Is it just us or did the Very Best rise up at just the right moment to assuage the unease felt by those who enjoyed their Afro-flavored pop adulterated with a heavy dollop of white boy indie? (You jumped the gun, Extra Golden!)
The Very Best, that critically-acclaimed Malawian dude Esau Mwamwaya's collab with two Euros that continues to be a giant pat on the pasty white back of indie rock press, has a new 7″. And there's more: this little piece of vinyl's got the carbon footprint of a malnourished child. The release, a recording of the African dude singing with the guy from Vampire Weekend is “printed proudly in Brooklyn with vegetable-based ink using windpower on 100% post-consumer paper.” That's cool but we were hoping that at least one of the ingredients was “the tears of AIDS babies healed with the power of resampled field vocals” or at least actual vegetables.
Buy it here, because it's some catchy stuff. Here's some other catchy stuff from Africa, too:
Kanda Bongo Man (Congalese soukous and kwassa kwassa)