Yamantaka // Sonic Titan makes Buddhist-inspired music like you probably haven’t heard before; Listen online

As a Buddhist and a fan of heavy and — okay — weird music, I was pretty thrilled when a friend told me yesterday about Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, a band which, as Pitchfork.com puts it, "blends philosophies of Buddhism, meditation, and mantra with the band's love of extreme sounds like black metal, industrial, and noise. Their name, for example, pins a reference to the Buddhist deity Yamantaka with a song title from doom metal band Sleep's Dopesmoker." [A classic of the doom metal genre, in case you weren't aware.] If you're into even some of the things that YT//ST blends, you might very well like it yourself. (If not, that could be a whole 'nother story.)

After the jump: more about Yanantaka // Sonic Titan via Pitchfork, plus a video and a links (including an online stream of the bands new LP, YT//ST.

You can listen to YT//ST, the band's whole new LP, online here.

There's a video, too:

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN – COUNTING TRACK from LZKA on Vimeo.

More with the band's two performance-artist founders, via Pitchfork:

Pitchfork: What's the narrative behind your new rock opera?

Alaska B: We're Buddhists, so it's about the Buddhist concept of struggle to enlightenment. The sound started out trying to approximate the energy of rock'n'roll — that strong psychic energy that's been carried since the 50s. We had this idea that when you see Tantric Buddhists, it's people making a lot of noise together; it's this long journey where you start in one place and don't know exactly where you end. We were trying to imagine the same vibe but in the rock'n'roll context– replacing those sounds with our sounds.

Ruby Kato Attwood: Our aim when we perform is to create an empty space — a sacred space — compared to what's called the Samsaric world, which is ever-changing and full of chaos.

Check out the full Pitchfork piece, which has LOTS more to it, here. It also includes online streams of three songs.

What's your reaction to YT//ST?

(Click here to visit Yamantaka // Sonic Titan online.)

And for lots more SunSpace coverage of Buddhist music — which can really be quiet varied! — click here.

Read More @ Source

Buddha Center: Metta Meditation

Guided Metta Meditation.

Video Rating: 0 / 5



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Scholars discuss relevance of Buddha in modern world

Image
New Delhi, Nov 27 ( IANS ) More than 900 Buddhist scholars , leaders and practitioners from 46 countries Sunday began deliberating the relevance of Gautama Buddha 's teachings, 2,600 years after his enlightenment, at a four-day Global Buddhist Congregation here. The venue at Hotel Ashok sported a riot of saffron, burgundy and ceremonial colours as monks and senior lamas from 46 countries like Nepal, Vietnam, Korea, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Germany flooded the premises. In a televised message, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama , who will attend the convention Nov 30, to deliver the valedictory address, said: 'There have been many opportunities for Buddhists to come together and to discuss issues of common concerns.' 'The congregation has provided a much-needed and crucial opportunity. Now, and in the future, we need to encourage and foster an exchange of knowledge and experience among our different traditions and improve communication a
Keep reading

Buddhist temple in Westminster destroyed in early-morning fire

Image
Enduring bitter cold Monday morning, a Westminster firefighter battles a blaze at the Lao Buddhist Temple. The building was a total loss. (Steve Nehf, The Denver Post) WESTMINSTER — Brutal cold mixed with cold reality for members of the burned-out Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado on Monday as they mourned the potential loss of artifacts saved by generations of worshippers. "It's not good, it's not good at all," said an exhausted Tom Pong as dusk fell over the remnants of the temple. "There is lots of history, over 100 years of it, and it could be lost forever." Pieces charred or melted by the fire — which started just before 6 a.m. — included several Buddha figures. Worries about asbestos prevented Pong and other members of the temple from going inside to assess the damage. The temple is part of an older building that the congregation bought in the early 1980s and then expanded on a 6-acre parcel at 10685 Dover St. The older section has asbestos,
Keep reading

Danish Buddhist leader, Lama Ole, to visit in Snohomish

Image
SNOHOMISH -- An unconventional guest is coming to Snohomish County next week. Ole Nydahl, a 70-year-old Danish leader of Diamond Way Buddhism, is visiting followers here in the Pacific Northwest. Nydahl's school of thought can be described as an adaptation of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western culture, said Daria Novoselova, who will be hosting Nydahl's meeting with students in her Snohomish home. Nydahl, who is known as Lama Ole, is expected to arrive Monday. He is scheduled to give a talk at the University of Washington later that day. Novoselova, 29, felt drawn to Diamond Way Buddhism as soon as she met Nydahl. She remembers that very first lecture. She was 16 and living in Yekaterinburg, Russia, when her older brother brought her along to the lama's talk. "I immediately felt at home," she said. "I had all these ideas about the world, and, suddenly, everything came together." At the end of that lecture, she accepted a blessing
Keep reading