As if you weren’t already intrigued by the possibility of a new M.I.A. album, now Diplo has provided the most mind-blowingly amazing similie to describe her forthcoming full length: “Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective.” In an interview with Pedestrian.tv, Diplo discussed his participation in the album, stating: “Been in the studio with M.I.A. working on her new record. It’s like Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective. I think there are a couple of people [producing], but we’re going to finish it off, me and Switch. We’ve done like four tracks already.”

A M.I.A. album sounding like a Gucci Mane/Animal Collective combo produced by Diplo and Switch? Best New News!  (via P4k)

Words & photos by Jenn Hernandez

The chill and the overcast came back for the last day of Outside Lands weekend, but it still didn’t stop us from buying cold lemonade and a chocolate chip cookie on our way in from some entrepreneurial eight year-olds. Hey, they figured out since they were cute, they could sell anything. Props to them.

We waddled down to see Oklahoma’s Other Lives as the first act of the day, wanting to see the outfit break out the cello and piano to accompany their dreamy folkpop. At times it truthfully felt like the notes and soft percussions were floating through the trees in the park in a mystical, sort of gorgeous eerie tangle. The weather did impact the energy of attendees in the first part of the day, but seeing the crowd at Matt & Kim later on showed that the sentiment was brushed off by then. And, I’m sure this goes without saying, but seriously: Matt & Kim are two most adorable fucking people on the face of the planet.

Exhibit one: “Ladies, there are two reasons to take off your hootchie hoops. One, when you are about to get into a fight, and two, when you are about to play drums so that your drum stick does not go through.”
- Kim on jewelry malfunctions
Exhibit two: “What the fuck, sun? What do you have better to do?”
- Matt on the weather being a bitch

The two were all super smiles and high energy from start to finish, including a rising version of “Yeah Yeah” that elicited a lot of fist pumping from the crowd, and Kim “backing that ass up” into the crowd later on in the set.

The Dead Weather’s set, as highly anticipated as it was touted as, definitely delivered in terms of precision and a whole lotta bass. Alison Mosshart is a performer in a class all her own, prowling the stage and exuding such an air of confidence mingled with sex and a lot of hair whipping, you forget that she actually has a respectable set of chops on her as well. Jack White, of course, decided to sing during the fourth song after all photographers had already left the pit, prompting a rush the front to snap him and his own hair singing.

While we hoped for a showdown between M.I.A. and Tenacious D, as the rapper expressed her distain for the duo’s last minute addition to the festival roster last week, her performance was actually one of the more disappointing ones. The energy was there but somehow still seemed to fall flat, like the translation from record to live just wasn’t smooth. After passing out plastic bull horns to the crowd to toot along to for “Bucky Done Gun” and sharing details about her experiences in San Francisco (”I got engaged here…I got pregnant here too”), she busted into a Beastie Boys tribute, playing the beginning of “Intergalatic” and “Sabotage” in homage of Beastie Adam Horowitz’s recovery from cancer and subsequent pullout of the band for Outside Lands. At one point M.I.A. did do some headbanger-worthy flips with her hair, which we instantly decided needed to be pitted against Mosshart. It could be a hair whip-off.

As the festival grounds started to turn on their night lights and Tenacious D had a Jack Black stunt double do cartwheels for him, it began to get really cold – but I will still full of admiration for what was able to been pulled off in such a short weekend.

More highlights included:
- Atmosphere’s Slug asking the “beautiful people” in the audience to shut up, and for everyone else to do the index finger salute
- new Morning Benders‘ pretty ballad “Promises” live
- using the phone charging station to give my Blackberry more juice, and being eternally grateful
- receiving an airport hug at the Hug Station, and then a touchy-feeling one (we’ll let you figure that one out)
- eating oysters for the first time (verdict: shellfish-y)
- enjoying Modest Mouse ripping through “Dashboard” on the main stage while eating a crepe
- the crunker dancer dressed in a blue suit and Michael Jackson T-shirt for M.I.A.’s set being wonderfully awkward
- being reminded that festivals, especially ones in set in as majestic of a place as Golden Gate Park, are one of the numerous reasons why I am in love with my city, and then wondering: since Jack Black and Jack White were at the same festival on the same day, did they take a picture together? Have they ever?

Other Lives

Morning Benders

Atmosphere

Matt & Kim

The Dead Weather



(Jack White photo, courtesy of Jennifer McGaffey)

M.I.A.

Tenacious D

Here’s to lucky 2010.

Featuring Superchunk, M.I.A., Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Dr. Dog, Glass Candy and Amanda Palmer.


[Superchunk]

[M.I.A.]

[Fleet Foxes]

[TV On The Radio]

[Dr. Dog]

[Glass Candy]

[Amanda Palmer]

The line-up for San Francisco’s second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts festival has been announced. The three-day festival will take place in late August at the Golden Gate park, and headliners include Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, M.I.A. Dave Matthews Band, and… Tom Jones. (If that’s not enough to make you want to go by itself, than we don’t know what to tell you.)

