There are 7 results

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  See The Very Best Perform Cozy, Acoustic 'Kondaine'

  November 9, 2012 – In his review of the Very Best's SPIN Essential MTMTMK, Andy Beta explains that at this point, the Malawi-to-London electro-acoustic dance dudes "are beacons of global pop, which in 2012 means heading directly to the club." That may be true of the giddy, Europop-fueled album version of "Kondaine," which features British youngster Seye. …
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  The Very Best: Afropop Duo Deliver Heartwarming Sophomore LP

  August 22, 2012 – Who: Johan Karlberg and Esau Mwamwaya, the two halves of the Very Best, met for the first time at a party in London several years ago. At the time, Mwamwaya was running a secondhand shop not far from his future bandmate's home. "I remember this guy standing alone at the party when I arrived, looking a bit lost," the Swedish-born producer says of Mwamwaya that night. …
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• The Very Best, 'MTMTMK' (Moshi Moshi)

  July 19, 2012 – In the 27 years since Paul Simon violated the cultural embargo imposed by the African National Congress, traveling to the apartheid nation of South Africa and seeking out jive-playing Johannesburg locals like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the world has turned upside-down. …
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  The Very Best on Hanging with Hyenas and Ezra Koenig

  July 13, 2012 – Given that the Very Best are the result of a less-then-immediately-intuitive cultural collaboration between a Malawian singer, Esau Mwamwaya, and a Swedish producer, Johan Hugo, it's fitting that the M.I.A.-approved band's second full-length of buoyant world-pop, MTMTMK, out July 17, was the product of some unusual circumstances. …
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  Hear The Very Best's Uplifting 'We Ok'

  June 27, 2012 – In our recent rundown of the Very Best's forthcoming MTMTMK, due July 17 via Moshi Moshi/Cooperative Music, we emphasized as best we could the jubilant, irrepressible nature of its predecessor, 2009's Warm Heart of Africa. But the new work doesn't flag. In fact, as evidenced by "We Ok," a Pan-African pat-on-the-ass featuring K'naan, Esau Mwamwaya and Johan Hugo have upped the uplift.  …
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  Download: M.I.A. Duets with the Very Best

  August 27, 2009 – After last year's "Paper Planes" mania, we were beginning to think that the summer of 2009 would pass without another globe-trotting M.I.A. …
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• The Very Best, 'Warm Heart of Africa' (Green Owl)

  August 26, 2009 – On last year's mix tape Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit Are the Very Best, London-via-Malawi singer Mwamwaya lent his exuberant vocals to the British production duo's party-ready remixes of such sonically disparate artists as Michael Jackson, M.I.A., and Vampire Weekend. The trio's official debut further expands their musical palette to include triumphant synth rock ("Chalo") and woozy G-funk ("Julia"). …
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