The_AIU is a “mysterious multinational rock band” from Tokyo that formed in October 2010. Leading The_AIU is Indonesian pop singer Aiu Ratna, who released a covers EP in Japan last year. Rounding out the band is Sohichi (The JETZEJOHNSON) on guitar and Jessie (Noise & Treatment) on electronics. A distinguishing characteristic of their music is the lack of a drummer, although it appears they have a support drummer live. Their debut mini-album Minority was released today. They also did a remix for Genki Rockets’ second album released earlier this month.
The four tracks on The_AIU’s myspace are labeled “Ver.0.” These demo tracks are a bit raw on the instrumentation side but there’s a lot of promise here. Aiu Ratna does sound a little diva-like on “Gothictro” and “Loser” hopefully she doesn’t sing this high on all their songs. All four tracks and “CPU,” which kicks a lot of ass, are available on Minority.
Minority is available at Amazon (MP3) and CD Japan.
J-Rock Explosion 