“Boyz” by M.I.A.
My friend Dayle gets a fair amount of music from me. Or she did, when she was more into it. I would throw together a few small collections every so often and she would dutifully drop them onto her iPod and enjoy them. I specifically chose stuff she’d like, which is, of course, what you do if you’re a friend/music-pusher. But occasionally I’d slip something in there among the pop country and the female singer-songwriter choices that I knew she wouldn’t like but that would give her an extra boost of credibility on the dating circuit (of which she was an avid member) in the event a prospective boyfriend perused her collection to see what she’s into.
M.I.A.’s Arular was one of those tastemaker albums. Just as I’d guessed, Dayle didn’t like M.I.A. at all, in spite of my occasional needling. But I thought that some day she’d stumble across it and give it a spin for heck’s sake, or some dude would spin that little browse wheel and go, “Wow, Trisha Yearwood AND M.I.A.? You’re so eclectic!” and a relationship would be born. I don’t know if it worked or not. She’s engaged now and I never asked whether it was because of M.I.A. But yours truly is set to be spinning the tunes on wedding night and I’m gonna do everything I can to drop this track into the mix somehow, bride’s wishes be damned.
There’s a lot of great stuff on Maya Arulpragasam’s newest album. In fact, of all the year-end lists I’ve perused, this is the only album that consistently finds a place in the top ten. I guess I’m no exception. I like this track in particular. Its noisy, confrontational bounce is perfect for summertime, top-down, music appreciation. And hell, listen to it loud enough and you might just attract a soul mate.
At least, that’s my fantasy.
M.I.A.: official site (might induce seizures), allmusic, itunes, amazon
listen:
