sabbath assembly - restored to one (2010)

This is a case of an album being perhaps more interesting conceptually than musically, and for that reason I've sort of been sitting on writing this review for a couple of weeks.  But it is a fairly interesting concept: a culty new-age albums of spooky religious hymns, by a band composed of some reasonably-well know indie musicians.  I only recently heard of The Process Church of the Final Judgement, in this article, which is well worth reading.  For those without the patience to check that out, The Process is a small, alternative religious movement that has historically had connections to Mick Jagger, Genesis P-Orridge, and more recently, Jex Thoth, Robert Lowe (Lichens) and Dave Nuss (No Neck Blues Band).  The later three are featured on this album.  The music is sparse, dark folk music, and depending on how you feel about religion, its an eerie listen- the band alternately appeals to God(s), Jesus Christ and Satan.  I don't really have a deep enough knowledge of acid-folk to describe what groups of that genre this sounds like, but it reminded me of a mellow Black Mountain, and at times of the Velvet Underground.  It's not a particularly dynamic record, and it is more solemn than energized- by the end of the record, I'm definitely impatient to put something else on.  But it is interesting in its own way, and certainly more appealing than most modern religious music I've heard.

six organs of admittance - luminous night (2009)

Six Organs of Admittance, AKA Ben Chasney, is back with his new album, something like... his nineteenth official solo release? Not counting split albums? On Luminous Night, Chasney continues to expand the variety of sounds he incorporates into his music, this time collaborating with musicians in his new base of operations, Seattle. His last album, the excellent Shelter From the Ash, saw him working with San Francisco musicians, including members of Comets on Fire (Noel Harmonson, with whom Chasney also collaborated with on the harsh noise album NVH/CHASNEY, in addition to their work in Comets on Fire together), The Fucking Champs (Tim Green), and Magick Markers (Elisa Ambrogio, his then-and-maybe-still-now girlfriend?). This time he worked with ex-Pearl Jam and Tori Amos drummer and current session musician Matt Chamberlain, violinist Eyvind Kang (Secret Chiefs 3, Laura Veirs, guest spots on Animal Collective and Sunn0))) records), flautist Hans Teuber (who has worked with Ani DiFranco, Kayo Dot, Sunn0))) and Secret Chiefs 3), Tor Dietrichson on tabla (Diga Rhythm Band), and pianist/electronics musician and album producer Randall Dunn (who has appeared on albums by Sunn0))), Mayhem, Wolves in the Throne Room, Earth, Grails, and many more). I don't usually pay so close attention to who the guest musicians are on an album, but I tend to in the case of Six Organs of Admittance- the reason being that Ben Chasney has been performing for so long, and released so much, under this moniker, that his recent albums have each represented a new incarnation and sound for the band. While Luminous Night isn't a major departure from his older work, it continues the trend of higher production values, more varied instrumentation, and more compact songwriting (side B of the album The Sun Awakens excepted) that has been true for his Drag City releases so far. Side A of Luminous Night is probably his most streamlined, "rock" oriented release yet, although that's not saying much, and Side B definitely takes things down a dronier path. But many songs feature Chasney's vocals, and most songs are around the five minute mark; for indie rock fans who are unfamiliar with Six Organs of Admittance, this album would be a pretty good place to start. Older Six Organs fans have probably made up their mind about the direction the band has been going in over the last few years- if you're a fan of the drone and raga, solo guitar-style Six Organs, this might not be for you (although you might like the track "The River Of Heaven"). But if you've dug the last couple of albums, you'll certainly like this one.

Six Organs of Admittance - Anesthesia
Six Organs of Admittance - Cover Your Wounds With the Sky

amps for christ - the people at large (2004)

I first encountered this album while I was researching for my radio program on 5RC. It was one of two releases AFC put out on the label, the other being Every Eleven Seconds, an album I had picked up years ago while travelling in New York. At the time, I hadn't cared much for that album- I found it too weird and too uneven. When my research forced me to go back and reconsider that album, I found it still to be very strange and hit-and-miss, and found The People at Large to be a similar experience. But this time the hits stuck out a little bit more, and that combined with Amps for Christs strange story, makes for a pretty interesting album. Before making AFC his primary project, Chris Barnes was in Man Is the Bastard (who I have to admit I haven't listened to before- are they good?)(also, did you know that Man Is the Bastard's last release was a split with Mumia Abu-Jamal on Alternative Tentacles??). Moving away from punk, Barnes continued his experiments with building amplifiers and other guitar tech, and explored a synthesis of folk and noise music in Amps for Christ. Its totally schizophrenic- some tracks are noisy, dissonant and unsettling, while other tracks are mellow interpretations traditional folk songs. The album doesnt really have any kind of obvious direction or flow, and kind be pretty alienating to listen to at points. But I think in the instances when all of the various influences and experimental sounds actually coalesce into something substantial, the results are pretty amazing.

Amps for Christ - AFC Tower Song
Amps for Christ - The Morlough Shore