugs and bitches. We all fell for this myth with the bling bling rap music of the 90s. Sadly, this misconception is what many people turn away from rap. But what people do not know, rap music pretty much plays the same role as what Bob Dylan did in the 1960s and 1970s by voicing an entire generation.

With the myths and misconceptions aside, rap /hip hop music overall is a legitimate form of art that equals to what Dylan and The Beatles did.

Enough of the ranting on the defense of hip hop, M.I.A.’s debut album “Arular” is one of those albums that got me back into this sort of hip hop mood lately. Hailing from the streets of London, we can hear influence of the grime/ London hip hop scene, but the lyrics are overtly political and intelligent. M.I.A. or Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, is a daughter of political Tamil activist Arul Pagragasam in Sri Lanka. She escaped from Sri Lanka in the late 1980s to London due to civil war. Due to her historical background, we hear what is the voice of the oppressed, something what Bob Dylan did with his songs. These songs are dealing with war, famine, corrupt governments, guns, etc. that is so fresh and original considering music today is all about emo music and wannabe rock saviors like The Strokes (ok…maybe I’m a bit too harsh). M.I.A.’s beats are so freakin’ infectious that you will repeat the words “purple haze…galang, galang, galang” in your head. Highly recommended for those who are not into hip hop music.



My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”

Shoegazer, what a useless term coined by the press to define the Dublin-based group’s sound. I really don’t think there’s a genre that could really stick into this brilliant piece of art. Anyway, I found out about My Bloody Valentine through because of the Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation”. But it wasn’t really much of My Bloody Valentine but more of Kevin Shields’ solo work which eventually brought me to their song “Sometimes”. For some odd reason, I had “Loveless” on my list of music to get but I kept putting it off for two years until recently I bought the album. Let me tell yeah, what Sigur Ros’s “Agaetis Byrujin” did with my finding my state of peace through music, My Bloody Valentine did the same with “Loveless”. The sound is organic and dream like. As put to what someone has told me, it’s like dreaming without having to dream. I recalled my mind being blown away with “To Here Knows When” as I find bliss in this celestial sound of distorted guitar strumming and beautiful keyboards and subdued vocals. I could barely make out what she’s saying, but who cares, I find myself dreaming of a beautiful place. The great thing after my first run with “To Here Knows When”, the album just progressively gets better and better. “When You Sleep” is like a dream I once had that probably inspired “Juan’s 34th Dream”. The subdued, but yet complex vocals of Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher’s and the beautiful mess of guitar distortion that recalls The Jesus and Mary Chain as shown in this song creates this dream-like soundscape. Half the time I don’t even know what Kevin Shields is singing in those songs of his, but I guess that’s what makes this album so unique. The great thing about this album, there are no fillers at all. Every single song is so unique that there’s no way of skipping, though I tend to skip “I Only Said” to get on to the great songs. What makes this critic’s lovechild so special is that it is completely different and unique to the music at the time and yet even to this day it still doesn’t seem like outdated. To be quite frank, everyone should have this album in their collection. Too bad this was the last of My Bloody Valentine’s catalogue before they went on hiatus. Someone better kick Kevin Shield’s ass to reform My Bloody Valentine.

Tracks to download:



“Ladyflash” by The Go! Team: Like Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” did to kids in the 1960s and Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” to a generation of materialism, The Go! Team’s “Ladyflash” is the anthem for the non-conforming youth. With every era, there is always that song that defines an era, and The Go! Team’s “Ladyflash” just proves it (and The Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up”). “Ladyflash” is just a great reminder why we listen to music at all. The song is basically a synthesis of every style of music, ranging from Jackson 5-inspired vocals and Ennio Morricone strings to old school hip hop and typical indie rock. To me, “Ladyflash” is one of the many reasons why I love music. Not for its technical aspects and harmonies, but the fact that I just love it for what it is.



“Ruby Tuesday” by The Rolling Stones: “Ruby Tuesday” is probably my favorite song by The Rolling Stones, and that says a lot considering I hate majority of their work. The very reason for this as being a favorite is because it’s not very typical of their catalogue. No hard-rocking guitar sounds of Keith Richards nor that typical blues sound. Recorded in 1967 at a time when pop music was going with these crazy changes, The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper, Bob Dylan went electric not too long ago, and even The Beach Boys had adopted psychedelic music and orchestral melodies in Pet Sounds. Since every single artist was experimenting in the mid-1960s, Rolling Stones followed the trend, and boy did they make a smart move. To be quite fair, I wouldn’t give credit to Mick Jagger or Keith Richards for this song, but to Brian Jones. I personally think he is the integral reason for the colorful, exotic tones in this song. Brian Jones=Rolling Stones, no? See for yourself.

Random trivia: the east-coast restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday’s name is taken from The Stones’ song.


that's it for this week. who knows...i might do another one next week or perhaps next month.