YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - YT//ST

okay, this is fantastic, but i don't think the boris comparisons make much sense, at least as far as this album is concerned (haven't seen them live). YT//ST remind me of deerhoof more than boris.

I think I should mention this is really hooky and catchy, rhythmic and melodic. I have bits and pieces of this album going through my head all day long at the moment.

My making the Boris comparison might simply be due to lack of familiarity with similar bands. On the other hand, they do mention their admiration for Boris in interviews (not that that guarantees sounding alike, but it seems a lot close to home than if they mentioned, say, their admiration for the Spinners).

As for Deerhoof, I think I did possibly like their overall sound except for the vocals which killed it for me.

this is sounding great. kinda like deerhoof meets magma-esque grandeur - or the ruins version of magma in 'symphonica' or koenjihyakkei minus the extreme-technicality and overall wackiness, dunno*. with the ocasional - and mostly welcoming? - nod to krautrock's equally cosmic and pastoral vibes and, err, kate bush in 'oak of guernica'?

*tbh, i don't listen to those albums in a very long time, so i might be totally off-handed here. and i guess it's the japanese factor that propels this association. either way, they don't really remind me of boris.

I really like the album, obv. I only recently found out that they do a whole 'opera' live! Let us know how it is if you go, rrrobyn. Despite living in the cultural mecca of Regina, I sometimes miss out on being able to see cool things.

Thanks to Sund4r, by the way, for recommending this album to me. (Maybe you are surprised to see I already started a thread about it.)

I especially like the watashi-WA (if that's what it even is) in "Hoshi Neko."

Yes, okay, I guess the Boris comparison is flawed and misleading. It makes some sense in my own idiosyncratic set of musical categories, but it's probably not so useful in describing this band to others.

I especially like the watashi-WA (if that's what it even is) in "Hoshi Neko."

Haha, YES.

This band was a revelation when I heard the album in January, and were again when I saw them live this past spring. Fantastic musicians. I'd love to hear their new opera.

Watashi-waaaaAAAAAAAA

great band, great DRUMS sound

Yes. Would it be self-parody for me to say that the way the drums are recorded on "Queens" (and maybe elsewhere--but it's especially noticeable there) reminds me of Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana (especially Shukyo)?

watashi-WA

Does this mean "I am"? (I looked it up quickly.) Or do you just mean you like the way it sounds?

I just like the way it sounds on that song where they sing it a lot.

their show was totally bizarre and great at pop montreal - first half was operatic, diy queered fashion drama style, not for everyone but i was into it - second half (there was an intermission!) was much more a rock show, which ruled

Some of the live clips I've now gotten around to watching seem pretty iffy. I miss the studio effects and polish in this case.

At around 3:12 "Reverse Crystal/Murder of a Spider" definitely reminds me of a Boris - Smile sort of jump (with a little hint of old Boredoms near the end). As always, I might be making these comparisons because I don't listen to that much music close to this.

saw them the last time they played toronto. while the live experience isn't as sharp as the record, they're still a wonderfully fun band to see in person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGOqU8mJ1Ic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhxrH1pWRVw

Weird, I thought I had already posted that. It was on another thread apparently, but yeah that belongs here more than the Bowie cover.

hope they will be more focused on the next album

I think YT//ST is plenty focused.

Or did you mean more focus on working on it rather than one off things like the Bowie cover (for someone else's compilation)?

The guitar on "Lamia" really really reminds me of Fred Giannelli (not that he was particularly original (though I liked his sound), but this is so close to what he went for a lot of the time that it stands out).

I think I underrated this record. As I said, I liked it a ton but I'm head over heels in love with it now. "A Star Over Pureland" is perfect.

New single is great:

http://pitchfork.com/features/update/9189-yamantaka-sonic-titan/

(Thanks, sund4r.)

Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH3X4D0NyS8

No

Yes

Hell yes.

Maybe

definitely, love this band

I'm convinced

I like this one better than "One." The piano in the opening even reminds me of Matthew Shipp a bit. And let's not discard anything prematurely, like the psychedelic inheritance.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/16171-windflower/

Has LJ heard these guys yet?

Anyway, I prefer 'One' to 'Windflower', but I can see the latter working really well as an album track. Call me crazy but I hear a certain Trish Keenan phrasing to some of those lines?!

Oh! On it soon's I'm home :)

This was the one that first got me into them, but I reckon 'One' or 'Lamia' will hit your tastes quicker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k472YAVzoGU

It's a good record. Expect a full review from me somewhere soon.

that was groovy - very melancholic keys. may have a root around for more

oh now this Windflower is what I'm TALKING about :D

Now listening to One. Shit me I made a good decision to spin out in that awful thread earlier

You can still stream their debut album on their bandcamp site, I think. Also on spotify.

Really loving Windflower though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89iO84vztyM

Only issue I have is that the closing rave-up sticks with the same riff throughout when it's crying out for an escalation or change-up. Apart from that, great. Gonna listen to the debut album now.

