"M.I.A. gave the main stage at Coachella her best shot. It just didn't work out.

After a strong start, a few hiccups, and a somewhat listless finale, the Grammy-nominated new mom declared at the end of her hour-long set in the desert that "next time I'm back in the tent."

"I want to be in the sweat," she said.

M.I.A. had performed twice in smaller tents at the music festival, in its tenth year and one of the nation's most prestigious.

She noted earlier, "I really don't know how to bring it on the main stage." And her live show staples--climbing on speakers, dancing body-to-body with the crowd--didn't quite fit the new digs. When she tried to bring some of the audience onstage Saturday night, security guards thwarted most fans.

M.I.A. ended up on a platform above the crowd performing "Bird Flu," and asked when it was over: "Can we get some order in the place? My baby's waiting." She gave birth to a son in February, a few days after the Grammys." [Times Standard]

Plenty of fans did get on stage too - security was definitely not happy about it though. M.I.A. was playing in Amy Winehouse's place last night. The show didn't seem as bad (on the stream) as the above review makes it sound. Then came the Killers (still streaming as I type this actually) and Day Two of the three-day festival was over. Earlier in the day Glasvegas cancelled their set. What I saw of Beirut's performance on the stream sounded great.

Friday night Paul McCartney played "a two-and-a-half-hour performance of solo hits from the '70s, new songs released by his alter-ego the Fireman, plus 20 Beatles classics". Morrissey and Leonard Cohen played the same day.

Sunday is my favorite day. We'll have lots of pictures soon. In the meantime, below are more stills from the M.I.A. stream...

Continue reading "Coachella continues - M.I.A. played (some pics), day 3 today"

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival is taking place this year August 28th-30th at Golden Gate Park. Tickets for the fest go on Visa presale Wednesday, April 15th at 1pm ET, and general sale Sunday, April 19th at 1pm ET.

Like last year, the San Francisco fest shares a headliner with NJ's All Points West. In 2008, it was Radiohead. In 2009, it's the Beastie Boys.

Also on the schedule for the fest is the Dead Weather, Jack White's new band. Dead Weather plays its first show tonight (April 14th) at the Bowery Ballroom.

M.I.A., Ween, TVOTR, Mastodon, Os Mutantes, Extra Golden, Tom Jones, and many others are also playing. Full Outside Lands line-up and poster below....

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2009 festival lineup, Dead Weather tonight"

MIA @ the Diesel party in NYC (more by Kyle Dean ReinforD)

"Sri Lankan pop sensation M.I.A. has been added to the Coachella festival's Saturday night lineup, the event's producers announced today via their Twitter feed. M.I.A. replaces Amy Winehouse, who was forced to cancel her appearance earlier this month due to an assault charge in the U.K.

Coachella will mark the rapper/singer's first public appearance since the birth of her son last month and her performance of "Paper Planes" with Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne at the Grammy Awards in February.

M.I.A. joins other late additions to the Coachella bill including Devendra Banhart, the Orb, Chemical Bros., Murder City Devils and Etienne de Crecy." [Billboard] (thx Tye)

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba (Wegue Wegue) (Hot Chip remix) (MP3)

"Kuduro is the new baile funk. No, check that; kuduro is the new kwaito. Or was that grime? Reggaetón, maybe?

For a particular sort of cultural trainspotter, tracking down the newest strains of dance music from diverse parts of the world with the assiduousness of a modern-day Alan Lomax, this Angolan style is the current ne plus ultra.

Built on the fundamentals of house music, with the chilly, playful textures of electro and early rave and faint echoes of the Caribbean, kuduro is full of coarse break beats and bass lines that vibrate just at the edge of collapse. It's lately gained traction in Europe, particularly in Portugal, which has a significant population of immigrants from Angola, a former Portuguese colony.

