PARALLELOGRAMS

Now here's an example of a real slow burner. LINDA PERHACS was a psychedelic folk singer with an angelic voice who composed eleven tracks for her debut album PARALLELOGRAMS which came out in 1970. Originally released on Kapp Records the album went completely ignored and garnered absolutely no attention upon release mostly due to the fact like many record companies of the day Kapp did zilch in terms of promotion. So discouraged was LINDA by the whole thing that she called it quits and set her goal to the more realistic career as a dental technician. As practical as she was nothing could have forewarned her that she laid down a cult classic that would garner attention slowly over the next 30 years and then a sudden surge in popularity in the 2000s due to a movement called New Weird America which is a group obsessed with all things psychedelic that were sitting in the vaults of history awaiting rediscovery. After this sudden surge in popularity after so much time LINDA finally released a 2nd album in 2014.

The music is often listed as progressive folk and it is to a certain extent in the arrangements and additional layers of sounds and vocalizations but it is only moderately so. It is more of an organic singer / songwriter kind of folk music that reminds me a bit of Joni Mitchell in the music department but her beautiful singing ability really makes me think of Ann Wilson of Heart especially on the acoustic folk-laden album "Dog & Butterfly." This is a pleasant little album where her vocal abilities are the star but the music itself perfectly backs it up. The psychedelic label attached may seem misguided when you give this a spin as it sounds like simple folk at first but as the album progresses there are some interesting developments especially on the title track. This definitely has a hippie vibe to the whole thing. It evokes the feel of a time of idealism and innocence of rural pastoral lands where people share their love of the Earth and nature and the desire to celebrate the world in the drop-out cultures that often resulted in communes of the day.

Albums like PARALLELOGRAMS only show how the big bang of creativity that was the late 60s and early 70s left an overwhelmed music loving population unable to digest every single thing that was released especially if it was scrapped immediately after its first pressing. Continuous thanks to the record labels who are reviving such long lost treasures like this one which show an angel sent from heaven to deliver her gift to the world only to have her wings clipped and forced to find an alternative way to get by in the world. In the case of LINDA PERHACS I do believe that it was a great loss for the world indeed. Luckily after many years of even trying to locate LINDA she was finally located and she shared the master tapes of this album and it has been completely restored and remastered.

Linda Perhacs - Parralellograms (1970)

In the age of internet obscurities come to be rediscovered, like this sole record of Linda Perhacs from the beginning of the seventies. Here listed in the progressive folk section, I would discribe it as mellow songwriters folk with mild psychedelic influences on some tracks. More then an early seventies record I would call it a light sixties recording.

A clear authentic female voice, an acoustic guitar, songs in which the silence is a main instrument and some arrangements with rhythm and wind sections. It doesn't matter how loud you play this, it's still intimate and soothing. All songs sound interesting and original, but the performance is the thing that stands out. Somehow Linda Perhacs is really out there, full of soul and love.

The recording showcases a minimal approach and everything has a function. Even some vocal dubs are used with a distinctive effect in mind, not just to fill up the space. My vinyl-reptrint on Kapp sound allright, but I can imagine a better remaster being done.

Conclusion. If you like that late sixties soulful intimate folk sound this is a real flawless gem. For progressive folk look elsewhere, I'm actually a bit surprised this record can be found on progarchives. Well then, four stars. This will possibly become a personal favorite.

Parallelograms (1970) is an album that just knocked my socks off from the first listen. This is really everything I look for in a folk album, though the music leans psychedelic, there is without a doubt plenty of progressive elements in the mix. The music is often minimalist, but is generally heavily layered with these very flowing vocal harmonies and subtleties. Most of the songs are led by acoustic guitars but there's actually a lot of different instruments and even electronics used all over the album. The opener Chimicum Rain has such an earthy and organic atmosphere that's really echoed in most of if not all of the following tracks. A couple minutes into the song it starts showing the first signs of some of the darker, more experimental psychedelia this album ends up dipping its feet in on later tracks. Call of the River and Sandy Toes showcase that as great as the vocal harmonies are, the melodies are equally as great throughout and often carry a lot of emotion. That brings me to the next track and one that really caught me off guard and that's the title track. This is a truly unsettling and perhaps even scary piece of music if you're not expecting it. The song opens with these very layered, intricate twisting vocal harmonies somewhat reminding me of Gentle Giant. However, unexpectedly the middle of the song just melts into absolute psychedelic avant garde chaos with these offbeat, somewhat menacing, dissonant vocals on top of a bunch of electronic sound effects and subtle instrumentals. What's really noteworthy during this section are the strange progressive production and panning techniques used almost similar to something like Pink Floyds "On The Run" from a few years down the line. There's a great term I could use to describe this song but to keep it PG, it's an absolute mindfork. Even when the main theme from the first couple minutes of the song fades in it doesn't matter cause you've already been transported to another universe. Anyways, the quality of music just doesn't drop on this album and every song is distinct and interesting. The closing track "Delcious" is another favorite of mine, the singing, hook and general flow of the song is just beautiful and it just leaves you feeling completely satisfied.

A hidden gem and one of my all time favorites, don't sleep on it! 5 Stars.

A once-lost Psychedelic Masterpiece and Essential Listen of Beauty, Grace and Love

In an absolutely stunning show of unabashed and everlasting experimentation, but also just pure, human beauty, Linda Perhacs opens her once-short-lived music career with 1970's Parallelograms. Produced, mastered and pressed in the most terrible way conceivable and then also promoted most disrespectfully limited, this avant-garde and Psychedelic Folk masterpiece was nearly lost to time... It was following this initial release that she herself threw out her own copy of her own debut album and returned to her career as a dental hygienist...

