Six Organs of Admittance, “Actaeon’s Fall (Against the Hounds), Luminous Night (Drag City, forthcoming, August 2009)
Shelter from the Ash was one of the best albums of 2007. Its sheets-of-sound pouring from Ben Chasny’s guitars, electric and acoustic, created an atmosphere of sustained beauty throughout its 42 minutes. Chasny is capable of intense guitar histrionics, but he also knows how to rein it in and create mood, churning figures of repetition and meditation. Some corners called it mannered, as if it was a gentrified version of folk-minimilist-meets-maximalist rock. Taken on its own, this is a defeatest responce: it cohered, and spoke its own language, and really that is enough for any work of art.
This new album continues the flowering, flowing brilliance of Shelter from the Ash, building mantras out of guitars and percussion. Accompanied by Eyvind Kang on viola and Hans Tueber on alto flute, Chasny weaves his characteristic acoustic and electric guitar structures through 42 minutes of swirling, churning songs. There’s a decided 60s psychedelic vibe as often with his compositions, but a thoroughly modern approach too, with influences apparent from the Reichian world view as well as, well, the world view in general. It is, simply, a gorgeous, skilled record.
Drag City
Six Organs of Admittance Official Site
