MIA in the MIDDLE

Apologies for the longer than normal absence from the bloggosphere. After a trip to Stockholm and playing catchup on schoolwork thereafter it is now time to resuscitate this baby.

With that, I offer you a little chain of musical connections for which MIA is the connective tissue. Say what you will about her, the neon eyesore clothing, the hipster fandom fawning, the lazy appropriation of revolutionary tropes, there is still something substantive to her music in the beat, the feeling, and the occasional flash of melodic brilliance.

I'd like to demostrate that by starting with a pretty little song I've been grooving to lately:



Sound familiar? Well, more recently this came out:



Speaking of another track by MIA, check this one:



And if you thought that was even remotely cool, Vijay Iyer's latest release Historicity riffs off that in a ridiculously staggering way. He takes the song where you never thought it would go. Like, WHOA:



See man, it's all connected.

Anyone care to see Mr. Iyer with me? He's playing in Holland in late December.