1. Brand X "Livestock"
Brand X was an occasional band formed in the mid-1970's. The original line up was John Goodsall (guitars), Percy Jones (bass), Robin Lumley (keyboards), Morris Pert (percussion) and Phil Collins (yes, that Phil Collins) on kit drums.
Brand X occupied the space that would become known (for better or for worse, mostly worse) as "Fusion", a term invented by the recording industry when they realized that they had no place to rack Weather Report LPs.
Brand X music was long-form instrumentals, with elements of jazs, funk and rock. They lacked the compositional acuity of Weather Report; some of their pieces tended to be more like groove-based workouts, without the European classical sensibility that permeated Zawinul and Shorter's compositions for Weather Report.
Brand X operated as an occasional studio and live band, touring limited by Phil Collins' day job with Genesis. For part of the time, Brand X used Kenwood Dennard for live concerts, as Collins by the early 1980's had two other jobs - his original day job with Genesis, and his rapidly ascending solo career. Brand X as a band still exists today, albeit with a rather different line-up.
"Livestock" was recorded in 1977 in London. Based on other live tapes available from this period, the tunes on this LP have been significantly edited from their live form; however what is available is highly interesting and enjoyable, partly because it shows Phil Collins to great effect as a solid and inventive multi-faceted kit drummer, a skill that rarely showed after a while in both Genesis and his solo career.

2. Joni Mitchell "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns"
This LP, released in 1975, is often overlooked by listeners, because it falls between the more accessible jazz-tinged style first used on "Court And Spark" in 1974, and the more sparse songwriting and performing style first heard on "Hejira" in 1976 and later refined on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter".
The subject matter is wide-ranging, including 50's and 60's suburbia in Canada ("In France They Kiss On Main Street") and current suburbia in California ("Harry's House/Centerpiece"). The lyrics are shot through with irony, intrigue and wry social observation, and may be the most cinematic set of lyrics on a Joni LP (Joni has remarked in the past that she is really a frustrated film-maker).
The LP follows the Steely Dan practice of setting highly observational, almost subversive lyrics to lush and superficially sweet-sounding music. Some tunes make extensive use of trumpet and flugelhorn (mostly played by Chuck Findley) - on "Edith And The Kingpin" he sounds like he is channeling Burt Bacharach. The final result is superficially lush, but many of the lyrics hint at darkness beneath the surface tranquility - in "Harry's House", for example, all that glitters is certainly not gold, and the song ends with the wife informing her spouse where to stick "Harry's House...and Harry's take-home pay".
I also have a copy of many of the original song demos for this LP, which is interesting listening, since the demos (mostly recorded on acoustic guitars) are almost like a stylistic throwback to Joni's earlier sparse solo style. Listening to the demos shows how much the addition of the band and the arrangements added to the impact of the songs as finally released.