Radio Dept. return with a new song from what we can only hope will be the impending release of their much delayed new album. After four years, and several EPs, they seem ready to present a full fledged batch of new cuts, cleverly entitled Clinging to a Scheme. Heaven’s on Fire is our first glimpse into this collection, a bright, upbeat shade of the band not typically seen. Where previous releases have been plodding and even verging into noisy feedback laden affairs, Heaven’s on Fire shimmers with a shuffling beat, bouncey guitar strumming and even some well placed orchestral stabs. Look for the new album…hopefully…in April or May.

Radio Dept. - Heaven’s On Fire (320 kbps)

Tune into all the Radio Dept. news here.

This Tuesday we have a mini event with a slew of great new album releases from the spectrum of alternative/indie rock. Everyone from the legendary Massive Attack, reliable stars Hot Chip, Pantha Du Prince and Yeasayer and a freshman release by newcomer Phantogram. So whip out those holiday iTunes cards your mom gave you and get some quality tunes!

Here’s some picks to get you in the mood. And check out our previous Pantha Du Prince post with a couple of great tunes.

Hot Chip - Take It In (228 kbps)

Phantogram - Mouthful of Diamonds (160 kbps)

Yeasayer - I Remember (272 kbps)

Gonjasufi is one of the newest talents to join the much heralded roster of seminal electronic label Warp. If that’s not enough of a teaser for you to know Sumach Valentine’s music is something special, how about adding that his full-length debut, A Sufi And A Killer, is produced by a beatmaking A-Team of Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer and Mainframe.

Released last month, Valentine’s split 7″ Kowboyz & Indianz / My Only Friend provided a great intro to the yoga instructor slash musician’s dark mysticism. Combining hip-hop, Eastern psychedelia and found samples underneath a bed of cryptic, poetic vocals, Valentine’s A Sufi And A Killer is one hell of an album. The beats are exactly what you’d expect from the hands of Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer and Mainframe, meaning they’re a fantastic, inventive whipped and warped base upon which Valentine’s Tricky-esque vocals float like smoke rings. A Sufi And A Killer fills that imaginative space somewhere between graphic novel noir and post-apocalyptic cinema, a mysterious cityscape where a bearded prophet named Gonjasufi lurks in the shadows of a metropolis in ruin’s rubble, telling the tales of the future, memories wiped of the past.

Roaming free so no one’s safe.

Gonjasufi - Kowboyz & Indianz (190 kbps)

Gonjasufi - Sheep (181 kbps)

The best part of Pitbull’s Hotel Room Service is easily the sleazy sax that kicks off the track and reappears under the chorus. Paired with Pit’s come hither and drop those panties rhymes, it provides the perfect complement for a raunchy rendezvous that he wouldn’t need to invite me to twice.

The credit for the memorable sax line goes to early ’90s British house act Nightcrawlers and is sampled off their 1993 hit Push The Feeling On. The Nightcrawlers biggest hit, Push The Feeling On earned playtime on pop radio and eventually landed at #80 on the Billboard charts. Nightcrawlers never really achieved the kind of Deee-Lite level success I thought they were deserving of, releasing a slew of singles but only one album, 1995’s Let’s Push It.

Nightcrawlers hit my radar right about the same time as I discovered The Face magazine and the film Party Girl came out, and that entire aesthetic is wrapped up into one shiny, colorful dance party in their video for Push The Feeling On.

Not going to say I told you so, but further proof that Pitbull has great taste. Thanks to Matty and Facebook for the inspiration for this post.

Nightcrawlers - Push The Feeling On (128 kbps)

Pitbull - Hotel Room Service (165 kbps)

So T-Pain recently complained about not being nominated for any of his original compositions at the Grammys and with amazing little gems like this newest leaked track, titled Reverse Cowgirl and featuring Young Jeezy, I can’t imagine why. I’m being sarcastic. Although the piano is pretty and adds a touch of romance to a dirty, dirty track.

T-Pain (ft. Young Jeezy) - Reverse Cowgirl (320 kbps)

Chazwick Bundick aka Toro Y Moi, releases his debut full-length album, Causers of This, for Car Park Records this week. Chock full of that hazy, sluggish, warped synthpop spear-headed by acts like Washed Out and Neon Indian over last summer, Toro Y Moi differentiates himself and his work by injecting hints of old school R&B and heavily distorted soul samples, making his work a bridge between typical “chillwave” acts and more crate-digging fanatics like the Avalanches, Kinobe and even DJ Shadow. Tracks like Thanks Vision come across like hallucinogenic daydreams that explore many of the rich stems of urban based music.

Speaking of daydreams, Chaz just recently created a couple of beautiful images for the great Kitsune Noir Desktop Project, which you can find here. And also, check out Chaz’s newly launched personal blog, Poor and Lonely, which although light on content, I feel has amazing potential.

Causers of This is available at most indie-stocked retailers, including Insound.

Toro Y Moi - Thanks Vision (263 kbps)

Welcome to the House Of Goon. Go ahead, take a step inside. Everyone’s welcome here, it’s a haven for house music in all it’s many manifestations, brought to you weekly by our favorite tasteful Minneapolis gentlemen, The Moon Goons. You probably won’t find many of these tracks digitally and fighting off eBay sharks for vinyl is tiresome, so have a sit (…a dance…a cocktail…) with me as we spend some quality time with YouTube, the musical discovery tool far more useful than last.fm, Hype Machine and Pandora combined. —Ed.

:: DSK - What Would We Do (Eight Minutes of Madness Mix) (1991) ::

:: Black Sheep - Strobelite Honey (Def Version) (1992) ::

:: Mystic - House Girl (Mystic Acid Mix) (1988) ::

:: Underground Resistance - Living For The Nite (For The Music) (1991) ::

I have never even remotely entertained the possibility of a compilation album making an appearance on a year-end Best Of list, but after spending an entire day (and evening) yesterday immersed in the Waaga Compilation, it’s difficult for me not to imagine it as a release I’ll return to over and over in the coming months.

Waaga is a new imprint for a new year from the fine folks at lo-fi powerhouse Lefse (home to, most recognizably, Neon Indian). While I wouldn’t go as far as labeling Waaga a straightforward electronic label, the artists calling Waaga home would definitely fall under electronic-leaning. Waaga currently provides a home to nine artists and plans to focus primarily on digital distribution, offering only limited runs of physical releases.

In celebration of their launch Waaga is giving away their compilation for free, though it’s easily worth whatever price tag they might have opted for. The compilation combines some familiar names from the Lefse roster with new Waaga signees, making for a brilliant mix of the acoustic, the electronic and every blurry boundary in between.

The two tracks below are my favorites from the compilation and offer a taste of the mix you’ll find. Don’t sleep on this. Download in full here.

Florene - Deal With It (160 kbps)

Ennui - Cocaine Blues (160 kbps)