Linda Perhacs

November 4, 2010 3:18 PM

"Parallelograms is an album by American psychedelic folk singer Linda Perhacs. Her first and to date only album, it was all but completely ignored when originally released on Kapp Records in 1970. Discouraged by the lack of commercial attention and the label's reluctance to promote the album, Perhacs returned to her career as a dental technician. In the 30 or so years that followed, the album gradually developed a cult following, particularly on the Internet. Young listeners found appeal in her subtle instrumentation and delicate harmonies..." Parallelograms::Chimacum Rain::Hey, Who Really Cares?
posted by puny human (19 comments total)

You know how winemakers talk about terroir? That is one of the things I love about this album. You can taste/touch/hear northern California and Topanga canyon in every line and every note :)
posted by puny human at 3:41 PM on November 4, 2010 [3 favorites]

This is like...Nico and Van Morrison and Nick Drake forcibly squeezed into one bizarre, beautiful hybrid creature. I like. Very much.
posted by Jimbob at 4:04 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, this is a great album. Somewhere I heard Perhacs' music described as sounding like a lysergic Joni Mitchell, which I think is a pretty good description. Interestingly, "Parallelograms" is somewhat well known in the metal scene, as Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth is a very big fan of it and has often praised it in interviews, and I believe helped contribute to the album being reissued. That was how I first found out about this album, actually, and it was the gateway for me to a more general interest in psychedelic folk. Anyway, great FPP, thanks!
posted by a louis wain cat at 4:07 PM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

hey thanks...this is really nice.
you can just hear fleet foxes, the shins, jose gonzales, niko case, jorge drexler, the shins, the national, and belle and sebastion bleeding out of this...
posted by es_de_bah at 4:10 PM on November 4, 2010

It's a great album. I've bought it twice, once on CD, then LP. All the reissues are slightly marred by heavy, swishy noise reduction on some of the tracks, but I guess the tapes had been damaged or something.
posted by anazgnos at 4:15 PM on November 4, 2010

Yes, I love this album. For people who like this, I would also recommend Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies from the Canyon, a compilation on the Numero label. Some of those songs are more straight ahead, but some are less so, and it's got the same kind of tinge.
posted by OmieWise at 4:17 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

I recommend looking for her album version and the demo version of "If you were my man." It's haunting and hot. The demo version was used in the Daft Punk Electroma film, and is a little different in feel and tempo from the album version.
posted by durin at 4:29 PM on November 4, 2010

Yeah, it's fantastic.
posted by saul wright at 4:31 PM on November 4, 2010

Oh she sounds like a swoonier Dory Previn.

I like.
posted by The Whelk at 4:43 PM on November 4, 2010

You had me at psychedelic folk. Had no idea such a thing existed.

Oh wow, this is an amazing find! Wonderful music. So glad her music is being valued on the net now. About time.
posted by nickyskye at 5:00 PM on November 4, 2010

I've loved this album for years. I once played it for a guy I was dating. When he laughed and called it "girl hippie music" I knew we weren't from the same taste tribe.
posted by xenophile at 5:01 PM on November 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh, awesome! I heard some of this music a few years ago on a Joni Mitchell channel on Pandora and thought it was terrific. I love that it's getting wider exposure. Great stuff.
posted by Sublimity at 5:02 PM on November 4, 2010

I love the music of Linda Perhacs. I once spent an afternoon listening to Paper Mountain Man on repeat (someone put it on a mix for me, but I forget who), and the song Parallelograms is perfect in its intent and execution.

Man, that Pitchfork review (first link) makes me cringe something fierce. It's like walking in on someone masturbating (and I generally like Pitchfork).
posted by Kattullus at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2010

Oh, oh, oh, this is the greatest, thanks! How could I not have come across Perhacs until now? This is the same question I had to ask in previous years about Judee Sill, H.P. Lovecraft (the band), Arthur Lee and Love, etc. I blame my older sisters, who were in their late teens and early 20s in 1970 but were derelict in their moral duty to listen to interesting music on my behalf.

Oh, and about being able to hear California on an album? Gene Clark's White Light is like that. . . . Only records made in California in the early 70s have that characteristic warmth.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:08 PM on November 4, 2010

Wow, it reminds me a lot of "come wander with me" which I think was also on MetaFilter at some point.

Thanks for posting this, I really really like it and I'm very glad to have learned about it.
posted by fake at 9:31 PM on November 4, 2010

Yeah, I've loved Chimcum Rain for a long time. Glad she's getting noticed.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:47 PM on November 4, 2010

Never heard of her. Like it! The song Paralellograms begins as S&G's "Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme," then splits off into about three space-time dimensions. Mini-skirts, prehistoric California, a Medieval abby ...
posted by Faze at 4:26 AM on November 5, 2010

Learned about Perhacs and her album from Gilmore Girls--a snippet of "Chimacum Rain" was played during one of the episodes. Last year I decided it was a crying shame that that show's soundtrack CD only had the music from the first three seasons, so I put together a sequel. "Chimacum Rain" was one of the songs I couldn't buy separately through Amazon or iTunes, so I ended up forking out $25 for the whole CD. It was totally worth it.
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:33 AM on November 5, 2010

Funny, I just got notice today that they are once again re-issuing this album, this time with liner notes from Linda herself:

Linda Perhacs: Parallelograms 2LP
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. 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.'" Deluxe gatefold, hand-numbered edition of 1000 copies, featuring a download coupon and 6-sided insert with new liner notes written by Perhacs in May, 2010.

posted by OmieWise at 12:35 PM on November 5, 2010