M.I.A. (Musician)

The Top 10 Most Disappointing Albums of 2012 (So Far)

It's a little past the halfway point of 2012, but mid-July still seems like a good time to round up the albums that came out this year and simply failed to meet our expectations. Some of those expectations were admittedly (and deservedly) sky-high -- leading to decent records that still felt like a ... More >>

Let the Spirit Move You

An Open Letter To Madonna, For Apparently Running Out of Ideas

Dear Madonna,We'd like to preface this by saying that we've always been huge fans. Your "Like A Virgin" video blew our tiny minds as children; "Papa Don't Preach" is still one of our favorite songs of all time; and the entire Like A Prayer album is genius (thanks for helping out, Prince). When Ray o ... More >>

Madonna's MDNA: A First Listen

​Sure, I heard bad things about MDNA, but when's the last time critics actually jumped for Madonna? In the pre-"poptimist" era of 1999, with Ray of Light, I'm pretty sure. Music was a billion times better, and the oft-cited failure American Life is actually pretty strange and fun (vocoder and rapp ... More >>

Reminder: Free Party Tonight With the Jealous Guys, DJ Dials, and Yr Skull

My, my, it's been a big week, what with M.I.A.'s middle finger, that new Jay-Z and Kanye video, the quickly sold-out Hot Snakes show, and what else? We forgot already. Point is, you should come by our party at the Noise Pop-Up Shop tonight. For one thing it's free, and there will be performances by ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Comparing M.I.A.'s Super Bowl Middle Finger to Music's Greatest Bird-Flippers

Juvenile, numbskulled, pointless, banal, outrageous -- M.I.A. flipping the bird at this year's Super Bowl halftime show might have been all or none of those things, depending on whom you ask, but it was one thing above all: A surefire plot to join the ranks of the middle-finger-flashing musical elit ... More >>

We're Throwing a Free Party with the Jealous Guys, DJ Dials, Yr Skull, and Free Beer This Week

The Jealous Guys, expressing solidarity with M.I.A.​ Over here at All Shook Down, we like to throw a little party each year before the Noise Pop festival takes over San Francisco. So mark your calendar: On Thursday, we're inviting you all to the Noise Pop Pop-Up Shop for a get-together featuri ... More >>

Bump & Grind: The Top Five Pregnant Performances

​What the hell is up with the tabloids and pregnancies? Usually when a lady celebrity has so much as a big lunch, or gets photographed from a bad angle, they announce that an offspring is probably imminent. And here's Beyonce Knowles, being totally upfront about her and Jay-Z's baby-to-be, rubbing ... More >>

Watch DJ Shadow's Blood-Boiling New Video, "Border Crossing"

The Occupy Wall Street Everywhere protests are stealing headlines this week. But for many, immigration and border politics remain one of the most backwards and unjust issues facing the country. Count among that group the Bay Area's DJ Shadow, whose new video for "Border Crossing" qualifies as a bloo ... More >>

Björk's Biophilia: A First Listen

Who doesn't have a strong opinion on Björk? Love me some Homogenic and Vespertine, hate me some Medulla, and I'm pretty sure the overrated Post and underrated Volta are about equal in quality. And for the stuff I haven't heard -- Telegram, Gling-Glo, various box sets and live crapanalia -- I fear t ... More >>

The Top Five Weird And Wonderful Music Scenes Championed By Diplo

The second installment in the Blow Your Head compilation series, released today, underscores Diplo's status as the world's most persuasive musical archaeologist. Released on Mad Decent, the record label run by the DJ, producer, and former darling of M.I.A., it focuses on the newly-created sub-genre ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Hot Chip Brings the Cheese, Sleigh Bells Bring the Guawk

Hot Chip​Hot Chip Sleigh Bells @ The Warfield October 17, 2010 Better than: Spending the same amount of time waiting to get off Treasure Island. London's Hot Chip came on the scene (our scene, anyway) circa 2006 with a song called "Boy From School," and it's made nice work of holding on to that ... More >>

Is M.I.A. Actually Trying to Drive Away Her Fans?

Richard Haick​M.I.A.October 12, 2010@ The Fox Theater, OaklandBetter than: Well, I guess she could have not played at all.Last night, M.I.A. was that kid you hated to do group projects with in school: She showed up late, she left ridiculously early, she barely did anything on her own, and yet ... More >>

Last Night: The Very Best and Black Nature at The Independent

Esau Mwamwaya of The Very Best​The Very Best Black Nature (Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars)Disco Shawn@The Independent May 31, 2010 Better than: What could be better than The Very Best? Seriously. When the music world gets tired of arguing over M.I.A. and her dubious authenticity, it oughta pau ... More >>

The Ghosts of Outside Lands Past

Now that this year's Outside Lands lineup has been released in full and stayed true to its lil-bit-hippie-lil-but-hip-hop roots and the folk vs. funk vibe, will you be forking over some coin when the tickets go on sale tomorrow? How do you think this year's lineup fares with those of previous years? ... More >>

Pissed Off M.I.A. Takes Revenge on Writer

MosesM.I.A. at last year's Outside Lands​After New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg called M.I.A. out on some of her bullshit in a profile published yesterday for the magazine, the spirited British rapper/songwriter/political activist took to Twitter this morning to pull some middle school reveng ... More >>

