Twenty Years Of “School Of The Flower” :: Six Organs Of Admittance
The 2005 masterpiece, “School Of The Flower,” by the West Coast-based school of tonal thought and melodic mysticism, Six Organs Of Admittance, is not only the first ‘proper’ studio release from Chasny’s already rich and cosmically calculated catalog but an album that officially turns two decades old this month. A complex contemplation on the logistics of life, the depths of death, spiritual studies, and atmospheric alchemy that follows up to the lyrical legacy and sonic structure of 2003’s “For Octavio Paz,” Chasny single-handedly established an ethereal entry into a career of gorgeous melody, poetic perfection, and ritualistic redemption. Sophisticatedly surging through the mysterious memories of past, present, and future, Six Organs Of Admittance has become an iconic institution of prolificacy that pushes boundaries way outside the world of music and deep into the fibers and layers of literature, elemental expression, and the mathematics of melody. With a body of work that quickly transcended the biblical balance of songwriting and the influential instrumentation that such musicians as John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Sandy Bull had eagerly established in the decades prior, Chasny has placed himself in great company with a whole new generation of esoteric explores that traversed the tonal landscapes of trepidation and technique, one being his late and dear friend Jack Rose.
“Bill and Jessica at Key Club did a beautiful job recording this on their Flickinger board (the same one that Sly and the Family Stone once owned). They were also into experimentation, at one point running a physical tape loop around the control room. The record cover was also my first collaboration with Steve Quenell, who would go on to do many of my record covers for Six Organs and the art on the Hexadic cards. ”
A combination of blistering brilliance and rudimentary romanticism, Chansy bends the unmade beds of kinetic kings by showcasing a masterful collection of songs like “Words For Two,” “Lisboa,” the album’s title track, and the powerful perfection of “Home” to a world far less dangerous and scary now for its mere existence. Where history collides with itself, the album was recorded on the same Flickinger board that Sly and the Family Stone once owned back in the day, simultaneously provoking the radical revolution of political prowess and the fierce freedoms of fundamental change that Chansy effortlessly channels throughout the album’s climatic cultism. “School Of The Flower” was not only Chansy’s debut on the Chicago-based label Drag City but the humble beginning of a lifelong friendship that has represented the enduring connection between artist and label that seems to be less and less these days. Recorded at the Key Club studio in Harbor, MI, the “SOTF” sessions were kicked off once the great Chris Corsano joined in on the atmospheric action to help regulate the anatomy of the room by simultaneously dialing in the sonic situations of studio stress and the sometimes lingering pressures of the environment’s economic ecosystem. A studio that would eventually become very familiar with Chasney as he recorded the 200 Years album in 2011, “School Of The Flower” echos into an existential eternity for all to hear, especially if you weren’t there during its influential inception in a much simpler and exciting time for underground/independent music.
