The Cold Cut

Whilst Santogold is once again taking the web by storm, second time around she's not alone. Instead, her new mixtape with Diplo ('Top Ranking'- I will be posting on this once I buy it) has brought together Santi and M.I.A, alongside a host of other crazy collaborations. She has quite clearly been bitten by the bug after 'My Drive Thru' became far more popular than it deserved to.

Santogold has been touted as the next M.I.A. since she burst on to the scene, and it's a comparison that has dogged her rather than pushed her career forward. If anything, this track proves that whilst there are some undeniable comparisons, Santi and Maya are two completely different artists, with their own interpretations. And thank god, because if it was any other way this track wouldn't be worth listening to.

This song is a wonder, as if you had stuffed the best moments of 'Kala' and 'Santogold' into 3 minutes. We have sirens, a guest rapper -Gorilla Zoe, who sounds remarkably like Busta- and cat calls from M.I.A., and Santogold's diverging harmonies, humming and bass driven melody. Oh, and how could I forget- influences from a truckload of different genres find their way into the song. It works in a way that we will never comprehend.

The final 5. How emotional *wipes tear from eye*. These are the five albums that I really connected with this year, and the only advice I can give is to buy them now if you haven't already. As usual, comment, and click the album title to buy it, or the artist name to find out a bit more about them.

Come back tomorrow for a round-up, as well as some more end of year lists.

5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
Neon Bible seems to be the epitome of 'bigger is better'. They bought a church, converted it into a recorded studio, learned some new instruments (hurdy-gurdy and organ, for starters) and had loads of fun whilst recording a more rocking second album. Its a slight departure from Funeral, and I wouldn't go so far to say its equal in quality, but Neon Bible is still one of the most complete rock albums this year.

Favourite Track: No Cars Go

Its been around for a long time, but this song has really benefited from being re-recorded. A rollicking tune with some grandiose production.

4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
How do you build on such a brilliant introduction as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (WPSIATWIN!)? Take a cue from this band- get better at your instruments, improve production and up the tempo- then the world's your oyster. Okay, Favourite Worst Nightmare isn't as instant as WPSIATWIN, but the quality of songs on this album absolutely trounces their debut in my opinion. Its bigger, faster and more brutal- a high octane beast of an album. Where next? Only time will tell.

Favourite Track: Teddy Picker

Teddy Picker- the bass driven third single- concerns modern society's chase for fame. In the wake of rubbish like Big Brother and X-Factor, you can see how true this is. They also made the brave move of recording using a live audio track in their video. Watch it here

3. M.I.A.- Kala
Kala was definitely the most diverse album of 2007, and M.I.A. continued her party trick of splicing styles and cultures together into an epic musical concoction. First off, the beats are ridiculous; some of the samples on this album would put most rap/hip-hop albums to shame. Lyrics have always been a key part of M.I.A.'s appeal, and thankfully, her style wasn't hugely altered between Arular and Kala, with political verses still featuring strongly:
"Do you know that cost of AK's
Up in Africa
20 dollars ain't shit to you
But thats how much they are"
All in all, its comforting to see Kala high up on many end of year lists, and once you've heard it, its easy to see why.

Favourite Track: World Town

Who would of thought that the sound of a gun cocking was so cool? M.I.A., ever the pioneer.

2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
With the Magic Position, Patrick Wolf was no longer only for those with 'eclectic' musical tastes. Some critics have accused him of taking the easy 'pop' route, but when the results are so encouraging, it really doesn't make a difference. Patrick recieves very little recognition, which may have been the reason he moved in a 'poppier' direction, but even on unfamiliar ground he excels. The title track is the definition of happiness, but halfway in, things turn dark with Bluebells. Other than the confusing Secret Garden, this is a flawless, undervalued album.

Favourite Track: (Let's Go) Get Lost

No explanation required- listen, and you will be swept up by this song. Happiness, wrapped into a 3 minute package.

1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
This album was the latest, and best, addition to this list (full review here). Quite simply, Lupe Fiasco is a legendary rapper, and its a massive shame that he will be retiring after LupEND, his next album. Both Food And Liquor and The Cool are both serious contributions to the musical archives, and illustrate that Lupe is not your generic rapper. He really has something to say in every instance, and a lot of his rhymes contain content that is 'now'. He will also go down in history as the only rapper to ever record a succesful concept album, and a rare lyrical talent. Truly revolutionary...

Favourite Track: Little Weapon (I've bought the album, and its now out, so I feel okay about posting one track)

Fallout Boy singer Patrick Stump produces, and in the process creates the best backing track of the year. Lupe pulls a trick, opening with the line:
"I killed another man today
shot him in his back as he ran away"
All is revealed at the end, when we realise that this is, in fact, occuring in a video game.

Mathangi Arulpragasam is a pretty special woman: known simply by the acronym M.I.A. in the musical world, she's a Hounslow, London born rapper/singer of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Yes, that's Tamil, as in the Tamil Tigers; its just so happens M.I.A. is the daughter of Arul Pragasam -a Tamil activist turned militant. Her first album Arular (named after her father- Arular was his political name) is a massively catchy mix of beats and synths which earned her a Mercury Prize nomination last year. Arular was a highly original album, what with its cultural diversity and clever raps; the album was political, too, as the main topics were the poverty and war that M.I.A. had been subject to as a child in her homeland. Growing up in Sri Lanka, her family was constantly on the move due to the unsafe atmosphere created by the civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan army. After relocating to London at the age of 10, she learnt the English language and ended up going to and Arts college, where her interest in music was sparked. Second album Kala comes out on 20th August, and although I might not buy it I will definitely purchase some of the songs: particularly lead singles Bird Flu (very poignant when it came out) and Boyz.

There is more to M.I.A. than her music, though, as interesting as it is. Her foundation in the arts college was not purely in music, and she's released artwork over the last few years which also relates to her interesting childhood. This is evident on her album artwork, videos and website, all of which feature a consistent day-glo style (see her website, myspace page and Kala cover, which is below) which has evidently been strongly influenced by M.I.A. herself.

Kala looks set to be a bit less in your face than Arular, which was impossible not to notice because of its heavy beats and mish-mash of styles; you can forgive her that because she was out to make a lasting impression, and I can honestly say that it worked. Kala should be an interesting album, and if she hasn't toned down the lyrics then M.I.A. can look forward to a second critically acclaimed album under her belt. Hopefully, the songs will be a little bit more melodic, although not so much as to destroy her main selling point: how the hell do you explain what M.I.A.'s music sounds like to your friends?

All these tracks can be downloaded individually or from this project.
M.I.A.- Bird Flu
M.I.A.- Boyz
M.I.A.- Fire Fire
M.I.A.- Bucky Done Gun
M.I.A.- Pull Up The People
M.I.A.- Sunshowers

Kala can be pre-ordered here