Real Time Record Review: Round 2

I did a Real Time record review about a year ago for Scott Walker’s The Drift. I had fun doing it, but then I just flat out forgot that I ever did it. Being in Seattle has given me the opportunity to go to the local Library and amass a large amount of albums. I figured that since I have some time and a whole lot of unheard albums, it would be high time to resurrect this little feature.

Album: The Sun Awakens (2006)

Artist: Six Organs of Admittance

Background: I’ve very passively listened to Six Organs of Admittance in the past. It’s really just one dude, Ben Chasny, who is now a fulltime member of the mega-awesome Comets on Fire. Organs was initially lumped in with the freak folk movement of a couple years ago, along with Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart, Espers, etc., but if I remember correctly, Chasny’s stuff is more like an update of John Fahey’s freeform acoustic noodlings. Campfire prog, perhaps. I think Lara might even occasionally use this stuff for massage. Who knows, though. I could be wrong about all of this.

Date: July 3, 2007

Time: 11:44am

Track 1: “Torn By Wolves” 1:42

Cool title. The song opens with these really nice, liquid, electric guitar lines. It’s like Comets on Fire’s “Lucifer’s Memory” except without being a blues ballad and without any vocals. There’s a nice low end beneath the guitar that really adds to the sonic quality. It’s just an intro track, nothing to really write home about, but it’s an announcement that I should be pleased that I’m listening to this album really loud with some nice big headphones.

Track 2: “Bless Your Blood” 5:57

These track titles slay. I feel like I should be listening to Pig Destroyer or something. This is more of the acoustic sound that I’m used to. Big, slow chords that could soundtrack a slow motion prairie storm. Ooh, dude’s kinda singing now. It’s not really melodic, Chasny doesn’t sound like he has a huge vocal range. His voice has some effects on it (would “sinewy” be the right word?); it’s slightly spooky, not scary. Some nice background vocals and a little flute certainly help. It’s really good, very atmospheric, but totally nice.

Track 3: “Black Wall” 5:29

A killer little acoustic riff opens the song and then…Vroom! Electric guitars start to build. This song, moreso than the last, has some killer vocals. They’re double-tracked and sound vaguely like the Iron and Wine dude singing a Comets on Fire track. I’ll try to limit my references to Comets, but damned if this song doesn’t sound like a more restrained version of the Santa Cruz rockers. Oh yes! The distortion is in full effect and I am digging the shit out of this song. I’ll admit, “Bless Your Blood” was a little whatever, but this song wails. Chasney is just letting rip a vicious solo, it’s all fuzzed out and psychedelic and I’m sold.

Track 4: “The Desert is a Circle” 2:57

After the psychedelic slow cooker that was “Black Wall,” what better way to cleanse the palate than with a slightly spaghetti western acoustic track (imagine a happy, shorter version of Ween’s “Buenos Tardes Amigo”). Some vocals come in and they’re really pretty and cool. After the last song, “Desert” really works. Now back to the rock…

Track 5: “Attar” 2:53

…Acoustic rock, that is. The sad thing is, if you listen to this song in a certain way, you can kind of hear “Hole Hearted” by early 90’s metal poseurs Extreme. But that’s mean. Listening to “Attar” makes me visualize a montage of either a bunch of over-muscled men preparing for battle or a bunch of rocks falling off a cliff. But here comes more of that wicked-fuzzy psychedelic electric. Kick ass. It’s like if Dungen were playing in a field somewhere with a bunch of rocks falling on them and a bunch of over-muscled army man coming to kick their asses. Most awesome.

Track 6: “Wolves’ Pup” 1:50

Wait, I’ve heard this song before. Ah yes, it’s an acoustic version of track one. I like it when bands do cover versions of their own songs. Like when lame rock bands play acoustic versions of their mega hit hard rock tunes. Except this song wasn’t originally that hard, it was actually really soft. But this one’s even softer. So that’s kind of cool, I guess.

Track 7: “River of Transfiguration” 23:50

Did you read that? Twenty-four freaking minutes. I could watch an episode of Night Court in that kind of time. This one’s all low bass hum and didgeridoo noodling to start. It’s gonna go somewhere though. I just know it.

Ok, we’re six minutes in and some snare shots have started to come through, as well as the odd gong and heavily-effected guitar noodle. And here comes the vocals, very druid-life. Is this Six Organs of Admittance or Sunn 0)))? It’s 24 minutes long, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that this is a bit of a slow burn. It’s building, with the distortion levels increasing and the drumming getting more spidery. But still, I’m at 15 minutes now and there has yet to be that “release” that these kinds of songs have. Not that it necessarily needs a release, per se. I’m all about creating atmospherics. This one was neat and droney, but it kind of reminded me of Deerhoof’s Friend Opportunity (note: The Sun Awakens was released over a year ago, so it predates the Deerhoof album) in that the album ending jam is a lot of fun, but it’s all the songs leading up that makes up most of the album’s awesomeness.

In Conclusion: I dug it. A couple of the songs were really great. The psychedelic tracks appealed to me the most. Chasny’s acoustic playing is exquisite, but I’m really more enamored with the clean and distorted tones of his electric work. I can definitely see myself throwing a few of these songs on a few casual party mixes. This gets six turnips and eleven peach slices out of five stars.