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.
― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 05:27 (eleven years ago) link
Watashi-waaaaAAAAAAAA
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
great band, great DRUMS sound
― nostormo, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 16:53 (eleven years ago) link
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)?
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:15 (eleven years ago) link
watashi-WA
Does this mean "I am"? (I looked it up quickly.) Or do you just mean you like the way it sounds?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
I just like the way it sounds on that song where they sing it a lot.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 17:34 (eleven years ago) link
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
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Monday, 24 September 2012 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 28 September 2012 17:46 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― borntohula, Saturday, 29 September 2012 00:46 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGOqU8mJ1Ic
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 6 October 2012 20:04 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhxrH1pWRVw
― nostormo, Saturday, 6 October 2012 20:25 (eleven years ago) link
Weird, I thought I had already posted that. It was on another thread apparently, but yeah that belongs here more than the Bowie cover.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 6 October 2012 20:26 (eleven years ago) link
hope they will be more focused on the next album
― nostormo, Saturday, 6 October 2012 20:34 (eleven years ago) link
I think YT//ST is plenty focused.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 6 October 2012 21:45 (eleven years ago) link
Or did you mean more focus on working on it rather than one off things like the Bowie cover (for someone else's compilation)?
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 6 October 2012 21:57 (eleven years ago) link
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).
― redress control number (_Rudipherous_), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 16:24 (ten years ago) link
New single is great:
http://pitchfork.com/features/update/9189-yamantaka-sonic-titan/
(Thanks, sund4r.)
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 24 August 2013 04:47 (ten years ago) link
Yes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH3X4D0NyS8
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 13 September 2013 05:53 (ten years ago) link
No
― nostormo, Friday, 13 September 2013 07:54 (ten years ago) link
Yes
― emil.y, Friday, 13 September 2013 13:14 (ten years ago) link
Hell yes.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 13 September 2013 13:29 (ten years ago) link
Maybe
― nostormo, Friday, 13 September 2013 14:10 (ten years ago) link
definitely, love this band
― money, chicken and other DNA (sleeve), Friday, 13 September 2013 14:18 (ten years ago) link
I'm convinced
― nostormo, Friday, 13 September 2013 14:28 (ten years ago) link
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/
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 03:31 (ten years ago) link
Has LJ heard these guys yet?
― emil.y, Friday, 11 October 2013 11:38 (ten years ago) link
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?!
― emil.y, Friday, 11 October 2013 11:51 (ten years ago) link
Oh! On it soon's I'm home :)
― check yr poptimism (imago), Friday, 11 October 2013 11:59 (ten years ago) link
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
― emil.y, Friday, 11 October 2013 12:09 (ten years ago) link
It's a good record. Expect a full review from me somewhere soon.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 11 October 2013 14:09 (ten years ago) link
that was groovy - very melancholic keys. may have a root around for more
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 20:56 (ten years ago) link
oh now this Windflower is what I'm TALKING about :D
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:01 (ten years ago) link
Now listening to One. Shit me I made a good decision to spin out in that awful thread earlier
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:03 (ten years ago) link
You can still stream their debut album on their bandcamp site, I think. Also on spotify.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:06 (ten years ago) link
Really loving Windflower though.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:07 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89iO84vztyM
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:08 (ten years ago) link
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.
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:08 (ten years ago) link
I've never listened to the albums after having seen the live show last year, which was excellent. Thanks for the thread revival.
― beautifully, unapologetically plastic (mh), Friday, 11 October 2013 21:10 (ten years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:12 (ten years ago) link
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.
― imago, Friday, 11 October 2013 21:18 (ten years ago) link
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
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.
― will work for cultural capital (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2018 18:33 (six years ago) link
Fair enough. Any idea why she left? Just heading in a different direction? Apparently one of the guitarists left too...
― imago, Friday, 23 March 2018 18:44 (six years ago) link
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.
