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
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:20 (ten years ago) link
loved the latest ggd record
― swmp thing (wins), Friday, 11 October 2013 21:22 (ten years ago) link
shipp namedrop has me intrigued about this
― swmp thing (wins), Friday, 11 October 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
I'm also concerned that the new album has much more boring songtitles than the first one, but open minds. This first album is really great - I have no idea where it's going next but it seems to
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link
What happened to contenderizer re: this band. He popped in, said the first album was fantastic, and was never heard from again on this thread. Or is he on ILM sabbatical?
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:25 (ten years ago) link
Could just be my idiosyncratic way of hearing it, but the piano at the beginning of Windflower does keep reminding me of Shipp. Maybe it doesn't quite have his gravitas (a word I think I've seen thrown around on another thread recently), but it's in the same ballpark. That's just a minor part of the song though. More than anything it is pretty vocally oriented psychedelia.
the new album has much more boring songtitles than the first one, but open minds.
Boring song titles are a good thing.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:27 (ten years ago) link
It's a departure from the debut, but I think in a good one. A Very coherent and beautifully recorded record. Begs to be heard on vinyl because of the sequencing.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:28 (ten years ago) link
GGD and others of that ilk irritate the shit out of me through no fault of their own because they're hailed by Pitchfork idiots as the cutting edge of contemporary avant-pop when they're actually competent indie-dance. This has much more to it than that though. Keep the negativity away.
Actually, Battles might have been the more notable recent victims of Pitchfork dumbology/regression-to-indie, even if that 2nd record had a couple of jams on it
Oh, so is the new one good? Yay!
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
no the latest is eye contact from a few years ago which I'm guessing is what you're on about! Battles are a much better example of what you're talking about in my opinion (ie I don't like em)
― swmp thing (wins), Friday, 11 October 2013 21:33 (ten years ago) link
The new YT//ST mate :P
Eye Contact irritated me because that Glass Jar song was hyped as the most monumental thing ever and turned out to be a decent dance-rock jam with some psych touches
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:34 (ten years ago) link
(Is it me or is the board really poppin' today? Even more eclectic mishmash of threads up at the moment.)
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:36 (ten years ago) link
I kicked their arses, they responded. Great team-talk imo
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:38 (ten years ago) link
drew25kra 1 day agoYes, because there are so many groups out there wearing kabuki make-up using Iroquoian chants and metallic guitar riffs and blending them in a way that's organic yet catchy...so mediocre, bro.
Yes, because there are so many groups out there wearing kabuki make-up using Iroquoian chants and metallic guitar riffs and blending them in a way that's organic yet catchy...so mediocre, bro.
Lol.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link
Streaming:
http://pitchfork.com/advance/261-uzu/
― monster_xero, Tuesday, 22 October 2013 22:09 (ten years ago) link
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, October 11, 2013 2:25 PM (1 week ago)
meditating. took about ten minutes of the stream to get me to order a copy. it's only a shame that there are so many other albums out there that aren't this.
(!!!)
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 00:15 (ten years ago) link
hell, if if there wasn't any music, just the graphics, they'd still be one of my favorite bands going
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 00:16 (ten years ago) link
not boris or deerhoof, gundam grimes
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 00:18 (ten years ago) link
Whalesong sounds amazing
― nostormo, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 11:44 (ten years ago) link
i prefer sonic titan to yamantaka
what is your favorite of the two?
― nostormo, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 11:48 (ten years ago) link
Boredoms for the masses
― nostormo, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 12:07 (ten years ago) link
lack of constant was the biggest problem of yt//stit seems like a problem here too.
no immediate catchy bombastic tubes like Hoshi Neko, sounds mellower but overall fine (1st listen)
― nostormo, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 12:11 (ten years ago) link
catchy bombastic tube = "one", toward the back end
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 13:01 (ten years ago) link
whoever draws the animals (if that's one of them)
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 13:02 (ten years ago) link
not sure i see lack of consistency as a problem, maybe a virtue, enjoy both albums as end-to-end listens (tho still processing the 2nd)
― pervilege as a meme (contenderizer), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 13:03 (ten years ago) link
I think the production on the second one helps a ton. The clarity highlights the drumming, and allows for a broader range of vocal styles.
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 23 October 2013 15:08 (ten years ago) link
I've been living with UZU for about a month now (somehow managed to find a used copy a month before release, which is strange but I'm not complaining). Serious grower, so definitely give it a few more spins nostormo. It's pretty much become my fave album of the year.
― Sean Carruthers, Friday, 25 October 2013 19:13 (ten years ago) link
Holy cow, I hadn't heard of these guys until a couple days ago and now this may be one of my favorites of the year. UZU is insane, I'm really loving it. I'm surprised folks aren't going more nuts over them.
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Sunday, 10 November 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
me too! seems like something that would appeal to a broad cross-section of adventurous listeners.
