Ghost

Friday, May 1

I don’t know who’s responsible for introducing LSD to the Japanese, but I’m glad they did. A collective of like-minded musicians, Ghost play free-range psychedelia. Under their cosmic spell, genre boundaries dissipate into thin air (picture Amon Duul, Blue Cheer, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Floyd, and the Velvets all hanging out in the ruins of ancient Buddhist temples). Playing off our Western obsession with the “mysteries of the Orient”, Ghost does not often tour, nor does the group record much. Thus, when it does, it feels monumental, as with 2007’s In Stormy Nights. Reveling in the act of creation, Ghost can shift from medieval wistfulness to sky-melting ferocity, the music aspiring for the heavens as the musicians attempt to steer it back to earth. Sharing the bill is our own psychedelic genre-smasher, Six Organs of Admittance (AKA Ben Chasny), who has recently completed a new record with West Seattle-based producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth) Chasny says he’s eyeing an August release date for the new jams, but it’s a good bet you can catch a preview or two tonight.

Fri., May 1, 8 p.m., 2009