That's where the Lisbon trio Buraka Som Sistema hails from.
[NY Times saw them DJ at Santos Party House in October]

Portuguese DJ's/producers João Barbosa (Li'l John), Rui Pité (DJ Riot), Andro Carvalho (Conductor) and Kalaf Ângelo - together, Buraka Som Sistema - will visit our country again in 2009 for a tour that brings them from Coachella in Indio, CA to NYC to play Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, May 2nd. Tickets are on sale now.

Unlike last time they visited NYC in October though, this time they'll be with "Full Live Set-Up" which is being further advertised as an "explosive multi-decked live show, involving physics-defying dance troupes, serious percussion and rotating rapid-fire MCs."

Fabric is reissuing/releasing Buraka Som Sistema's full-length debut, Black Diamond, on April 7. Its single, "Sound of Kuduro," featuring M.I.A., is out now at iTunes, and appeared as a bonus track on last year's Kala reissue. The video for that song, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Buraka Som Sistema - 2009 'live' tour dates (Coachella, NYC), album re-release, Hot Chip remix (MP3) & MIA (video)"

M.I.A.'s baby boy (Pink is the New Blog)

M.I.A. who wouldn't risk her health to perform on the Oscars, and Peter Gabriel who wouldn't compromise his integrity to perform on the Oscars, lost the title of "Best Song" to Slumdog's Millionare's "Jai Ho", the song credited to A.R. Rahman who also won a few minutes before that for the entire soundtrack too.

You can hear "Jai Ho" in the video below...

Continue reading "M.I.A didn't win the Oscar, but Slumdog Millionare still did"

T O F A N S F R I E N D S O N F A M I L Y . M Y B A B Y I S H E R E
HAPPY VALENTINES!

SUNDAY NITE I CA M E HOME FROM THE GRAMMY'S STILL IN THE MOOD TO PARTY , I COUDA EASILY GONE OUT BUT I WENT HOME INSEAD , LUCKY I DID!! COZ MY EARLY STAGE LABOUR KICKED IN AROUND 2 AM .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfndz8pW9WY

MY BABY WAS BORN WEDNESDAY , HE IS HEALTHY , FINE , BEAUTIFUL AND THE MOST AMZING THING EVER ON THIS PLANET, OF COURSE IM HIS MUM!!!

ME AND BABY ARE PUTTING OUR TOUR DATES FOR 2010 TOGETHER
AND MAKING MIX TAPES
AND FIGURING OUT A WAY TO BREAK OUT OF THE HOSPITAL !

HOPEFULLY THE WORLD IS BEEN TICKING ALONG AND I AINT MISSED MUCH!

C U SOON ,

AND MY BABY BOY SAYZ HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM ON TV!

TODAY I WENT ON T.V

I did CNN HEADLINE NEWS

CNN LATIN AMERICA

AND TAVIS SMILEY ON PBS WHICH WILL AIR AS I POST THIS!!!

tomaro
im gonna do
al jazeera
france 24 and
ap t.v

I want you to know that , everyone has been asking me on the shows to talk about the sudden popularity im experiencing, the babies, the grammies the oscars etc

and i want you to know that this has been part of the plan from day 1.

this is the only oppotunity i have had to do something about the genocide in Sri Lanka and im seizing that oppotunity

so for a lil while im gonna go from being

M.I.A. TO I. Y. F.

IN YA FACE!!!!!!!!!!!
[M.I.A.]

A very, still pregnant M.I.A. (she is due any second if she didn't have the baby already) performed on the Grammys Sunday night with Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and T.I.. She was also nominated, but didn't win. Maybe she'll win the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.

She left the above message on her MySpace blog before the Grammys. On the Tavis Smiley show she talked about being accused of being a terrorist, being the only Tamil in the Western media which gives her the platform to speak for the Tamil civilians, not to be confused with the Tamil Tigers. Watch the video below...

Continue reading "M.I.A., still pregnant?, on TV - planned to be popular, doing something about Tamil civilian genocide (video)"

TMZ can confirm that Chris Brown just entered an LAPD station, where he turned himself in to police.

