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M.I.A. + SPANK ROCK
LEARNING CURVES
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On October 7, 2004, Hollertronix gave "Galang" its first Boston club spins at Middlesex Lounge, and it seemed strange to think last Friday night, at a sold-out Paradise Rock Club, that all we know about M.I.A. — the Fader and New Yorker profiles, the mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism, a delayed Arular on Interscope, the unveiling of "Galang" as a Honda Civic commercial — has transpired in less than a year. Opening for LCD Soundsystem in June, she was less than fully formed as a performer, moving awkwardly, as if she weren’t yet ready to fill the cultural space that Arular was already clearing out for her. At the Paradise last Friday, she was noticeably improved. She performed most of her songs in album form, relying less on the blended arrangements from Piracy. The most conspicuous new twist was a dip through her verse from a new remix of Jamesy P’s soca hit "Nookie." M.I.A.'s not a showman, but there’s no trace left of self-consciousness: her one signature dance move makes it look as if she’s thrusting a dude’s face into her crotch. She makes it on the strength of her individual style (’80s aerobics instructor meets guerilla warfare) and on the shattering bombast of her music, all Apache helicopter throb and spazzy ring-tone gristle. The room was a riot of arms, elbows, and hips all night. But M.I.A. herself remains an enigma: an underexposed artist who is defensive (without prompting, she admitted to arguing with a close friend about selling "Galang" to Honda), and a revolutionary who refuses to disclose the enemy. "My job as an artist is to keep asking questions," she said at one point. "I’ll keep asking them, and you figure out the answers." Wilding out like a cross between Urkel and Pharrell, opener Spank Rock and his two DJs — Chris Rockwell and XXXChange, whose Voila mixtape is being gushed about with Hollertronix-type hyperbole — went from zero to ladies-mobbing-the-stage in 20 minutes. When’s the last time you saw a hip-hop show and thought, "Wow, that’s guy’s amazing — hope it translates on wax"?
BY CARLY CARIOLI
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