Windflower is the best one I've heard so far.

I've never listened to the albums after having seen the live show last year, which was excellent. Thanks for the thread revival.

If you go to the bandcamp site, be sure to click on the first track rather than the button for the entire album, because for me anyway it's been defaulting to the second track when I used the play album button.

Oh this is GOOD. Much wilder and weirder. 'One' for all its virtues DOES feel a tad...y'know, like Pitchfork reviewed one of their albums and hinted that it might go ballistic on the next one if they dumb up their act a bit and make an indie-dance hit. I'm not going through Gang Gang Dance again. But I think they're mostly on the right side of that line.

Look, this is how the Pitchfork review of Windflower ends:

The song's massive acoustic architecture demands that Yamantaka // Sonic Titan eventually find their way to an arena.

fuckoffPitchforkfuckoffPitchforkfuckoffPitchfork

loved the latest ggd record

shipp namedrop has me intrigued about this

"hungry ghost" is almost deerhoof//gwar in the best way possible

Album playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJYy6b9azY&list=PLzjK-BHnQoCxkmpgNzHx0pR1ojE-p4mgB

or not :(

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzjK-BHnQoCxkmpgNzHx0pR1ojE-p4mgB

"hungry ghost" is almost deerhoof//gwar in the best way possible

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, March 23, 2018 10:04 AM (six minutes ago)

whole album is on bandcamp

Oh, one of them left?

Doesn't matter - this has their best music/songwriting so far

Yeah, that's true, but Ruby's voice lent the music a wide-eyed, otherworldly quality and emotional heft that was, I think, quite remarkable, especially in their heavy/arty niche. The anthemic, apocalyptic vocals at the end of the new album's closing "Out of Time" ("to be all alone at the end of the line") effectively communicate the idea of a desperate, heart-bursting passion that rises to meet life's darkest hour. But they don't embody it. They don't soar above the music like a battle flag.

YT/ST are coping with the absence just fine. Dirt brings sharpened chops and a much more fully developed sound to Alaska & co's best batch of songs yet, but Ruby's voice had an alchemical power I can't help missing.

Fair enough. Any idea why she left? Just heading in a different direction? Apparently one of the guitarists left too...

No. I don't have any idea what motivated the split. Have looked for information online, but have come up only with the fact of it. Don't think anyone involved has spoken on the record about the details.

interpersonal differences

ruby's been to opera school.
john's doing other stuff.
they are sweet people.

Parts of 'Dark Water' sound like 90s Final Fantasy battle music lol

That's unambiguously a good thing btw

Aaaah yes I really like this, suppose I should check out their older stuff

Wow, this sounds great on first listen.

Shortly to see them. Excited!

And rightly so!

all these butt-clenchingly woke EOY lists, and yet no room for Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, who are not only off-the-charts box-tickingly woke but also, more importantly, put out an amazing album

They'll make mine.

but will it be butt-clenching?!

I like this album, but I'm not sure it will make my 77 list, there may be too many albums I like even more.

I don't really get the woke comments though, but I suspect we'd all regret pursuing that line any further.

they are touring the US opening for Acid Mothers Temple in the spring, and playing my town. totally psyched.

same here! I was surprised that tour's hitting smaller cities

That def sounds like a good time

sounds like a butt-clenchingly woke good time

amt always come to slc and it's always a great show. will not be missing this one.

Ohhhh shit this is gonna be awesome! I'm totally going!

Dirt is unquestionably one of the albums of the year

wb; otm

really great show!

ended up talking to the YST bassist who joined the band a few years ago after their set

must have been a good set

really great iirc

Dirt holding up really well this morning. Who played the solo on "Out of Time"?

their guitarist presumably!

Ha, OK, I guess the question is who the lead guitarist on the album is, then, since no info on personnel came with the digital album I downloaded from Bandcamp in 2018.

Electric Guitar – Hiroki Tanaka

Ah, thanks. So a seven-string player who was new for this album?

Yeah. The band absolutely shredded live obv

The greatest band! Alaska (drums) and Brendan (virtuosic piano) have a side project called Avṛha that I highly recommend too, no studio recordings yet

http://mechanicalforestsound.blogspot.com/2017/11/recording-avrha.html

ah nice! that sounds v exciting. iirc Alaska is suffering from several debilitating injuries that are affecting her drumming so she's exploring a few different songwriting avenues - sucks if so obv but excited by anything she's involved with

maybe she's completely restored though - let's hope

absolutely one of the best live bands i've ever seen

i'm not really a live music person and i'd drop everything to go see them if they were playing in my area (and there wasn't a global pandemic happening)

I forgot that when I saw them they were opening for Acid Mothers Temple! It was like a double header, really

God I wish I had seen that show :(

A little over two years ago I dragged a buddy of mine to see them at a restaurant-pub in downtown Indianapolis. There were *maybe* twenty people in the audience. The band was great of course but the experience was a bit lacking. I guess I don't expect they'll be passing this way again any time soon.