Chris is being investigated by the LAPD for an alleged domestic violence felony battery that occurred early this morning near Hancock Park in L.A. Police officials said earlier today they may arrest Brown when they found him. Well, now they know where he is.

According to the female victim -- who cops refuse to identify -- she and Chris got into an argument which turned violent. Cops say when they arrived to the scene, Brown had split, but the woman had "visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker."

Brown and his girlfriend Rihanna were together earlier last night, attending Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party -- and both canceled their scheduled performances at tonight's event.

Brown is currently being interviewed by detectives. [TMZ]

Radiohead did show up the Grammys, as did an even MORE pregnant M.I.A.. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss took best album (for an album that came out on indie label Rounder Records). Video of Radiohead and M.I.A.'s performances, and a list of all winners (including Daft Punk) below...

Continue reading "a list of all the 2009 Grammy winners, Radiohead, MIA video"

The Dark Knight, the superhero thriller that was expected to make history as the first comic-book adaptation to take a best-picture nomination, and Gran Torino, which the Hollywood veteran starred in and directed, were left out of the contest for Oscar's top prize.

Instead, the far more serious Holocaust-themed The Reader took the fifth berth and its director, Stephen Daldry, also managed to slip into his category.

The other nominees announced for top prize in the 81st Academy Awards Thursday morning in Los Angeles followed the script of the prognosticators: the era-spanning fable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which led the crowd with 13 nominations; gay-themed political biopic Milk; TV-landmark drama Frost/Nixon; and romantic crowd-pleaser Slumdog Millionaire. [USA Today]

Slumdog Millionaire, which won for Best Score at the Golden Globes, was also nominated for Best Score and Best Song (twice). Three songs total were nominated this year: Peter Gabriel's Down To Earth (Wall-E), and Slumdog Millionare's "Jai Ho" and "O Saya". Along with composer A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A.) is credited for "O Saya". Listen to it in the video below...

Continue reading "M.I.A., Peter Gabriel & others were nominated for Oscars"

Mickey Rourke, considered THE coolest guy in Hollywood by all of the other "genuine" cool guys, won the Gold Globe this evening for Best Actor in "The Wrestler."

As if art is imitating life, Rourke played a down and out professional wrestler who makes a valiant comeback just as Mickey is doing as you read this.

The crowd went wild as Mickey has always been well loved and a favorite amongst his acting peers.

Additionally, Bruce Springsteen received the best song prize for the title track to "The Wrestler," stating, "This is the only time I'm going to be in competition with Clint Eastwood," said Springsteen, referring to the filmmaker who had a song nomination for writing the title tune to his "Gran Torino." "It felt pretty good, too!" [The Lang Report]

In other Springsteen news, he is going to play at an Obama pre-inauguration event, you can catch him in the Superbowl halftime show, he made a lot of money in 2008, he's up for two Grammys, and he has a new album called "Working on a Dream" coming out January 27th...

Continue reading "Bruce Springsteen wins Golden Globe, playing Inauguration show, releasing new album"

DOWNLOAD: Pale Young Gentleman - Paper Planes (M.I.A) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cokemachineglow's Fantasy Covers 2008 (MP3)

"Perhaps one of the best Britrock records of 2008, a year which has seen releases from UK giants like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Keane and Travis, comes to us special delivery from Madison, Wisconsin and the band Pale Young Gentlemen." [PopMatters]

The M.I.A. cover was recorded for Cokemachineglow's Fantasy podcast which is also on the top of this post for download and includes other covers by Wye Oak (doing Grand Buffet), Mason Proper (doing LCD Soundsystem), Noah23 (doing Lil Wayne), Stars Like Fleas (doing Pussycat Dolls), and many others.

There's even a Rihanna cover on the podcast - not to be confused with the Rihanna cover I just posted by The Bird and The Bee.

Also on top of this post: a Paul Simon song done by Deer Tick who recently announced a whole ton of tour dates. Check it out.

And also see:
* Ruby Isle cover Fleet Foxes.
* My Brightest Diamond cover Soft Cell
* Phosphorescent releasing a Willie Nelson covers album

MIA @ MoMA (more by Ryan Muir)

Best Alternative Music Album
(Vocal or Instrumental.)

Modern Guilt
Beck
[DGC Records/XL Recordings/Interscope]

Narrow Stairs
Death Cab For Cutie
[Atlantic]

The Odd Couple
Gnarls Barkley
[Downtown/Atlantic]

Evil Urges
My Morning Jacket
[ATO Records]

In Rainbows
Radiohead
[TBD Records]

M.I.A. and Adele are up for Record of the Year which is not to be confused with Album of the Year which Radiohead is up for in addition to the "Best Alternative Music Album" category you see listed above. Radiohead's "House of Cards" is also up for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals", "Best Rock Song" and "Best Short Form Music Video". Radiohead also placed in "Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package" and "Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical" for a total of seven nominations. Make that eight if you count Jonny Greenwood's Best Score nomination for There Will Be Blood. Juno is up for Best Compilation Soundtrack. No Age is up for "Best Recording Package". Hot Chip, Daft Punk and Sam Sparro are competing for Best Dance Recording. All nominees HERE.

The World Wakes Up To M.I.A.
"Paper Planes" Enters Top Five; How Many Votes Fix Mix Released
M.I.A. Takes On World
Opens School; Starts Label; Launches Clothing Line

"Everyone's a winner now, we're making that fame/Bona fide hustler, making my name."
As it turns out, "Paper Planes" is no mere smash, it's also a proven prophecy. Over a year after the release of Kala, M.I.A.'s playful boast has become reality.
BANG! BANG! BANG!

The BANG! press BANG! release BANG! is continued below...

Continue reading "MIA 'takes On world', starts label, releases Vote Fix Mix, etc"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: M.I.A. - Boyz Remix featuring Wale (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: M.I.A. - Boyz Remix featuring Jay-Z (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror Mixtape (ZIP)

Ronson, Merriweather & Wale

Allido Records, named after one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, is the label co-owned by Mr. EVR aka potential Lohan In-Law Mark Ronson (sorry for getting all Perez-y). Mark Ronson will rep Allido when he appears as house DJ during the Allido CMJ showcase at SOB's on Oct 21st. Tickets are on sale.

The Allido Showcase will be headlined by Wale (pronounced wah-lay), who has appeared in NYC with Ronson before, and who recently hopped on a new remix of M.I.A.'s "Boyz" that some say is better than the Jay-Z remix that was released at the same time. Both are available for download above... you be the judge. Wale doesn't have an actual album to his name yet (he's a mixtape dude), but look for his debut to drop in Spring 2009 and feature Travis Barker (recently released from an LA burn center), Mark Ronson (no doy), 9th Wonder, Just Blaze, and Pharrell.

On January 25, 2008, Wale and Mark Ronson, on Ronson's East Village Radio show, hinted that Wale was in the process of signing with Jimmy Iovine at Interscope Records and On March 12, he announced on 93.9 WKYS that he had signed with Interscope. [Wikipedia]

Speaking of 9th, also keep a look out for a Wale/9th Wonder collabo mixtape called Back To The Feature "up next", according to a recent interview in Giant Magazine. For now though, dig on "The Mixtape About Nothing" available for download at his blog.

Rhymefest of I-co-wrote-Kanye-West's-"Jesus Walks"-fame will also be in the (SOB's) house (check out the free Jacko-themed mixtape from earlier this year available above), as well as The Rumble Strips and Daniel Merriweather (not to be confused with Dan The Automator aka Nathaniel Merriweather of Handsome Boy Modeling School fame). Daniel was also at that Webster Hall show Ronson played in October last year.