The festival runs from August 28-30, and along with it’s diverse line up, the event offers some of the best food and wine in the California region, as well as providing various eco-friendly options — like recycling and a solar powered cell phone charging station — for concert-goers.

Along with the aforementioned headliners, other acts on the roster include Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, Mastodon, Built To Spill, Atmosphere, Deerhunter, Portugal. The Man and Matt and Kim, among a whole bunch more. Tickets for the Outside Lands Music & Arts festival go on sale this Sunday, April 19, at 10 a.m. Some of the proceeds for each ticket sold also go to a good cause, helping benefit San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department.

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival Line-up
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Incubus
Black Eyed Peas
M.I.A
Jason Mraz
Ween
The Mars Volta
Thievery Corporation
Modest Mouse
Band of Horses
TV on the Radio
Dead Weather
Atmosphere
Tom Jones
Silversun Pickups
The National
Q-Tip
Brett Dennen
Built To Spill
Mastodon
Raphael Saadiq
Calexico
Os Mutantes
Midnite
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky
Deerhunter
Lila Downs
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
The Dodos
Bettye LaVette
Dengue Fever
Heartless Bastards
The Dirtbombs
Lenka
Akron/Family
John Vanderslice
Matt and Kim
Portugal. The Man
The Morning Benders
The Duke Spirit
Zee Avi
Blind Pilot
SambaDa
Ryan Bingham
West Indian Girl
Extra Golden

The things we think of when we think M.I.A. — being petite and feisty as hell, practically giving birth on the Grammy stage, having plenty of “swagga” to go around — don’t usually include political activism. But this week as she takes a stand for civilians caught up in violence in Sri Lanka, all that looks to change.

A campaign launched in Britain last week plans to deliver food and medical supplies to innocent people in the midst of violence between the Sri Lankan government and militant group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The “mercy mission” is now in danger, as the Sri Lankan Navy claims that it was alerted by authorities that a boat sailing from Britain under the guise of civilian aid with more than 2,000 tons of food would actually be heading for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Based on this, the navy has said it will fire on any unauthorized vessel in Sri Lankan waters. M.I.A. — who is of Tamil-lineage and whose father is a revolutionary opposed to the Sri Lankan government — has publicly urged the government to let the boat through. “The Mercy Mission will carry dry food and medicines for Tamil civilians in the Wanni within the Sri Lankan Government’s ‘safe zone,’” she said. “Many have already perished from starvation and preventable disease. We cannot ignore these genocidal conditions, and if the aim of the SL Government is to protect the lives of the civilians, then this ship will reach its destination and lives will be saved.”

For more information on the conflict in Sri Lanka, read up here.

M.I.A.’s little guy finally has a name. After a month of guesses and speculation about the newborn’s name, the gossip mongers at TMZ — yeah, we’re getting all TMZ-lite over here again — finally leaked an image of the baby’s birth certificate onto the internet, confirming the full name of the baby and that M.I.A. is actually two years older than we thought she was.

The birth certificate reads Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman as the baby boy’s name, and states M.I.A’s date of birth as July 18, 1975, rather than July 17, 1977 as previously published, according to NME. 

Prior to the leak of the birth certificate, in proper-capslock-M.I.A. fashion, the rapper released a MySpace blog to fans saying, “MY BABY IS NOT CALLED ICKITT, PICKIT OR LICKIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THE HOLLYWOOD PRESS. HES A BABY, HE DONT NEED PRESS! I DIDNT RELEASE THE BABY NAME BECAUSE I DIDNT THINK IT WAS NEWS!!!! BUT I WILL BE BACK WITH SOMETHING NEWS WORTHY SOON , TILL THEN GO PICK ON APPLE. SATCHEL, AND MOON UNIT.” 

Sorry M.I.A., but your baby’s name is now news. Regardless of the long-winded name (although we expected nothing less) we’re just glad she just added the name of her debut album into her son’s name instead of pulling a Michael Jackson, and naming the tiny tot M.I.A. II or Blanket (not to be confused with the other WTF Blanket).

The recently name-changed Santigold is performing at the SoHo Apple Store tonight, as part of the iTunes: Live from SoHo series.

The Santigold performance — set to start at 7 p.m. — will be held on 103 Prince Street in New York City. And even though we still don’t get why she changed that one letter in her name, we’re sure the Philly-based singer, who’s toured with the likes of M.I.A. and Bjork, will put on a stellar performance; blowing the Apple Shirts off the backs of computer junkies and fas alike. As part of Apple Live, which has become a staple event for the computer retailer, hosting different performers at the retail locations, Santigold is just one of the many artists added onto Apple’s roster of performances within the last few years.

Most new mother’s embrace their maternity leave, but M.I.A. might just think she’s the world’s new Bionic Woman. The singer, who performed at the Grammy’s on her due date, is pushing the envelope yet again, hoping to perform at this Sunday’s Oscars, just one week after giving birth to her new son — possibly by hologram.

