Europe Admits the Organs Six of Six Organs of Admittance for European Tour, TMT Writer Tries to Make Word Palindrome with Headline and Fails Miserably
By Mike McHugh on 10-17-2008
Around this time last year, I interviewed Ben Chasny, the sole permanent member of Six Organs of Admittance (and a Comet on Fire), for a different website about Six Organs’ new album Shelters from the Ash. But, being the dumbass I am, I lost the tape of the interview and never ended up publishing the interview, effectively wasting about an hour of Chasny’s valuable time and ending my short-lived career at that website. Ever since I screwed the wonderfully polite Chasny out of his press, I’ve felt super guilty about not doing my job properly and can’t really listen to Six Organs of Admittance without feeling like a real crap dude.
Recently, while digging through junk in the Sarlacc Pit that is my bedroom, I found the notebook I used for my Six Organs interview. Although my notes aren’t terribly detailed, I still have a couple of decent, albeit fairly outdated and out-of-context, tidbits of info from my “lost” Ben Chasny interview. So now, for your enjoyment and my absolution, I present to you some highlights from my shitty notes:
- Chasny first picked up acoustic guitar in defiance of punk and metal, which he saw as the two standard options for youthful musical rebellion.
- Shelter from the Ash was recorded entirely on a four-track with help from members of The Fucking Champs, Magik Markers, and guitar gun-for-hire Matt Sweeney.
- Despite constant comparisons between the two’s guitar styles, Chasny claims that John Fahey did not influence his music as nearly much as Bert Jansch or Leo Kottke; rather, Fahey’s “don’t give a shit” attitude affected Chasny’s artistic ambitions a great deal.
- According to Chasny, Current 93 mastermind David Tibet’s favorite movie is Zoolander and his favorite celebrity is Renee Zellweger. (I’m really, really glad I wrote this one down.)
There you have it! I remember having a much more interesting conversation than these notes reflect, but since I was recording the whole thing, I thought I could get away with pretty junky notetaking. So, remember this, all you budding young journalists: Always keep track of where in the hell you store your tapes, but take good notes just in case. Phew! Feels good to pass some morals onto the future!
If you’re anything like me, all these life lessons would sure go well with some good old fashioned fingerstyle guitar! You know who can help you out with that? Six Organs of Admittance! Hopefully you live in Europe though. Otherwise, I’m sure Chasny will tour the U.S. at some point in the near future, and when he does, you’ll hear about it from me, because I still have some atoning to do.
Been Dazed and Confused for So Long It’s Not True. So Long, In Fact, That All My Zeppelin Albums Have Shrunk Into CD-Sized Replicas!
By David Nadelle on 10-17-2008
Sit down, kidlings. When I was very young, right around your age now, I was invited to a birthday party hosted by a classmate from school. Given that the invitation came at the last minute and take into account my laziness/self-centredness at the time, I didn't bother to get the wee girl a gift. A quick burst of desperation had me grabbing a pile of prized Chu-Bops (miniature bubblegum records in 3'x3' replica album sleeves that were around in the 1980s) and throwing them in a bag to bring as a prezzie. The birthday party ended prematurely with me getting upset at our hostess for making fun of one of my friends. After sulking off home, my dad scolded me for giving away those little sugar albums and told me I would regret it someday. Turns out he was right; I REALLY wish I had those tiny sleeves now. The gum, not so much.
Anyway, why the palliative stroll down memory lane, you ask? Well, this childhood recollection remained deeply buried in my subconscious until I saw this cute lil' trigger. On November 4, Rhino will release a Japanese import Led Zeppelin Definite Collection Mini LP Replica CD box set to further celebrate the band's 40th anniversary. Yes, they are only exact CD versions of the original albums, but it sparked a recollection within me of a time dominated by smaller, weirder, chewable albums. You got a problem with that?
For all the tales of excess and monster sales numbers, there is always a nagging disparaging of Led Zep's work, which is fucking ludicrous if you think about it. The band's catalogue screams class, even when not ripping off forgotten blues standards. Everyone needs [Led Zeppelin-http://www.stars-portraits.com/images/portraits/stars/l/led-zeppelin/led-zeppelin-by-hoffman.jpg] in their lives at some point, and if you have the means, this (rather pricey) box might be a good option of getting the band's complete collection in one shot. It doesn't hurt that the set looks immaculate with details at a premium. All of Zeppellin's sleeve art is replicated for this collection, including: the original and second pressing artwork for their debut album (basically different colors for band and label logos), III's gatefold, rotational laminated card disc, Physical Graffiti's interchangable window illustrations (four covers of two inners, a middle insert and an outer cover), In Through the Out Door's six cover variations, and Coda's ultra-boring sleeve art.
The tracklistings remain the same to those released on these original albums: Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), Led Zeppelin IV (1971), Houses of the Holy (1973), Physical Graffiti (1975), Presence (1976), The Song Remains the Same (1976), In Through the Out Door (1979), and Coda (1980).
