Pitchfork: M.I.A. Kicks the "Bird Flu"

M.I.A. Kicks the "Bird Flu"
Plays new material at secret club performance

M.I.A.'s latest MySpace blog entry has been M.I.A. since August 18-- at least to the Pitchfork staff. Sorry, guys. Better late than never though, amirite?

The Sri Lanka via London mash-up queen's once-cryptic "bird flu lab" (see: previous story) has lost it mystery, as we can now report that M.I.A. will soon upload a new number to her MySpace page, "Bird Flu".

Why the deadly title? In her words, "I CALLED THIS BIRD FLU BECAUSE THIS BEAT GON KILL EVERYONE!!" Of course.

M.I.A. filmed the track's video in a fishing village on the south coast of India (photos here). She explains, "THE VILLAGE WAS HIT BY A TSUNAMI, BUT THEY STILL WERE IN GOOD SHAPE!! WE PARCTICALLY MOVED THERE AND HAD THE CRAZIEST TIME GOING OUT FISHING EVERYDAY.

"AND I ALWAYZ USED TO SAY THAT ONE DAY IM GONNA RUN AWAY AND MARRY A FISHERMAN AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER AND I THOUGHT DAMN I WAS CLOSE TO SEEING THE REALITY OF MY FOREVER PLAN B."

Look out, Diplo!

"WE DISCOVERED AN AMAZING BOY WHO CAN OUT DANCE ANYTHING I VE ever SEEN. HE INVENTED ME THE BIRD FLU DANCE."

Also, it seems as if M.I.A. has conquered the U.S. immigration system. Earlier this month, she showed up at a Spank Rock show in Brooklyn, busting a verse of "Galang" before disappearing as quickly as she'd arrived. And Pitchfork reader Grayson Brown was kind enough to send in an e-mail notifying World Headquarters of a surprise M.I.A./Diplo performance that went down at Baltimore's Sonar club Taxidermy Lodge dance party on Monday night.

Brown wrote, "MIA and Diplo were in Baltimore recording with a Baltimore club producer, and long time friend and TaxLo DJ Cullen Stalin convinced MIA and Diplo to stop by Sonar to DJ and do whatever."

The pair arrived around 12:45am to a "room of about 20 people," and "only the ones that were under 21 had to pay $5; everyone else got in FREE!"

Brown continues, "Diplo got on the mic and turned the lethargic crowd around to full-force party monster as he MC'ed for a hot B-more club set by DJ Scottie B.

"At approx. 1:20, Diplo got on the decks keeping every single person in the building on the dance floor. After some more convincing, a hesitant MIA graced the mic and rocked to some classic club tracks as well as debuting some new material, all in the scorching Diplo mix.

"Despite some laptop problems, Diplo and MIA gave those lucky twenty or so Baltimoreans something to remember."

See, cool stuff does happen in Baltimore.

UPDATE: Check out photos of Diplo and M.I.A. partying at Sonar here (scroll down to the comments).