― CANONICAL artists, etc., etc. (contenderizer), Sunday, 10 November 2013 17:38 (ten years ago) link
I agree. I think it's much more welcoming than the debut. The appeal is broader and there are ways into it from a lot of different musical angles.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 10 November 2013 17:45 (ten years ago) link
Idk. Like the firstvrecord better
― nostormo, Sunday, 10 November 2013 18:52 (ten years ago) link
the wretched will drownwith the salt on their lipsthe stars at their feetfanning flame to the mistwhere the silent men liveand refuse to diehand in hand they rideinto battle with the tideto victory, a song...
after spending a bit more time w uzu, i do agree that it's uneven - but that's only a problem when i think of it as a collection of discrete songs. certain passages might feel incomplete absent the rest, but the whole works amazingly well as a front-to-back listening experience. while it's narrative, like the best prog rock albums, it feels less like a story than a journey. i can't call it complete success by pop's standards, but it's immersive, varied, moving and, best of all, remarkably catchy (at least in moments). tbh, it's hard to imagine the existence of people who wouldn't enjoy "atlanta", "whalesong" and "seasickness pt. 2". then again, it's hard to imagine a lot of supposedly real things.
― CANONICAL artists, etc., etc. (contenderizer), Tuesday, 12 November 2013 04:22 (ten years ago) link
UZU is growing on me and feel like it holds together more, over repeated listens.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 December 2013 02:26 (ten years ago) link
whoa well done whoever nominated 'whalesong' for the EOY, this v v much bangs
― VENIET IMBER (imago), Thursday, 9 January 2014 16:31 (ten years ago) link
:) It's a good 'un
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Thursday, 9 January 2014 16:34 (ten years ago) link
Sadly cut off at 26 in my now-finalised traxballot. Give it an honourable gold star or something. Strikes me as the work of a band who are finding their way. The next album is probably going to determine whether I'm truly a Y//ST fan
― VENIET IMBER (imago), Thursday, 9 January 2014 17:41 (ten years ago) link
Whalesong is the sh-t! This will make my ballot
― fit for one who twerks and cries (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 9 January 2014 19:36 (ten years ago) link
Been playing this record a lot over the last week or so, I like it how it fuses a lot of the psych-folk stuff I like with preposterous pantomime rock bombast. It's deeply silly but very enjoyable.
Does remind me a bit of GGD in some unfathomable way as well.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 1 February 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
New song!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTP1ku405rc
― ? (seandalai), Sunday, 21 January 2018 17:15 (six years ago) link
I listened a few times yesterday and I'm still working out what I think of it. It goes to some interesting places, starting out almost like a pop ballad, building up to heavy riffing and lead guitar triplets, all in 4 minutes. Not sure if it all works for me but there are some satisfying moments.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 21 January 2018 17:25 (six years ago) link
Yeah my hot take is that it could work a lot better in the context of an album, as a standalone single I don't really get what it is.
― ? (seandalai), Sunday, 21 January 2018 18:06 (six years ago) link
Upthread I claim to have listened to the debut and loved it...but I have no recollection of it at all! Will have to revisit
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 21 January 2018 18:20 (six years ago) link
― ? (seandalai)
I get what you mean, but I think knowing their reference points and other endeavours (e.g. game soundtracking) it might be more fruitful to think of it as an opening theme? I'm hyped for new YT//ST stuff, anyway.
― emil.y, Sunday, 21 January 2018 19:18 (six years ago) link
whoa this new track! get excited ilm
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 21 January 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link
Hey, this is all right. Never heard of this band before.
― you can make fun of birthday parties all you want (ultros ultros-ghali), Sunday, 21 January 2018 19:37 (six years ago) link
I like it. It does seem to lack the heft to be a single, but it's still good and could play out nicely on an album.
― Salt Lake City Motorcycle Accident Nerve Damage Lawyer (_Rudipherous_), Monday, 22 January 2018 19:26 (six years ago) link
Okay, 'Hungry Ghost' is rad.
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/yamantaka_sonic_titan-hungry_ghost
― emil.y, Tuesday, 13 February 2018 18:33 (six years ago) link
\m/
― imago, Friday, 23 March 2018 10:21 (six years ago) link
progge is alive and well in 2018
― imago, Friday, 23 March 2018 10:32 (six years ago) link
I miss Ruby Kato Attwood more than I thought I would. This is good but it doesn't have the weird beauty of UZU, and a lot of that was her voice.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 23 March 2018 16:26 (six years ago) link
O holy shit, missed this. ORDERDED. Rarely a month goes by that I don't wonder what became of YT/ST.
Agree that "Someplace" is a weird choice for a lead single. Engaging & intriguing but awfully vague. Feels like it's just & finally getting ready to deliver when it abruptly ends. (Maybe it's better considered an "album teaser" or suchlike. Do we have those now?) Also agree that Ruby's soaring vocals are sorely missed. "Hungry Ghost" is much more immediate, and I love the vacuum tube Kali monster on the Soundcloud page.
Their label's Soundcloud also features 'Yandere' which doom-prog-pops even harder. By far my favorite of the three. Dere dere.
Video too:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUsVyZTB_I
― will work for cultural capital (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2018 16:55 (six years ago) link