Arular is the 2005 debut album by British musician M.I.A. It was released in the US on 22 March 2005 and a month later in the UK, where it had a slightly different track listing. The album's release was preceded in 2004 by two singles and a mixtape. M.I.A. wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album and created the basic backing tracks using a Roland MC-505 sequencer/drum machine given to her by long-time friend Justine Frischmann. Collaborators included Switch, Diplo, and Richard X. The album's title is the political code name used by her father, Arul Pragasam, during his involvement with Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups, and themes of conflict and revolution feature heavily in the lyrics and artwork. Musically, the album incorporates styles that range from hip hop and electroclash to funk carioca and punk rock. Arular was hailed by critics for its blending of styles and integration of political lyrics into dance tunes. Several publications named it as one of the best albums of the year, and by mid-2007, the album had sold 129,000 copies in the US. Arular spawned the singles "Sunshowers", "Bucky Done Gun" and "Galang", which was released twice.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arular

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1523:

Gustav Vasa became King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_I_of_Sweden

1894:

Colorado Governor Davis Hanson Waite ordered his state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners%27_strike_of_1894

1944:

World War II: The Invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious military operation in history, began with Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy in France . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings

1982:

During the Falklands War, the British Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS Cardiff engaged and destroyed British Army Gazelle XX377 in a friendly fire incident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_British_Army_Gazelle_friendly_fire_incident

2004:

During a joint sitting of both houses of the Indian Parliament, President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam announced that Tamil was to be made the first legally recognised classical language of India. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

repurpose (v): To make (something) fit for a new purpose; to adapt for use in a different way http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/repurpose

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I will keep faith with death in my heart, yet will remember that faith with death and the dead is only wickedness and dark voluptuousness and enmity against humankind, if it is given power over our thought and contemplation. For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts. And with that, I wake up. --Thomas Mann http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann