Backcatalog - M.I.A., New Years Day, Swagberg

M.I.A.

Boyz

Label: Interscope
Released: 2007
Genre: Hip-Hop

The song is M.I.A. making fun of (well, I hope so) all the music videos about girls, featuring girls dancing en masse and in synch. Here, it's all about the boys. The single includes the album version, the A Capella version, and the Instrumental version. Stripping the music and the vocals respectively - not creatively, just stripped, like they tracked the songs without the other component.

The enhanced portion of the single comes with the video, plus the making of video (part 1), photos, and remix parts encouraging fans to make their own bad-ass remix of the song. The song is mediocre, and the remix parts included are not studio/master quality. This is definitely fan-service to cleverly include the fans in the 'process'. It's interesting, but unless you're a huge M.I.A. fan, it's a single you don't need to track down (there's nothing interesting here).

New Years Day

My Dear

Label: TVT Recrods

Released: 2007

Genre: Pop-Punk, Hard Rock

The initial release from New Years Day... and it's horrible. When I first put it on I had to make sure I didn't accidentally start an Avril Lavigne album somehow. It's not just derivative, it's downright an attempt to copy her sound almost wholesale. The worst part is it's Avril Lavigne from 2004, by the time this hit the streets it sank into a sea of Avril/Evanescence copy cats.

I can't help but wonder if this was their 'sound' or if there was a directive that had come down the line to alter their style to fit a certain marketing mold. Doesn't matter. Technically, the music is pretty good, but it's so derivative that it loses itself to another sound. You forget who you're listening to.

Luckily, I had the good fortune to pick up their most recent EP, which is on a new label, and they had a sound that is their own. While I can't recommend this album, I suggest finding their EP from 2001 "The Mechanical Heart" instead. Hopefully that's the future direction of the band.

Swagberg

Pony Swag

Label: self-released (http://swagberg.bandcamp.com/)
Released: 2012
Genre: Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop, bordering on hardcore rap, about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I'm not sure there's anything that can properly explain this if you aren't a fan of the show. If you are a fan of the show you will absolutely love this.

Musically, Swagberg has excellent flow, control, and rhymes well. A credit to the genre.