New Releases: Bedstars, The Machinery of Other Skeletons, Animal Pop, Westloft

Wipe your palettes clean, cause we have some new grooves for you to immerse yourself in, including new cuts from Beijing punks Bedstars, Shanghai metal outfit The Machinery of Other Skeletons, indie pop singer-songwriter Westloft, and deep house producer Animal Pop. Dig in.

After what has felt like forever, the Bedstars’ debut is here in all its depraved glory. To those of us whom have been following the sleazed-infused visceral punk quartet, Wet Heart & Dry Vomit, plays like a greatest hits album. All your favorites are there – the skulk and sinister aura of 54; the bluesy rally of the inebriated in Booze Hound; the triumphant reckless groove of Dinosaur Rider. Better yet, the songs here reach beyond their live counterparts – stylish touches such as cowbells, keyboards, and backing vocals breathe new life in the tracks all the while keeping the essence of the band intact – corruption of the mind, hormonal recklessness, a heck ton of alcohol and a infectious rock and roll spirit that threatens to fall apart at the seams but never does. Righteous indeed. Down it all down at Maybe Mars’ bandcamp and be sure to grab a copy this Friday, July 24th at School for the release show.

Shanghai metal brokers The Machinery of Other Skeletons return with their second EP. Entitled Static Fades, the EP finds the band in prime form, dishing out brash confrontational tracks of volatile death metal. I dig how much craftsmanship there is behind the three tracks. While it doesn’t have the whiplash appeal of the day’s first EP, there’s a distinctive emphasis on the instrumentals throughout that gives the EP an angular edge that’s often missing in lots of metal. It’s calculated in the best possible way – just how I like my dark arts. Did I mention killer guitar solos? Rip into it over at the band’s bandcamp.

Well our take on electronic music, particularly of the more club-ready variety, is limited here, sometimes I stumble into something unexpectedly and find myself giving into the beat. I recently had the privilege of editing together a fashion shoot and found myself scouring the internet for some pleasing house tunes only to settle upon the melodic deep house grooves of Animal Pop, off of Ran Music. The Beijing-based electronic producer, whose sound is seeped in deep house culture uses an array of percussive components and field recordings to create a lush atmosphere on In The Woods Vol. 1 & 2 that’ll keep your head bopping. And while it’s easy to chalk this up as music you’d hear at any ol’ club, there are some serious earworms which lock you in here. Starting to see why kids in dance halls eat this stuff up. Get your dance on over at their xiami and soundcloud pages.

Looking for good old fashion indie pop gloss to guiltily enjoy? Well, then I’d recommend giving the latest pop singer-songwriter Loftwest a try. Released under Ximai’s growing label, Westloft is a mishmash of the past decades’ indie pop stars – from Coldplay to Adam Lambert, to the lot of Chinese one hit wonders – it’s all wrapped up in Loftwest. And just like a lot of the pop music that’s out there and hard to swallow, there’s something undeniably alluring and engaging about the artist’s debut, Rite of Passion, an bombardment of love ballads and electronically enhanced singles. And dude’s got a hell of a voice, as feminine as it may be. I get it. The romantic in me has no qualms. And my guess is college students are blasting this shit in their dorms right now. Faint praise perhaps, but give it a spin on xiami and see if the softie in you bites.