This week we’ve got a double dose of new releases for you:

Simple Kid - 2

Ciaran McFeely pitches his tent on some lofty summits under the alias of Simple Kid, and on 2 (his follow-up to 2004’s 1), the panoramas are well worth taking in. His piercing blue eyes and boyish good looks are just the beginning of his similarities to kindred spirit Beck; like that protean mastermind, Simple Kid shares an intuitive dexterity for pulling in bits of disparate influences, seasoning his compositions like a chef reaching for all the right spices. From the glammed up banjo gamboling of “Lil’ King Kong” to the hard-charged disheveled fuzz of “Mommy N Daddy” and the Blur meets T. Rex showdown of “The Twentysomething,” 2 is filled with surprises and nimbly straddles the chasm of controlled chaos and proves that McFeely may be one of the most imaginative, competent songwriters making music under the radar today.

Simple Kid’s 2 is available on Yep Roc Records. You can stream a free three song EP on their site.

M.I.A. - Kala

Here’s what I’m wondering: does M.I.A. craft her albums after their cover art or does the packaging just serve as a remarkable visual approximation of her music?  Her album covers are loud, colorful, pixelated, inelegant, underdeveloped, re-appropriated, and based on repetition–all of which could be said about her music.  Whether you count these among your turn-ons or turn-offs will likely color your experience with Kala, her sophomore release.

For my money, M.I.A. is more of an annoyance than a visionary, rehashing iconic verses from artists she admires (borrowing heavily from The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner” on the opening “Bamboo Banga” and The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” on “$20″) in a way that only a middle-schooler would find titillating.  Lifting a line from the Talking Heads’ “Born Under Punches” doesn’t make “Come Around” metatextual–it makes it uninspired and thoughtlessly random. Instead of building on the uniqueness Diplo lent to her debut Arular, M.I.A. squanders it in favor of irksomely sophomoric refrains and songs that are to music what jackhammers are to construction sites.  The truth is that M.I.A. was an overblown personality from the moment she arrived on the scene and the proof is in this collection of predominantly unlistenable tracks.

M.I.A.’s Kala is available on Interscope Records.  Click here to view the video for “Bird Flu.”

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