KALA - M.I.A.
Even more so than her arresting 2005 indie debut, “Arular,” M.I.A. comes off as a globetrotting activist on sophomore effort “Kala,” draping myriad Third World sounds over club-happy beats. She’s a revolutionary leading a class war on “Paper Planes” and pounding the door of a Hummer on “Bamboo Banga,” all while disguising a political message with richly textured electronic sounds. She quotes the Pixies, samples the Clash and turns a Bollywood show tune (”Jimmy”) into a string-driven scorcher. Elsewhere, she squeezes a groove out of the crisscrossing rhythms of “20 Dollars” and lets the murky, African bassline of “Mango Pickle Down River” envelop her. She does this all with charmingly homemade-sounding production values. Perhaps that’s why superstar producer Timbaland sounds out of place on “Come Around,” his sex-obsessed verses momentarily killing M.I.A.’s multicultural buzz. Kala
