Recommended by Jon Mook
Perry Leopold "Experiment in Metaphysics" (US Folk 1970)













Experiment in Metaphysics is, simply put, one of the rarest and most sought-after artifacts from the hippie era. Recorded live in a five-hour session in the basement of a shoe repair shop in June of 1970, most of the 300 original copies of Experiment in Metaphysics were simply given away in one afternoon, yet, inexplicably, bootleg copies of the album have sprung up half-way around the world. The incomprehensibility of such an occurence arises from the complete lack of publicity afforded the album upon its release. The reason for the album's staying power, on the other hand, is apparent: the music is gorgeous, first-rate progressive folk. In fact, Side Two of the original LP's label was given the title "Acid-Folk" (the other side was called "Kommercial"), probably one of the very first uses of that term. Perry Leopold creates a proto-gothic ambience full of dark and brooding imagery that is much less cartoonish than most of what passes as "acid," while maintaining that music's visceral punch. Like much of the youth countercultural scene of the times, Leopold can occasionally give into mystical pretentiousness. Experiment in Metaphysics has moments -- namely the spoken word monologue in the middle of the mostly stellar opening cut, "The Absurd Paranoid" -- of philosophical meandering. Still, even those moments maintain a period charm. Mostly. Experiment in Metaphysics is exquisitely intelligent and forward-looking. Leopold's mood is much more pious than most music that came out of the psychedelic era, and, indeed, extreme piety tends to be a product of youth, yet there is something aged and wise about Leopold's music. The air of tangible experience rises from the album. The "Kommercial" side, cryptically subtitled "SMOKE," is conceptually bleak, and after "The Absurd Paranoid" takes on a much more palpable quality grounded in experience on songs such as "Cold in Philadelphia" and the gorgeous "The 35th of May." The "Acid-Folk" side (subtitled "DROP") opens with the stark, multi-part title track. Each of the three songs in this section is a virtual mini-suite, with the closing cut, "The U.S.S. Commercial," standing as the album's magnum opus. The bonus tracks on the 1999 Gear Fab CD reissue are perfect complements to the album proper, maintaining the same high standard of the rest of the album. Experiment in Metaphysics shows some truly progressive and experimental songwriting, even for the time period. Each song, even the instrumental cuts, feels like a story, with beginnings and endings and all kinds of interesting ideas and storylines sandwiched in between. The album is a relic that has not lost one iota of its power. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide

Sample pic: Click


Thank you very much, Jon Mook


In addition, you can download "Christian Lucifer" (1973) here:


Thanks again Jon!