Santogold - Santogold

Santogold - Santogold (****)
album review for the skinny

You may have heard that Santogold sounds like M.I.A. - so what? Fifth track Creator's stop-start rhythms and screeching vocals are very Maya-like, but as far as I know the Sri Lankan hasn't copyrighted female-fronted, world-influenced beats. Elsewhere, former major label A&R schmoozer Santi White sounds alternately like Karen O, Debbie Harry, and Gorillaz, as she mingles garage-rock balladry with glamorous new wave pop, hooky hip-hop beats, and fierce dub basslines: check the bone-crushing buzz of closer You'll Find A Way. Like Arular and Kala, Santogold is a thoroughly modern product of a globalized and empowered music scene, but rather than arguing over Santi and Maya, can't we just agree that Diplo and Switch, producers for them both, are the heroes here? It's not the style that counts, it's the execution, and at the moment there's few more masterful marksmen than Santogold's producers. Get them hired, Madge.