The Oscar nominated rapper is up for Best Original Song for her collaboration on “O Saya,” with Indian composer A.R. Rahman. The song is from the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed Danny Boyle film, “Slumdog Millionaire,”  and it looks like nothing is going to stop her from performing it at the awards ceremony.

“She has all these ideas,” said Rahman. “I don’t know how it’s going to be possible though. Having a baby is such an important thing in your life — more important than winning an Oscar.”

M.I.A. has proposed the idea of performing via a hologram, and Oscar producer Laurence Mark has even talked about getting a large bed for M.I.A. to perform on, so she can be as comfortable as possible. “She’s eager to perform,” said Mark. “We’ll make it as easy for her as we can.”

We praise M.I.A.’s vigor, and we guess she really wasn’t bluffing in her MySpace blog when she said she and her new baby would be planning new tour dates for 2010, making mix tapes, and break out of the hospital. Sounds like the little guy has his work cut out for him with a mom like M.I.A. running the show.

M.I.A.’s anticipated bundle of joy held off just long enough for the female rapper to get through her Grammy performance last Sunday night, but the fiery musician is finally a mommy, giving birth to a brand new baby boy on Wednesday, February 11.

M.I.A. released the announcement Saturday via an excited post on her MySpace blog, letting everyone know she and her little guy were doing just fine, and the two will be putting 2010 tour dates together, making mix tapes, and figuring out a way to break out of the hospital.

M.I.A. and fiance Benjamin Bronfman, who is the front man of Exit and founder of Green Owl Records, have not released the baby’s name yet, but with a mama like M.I.A. the baby is bound to be one cool kid. We wish the new family lots of luck.

From M.I.A.’s MySpace

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M.I.A has been added to the lofty list of artists who will be performing at the Grammy Awards this Sunday, even though the ceremony falls on the Sri Lankan rapper’s due date. Billboard anncounced yesterday that the nine-month-pregnant Maya Arulpragasam will be performing at L.A.’s Staples Center on February 8, alongside artists like U2, Radiohead, Justin Timberlake, and… Neil Diamond.

M.I.A. doesn’t seemed too worried about going into labor on stage though, saying on her MySpace blog, “Baby + Grammy… is due on the same day!!!!, so either way I figured ill win.” Maybe if she’s lucky, Lil Wayne will give her some parenting tips backstage.

Rumors have also been flying around about the ever anticipated, Radiohead Grammy performance this weekend, as well. Radiohead is expected to play “House of Cards”, off of their highly acclaimed album In Rainbows, but ateaseweb.com has said that the USC Marching Band might be playing alongside the band on “15 Step”.

If the rumors are true, we’re interested in seeing the dynamic between Thom Yorke’s electrifying gyrations on stage alongside the robotic, stiff stature of a pristine college marching band. We’ll have to wait till Sunday to see for ourselves, as the rumors have yet to be confirmed, but we’re sure between babies and marching bands, it’s bound to be an interesting night.

In the ever confusing world of Oscar nominations, Golden Globe winner for Best Original Song “The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen was left completely off the list of potential Academy Award nominees. That being said, there were only three nominees listed as opposed to the customary five, so maybe there will be more forthcoming? Meanwhile, in bigger news, M.I.A. is getting attention for a song not named “Paper Planes”.

“O…Saya”, M.I.A.’s collaboration with composer A.R. Rahman from Slumdog Millionaire, received a nomination, one of two songs from the movie to get the nod. “Jai Ho”, another A.R. Rahman song featuring Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, and Mahalaxmi Iyer and Peter Gabriel’s Wall-E track “Down to Earth” round out the field. Rahman also picked up a nomination for Best Original Score for his Slumdog music, making the feel-good movie the hands-on favorite to bring home at least one music-category Oscar.

But many are wondering why the Boss was snubbed — especially on the heels of his GG’s win. With only three nominees, some are questioning if there are more to come, but for now, the the official Oscar website only lists the three. Also ignored was Academy favorite Clint Eastwood for “Gran Torino”.

In an odd twist of irony, the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack was released on M.I.A.’s Interscope imprint, N.E.E.T. Bruce Springsteen has won an Oscar for “Streets Of Philadelphia” from the movie Philadelphia in 1993 and lost in 1995 for his title track to the movie Dead Man Walking. The 81st Annual Academy Awards will be handed out in a televised ceremony on February 22.

Ok, we’re taking liberties here, because “Paper Planes” was released in 2007, but it exploded to worldwide popularity in 2008. And hell, if the Grammy’s can come calling a year late, so can we.

Officially released as a single in early 2008, “Paper Planes” is the third single from M.I.A.’s second studio album, Kala. With a main riff sampled from the song “Straight to Hell” by The Clash and its chorus lyrics taken from “Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect, it became an international hit after appearing in the trailer for the film Pineapple Express. It became so popular that it was sampled in a song by T.I. and Jay-Z, it’s been covered in performances by Rihanna and Built To Spill, and in December the single was nominated for the Record of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.

M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”