Ange Loft | TOM BEEDHAM

YT//ST’s UZU release party an immersive, media synthesizing experience
Tom Beedham

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan singer Ange Loft wears a large head ornament for a theatrical portion of the group’s ‘UZU’ release show at The Garrison in Toronto on Nov. 6. Photo: Tom Beedham

Having satisfied the first half of its split residency’s homecoming in Montreal on Oct. 29 – the same day its sophomore LP UZU dropped via Paper Bag/Suicide Squeeze – Yamantaka // Sonic Titan (YT//ST) staved off some of its other hometown’s jealousy Nov. 6 when it face-painted its way onto the stage at Dundas West volume den The Garrison.

Concert photos (story continues below):

And if fans were expecting a “safe” set devoted to the collective’s (sort of) eponymous 2012 Polaris-shortlisted debut, only peppered with glimpses of their new album, they were sorely mistaken. November 6 was for UZU, and that album first. So much so, that they played it all front-to-back. The only exception was the album’s late act instrumental “Bring Me The Hand of Bloody Benzaiten,” positioned instead as the night’s lower stage-personneled set intro, which served the dual purposes of ushering singers Ange Loft and Ruby Kato Attwood through the crowd and onto the stage and whisking the audience away to another place entirely.

The group’s debut album still got some play through, though – YT//ST gave fans “Queens,” “Hoshi Neko,” and “A Star Over Pureland” in the encore (full setlist below). But the concentration on the newer work was anything but rejected. Following YT//ST, UZU sees the band embarking on another adventure of “other” (emphasis on those quotes, dammit) worldly proportions, and one that deserves to get the spotlight just as much as its precursor did when that was all the rock group iteration of YT//ST had.

It’s not like YT//ST sprung the newer material on its audiences out of nowhere, either. The group has worked at making cuts contained on UZU staples of its live performances since at least January of this year.

No one (save YT//ST, presumably) seemed to mind that some literal forces were working against the band that night, either.

Admitting to having a cold early on in the set, Attwood sipped on a 7/11 tea all night – poorly executed “product placement,” drummer Alaska B suggested, jesting they’d get bigger money for bringing taquitos onstage – but the singer’s vocals never seemed to fail, and when it finally came to UZU’s fragile closer “Saturn’s Return” (made all the more penetrating following the surreally raging “One”) Attwood had the room spellbound.

Pulling out all of the stops, the entire night was executed with the DIY media synthesizing grin YT//ST has become known for – we got the pre- and mid-set theatrical portions (the latter featuring Ange Loft wearing a black costume with a large head ornament while miming Attwood’s words to part of “Seasickness”), a special light show, and several black and white anime-referencing set decorations – but that quiet and minimal moment explained how even when the (sometimes literally) frilly Gesamtkuntswerk of a YT//ST concert is stripped away, the music is the most enchanting stuff.

Setlist
“Bring Me The Hand of Bloody Benzaiten”
“Atlanta”
“Whale Song”
“Lamia”
“Windflower”
“Hall of Mirrors”
“Sea Sickness (pts 1 and 2)”
“One”
“Saturn’s Return”
Encore
“Queens”
“Hoshi Neko”
“A Star Over Pureland”

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan performs new material at Hillside Festival

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan performed a new, unidentified song at Hillside Festival in Guelph, Ont. July 27. Photo: Tom Beedham

Apparently having left the black and white dragon puppet they memorably snaked through the crowd at their last appearance in Guelph and other recent performances, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan’s roughly 40-minute Hillside set was less about the theatrics the art collective has been given attention for and more about the music.

The group nodded at Noh and kabuki theatre with their characteristic face paint and lead singer Ruby Kato Attwood’s fan dancing, but that wasn’t all stuff the audience took in as the group played through its set, only breaking to introduce songs or express gratitude.

Having released their self-titled debut LP in 2011, the group has otherwise only released a single, “Lamia,” via the 2012 edition of the Adult Swim Singles Program, but YT//ST still managed to go beyond providing performances of the aforementioned single and YT//ST staples like “Hoshi Neko,” “Queens,” and “Reverse Crystal Murder of a Spider” when they gave their performance at the Island Stage.

Sure, all of those songs made it into the mix, but the group also served up a cover of Japanese super-group PYG’s “Hana Taiyo Ame,” and piqued interests with a new, unidentified song featuring lead vocals from YT//ST regular Ange Loft. Referring to the group’s honorific as a character, Loft sang of “Yama looking back at me” on the track, which boasted heavier, more metal-leaning instrumentals than other songs the group featured on their debut.

Pair the output of that performance with the group’s announcement of a signing with Suicide Squeeze in April, and perhaps we can anticipate some new recorded material from this group in the near future.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan also performed a special collaborative workshop with AroarA on the Sun Stage at Hillside Festival.

TOM BEEDHAM

Arts & Culture Writer/Photographer

Tag Archives: Ange Loft

Concert review: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan @ The Garrison – Toronto, ON | Nov. 6, 2013

Hillside reviews: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan at Guelph Lake Conservation Area- Island Stage – July 27, 2013