So far this album is my favorite new find off Pitchfork's The 50 Best Albums of 2008 list. For starters they sample a ton of artists that made the our Quickcrit lists, specifically Santogold, M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, and the Ruby Suns. Take all those bands, some other cool bands I likely missed, add a healthy dose of Amadou & Mariam and throw it in for a couple spins in El Guincho's blender and you have a fair idea about how awesome this album sounds. Oh, and right now they are giving it away free on their Myspace page. Of course, check out "Kamphopo" (the Pitchfork recommended track), but also listen to them steal the beat from "Paper Planes" on o "Tengazako" and their reappropriation of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". At times the album reminds me of the way Girl Talk references pop hits, dresses them up, and gets them ready to party. However, don't get the impression that this album is all remixing and sampling. It's not. The Very Best mostly play and sing their own songs — their orginal work fitting in perfectly with the groups they reference.
December 23, 2008
The Very Best - Esau Mwamwaya And Radioclit Are The Very Best (2008)
So far this album is my favorite new find off Pitchfork's The 50 Best Albums of 2008 list. For starters they sample a ton of artists that made the our Quickcrit lists, specifically Santogold, M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, and the Ruby Suns. Take all those bands, some other cool bands I likely missed, add a healthy dose of Amadou & Mariam and throw it in for a couple spins in El Guincho's blender and you have a fair idea about how awesome this album sounds. Oh, and right now they are giving it away free on their Myspace page. Of course, check out "Kamphopo" (the Pitchfork recommended track), but also listen to them steal the beat from "Paper Planes" on o "Tengazako" and their reappropriation of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". At times the album reminds me of the way Girl Talk references pop hits, dresses them up, and gets them ready to party. However, don't get the impression that this album is all remixing and sampling. It's not. The Very Best mostly play and sing their own songs — their orginal work fitting in perfectly with the groups they reference.
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4 Comments:
I'm impressed, although not surprised, that you know who Amadou and Mariam are. You are a walking music encyclopedia!
I can't pretend to go way back with Amadou & Mariam. The Manu Chao produced Dimanche À Bamako is the first album of theirs I heard when it came out in 2005.
I love that CD, it's so relaxing! I also just love their entire story of how they came about/met. Pretty interesting.
I definitely have to check out this CD now, the descriptions sound great.
Man, I just listened to this again tonight and it's still awesome.
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