The Radio Dept. are finally returning with a new record in “Clinging to a Scheme” released in April on that fine purveyor of pop, Labrador – and if this is anything to go by it has been worth the wait. Heaven’s on Fire is starry eyed pop that glistens in the moonlight. Dreamy enough to distract even those most driven among us to slide into Wonderland, and containing a clever uncleared sample from Thurston Moore (ssshhh…) giving political edge, this is what pop music is supposed to be.
When two of my favourite blogs (namely Illegal Tender and Fucking Dance) start singing the praises of a new duo, only a fool would ignore it. And the band they have been talking about? The Shimmer.
The Shimmer are brother and sister David and Jade Hanks, who you may know as The Mono, but all that really matters is that they make punchy, dark and emotive pop wonders. Now you put them in a Napoleonic fort with ex-Clor genius Luke Smith to record, and you get a diverse mixture of rough and ready rock-pop bliss and driving Depeche Mode-esque electro pop. As hard as I try, I can’t pigeon-hole these two into any genre at all – all I can say is that whatever style you call it – it is pop perfection and catchy as fuck.
Their first single is due to drop in a few months on the consistently impressive Hit Club.
The Buffetlibre duo have come up with an impressively unique concept for their PEACE compilation album that is due for release on 1st March – creating a musical atlas of the world with songs from each and every corner (or at least from more than 50 countries). These aren’t just unknown artists either, they’ve got Voxtrot from the USA, Official Secrets Act from the UK, The Hidden Cameras form Canada, The Toxic Avenger from France, Amycanbe from Italy, plus many other less recognisable but no less impressive acts from Lebanon to Greenland to Congo.
…and the best part? All the proceeds go to Amnesty International and their campaign for human rights across the globe and you can choose how much you want to pay/donate (minimum €2) And you don’t have to listen to Bono’s whining! If that has wet your tastebuds then we have a few MP3s to share to prove how good the music is on this thing.
USA: Micah P Hinson, Steve Wynn, Crocodiles, Dan Deacon, Voxtrot, Marissa Nadler, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Antlers, Asobi Seksu, Spinto Band, Port O’Brien, Bart Davenport, Dent May, Ki:Theory, Mike Viola, Flashmen, Her Space Holiday, Pretty & Nice, Ra Ra Riot, Sic Alps, Blacklist, DeLeon, Gala, Jeffrey Lewis, United State Of Electronica, Gregor Samsa, Thao + The Get Down Stay Down, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Still Flyin’, Plushgun, Softlightes, Princeton, Odyze, This Will Destroy You, Cruel Black Dove, Avian X
JAPAN: Ryuichi Sakamoto
COLOMBIA: Frankie Jazz
BRAZIL: Bonde Do Role
ISRAEL: Ivri Lider, Tamar Eisenmann, Karni Postel, Nico Teen, The Bitting Sheep
ISRAEL/FRANCE: Keren Ann & Shlomi Shaban
UK: Marc Almond, 4hero, Mogwai, Dubstar, Patrick Wolf, Si Begg, frYars, Gyratory System, Darren Hayman, Cicada, GoldieLocks, Lucky Soul, Official Secrets Act, Frankmusik, The Ultrasonics, Trouble Over Tokyo, A Certain Ratio, The Boy Least Likely To, You Love Her Coz She’s Dead, Gala, Catherine AD
CHINA: The Pet Conspiracy
SENEGAL: Malick Pathé Sow
CHILE: Javiera Mena, Francisca Valenzuela, DJ Raff
FRANCE: Tahiti 80, Black Strobe, The Toxic Avenger, Titi Robin, The Delano Orchestra, Amelie Les Crayons, Outlines, Saï Saï, My Broken Frame, Debmaster
BURUNDI: Eric Baranyanka
CANADA: Apostle Of Hustle, Buck 65, Malajube, The Hidden Cameras
BELGIUM: Vive La Fête, The Neon Judgement, Girls in Hawai, King & Svenson
TUNISIA/ALGERIA: DuOud
FINLAND: Jori Hulkkonen
AUSTRIA: Fennesz, A Life A Song A Cigarette
AUSTRALIA: Jeremy Fowler, Aeons, Sarah Blasko, Operator Please, Birds Of Tokyo, An Horse
ALGERIA: MHD & Starlight, Maghrebika, Baäziz
HONG KONG: The Marshmallow Kisses, Tramgirl Karaoke Club feat. Maskopet
NEW ZEALAND: The Veils, The Phoenix Foundation
CUBA: Martha Galarraga
REPUBLIC OF KOREA: EE
GREECE: Marsheaux, Mikro
NORWAY: Rockettothesky, Ane Brun, Ingrid Olava
GHANA: Wanlov The Kubolor
GERMANY: Stereo Total, Ascii Disko, Console, Escape With Romeo, Jeans Team, Kissogram, Maral Salmassi & Zero Cash, Kitbuilders, Locas In Love
LEBANON: Abaji
GREENLAND: Angu
DENMARK: Cartridge, The Broken Beats
MALI: Vieux Farka Touré
ITALY: Dusty Kid, Amari, Amycanbe, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, Perturbazione
IRELAND: David Kitt, Mundy, Hystereo
UGANDA: Seby Ntege
INDONESIA: Mocca, Efek Rumah Kaca, White Shoes & The Couples Company
INDIA: Motherjane, menwhopause, Shaa’ir+func
RUSSIA: Tesla Boy, Cut2Kill
ICELAND: múm, Amiina
HUNGARY: We Plants Are Happy Plants
EGYPT: Allen Walker, Bikya
SWEDEN: I’m From Barcelona, Sally Shapiro, Peter Von Poehl, Napoleon, Air France feat Jack Wilson, Lacrosse
SPAIN: Miqui Puig, We Are Standard, Olimpic, Boat Beam, The Requesters, After After Hours, The Pinker Tones, Triangulo De Amor Bizarro, Elastic Band, Undo, The Amplic, Mendetz, 4t1a, The Requesters
SOUTH AFRICA: DJ Mujava, 340ml
FINLAND/GERMANY: AGF/Delay
SERBIA: sevdahBABY
IRAQ: Aida Nadeem, Salaam, Aïwa
PORTUGAL: X-Wife
BOLIVIA: Surfin Wagner
PALESTINE: CultureSHOC, Khalas
TURKEY: Gooseflesh
NEDERLANDS: Don Diablo, Kraak & Smaak, Perquisite, a balladeer
ARGENTINA: Entre Rios, Manosanta
MEXICO: Mexican Institute Of Sound, Sussie 4, Hello Seahorse!
TIBET: Karjam Saeji, Lotem Namling, Ngawang Choephel
CONGO: Kiala
THAILAND: Cyndi Seui
VENEZUELA: Kid 606, Fordelucs
SINGAPUR: sonicbrat
SWITZERLAND: Heidi Happy (feat Paul Niehaus of Calexico), Low Motion Disco
RT @see_africa: Friday quiz to win one of our fab bags: According to How Africa Tweets, which African country has the 2nd most active? Kenya 2 hours ago
The Radio Dept. are finally returning with a new record in “Clinging to a Scheme” released in April on that fine purveyor of pop, Labrador – and if this is anything to go by it has been worth the wait. Heaven’s on Fire is starry eyed pop that glistens in the moonlight. Dreamy enough to distract even those most driven among us to slide into Wonderland, and containing a clever uncleared sample from Thurston Moore (ssshhh…) giving political edge, this is what pop music is supposed to be.
The 
