A cat's cradle of MIA-discourse: Woebot's original Shanty House theorem; Carl at Zoilus' "pre-buttal" of my take is here and also here, although in actual fact it's really a post-buttal to Ghetto Postage's MIA-doubting post (and the irrepressible Carl had yet more rebuttal to Ghetto's rebuttal of his rebuttal), and at this point, that old maxim about no such thing as bad publicity springs to mind (although we'll see when the PLO-lyric/Tamil Tiger shit hits the mass media fan, if it hasn't already in re. the album's delay).

SFJ has a missive from Diplo elucidating the duo's relationship with baile funk. i must admit when i read this about him jetting to Brazil to get the records i was both impressed (jeez i love music but i can't imagine getting on a plane to get it) but the cynic (and Sarah Thornton Club Cultures reader) in me did also think "hmmm, subcultural capitalisation power move that, sort of dubplate/special/whiting-out-your-record-labels given a postcolonial/imperialist spin".

re. Carl's various points, i wonder if there shouldn't be some sort of statute of limitations with being a refugee? After almost 20 years of living in relative stability and comfort in the UK, doesn't it wear off a tiny bit. Didn't mention it in the review but live at the Knit Fac I thought it wee bit icky actually when, after someone threw a $20 bill onstage, she picked it up and said something like "us refugees can live off this for a long while". That same night I ran into a girl I vaguely know on the scene and she positively disgorged a long, academic-jargon tinged speech touching on postcolonialism/there-are-no-borders/hybridity etc etc, it gushed out of her, and it was eloquent and persuasive, but it did confirm my sense of MIA becoming a cipher/touchstone/mascot/etc for certain stories some of us want to tell themselves at this point of time. Will Hermes hit it on the nail in Pazz with his line about her being the "Zadie Smith of grime".