Some stuff I'm into

I did a lot of reading and listening to music when I spent the weekend down the shore. I've been getting into the new M.I.A. album Arular which I had bought while I was down there. It mixes raw electro with hip-hop and throws in some world music touches. I got into this after hearing "Pull Up The People," which has a very Lene Lovich/Nina Hagen vibe on the chorus. I've also noticed quite a bit of Neneh Cherry-like sass here as well.

I admit I'm not familiar with Japanese magna comics but I did pick up Princess Ai 2: Lumination after hearing that Courtney Love was involved with making this; how she's involved I don't have a clear idea. It's also written by D.J. Milky and illustrated by Misaho Kujiradou. It's the story of Princess Ai who finds herself in Tokyo, Japan and all she remembers that her name is Ai, and she spends the story finding out where she came from. She meets Kent, a librarian/rocker, and she finds out she has a great talent singing. She gets a job at a strip club singing, where she is discovered by a powerful talent agency and becomes a rock star. Meanwhile she is pursued by a female demon. I found this quite well-written and illustrated. The only thing I don't like about this is the portrayal of Hikaru, Kent's jealous and possesive gay roommate who considers Ai as competiton for Kent's affections (who hasn't returned them). I found him coming across as stereotypical and a bit of a buffoon. This is part 2 of a three-part series (I've already read the first part). Part 3 should be interesting.

While I was down the shore I watched quite a bit of the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi show on the Cartoon Network. I found the group as having a very fun rock vibe a la Shonen Knife. I defintely want to pick up their most recent album. It sounds like really good music to drive to the beach by.

One more thing--this week a couple of clips of the new Madonna single "Hung Up" has been leaked onto the Net. I heard one clip via the Arjanwrites music blog (they've removed the clip since then) and I have to say that it has a Giorgio Moroder/Bobby O vibe to it. It makes me salavate like Pavlov's dog and look forward to the whole single and album coming out. "Hung Up" is supposed to be released to US radio on October 17. Let's hope that US Top 40 radio will embrace this, we defintely need some uplifting dance music on the radio these days!