After seeing scores of press photos that cemented my preconceptions-- held truly and steadily since 2002's Dark Noontide brought Six Organs of Admittance to my attention--of Ben Chasny as a shrouded, scruffy and exotic desert wanderer, it came as a surprise to see Chasny take the stage on Sunday clean-cut, clean-shaven, and donning a collared shirt. Chasny and his two touring band members began their set with the tone generator squelching and rumbling, drummer Noel Von Harmonson interchanging staccato shots and chaotic fills, and Chasny himself half-crouched and kinked at the waist, thrusting dramatically to a rhythm that wouldn't be made apparent to the audience until some minutes later. Those preconceptions of mine immediately became both embarrassing and irrelevant.

Six Organs of Admittance's second album Dust and Chimes, released in 1999, showed a remarkable growth and focus compared to its self-titled predecessor (released only a year earlier in 1998). Each successive album Six Organs has essentially followed suit, with every release the focus becomes a little more acute and, as a result, almost every album is better than the one(s) that preceded it. In light of the recent attention given to comparable 'freak-folk' acts--Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective and Vetiver--this places Six Organs near to the front of the pack.

Slowly, Six Organs' obsession with arid middle-eastern soundscapes has given way to a focus on writing music that is, ironically, more adventurous. With The Sun Awakens Chasny has made his sharpest change in direction and recorded what is his most accessible album to date. Dust and Chimes and Dark Noontide both play like unabashed products of dry desert caravans replete with hand-drums, tambourines, and guitars finger-picked at the bridge. Need I mention chimes? The Sun Awakens experiments with pianos, clean electric guitar and easily discernible melodies all anchored by the unsettling sense of wanderlust that Chasny has become master of. 'Torn By Wolves', 'Bless your Blood' and the Morricone-esque 'The Desert Is a Circle' are all strikingly lucid and quietly plangent rather than frenetically droney.

Finding out that a favorite artist of yours is playing at the Media Club can invoke a little anxiety. Minus the Bear and Subtle performances at said venue both suffered because of cramped stage space, low ceilings and difficult viewing conditions. Being that the Six Organs show was only to have three band members (including Chasny), coupled with the fact that Six Organs are the type of group that are better seen in an intimate setting, the venue didn't completely stifle the show. Between Chasny's moans, drones and spastic conducting, Von Harmonson's strangely amateur-looking drum style and Steve Quenell doing whatever it was he was doing (there was a bow and a tone generator) there was enough to watch. But, as I hinted above, excitement was not on the list of the evening's expectations.

Six Organs' set consisted of pretty much every good song from The Sun Awakens and School of the Flower. Highlights included an exceptionally throaty rendition of 'Hum a Silent Prayer' (from Compatithia), 'Home' and Chasny's solo encore performance of 'Eighth Cognition/All You Need'. Sadly, 'Bless Your Blood'--my most anticipated song--lost much of its impact underneath Quenell's noise generation and Chasny's dryly distorted Telecaster.

For an act as prolific as Six Organs of Admittance, it seemed as if Sunday's performance ended quickly, but perhaps that in itself is a measure of a good set. In some ways Six Organs was less enthralling, less captivating and less moving than I had hoped; but those hopes were massively high, and to say that I left disappointed would be far from the truth. Most of the crowd, including the token dude that was having a transcendental neck seizure, seemed to agree.