(Shark Meat Records)
An indie label that plays like a major circa 1985, Shark Meat has now solidified their already strong knack for producing squeaky clean synth-pop from 1- and 2-person operations. Shimmerplanet’s follow-up to their 2002 debut, Welcome to Shimmerplanet, is hands down the label’s best release to date, showcasing the efforts of a rather unlikely boy-girl pair whose all-over-the-mapness imbibes in stylings evocative of Whitney Houston AOR (”On My List”), Billy Joel as honorary member of Zero 7 and varied other changeups, the album’s jump-off track “Silence of Midnight” fusing early Cars to Depeche Mode. Lots of gold-medal hooks throughout, and the production is bang-on regardless of what oddball audience they’re targeting.
