Because finals, the weather gods, and my penchant for awful decision-making has made today the very worst, it is only fitting that today's post be about The Very Best (which has been solely responsible for getting my mental capacity to half-mast). Malawi-via-London singer Esau Mwamwaya and London production team Radioclit make up The Very Best, a collaboration that has cranked out some of the best remixes in the past year. Based on the positive feedback they received the duo released Are The Very Best in November of last year, an album consisting of remixes of popular songs that use the hooks from popular songs as a backbone to introduce Mwamwaya's Malawi-inspired arrangemnts and vocal stylings. The result is nothing short of brilliant. Standouts include, "Tengazako," an awesome reiteration that is pretty much the only redux of Paper Planes I've heard that's coherent as its own track. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" cleverly takes Vampire Weekend's calypso-inspired guitar riff and places african drumming and singing over it for a rich sound that feels authentically Malawian. "Boyz" remixes M.I.A. again and throws in Akon's vocal with the help of autotune (shocking!) as well as Mwamwaya's for a really interesting twist on the arrangement that still doesn't stray too far from the original. Interestingly, The Very Best has also included original tracks tracks, which are equally compelling. "Funa Funa" and "Sister Betina" use the same winning formula of Malawian instrumentation/vocals over a western mix, but the production is so spotless you'd swear it was lifted from elsewhere (not to discredit Radioclit). For anybody else in need of an upper as much as me, throw this on with a strong cup of coffee.Tengazako - The Very Best
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - The Very Best
Boyz - The Very Best
Funa Funa - The Very Best
Sister Betina - The Very Best
