Never mind the blowups; never mind the bad vibes, man; never mind Nevermind. Be here now because Ben Chasny has hit some kind of bucolic-psych nirvana as Six Organs of Admittance and with his eighth or so album and first studio recording, School of the Flower. It's so awesome that I tried to squeeze it, somehow, onto a best-of-2004 list: at the moment of intake, it just seemed to eclipse a lot of other discs from that year. And to its credit, dozens of listens later, that feeling lingers. It's a subtle yet affecting sense of pleasure that has to do with the way Chasny's repeating guitar lines play off Chris Corsano's splashy drum work on the title track. Feedback groans to the fore, unraveling into a grinding, snarled, noisy little lead that seems to emanate from an art academy-damaged Jimmy Page. The mood: John Fahey attends a school of free-form FM rock. Or sets up housekeeping in the Houses of the Holy. Chasny's Six Organs is working on rising above those points on the map, and he reserves the intensity for instrumentals like the opening interlude, "Eighth Cognition," and tends to save the prettiness for vocal numbers such as "Thicker than Smokey." Too disinterested in easy, marketable answers to be pop, too fascinated by noise's quieter residue to be rock, too ominous to make good background Muzak for a massage, School doesn't really want to go back to the garden – for good. Rather, it seems to ask us to meditate on a lotus and get a whiff of a blossoming power. Six Organs of Admittance performs Feb. 3, Cafe du Nord, S.F. (415) 861-5016. (Kimberly Chun)

Marginal Prophets
Bohemian Rap CD (self-released)

In the world of hip-hop, which sometimes clearly defines genre lines, San Francisco's Marginal Prophets know exactly where they stand. The five-member group borrow from the old-school, socially conscious rap of Grandmaster Flash and the fusion styles of OutKast and the Roots while leaving alone the booty pop and gangsta rap. Bohemian Rap CD, the group's second full-length, opens with "Beatloaf," a classic set of clunky sampled beats that features conscious lyrics that rationalize, "I got a mouth to feed / To turn it out to see / I got a shout to beat / You never doubt the need." Inclined to surprise rather than attack, the group throw in curveball tracks that show their versatility and interests. "The Ladies" is a jazzy, finger-snapping tribute to the female kind with David Hipshman filling in the sparse background with sax and flute. "Comin' to Get You" is a fusion of rock guitar, scratching by DJ Quest, and electro samples that are offset by a funk beat, minus the pop trap many hip-hop contemporaries are apt to fall into. The Marginal Prophets don't conform to the times, and yet they manage to provide something for everyone. (Stephanie Laemoa)

Von Iva
Von Iva (Cochon)

"I'll tell you something you don't know – we got soul," Jillian Iva brags on Von Iva's self-titled debut EP. "I'll tell you one thing more – it's genuine for sure!" She ain't blowing smoke, either. Since spring 2003, the San Francisco quartet have made a name for themselves by transforming the city's clubs into full-on disco infernos each time they take the stage with their soul-fueled rock 'n' roll fun. After hearing exhilarating, aptly titled songs like "Solid Gold" and "Feel It!," locals would be hard-pressed to find an act more adept at turning crowds into delirious, sweat-soaked dervishes. For these refreshingly unironic ladies, setting the dance floor on fire isn't just important – it's all that's important. Incredibly, their invigorating live energy translates on the superb Von Iva. Throughout these six bottom-heavy songs, keyboardist Bex, bassist Elizabeth Davis-Simpson (ex-7 Year Bitch), and drummer Lay Lay von Guthier bang out relentlessly booty-baiting grooves while Iva wails like the disco-obsessed daughter of a preacher man. "I got a hundred million different ways to get down," she promises on "Soulshaker," her girl-gone-wild vocals recalling those of Little Eva. "I'll turn you out and spin you around, I'm gonna turn your world all upside down." You better believe it too. (Jimmy Draper)

Tim Bluhm
California Way (Fog City)
Martin Dory
The Vanishing Act (self-released)

Throw a burrito, lumpia, or spring roll in any direction in the Bay Area, and you're going to hit a transplant. Few of us are from here, yet we're all obsessed with our identity out west – that's just the "California way," as Tim Bluhm might put it. So for we nouveau Californians comes "Transplant Song," and judging from the Golden State pride on display on California Way, I'd say Bluhm was a strong candidate for singing poet laureate. The frontperson for the Mother Hips, a surfing fiend, coastal wanderer, and sometime Yosemite guide, Bluhm has a wonderful – OK, even Cali – way with a song. The title track's "Steinbeck's Eden is dry and dusty / The wind groans of greener days / The well pump handle has long since rusted / The wind, fall rain, and valley haze. / So just keep going, wild honey / Somewhere northward of Monterey. / Up above the fog gets sunny / One more wonderful summer day" knits together the state's geography and an emotional landscape in the way that some good environmental art seems to, especially when Bluhm goes on to add some country gothic, dispelling the last line's throwaway cheese. The roving progeny of Gram Parsons, George Jones, Gordon Lightfoot, and maybe even Townes Van Zandt, Bluhm is getting better with age, experience, and shoe leather.

Martin Dory is less stripped-down than Bluhm, but he has a similar knack with a tune. Those with a low tolerance for, say, the warble of Tindersticks' Stuart Staples will want to make themselves scarce when The Vanishing Act pops up on a player. For others, however, who happen to love the tremulous, twinkling sound of wildly veering vibrato crashing up against lazy accordion and acoustic guitar, Dory is the act for you, displaying a Smiths-ish heart on the sprightly "Second Man" and slicing up some bleak C&W on "Holes." Tim Bluhm performs Jan. 28, Swedish American Hall, S.F. (415) 861-5016. Martin Dory performs Thurs/20, Red Devil Lounge, S.F. (415) 921-1695. (Chun)

Mail stuff for review to Sarah Han, Bay Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., S.F. CA 94107.