I think the best thing about the M.I.A. buzz is this MeFi thread where she has lit a great flame war between the ones that love it and hate it. A mix somewhere between hip-hop, electronica, Nintendo cartridges, and reggae a lot of people feel it’s supposed to be retro while others, including my self, really see it as an ultra-current hip hop type music. Another interesting argument is if the group her father was involved in actually was a terrorist group. Tamil Tigers have also been called freedom fighters for a part of northeast Sri Lanka. I can’t say with much authority which is closer to the truth but through interviews Maya seems like a really cool girl with a really unique perspective on the world. I’ve been wanting to try and get my self in to more music from south Asia ever since the wonderful Deborah Hutton showed me the magic of the sub-continent.
You can see the Galang video here, it’s Quicktime, and her website has a version of sunshowers in Real Player format.