― will work for cultural capital (contenderizer), Friday, 23 March 2018 19:16 (six years ago) link
interpersonal differences
ruby's been to opera school.john's doing other stuff.they are sweet people.
― sean gramophone, Friday, 23 March 2018 19:18 (six years ago) link
Parts of 'Dark Water' sound like 90s Final Fantasy battle music lol
― obnoxious pun (ultros ultros-ghali), Friday, 23 March 2018 20:27 (six years ago) link
That's unambiguously a good thing btw
Aaaah yes I really like this, suppose I should check out their older stuff
― obnoxious pun (ultros ultros-ghali), Friday, 23 March 2018 20:53 (six years ago) link
Wow, this sounds great on first listen.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Saturday, 31 March 2018 16:17 (six years ago) link
Shortly to see them. Excited!
― imago, Wednesday, 20 June 2018 19:54 (five years ago) link
And rightly so!
― imago, Wednesday, 20 June 2018 23:02 (five years ago) link
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
― imago, Thursday, 6 December 2018 13:29 (five years ago) link
They'll make mine.
― Locked in silent monologue, in silent scream (Sund4r), Thursday, 6 December 2018 15:34 (five years ago) link
but will it be butt-clenching?!
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 6 December 2018 15:35 (five years ago) link
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.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 6 December 2018 15:43 (five years ago) link
they are touring the US opening for Acid Mothers Temple in the spring, and playing my town. totally psyched.
― sleeve, Thursday, 6 December 2018 16:01 (five years ago) link
same here! I was surprised that tour's hitting smaller cities
― mh, Thursday, 6 December 2018 16:32 (five years ago) link
That def sounds like a good time
― seandalai, Thursday, 6 December 2018 23:29 (five years ago) link
sounds like a butt-clenchingly woke good time
― macropuente (map), Friday, 7 December 2018 04:47 (five years ago) link
amt always come to slc and it's always a great show. will not be missing this one.
― macropuente (map), Friday, 7 December 2018 04:51 (five years ago) link
Ohhhh shit this is gonna be awesome! I'm totally going!
― slack thompson (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 7 December 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
Dirt is unquestionably one of the albums of the year
― slack thompson (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 7 December 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link
wb; otm
― imago, Friday, 7 December 2018 18:00 (five years ago) link
really great show!
ended up talking to the YST bassist who joined the band a few years ago after their set
― mh, Thursday, 11 April 2019 18:47 (five years ago) link
must have been a good set
― imago, Thursday, 11 April 2019 19:03 (five years ago) link
really great iirc
― mh, Thursday, 11 April 2019 20:06 (five years ago) link
Dirt holding up really well this morning. Who played the solo on "Out of Time"?
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Monday, 11 May 2020 15:39 (four years ago) link
their guitarist presumably!
― imago, Monday, 11 May 2020 15:59 (four years ago) link
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.
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Monday, 11 May 2020 16:01 (four years ago) link
Electric Guitar – Hiroki Tanaka
― sleeve, Monday, 11 May 2020 16:04 (four years ago) link
Ah, thanks. So a seven-string player who was new for this album?
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Monday, 11 May 2020 16:18 (four years ago) link
Yeah. The band absolutely shredded live obv
― imago, Monday, 11 May 2020 17:06 (four years ago) link
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
― it’s been one week since you pissed on me (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 11 May 2020 18:08 (four years ago) link
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
― imago, Monday, 11 May 2020 18:19 (four years ago) link
maybe she's completely restored though - let's hope
― imago, Monday, 11 May 2020 18:21 (four years ago) link
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)
― jaime brooks (james brooks), Tuesday, 12 May 2020 21:06 (four years ago) link
I forgot that when I saw them they were opening for Acid Mothers Temple! It was like a double header, really
― mh, Tuesday, 12 May 2020 22:36 (four years ago) link
God I wish I had seen that show :(
― doktor forstus (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 01:14 (four years ago) link
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.
― screator, Wednesday, 13 May 2020 02:45 (four years ago) link