Turn it Up : M.I.A. – Vicki Leekx Mixtape, Self-Released
M.I.A. is at her best when she is teetering on the line between creativity and accessibility – that’s what made her last record, // / Y /, an absolute wreck. The scatterbrained, kind-of-paranoid collection of songs might have been her most ambitious effort to date, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of record you would spin on a Saturday night. // / Y / didn’t have a bangin’ single like “Paper Planes,” or a “Galang.” Instead, audiences were forced to settle for “XXXO” or the inexcusable “Born Free.”
If her last album turned you off, fear not, M.I.A. is back with the fun-as-hell Vicki Leekx Mixtape. Oddly enough, the subject matter is pretty serious: freedom of information and creativity are recurring themes throughout the mix. The title itself is even a play off of Wikileaks. M.I.A. channels the same creativity that gave birth to // / Y /, but sounds like she’s actually having a good time doing it. You can get the mix tape for free through www.vickileekx.com.
Turn it Down: Cake “Sick of You” (Single) Upbeat records
In one of the first scenes of Wayne’s World, Wayne asks the bouncer of a club what he thinks about “The Shitty Beatles,” the band that is about to play. The bouncer quickly confirms the band sucks.
After hearing Cake’s latest single, “Sick of You,” I think Cake might want to make “The Shitty Beatles” their new handle.
The single, the band’s first in six years, might make you a little nostalgic for the Fab Four – the fuzz guitar tones sound like something straight off The White Album, and it is clear bassist Gabe Nelson thumped along to a few Beatles tunes in his day. The glaring difference between this song and a Beatles’ hit is awful. The lyrics are uninspired. They hardly sound like the same quirky dudes behind the hits “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” or “The Distance.” Cake’s attempt to sound like someone else is also a failed attempt to cover up bad song writing. Unless you’re a die-hard Cake fan, skip “Sick of You.”
