New Releases: AV Okubo, Noise Arcade/thruoutin, Yan Liang

\"nr Perhaps I was getting a bit too ambitious with four new releases a week – no way I can keep up with that. No worries, where they are new releases I’ll be there shouting the good word. This week you’re in a treat, with Maybe Mars’ latest release, te second album from electro punks AV Okubo, as well as the second spilt between electronic renegades Noise Arcade and thruotuin, as well as a little rock pop from Yan Liang. Check it out.

Nearly four years after splashing onto the scene with their debut, The Greed of Man, the cheeky electro punks AV Okubo return with their second full-length album, Dynasty, which relishes in the bands’ fast food philosophizing geek heavy trash techno stylings with even more precision. Some may be disappointed by the lack of glossy, hyperactive, sugar-high kicks, and to an extent I’d agree as too much of the album comes off as too crisp and clean – safe even. Instead, it seems there’s more meat to the lyrics this time around, giving it a sentimental 80s swagger that’s would fit right in with late night anime reruns, albeit with more biting verses and revolutionary dystopian imagery. It’s this quality that gives songs like ‘Red Tank’ and ‘Uncle’ their aplomb and what I believe most will take away Dynasty. Give it a twirl over here and grab it yourself this Saturday, April 19th, at Yugong Yishan where the band will release it upon the masses.

As I mentioned earlier this week, electronic ruffians Noise Arcade and thruoutin have gone ahead and made Sony Walkman owners very very happy – their second installment of a series of splits is set to be released on cassette, entitled peak of the moon. The album’s ‘theme is that of moon cycles and their relationship with our terrestrial bodies’. Whoa – strangely I can totally imagine that whilst listening to these .While the first half is chock full of Noise Arcade’s dense analog sounds, which have never sounded this intergalactic, the second half finds thruoutin at his most patient and sparse, utilizing ambient sounds, the pipa, and hauntingly slowed down beats to texturize the music. Dope stuff – grab your moon rocks here kids and be sure to grab one of the limited fifty copies of that cassette this Saturday, April 19th, at Uptown Records in Shanghai and next Friday, April 25th, at XP, where the two will perform.

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If that was too far off the beaten path for you, then perhaps you may find comfort in the pop rock stylings of Yan Liang – where released their debut Night to Morning a few weeks back. Filled to the brim with 90s Britpop nostalgia and the sweet yet unremarkable voice of Yue Yue, it’s about as cookie-cutter as it comes but gotta give them credit for sticking to their guns. Right? Anyone? Listen to it here and grab it at Indie Music.

 

More next week, including the epic sixth album from Hedgehog which is sounding mighty fine thus far.

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