In other semi-related news, Perez Hilton is announcing his full CMJ lineup on Monday, Pharell and M.I.A. recently got together, Jay-Z inspired a bunch of kids to search out Daptone's Menehan Street Band, and the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase, happening the same night as Ronson's, is getting close to being sold out. Also that night: The Cool Kids & The Carps.

Wale videos and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Wale, MP3s, Mark Ronson's Allido CMJ showcase, other dates "

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

M.I.A.N.E.R.D.

Diesel Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, and the end...

Continue reading "NERD, MIA, Marty Markowitz & the rest of the Diesel pics"

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

His latest CD, "Paper Trail," sold more than 560,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts, and his newest single, "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna, supplanted the album's first single, "Whatever You Like," at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. [AP]

As pointed out in the previous two Diesel party picture posts, after Hot Chip & Chaka Khan came T.I. who made an unbilled, but planned appearance which ended with Franz Ferdinand (who had just played two more Brooklyn shows earlier in the week) playing as his backing band which then went into Franz Ferdinand's set - the longest of the night. T.I. and F.F. collectively were the best entertainment of the evening. The circus performers were a nice touch too. That included two sets (female then male) of aerialists who performed above the crowd before TI and after FF. Circus was the theme with Joey Arias also acting as "ringmaster" and free cotton candy, popcorn and hot pretzels. T.I. didn't bring out Jay-Z like he did at his recent show at Highline Ballroom, but he did have someone else that represented Brooklyn (help?) and...

T.I. also performed a song with the pregnant M.I.A., and called the lyricist "the hottest rap chick in the game right now, period." T.I. recently sampled "Paper Planes" for a collaboration with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne. The song, "Swagga Like Us," appears on "Paper Trail." [AP]

More pictures from that part of the night below...

Continue reading "T.I., Franz Ferdinand & circus performers @ Pier 3 - pics"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

M.I.A. first appeared on stage at last night's Diesel party during T.I.'s surprise set which was right before Franz Ferdinand played. Then she came back to do her own set which segued right into N.E.R.D.'s short set which closed the whole night Hot Chip played much earlier - only a few of their own songs before they became Chaka Khan's backing band. More pictures of M.I.A. below...

Continue reading "M.I.A. is pregnant, played the Diesel Party - pics"

building the Diesel party at Pier 3 in Brooklyn (from mcBrooklyn)

The Diesel party featuring M.I.A., Hot Chip, N.E.R.D and others is this Saturday night October 11th at Pier 3 in Brooklyn (see picture above). Vice has a list of locations you can find tickets in addition to Diesel stores. You can also get some tickets right here. I have five pairs that will be mailed to five winner's doors. If you want them, email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Diesel). Five winners will be chosen and asked for their addresses.

"xXx New York, the grande finale to the global party, will take place from 9 PM (New York time, GMT-5). Go to your nearest and dearest Diesel Store and find out how to get your tickets! " [Diesel]

DOWNLOAD: MIA - Paper Planes (LAZRtag Remix) (MP3)

MIA @ McCarren Pool (more by Bao Nguyen)

New York, NY - Diesel will unleash the biggest international party the world has ever seen on Saturday, October 11, 2008. Diesel xXx (titled triple x) will explode with a worldwide spectacular party taking place in 18 cities around the globe beginning in Tokyo. The party will successively move to Beijing, Dubai, Athens, Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Oslo, Helsinki, London and Sao Paulo.. The grand finale will take place in New York City with a never before seen "Rock and Roll Circus" themed party for 5,000 of Diesel's closest friends and coolest trendsetters. The legendary event will take place on Pier 3 at the Brooklyn waterfront overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

PR continued below....

Continue reading "M.I.A., N.E.R.D. & H.O.T. Chip are playing a Diesel party "

by BrooklynVegan Mike

A friend of mine played me some stuff and said "you're the father of dubstep."

