Relatively Clean Rivers - s/t (Pacific Is, 1976)

Recorded in 1975, this is a west coast psych tour de force that combines elements of vintage Grateful Dead with folk psych and BTL rural rock (in fact, an album like this very clearly illustrates the difference between rural rock and country rock, as it's very clearly Americana-influenced but really has no country reference points. That's one reason the term BTL is useful, it's an umbrella that encompasses both). Phil Pearlman is the singer and songwriter, and plays the lion's share of the instruments. In the '60s he had been behind the legendary psych freakout masters Beat of the Earth, but he started this project sometime in the early '70s. A very California record, this is full of lots of wide open spaces, jangly acoustic-guitar folk-rock tapestries, twangy, reverbed, Garcia-like electric leads, reedy vocal harmonies, and extended songs that achieve a stoned, dreamy feel. Go for the bootleg reissue, as you'll have to mortgage your home to buy an original copy of this self-release. I've read that only 500 copies were originally made and Pearlman "distributed" many of those just by discreetly depositing them around college campuses and record stores unannounced.

Cortex - Pourquoi (Crypto, 1978)

Look, Babe Ruth didn't hit one out of the park every single time he came up to bat. Even the ol' record geek's powers of musical divination are occasionally off. When I saw an LP from the '70s by a French duo of bearded, balding guys, one of whom plays a wide variety of electric & electronic keyboards, the other being the drummer (and no vocals listed), I figured I was in for some kind of cool, French avant/prog/electronic/beardrock/freak extravaganza. Imagine my surprise upon discovering that's it's a vaguely commercial, vocal-based jazz/funk/R&B record sung entirely in French. Imagine a Gallic George Duke, if you will, and then come down a couple of notches. If some twisted acid-jazz/rare-groove sicko out there wants this, you're welcome to it, but you're gonna get a slap along with it.

If for no better reason than the fact that at least a couple of people will ask me, here's what I ended up with after my trip to the Princeton Record Exchange today (all vinyl):

Lincoln Thompson & the Rasses - Natural Wild
Arthur Prysock & Count Basie - s/t
The Strawbs - Ghosts
Jimmy Lyons - Other Afternoons
Clifford Thornton - Ketchaoua
The New Tony Williams Lifetime - Million Dollar Legs
Larry Young - Lawrence of Newark
Robert Klein - New Teeth
Hudson & Farnsworth - From Night To Day
Cortex - Pourquoi
Tuxedomoon - Ship Of Fools
Hank Thompson - Smoky The Bar
Virginia Astley - Promise Nothing
Greg Kihn Band - Rockihnroll
The Addrisi Brothers - We've Got to Get it on Again
U.K. - s/t
Jeff Wayne & co. - War of the Worlds
West - Bridges
King Eric & His Knights - Paging King Eric & His Knights

I'm sure I'll be blogging about a number of these over the next week or so, stay tuned.