Linda Perhacs' cult favorite Parallelograms instantly evokes the spare and isolated feel of the songs and the production on
Joni Mitchell's first albums, particularly her debut (largely solo acoustic) -- not to mention the melodies, guitar playing, and singing. It's not a photocopy, however; it's hard to imagine
Mitchell singing "I'm spacing out, I'm seeing silences between leaves," as
Perhacs does on "Chimacum Rain," unless
Mitchell got spiked with acid right before getting on-stage. In addition,
Perhacs is adept at dropping unusual effects and arrangements into the mix, that on occasion have a mildly disquieting and psychedelic vibe. Back to "Chimacum Rain," for example: double-tracked voices get into a slightly hypnotic, disorienting swirl, and suddenly move into a half-chanted section with doomy background notes from hard-to-identify instruments. "Parallelograms" is a round-like vocal (again with multi-track voices), consisting of exactly eight words, that without warning goes into creepy washes of electronically distorted voices, flutes, and rattles. Not all of the record is unusual, though; much of it's just attractively wistful, moody singer/songwriter folk, sometimes with an engaging folk-jazz backup, sometimes just with a guitar, sometimes enlivened by creative smudges of organ and electric guitar. ~ Richie Unterberger