Arular (US)

Rolling Stone (No. 968, p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 - "You've never heard anything like M.I.A. - the sound of jump-rope rhymes in a war zone....[ARULAR is] weird, playful, unclassifiable, sexy, brilliantly addictive..." Spin (p.65) - Ranked #2 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[I]mprovised, explosive, and for once, redemptive." Spin (p.88) - "ARULAR will likely be the best political album this year." - Grade: A Entertainment Weekly (p.143) - Ranked #8 in Entertainment Weekly's 'Top Ten Records of the Year' -- "ARULAR is the place where dance music, hip-hop, techno, novelties, and a slinky British accent meet and have a wicked good time." Entertainment Weekly (No. 815, p.85) - "[A]s instantly infectious as it is hard to pin down. The music is literally all over the map..." - Grade: A- Uncut (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A spiky starburst of raw beats and exotic collisions, ARULAR already sounds like a landmark debut album." The Wire (p.43) - Included in The Wire's "2005 Rewind: 50 Records Of The Year." The Wire (p.63) - "It's chockfull of machine gun beats, seismic sub-bass, fragments of raga and bhangra, and above all that voice." Vibe (p.142) - "[T]he dynamo from London showcases her talent for the spoken word..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.60) - Ranked #29 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[H]ell-bent on fingerpopping agit-prop like Public Enemy messing with the B-52s." Clash (Magazine) (p.75) - "[A] thumping mix of different sub-genres from reggaeton and baile funk to grime and dirty south rap, full of exoticism, raw political energy and crunching, syncopated beats."

めちゃめちゃ・インパクトが・あるよ、の略……ではもちろんなく。スリランカ出身ながら紛争のために11歳で移民となり、ロンドンで育ったマヤ嬢のソロ・ユニットがM.I.A.だ。ルームメイトのジャスティン・フリッシュマン（エラスティカ）に借りたシンセで作ったというオリエンタルなダンスホール曲“Galang”で昨年末にデビューしたばかりなのだが、この初アルバムもどう聴いても凄い!　ケイヴメン（パルプのスティーヴ・マッキーとムーチャン・クランのロス・オートン!）やリチャードXら辣腕が刺激的なリディムを仕掛け、その上で自在に言葉を遊ばせるマヤのマイク捌きも最高だ。のみならず、ディプロが「ロッキー」の主題曲をチョップしたJJファッド風エレクトロなどもキュート。折しもダンスホールのコンピュータライズド20周年（?）、最高の極彩色エレクトロ・ダンスホールが誕生……確かにめちゃめちゃインパクトがあるよ。マジで傑作。
bounce (C)出嶌 孝次