Tricky (who kicks off a US tour at Irving Plaza in NYC Thurday night) is never at a loss for words or a strong opinion. His career has been defined as much by his viewpoints on artists and music past and present as it has his ever shifting sound pallette. He has been called "the king of trip-hop," a moniker that he never liked and never quite fit. Though his debut Maxinquaye helped forge and popularize, along with Portishead and Massive Attack, the "Bristol" sound, every album since has steadily moved away from simple categorization.

"It's coincidence. To be honest with you, Portishead and Massive Attack, I don't know anything about their music; last time I heard Massive Attack's music was when I was in it, and I've never listened to Portishead. Even if I hadn't been in Massive Attack, that's not something I would listen to, it's not my thing. I don't know much about these bands." [said Tricky recently to The Skinny]

The forty year old, who was worked with everyone, from Bjork and The Gravediggaz, to Tool and Live, is back with his first album in five years, Knowle West Boy, and many are calling it a return. When we spoke, he was in a relaxed mood. He speaks with a hyper active patter that is engaging and contagious.

We began our conversation by discussing his absence away from music. Despite being quite consistent with his releases (putting out eight albums in eight years), this is his first record since 2003's Back To Mine. When asked about the long break, he suggested that he started to break away mentally before 2003. "September 11th took me off my stride," he said. "I was in the cycle of tour, record, tour, record. I was in L.A doing some work. I was to leave on a European tour on the 11th and everything happened. I didn't want to travel for a long time. I moved to L.A. And that took a year of my life. I was also looking for another label, and that took another year of my life as well. So really, the 11th of September just changed everything for me."

He has since moved back to England, a decision that has certainly influenced the new record. But when asked why at this stage in his career he would make a concept album about his youth (as was written here, and here), he replied "That's not really true. It's not just about my youth. There are a couple of songs [including the first single, 'Council Estate'] that are about my childhood but there are other songs on there. I think people are thinking that because of those songs as well as the title. Knowle West is a place where nothing good is supposed to come out of. I named the album Knowle West Boy to say, "look at me. I'm still here." He also scoffed at the notion that the record, which has received some of his best reviews since Angels With Dirty Faces, was a return to form. "That's basically because it's more accessible then say Pre-Millenium Tension. I could have put this kind of record out then but chose not to."

This got us talking about the Tricky "sound" and if, in fact, there was one....

Continue reading "an interview with TRICKY (on his new album, dubstep, grime, Bernard Butler, Switch, M.I.A. & more) "

DOWNLOAD: Esau Mwamwaya, Santogold, M.I.A & Radioclit - Get it up (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Santogold & Diplo, Guns Of Brooklyn (Doc and Jon Hill Dub) (MP3)

"You might have heard this song on the SANTOGOLD VS DIPLO CD,but Radioclit went back to the studio with our boy Esau Mwamwaya to make it even even better. Check for it on the new Esau Mixtape out soon also Radioclit "Secousse" is out on Beatport right now. Also keep your eyes peeled for the Paul Devro Remix to surface sometime soon." [Mad Decent blog]

Mad Decent is going on tour. Santogold's new video for "Lights Out" is below...

Continue reading ""MIA + SANTOGOLD + ESAU ON DA SAME TRACK!!!""

MIA @ MoMA (more by Ryan Muir)

without belittling the heinous acts propagated by the LTTE, DeLon's diss track and video feel much less like a thoughtful critique of a debatable move on M.I.A.'s part, and much more like an empty ploy for publicity.

M.I.A. seems to agree. "I don't support terrorism and never have," she wrote in a statement. "As a Sri Lankan that fled war and bombings, my music is the voice of the civilian refugee. Frankly, I am not trying to start dialogue with someone who is really just seeking self-promotion." [Pitchfork]

Warning: the below video is very graphic....

Continue reading "Sri Lankan rapper DeLon disses MIA for her terrorist image"

Adele & XL labelmates

Adele is playing Webster Hall on September 3rd. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon. Adele is on this year's Mercury Prize shortlist. Not many tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Adele - Mercury Prize-nominated, playing Webster Hall "