I saw Ben Chasny - Six Organs of Admittance's core member - once, opening for pre-eminent Japanese psych-rockers Ghost. It was just him and a guitar, and he just sort of played it and belted out some falsetto...vocalizations. It was a bit underwhelming, considering all I had heard about SOoA, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Fortunately, his latest major release, School of the Flower, opens his sound up quite a bit. Basically what we have here is eight tracks of immaculately conceived and performed folk guitar, with occasional vocals. On its own, that would be all well and good. The secret weapon in Chasny's arsenal here is drummer Chris Corsano - he blows these tracks wide open with his distinctive style (think Glenn Kotche of Wilco in his more unhinged moments, a la Loose Fur, but even more unhinged and with much more raw power).

Corsano opens the record with a one-minute or so drum solo that constitutes the opening of "Eighth Cognition/All You've Left." The song seamlessly transforms into an aching, beautiful tune by Chasny. The short, sweet "Words for Two" follows, a perfect segue into this all-to-short album's final six tracks. "Saint Cloud" is an aggressive piece of finger-picking guitar work matched with Corsano's drumming, and if a piece of music was ever deserving of the word "hypnotic," it is this one. Beautiful atmospheric touches float in and out of the mix as the track evolves and pulsates with passion and beauty.

The album continues in this was on the next two tracks, "Procession of Cherry Blossom Spirits" (which is as beautiful as its title would suggest) and "Home" (probably the most abrasive track on the album, but still gorgeous in its own way). Then the album's namesake - "School of the Flower" - is unleashed. A never-tedious thirteen-and-a-half-minute track that is completely jaw-dropping. As the central composition on the record, this song is truly something to hear again and again. Every time one approach seems to has worn out its welcome, a new element is introduced and then transformed. One of the most beautiful and organic pieces of solo acoustic guitar work I have had the pleasure to hear.

The album closes with two shorter tracks, "Thicker than a Smokey" and "Lisboa," which are beautiful little come-downs required after such a monumental listen as the title track. School of the Flower is an album so deceptively simple in its approach, that the level of sophistication, restraint, and sheer beauty on offer in its short running time is profound. Certainly one of the finer releases of this past year, School of the Flower is a record for everyone.

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