Hope to see you at the BBiB Record Club on Saturday (April 16th). One of the following records will be played, and one other…perhaps chosen by you. RSVP and send your record suggestions to beyondbeyondisbeyond@gmail.com…
The great Mexican Summer Records has just released the version of cult psych folk singer, Linda Perhacs’ one and only album, the way that Linda herself hoped it would be released originally. It may have taken forty years, but now Linda and the rest of us lucky listeners can hear and see her album the way it was meant to be heard and seen. I will be talking to Linda about the album and about her life on the next Beyond Beyond is Beyond show on East Village Radio, so come on along and take the trip with me…
Beyond Beyond is Beyond live on East Village Radio, Thursday noon-2pm ET
UPDATE: LISTEN TO THE ARCHIVED INTERVIEW HERE!
About Parallelograms from Mexican Summer’s website:
Mexican Summer is beyond psyched to present a hefty, heavy gatefold edition of Linda Perhacs’s lone album, Parallelograms. On the strength of this single album, recorded in 1970, Linda Perhacs remains a towering figure in the world of psychedelia, folk, female singer-songwriters, and acid-visionaries alike. Lauded by artists as diverse as Daft Punk, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and Swedish metal band Opeth, in the 21st century, her album remains a testament to her singularity of vision.
Born Linda Arnold in northern California, Perhacs spent her childhood amid the region’s giant redwoods. By the time she entered college at USC in the late 60s, she was oblivious to Flower Power and instead focused on a degree in dental hygiene. After graduating, Perhacs took up residence in the infamous Laurel Canyon area and began writing the songs that would make up Parallelograms at her kitchen table. Inspired by the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, the dolphins at play in the Sea of Cortez became “Dolphins,” while a storm on the Olympic Peninsula led to “Chimacum Rain.” It was a dental patient of hers, Academy Awards-winning film composer Leonard Rosenman, who asked to hear her demos and soon landed her a record deal. While driving home late one night, she had a vision of light that became the album’s centerpiece, “Parallelograms.”
Ignored upon its initial release, Parallelograms seemingly sank without a trace, and Perhacs gave up making music for the next forty years. Psych fans the world over unearthed and began to obsess over this album in the meantime: a spine-tingling blend of crystalline vocal melodies from Perhacs, mind-expanding sound effects, and on the title track, one of the finest aural hallucinations ever captured, equal parts “sound sculpture” and “visual music.” Open up Parallelograms and enter Linda Perhacs’ magical world.
- Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms on Mexican Summer
- East Village Radio
- Beyond Beyond is Beyond archive page
…everybody’s got a CMJ story, right? So here’s mine.
Thursday afternoon, I was lucky enough to have two bands (The Amazing and The Blakes) on my East Village Radio show. Both bands played a couple live tunes and sounded fan-fukkin’-tastic! Actually, you can check out the post-show roundup via this here link… The Amazing and The Blakes on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on 10/22/09 (there’s even a couple great YouTube videos of the two Amazing songs).
Then, Thursday night, the good folks at Kemado/Mexican Summer Records were kind enough to have me out at their soiree in my old neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, where I got nice and toasted with the guys from The Amazing. ‘Twas a blast of a time. And Farmer Dave Scher played a pleasing set to an intimate group of pretzel-eaters.
Friday night led me to some great adventures. Mind you, my CMJ path is anything but typical…as I never even saw Surfer Blood play once! Not only that, I typically have to work weeknights, so I just can’t be doing that shit all week long. Not to mention that my liver wouldn’t be able to handle more than the 3 days that I did!
Read on to find out how Chris Squire fits into this equation…
Sometimes a band comes along who reminds you that not all of the good music has already been made. Unfortunately there’s way much more crappy novelty. But when we look back in 10, 15, 20 years on the ground-breaking and lasting music from this era, we will certainly be listening again to Animal Collective.
I just ordered Animal Collective’s new Merriweather Post Pavilion album on 180 gram gatefold vinyl, and all record labels should take note. First of all, it’s a band that are true musical artists with longevity. Huh? Wha? Yeah, remember that crazy notion? And there is really no one else in Animal Collective’s league. They’re not indie, they’re not rock, they’re not electronica, they’re not jam… they’ve created their own thing.
Secondly, the vinyl was released today, January 6th, two weeks before the official release of the CDs and iTunes downloads. How cool is that? And of course, inside the vinyl is a download card which entitles you to download the mp3s or wav files. It costs a bit more, $22.98, but I don’t care because I will pay extra for exactly what I want! That’s what the major labels had forgetten. They just wanted to charge a lot for everything across the boards. No thanks. That’s not what I want.
And lastly, I heard the last track from this album from some music promo site, which was streaming it a few weeks ago, and I knew I had to have this record. Granted, I have been an Animal Collective fan pretty much since the band started in 2000 and was making a lot of very out-there music. And I bought those ‘out-there’ albums because I heard something going on underneath that was truly sublime and original. And now, I feel like Animal Collective are reaching their fully sublime, creative potential. I played the aforementioned promo song, “Brother Sport” (which I recorded into Pro-Tools), when I DJ’d my New Year’s Eve party, and it was just perfect in a roomful of revelers. Since I will respect Domino Records’ policies, I will not post the album version of “Brother Sport” here, but here is a live video of the band performing the song a while back (but keep in mind…the studio version is much better)…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KtS5RWkkI]
Meanwhile, I will wait for my vinyl to arrive, since I ordered it a little on the late side for it to show up today and I’ll see what kind of things you guys have to say about Animal Collective. Is it possible that they are the most innovative band of this era or are they just geeky little knob-twiddlers…or somewhere in between?
Whatever the case, I’m intrigued.
Also…check out the brand new song ‘My Girls’ on AC’s MySpace page
This is pretty hilarious to see that we now have a loudness contest in the recording industry. It’s yet another reason to give up on music that is made for business over rock for rock’s sake. Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal on Metallica’s new Death Magnetic album and how many fans are complaining that it’s just TOO LOUD! (Ever think you’d ever hear Metallica fans saying that?!) And be sure to listen to the comparison in mastering in the box that looks like this…
No wonder I love the sound of old music. Also, it’s pretty much impossible to master things this way for vinyl, because the needle would be knocked right out of the groove. Vinyl demands nuance.