Thanks to the understandable and increasing love for her work, crap-pressings aside, by those, most notably, from the region and folk scene of LA where she did and still does reside (specifically Topanga Canyon), Parallelograms subsequently became a cult classic. She was purportedly approached after a not-so-pleasing reissue (according to Pitchfork, a headphones-unlistenable CD version of the already poor-quality originals) to release a remastered version of this, her debut. The quality was enhanced all the further by recordings she had in her home. What a gift!

Since then, thanks to further encouragement from admittedly much younger Canyon peers and eventually would-be modern Prog maestro Fernando Perdomo with whom she then worked (you can see from my not-too-old reviews how I view his early discography...), she released her second album, The Soul of All Natural Things, in 2014. It was issued via Sufjan Stevens' label Asthmatic Kitty. In 2017, she followed that album with an album whose cover I actually recognized: I'm a Harmony.

Aside from the partially terribly produced but frankly really cool "Porcelain Baked-Over Cast-Iron Wedding", the current 2014 reissue, available I assume everywhere, is really an image of beauty and grace. I am truly blessed by it today. From the cascading and stunning "Chimacum Rain" that starts off the affair, other such classics in Folksy singer-songwriter include "Dolphin", the Joni Mitchell-esque "Sandy Toes", "Hey, Who Really Cares", the light-orchestral "Morning Colors" and the finale, "Delicious". Psychedelic, even avant-garde in nature, are the following: "Call of the River, the at once quieted psychedelia then haunting experimentalism of "Parallelograms", and the would-be-Björk-esque Raga "Moons and Cattails" (honestly reminds me of "Donkey Jaw" off the first America album). "Paper Mountain Man", as is the aforementioned "Porcelain...", is an excellent, rockin' Folk Rock number. Very riveting and almost funky.

Don't miss this one. It's beautiful and expansive.

American singer songwriter with a voice and style reminiscent of Joni Mitchell's Blue period, Anne Wilson's acoustic torch singer side, and early Suzanne Vega. She has one of those voices that would vault her into the pantheon of the best female folk singers à la Joni, Judy Collins, Maddy Prior, Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, Judy Dyble, Barbara Gaskin, Clodagh Simonds, Amanda Parsons, Máire Brennan, Loreena McKennitt, and Tirill Mohn.

1. "Chimacum Rain" (3:20) great introduction to such a clear, pristine sound recording. Linda's breathy, airy vocal approach is an immediate winner--but then you get the multi-track injections of other voices to augment the "rain" word. Gorgeous! Then there is a shift at 1:40 to a different motif that sounds like Suzanne Vega until the eerie psychedelic elements bring in an ANNETTE PEACOCK feel. Definitely a top three song. (9.25/10)

2. "Paper Mountain Man" (3:10) blues. Not my favorite. (8.333/10)

3. "Dolphin" (2:53) a moving, angelic vocal performance. (8.875/10)

4. "Call of the River" (3:46) opens like a Jimmy Webb song over which Linda spreads her airy vocals like a cool breeze on a hot day. The more quick-dictated chorus section is more reminiscent of what would become one of SUZANNE VEGA's signature styles. (8.875/10)

5. "Sandy Toes" (2:52) with full electrified combo of bongs, electric guitars, electric bass, and her voice doubled up. (8.75/10)

6. "Parallelograms" (4:32) two acoustic guitars gently picked while Linda's multi-tracks vocals weave in and around each other. Weird dramatic/cinematic Alice in Wonderland-like psychedelic freak out starting at the two-minute mark. The song returns to the opening motif at 3::40 as if nothing had happened. Great song and vocals despite weird interlude in the middle. (9/10)

7. "Hey, Who Really Cares?" (2:35) ethereal voice sung over gently picked acoustic guitars, perfect bass guitar play, and some Wurlitzer organ. A top three. (4.75/5)

8. "Moons and Cattails" (4:02) more fare on the Beatnik blues side of the folk spectrum. Interesting vocal affectations. (8.6667/10)

9. "Morning Colors" (4:34) opens sounding so much like JONI MITCHELL at her most personal and introspective. The great British folk chanteuses also come to mind--especially when Linda hits and holds those crystalline high notes. Even the lyrical content and delivery feel so Joni-like--though occasionally I find myself (in the lower notes) right inside the SUZANNE VEGA camp. Flute and saxophone interplay is a nice touch. (Is it more than a coincidence that song's final word--carried on a long held high note--is "blue"?) (8.875/10)

10. "Porcelain Baked-Over Cast-Iron Wedding" (3:59) muted drums, electric bass and picked guitar with acoustic guitars (including a 12-string) over which Linda sings a more aggressive/acerbic Joni-Annette Peacock vocal performance. (8.75/10)

11. "Delicious (4:07) the delicate side of Linda: frail, angelic high pitched voice with one sole acoustic guitar in support. Linda's gift to posterity that is comparable to PETER, PAUL AND MARY's "Wedding Song." Absolute musical perfection. My final top three song. (10/10)

Total Time 39:50

B+/4.5 stars; a sonic and performance masterpiece of folk music that isn't quite proggy enough to qualify for the "masterpiece" status within the Prog umbrella. HIGHLY recommended for ALL music lovers.