The tireless archiving of
the Numero Group
has resulted in some exceptional compilations focused on genre, and among the most notable of these is 2016's
Cosmic American Music
. The compilation pulled back the curtain on some deeply obscure independent country and folk-rock from the late '60s and early '70s, illuminating an unseen underground of unsigned artists who were making sounds akin to the far more popularized blend of Americana twang, traidtionalist country, and psychedelicized rock & roll that was emblematized by stars like
Gram Parsons
and
Emmy Lou Harris
.
Cosmic American Music: Motel California
acts as a sequel, collecting even more virtually unknown acts and highlighting how inventive and ahead of the curve their music was. The compilation manages to cover a lot of ground without feeling like a randomized grab bag, with a flow that shouldn't make sense but somehow does. The 1975 track "Clouds" by
Country Spice
is a dreamy nugget of sunshiny psychedelic pop, barely qualifying as country-adjacent save for the hint of rural melancholy that its melody floats on. Next in line is
Charles Brown and Sleepy Creek
with "I Just Want to Talk to You," a hybrid of steel guitar showboating,
Eagles
-era soft rock sentimentality, and peppy FM radio energy modeled after
Jackson Browne
,
Loggins & Messina
, or other hitmakers of the early '70s.
Suzy Siquenza
provides a bit of moody, acidic country folk on "Someone Else," complete with some
Garcia
-esque guitar noodling. The often more brooding brother-and-sister act
Chuck & Mary Perrin
turn in a smiling, conversational country bump-along on "Picking up the Pieces,"
Bob Bakert
's "Cactus Woman" is a gauzy, sad ballad, and
Sally Colahan
's "Framed" breathes with a mystical lo-fi eeriness. From the stoned truck-stop blues (with just a little bit of disco drumming?) of
Caroline Peyton
's "Still with You" to
Hayne Davis
' hippie strutting on the acoustic guitar/bongos jamming of "Without Me,"
Motel California
turns over a lot of different stones and finds gold under most of them. Anyone already enamored of the freaky country scene that grew around the
Flying Burrito Brothers
will want to tune in to this compilation and its predecessor immediately, as they offer so many new favorites to discover and enjoy. ~ Fred Thomas