The Very Best The Very Best artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music

The Very Best

Saturday December 22, 2012

Stephanie d'Otreppe/NPR

Best Music Of 2012

NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2012

December 22, 2012 • The albums that sum up our year span genres and borders. From Astro to Wadada Leo Smith, Fiona Apple to Frank Ocean, here are 50 albums that made 2012 great.

"ILLuminate (featuring Kendrick Lamar)"

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Sunday August 12, 2012

The Very Best: A Would-Be Lion Chaser's Backup Plan

Esau Mwamwaya and Johan Karlberg perform and record as The Very Best. Niall Kenny/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Niall Kenny/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

The Very Best: A Would-Be Lion Chaser's Backup Plan

August 12, 2012 • Johan Karlberg, the Swedish producer who is one half of the dance-pop duo, says his love of African music is a fitting parallel to his childhood dream job: wildlife photographer.

The Very Best: A Would-Be Lion Chaser's Backup Plan

Listen · 8:50 8:50

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Wednesday August 1, 2012

The Very Best: A Band's Summer Escape With A Message

Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Swedish producer Johan Hugo met in a London thrift shop and soon became musical collaborators as The Very Best. David Harrison hide caption

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David Harrison

Review

Music Reviews

The Very Best: A Band's Summer Escape With A Message

August 1, 2012 • The Very Best began when a Swedish producer made a trip to a London thrift shop and a met a Malawian singer. The group's new album makes the case that even amid poverty, warfare and the privations of ghetto life, happiness is possible.

The Very Best: A Band's Summer Escape With A Message

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Sunday July 8, 2012

The Very Best's new album, MTMTMK, comes out July 17. Suat Kutlug hide caption

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Suat Kutlug

First Listen

First Listen: The Very Best, 'MTMTMK'

July 8, 2012 • The Swedish-born producer and a Malawian singer and drummer create "African" music that sounds like a whole world of city-dwelling street sophisticates. MTMTMK's danceable African sounds could fire up any party, and would sound great on the radio.

Hear 'MTMTMK' In Its Entirety

48:23

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Wednesday January 6, 2010

World Cafe

The Very Best: Truth In Advertising

WXPN

January 6, 2010 • Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit team up for an Afro-Western mix of dance, hip-hop, pop and the traditional music of Malawi, all of it masterfully blended into a cohesive album.

The Very Best: Truth In Advertising

19:04

Tuesday December 29, 2009

Courtesy of Green Owl Records

New Music

Music We Missed: The Very Best

December 29, 2009 • Musicians Johan Karlberg and Etienne Tron first met Malawi-born Esau Mwamwaya running a junk shop outside their studio. The two were eager to befriend Mwamwaya, in part because they thought he was an African drummer. Turns out, he was much more. The three have formed a group called The Very Best and released Warm Heart of Africa in October.

Music We Missed: The Very Best

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