Rye Rye’s debut album Go! Pop! Bang! drops this January on N.E.E.T Records/Interscope. That’s wassup!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Redheads, you say? Yes, redheads, gingers, and so forth. Copper hair has long been unfairly associated with bad tempers, sexual deviance, poor quality genetic stock and geekiness (in the U.K., a “ginger minger” is a socially inept, not-too-swift uber-nerd); the combination of green eyes and a Titian mane was said to be the mark of a werewolf or vampire! (I, the author, have both red hair and green eyes—proceed at your own risk.) Through history, redheads have been burned as witches. A Canadian teen even started a Facebook group promoting “Kick A Ginger Day”, itself inspired by, naturally, a South Park episode (Yes, the majority of these facts have been bogarted from Wikipedia—but they’re true!)

Indeed, gingerphobia indeed has been having a strange upsurge of late. In addition to M.I.A’s video, Newish Pitchfork-anointed indie rockers Twin Sister have a lyric that states “ginger kids can be very violent.” Ouch! Noted pacifist Noel Gallagher, meanwhile, recently dissed Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine for the color of her hair: “I’m not having someone with ginger hair making music. I’m not going down that road,” he noted with great sensitivity. (The erstwhile Oasis singer may reconsider getting drunk in a Scottish bar anytime soon—while redheads make up only one percent of the world’s population, they verge on thirty percent in Scotland).

It’s a real prejudice, yet compared to the experiences of other marginalized ethnic and political groups, it seems kinda lame. Therefore M.I.A’s genius: by highlighting prejudice against the whitest people in the world, the “Born Free” video is, ya know, drawing attention to the unfairness of prejudice in general. I know—heavy; okay, maybe it’s not so subtle—even the kid that gets his blown off in the clip gets the symbolism. Now, if only she’d cast Flying Tomato Shaun White as the rebel redheads’ ringleader, and maybe Karen Elson in a Linda Hamilton/Terminator type role, then maybe the crimson revolution would be televised after all…

So how is the new Arcade Fire single? Great, per usual. The putative a-side, if such a thing still existed, is the album’s title track, and it’s a vintage, stately Arcade Fire jam: meaningful, immaculately produced, an instant classic. For us, however, the surprise is the b-side, “Month of May”: its got an insistent motorik beat that also evokes the minimalist thrum of Suicide (cool reference of the moment, thanks to M.I.A’s sampling of Suicide in “Born Free”) and the driving soundscapes of Primal Scream. As this single makes clear, however, we need all the colors that Arcade Fire is willing to reveal. It’s going to be a good summer….

“Faddish political pastiche.”
“Goofy political allegory.”
“Repositioning tool.”
“Like an episode of 24.”

It’s notable that the day MIA releases a new video she has also taken over Pitchfork’s twitter account, which so far she has been using for nothing more than self-promotion. I think the music video for an internationally known artist was designed to do the same thing. People have long mused on the political bend of MIA’s work, usually arriving at the crossroads of commerce and not-really-sure. “Born Free” doesn’t stray. Also, the song isn’t that great.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via Twitter, Mad Decent majordomo/superstar DJ Diplo kinda slammed the new video for Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” as a rip-off of his homey M.I.A’s “Boyz” clip (comparing the two, he does kinda have a point, but decide for yourself). Then, adding humor to injury, the dance-music merry prankster tweeted a download link to his new, irreverent remix of “Rude Boy” just a few hours later. It’s just amazing what that there Interweb can do!

True to this being a Diplo gag, even when he’s making an musical joke he can’t help but make it a total club banger. It’s kinda been eclipsed due to his current accomplishments, but with his Philadelphia Hollertronix crew, Diplo was one of the early innovators of mash-up culture, and that’s exactly what he’s done here, blending “Boyz” (which is also one of his productions) into “Rude Boy” in classic mash-up style. Not only does it add a punchline, but the extra element makes the Rihanna track that much hotter: the pounding carnival kick drums and “na-na-na” from the M.I.A groove give “Rude Boy” a raw, sweaty urgency that the poptastic original only hints at. The end result of this hybrid is as loud, shrill, and dancefloor-filling as those blaring rave sirens that Diplo laces nearly track wit (but, oddly, not this one). So is this remix a rude gesture? Probably, but who cares? It’s definitely essential. Stuttering, insane, and irresistible, it’s surely on its way to to a strip club near you…

With such a plethora of talent, The Spirit Of Apollo has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving – especially when it comes to providing raw material for remixes. The re-rubs from the album have indeed proved nothing short of incredible, and the hits just keep on coming, with the latest coming from subversive Brighton, England-based dancefloor-destroying duo Evil Nine. The Evils have been on a major upswing of late – wait until you hear their barnstorming remix of Alex Metric’s “It Starts” – creating bangers with attitude, humor and the fattest beats in any universe.  Their take on the N.A.S.A. track may be the best remix yet associated with the project. The Evils layer insistent vocals and raps from the likes of the mighty M.I.A., Spank Rock and Santigold with equally pounding drums, heavy distortion, and anthemic basslines for an everything-but-the-kitchen sink behemoth that threatens to explode at any moment (and usually does). By the end of the track, it’s clear that when it comes to rocket propulsion in da club, the fusion of N.A.S.A. and Evil Nine proves the preferred method for take off.