Now we realise that there's been a lot of talk about this guy for, well, forever now. We're pretty late on the ball, but not as late as if we tried to start telling you about Iglu & Hartly or MGMT. We just forgot to mention those when we first fell in love. Esau Mwamwaya has been featured in everything from NME Radar to Stool Pigeon, and a seemingly weekly guest spot on Gorilla Vs Bear, which we can't complain about too much seeing as that's where we first picked up on his brilliance.

Esau, along with producers Radioclit (responsible for production on Bonde Do Roll's debut record) has crafted one of the most exciting, inspirational, and downright listenable albums of the year. Featuring collaborations with Vampire Weekend, The Ruby Suns, M.I.A., and Santogold, it's tracklisting reads like a who's-who of this years hot artists. From the fabulous (and it's hard to pick one out of the many) reworking of M.I.A.'s Paper Planes, to the classical tinged vibes of Kada Manja, the album is a intriguing and pleasing journey through multiple beats and fusions. If you love any of the contributing artists, you'll love this. And just to top things off, most of it is sung in Malawian. Which coincidentaly, is where Esau hails from. It's as if Ladysmith Black Mambazo had produced the Vampire Weekend record, or as if Santogold gone less beat-hop and more afro-beat. Grab the mp3's below, keep an eye on the myspace for the free download album on November 1st, and prepare to hammer this all winter long. Lush.

[MP3] Esau Mwamwaya - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
[MP3] Esau Mwamwaya - Kada Manja (Classical)
[MYSPACE] Visit Esau Mwamwaya on myspace, album for free download on November 1st.

So the rather splendid, rather hyped Holy Fuck have released a split 12" with Foals on the equally splendid Young Turks label, home to said band. Being the super fellows that they are, Mr and Mrs Young Turk have let nice high quality digital downloads of each slice of the twelve inch cake available for download on their blog. It's pretty vocal-light reinvention of the now classic breakthrough single from the Oxford angle-rockers, but a completely awesome track in it's own right. What better way to celebrate Foals's immense return to the Engine Shed than with a fitting tribute to them? Which leads me round to... How many people saw Foals play at the Bivouac? A nice mention from Yannis on Friday night, but rumour has it a paltry twelve people attended their debut visit to Cathedral City. Shocking. Let's hope that when The Kabeedies return to the Engine Shed after going to the stratosphere and back, similar notoriety is attached to their first visit to the city! How could it not be...

[MP3] Holy Fuck - Balloons - Buy here.