M.I.A.'s diluted politics

M.I.A.'s Shock Tactics Dilute Her Politics

Image Courtesy of: Grant Gilliland​ M.I.A. thrives on misinterpretation. Her debut album, Arular, was named after her Tamil Tiger dad and released in the midst of the War on Terror with a lead track taunting, "I've got the bombs to make you blow." Her antagonistic resolve arrived at a time when ... More >>

Major Lazer introduces electro dancehall fans to animated moves

Local Frequency: Bay Area Band Q&A with Hottub

​Oakland's Hottub's got its start rather randomly three years ago, and has quickly formed into one of the Bay Area's biggest draws. Although the press occasionally mistakenly tags the band as an all-girl group, the female MC's of Hottub--Nicole Feliciano (aka CoCo Machete), Amber Griffin-Royal (ak ... More >>

Weekend Chatter: Buraka Som Sistema Q&A

​Lisbon-based Buraka Som Sistema headlines Mezzanine Saturday night, bringing its mashup of vocal percussion with zombified, broken-legged dance contortions. The foursome who leapt into global view with 2008's Black Diamond is now making its second SF visit. The group will batter crowds with dis ... More >>

Outside Lands Post-Script

EKAphotographyVinyl Vamp: Zap Mama​ Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park: Local reaction: The Chron ... More >>

Dead Prez Boots Riley Tonight @Black Dot

EKAphotographyRBGz at YBG: dead prez @G4G's solar-powered concert​ Outside Lands, Shmoutside Lands. The hundreds of folks who came out to Yerba Buena Gardens to see dead prez and Mistah F.A.B. perform for free yesterday may have gotten a better deal than the tens of thousands who shelled out $90 ... More >>

Outside Lands Day Two: Street Sweeper Social Club, Trombone Shorty, Black Eyed Peas, The Mars Volta

EKAphotography​Outside Lands Day 2: Street Sweeper Social Club, Trombone Shorty, Black Eyed Peas, The Mars Volta, & more, Saturday, August 20, 2009.Better Than: sitting in the park, waiting for you.The first day of Outside Lands was a huge freakin' success, especially if you stayed at the Twin ... More >>

Outside Lands Trivia Challenge

Zap Mama​ The headliners for this weekend's Outside Lands festival--Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, and M.I.A.--need little introduction. But what about the undercard? One of the coolest things about this event is the sheer number of acts play ... More >>

M.I.A. Bashes Tenacious D on Twitter

EKAphotography copyright 2007. all rights reservedHatin' on the D: M.I.A.​ Courtesy of Perez Hilton via Prefix magazine, SriLankan/UK rebel rapper M.I.A. has dropped the Twitter equivalent of a stink bomb on her fellow Outside Lands performers Tenacious D, who had the misfortune to replace the ... More >>

Outside Lands Asks Public for Headliner Suggestions

Now that the Beastie Boys have pulled out of Outside Lands, announcing the bad news that MCA has to undergo treatment for cancer of the parotid (salivary) gland, the festival has turned to the public to ask what artists should be considered as replacements for Sunday night's big finale. Outside Land ... More >>

Cheap Musical Thrills

Give your ears — and your wallet— a summer treat.

Our picks for Spectrum, the weekend’s big dance party

Last Night: Santigold at the Warfield

SantigoldThursday, May 21, 2009The Warfield TheaterReview by Jesse Ducker Better Than: A bloodless M.I.A. concert "It feels like the first day of school!" Santigold told a screaming, full house at the Warfield last night, on the opening date of her national tour. "We've got new outfits and every ... More >>

Top Ten Dance Collections of 2008, Both Mixed and Unmixed

By Randall RobertsAny knucklehead with DSL and a laptop can now make an electronic track. With a half hour of clicking and fiddling, you can sample enough cheesy beats and mashups to clog arteries from here to Berlin. Simple dropdown mouse maneuvers can transform electro tracks into progressive hous ... More >>

The Year in Music: 2008's Top Ten Pop Songs

By Annie ZaleskiPop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that's true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our subconscious. The foll ... More >>

Club Collector

Santogold: pop's new Gwen Stefani

Last Night: M.I.A. at the SF Design Center

Live 105's summer concert lineup lacks luster this year

Lif Off

My Tunes: Lyrics Born

Quannum projects star and alt-rap icon

Motor and Guns 'n' Bombs: greasy hump-tech for your body-pumping pleasure

Bird Flu Creator M.I.A. Infects SF's Rickshaw Today

M.I.A. crams global jams into an intimate local venue

The Good Magazine Block Party

Everybody's a GOOD Samaritan these days: the music trend of worthy causes

Miss Violetta Beauregarde

Odi Profanum Vulgus Et Arceo (Temporary Residence Ltd.)

The Boys (and Girls) From Brazil

Diplo, Bonde do Role, and CSS bring on the funk

A&R Q&A

Never mind the guys in Wolf Parade, here's an interview with their A&R guy

What's in store for indie rock and prime time in a post-O.C. universe

BeatBox

The pioneering Platinum Pied Pipers give neo-soul its due; "The Club Scene" at the Endup is the real deal

The United Colors of M.I.A.

This Sri Lanka-born, London-based MC knocks down more walls than our global village can even think to put up