Exotica, Lounge, Tiki, Space Age Pop, Bachelor Pad Music

[Tauhid]

 

Yeah that Pekler album has been one of my current faves since it came out, and by far the best thing he's ever done. I think it got overlooked by most people.

 

And speaking about thrift stores, got these two box sets recently:

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Mood-Music-For-Listening-And-Relaxation/release/2486487

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Music-For-Your-Every-Mood-Background-Moods/release/2067240

 

Full of gems I hope.

 

That settles it. I'm getting a ten dollar bill and going to the best goodwill in town. That first one looks so perfect. I love the music for dining. Tell me how it is, I might keep an eye out.

 

One of my best memories of goodwill records was some kind of a small dinner party my wife and I had in Ohio, and a friend of mine brought over lots of root beer and real beer, and we listened to The Magic Organ over and over, and danced to this one song, "Alley Cat." I just imagined we were old men dancing in some tavern on Zelda.

 

 

Yeah I actually got them both for 11 after tax. What a steal.

 

Haha, The Magic Organ definitely sounds like some of the town music in Ocarina Of Time.

[joshuatxuk]

 

 

Yeah that Pekler album has been one of my current faves since it came out, and by far the best thing he's ever done. I think it got overlooked by most people.

 

And speaking about thrift stores, got these two box sets recently:

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Mood-Music-For-Listening-And-Relaxation/release/2486487

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Music-For-Your-Every-Mood-Background-Moods/release/2067240

 

Full of gems I hope.

 

That settles it. I'm getting a ten dollar bill and going to the best goodwill in town. That first one looks so perfect. I love the music for dining. Tell me how it is, I might keep an eye out.

 

One of my best memories of goodwill records was some kind of a small dinner party my wife and I had in Ohio, and a friend of mine brought over lots of root beer and real beer, and we listened to The Magic Organ over and over, and danced to this one song, "Alley Cat." I just imagined we were old men dancing in some tavern on Zelda.

 

 

Yeah I actually got them both for 11 after tax. What a steal.

 

Haha, The Magic Organ definitely sounds like some of the town music in Ocarina Of Time.

 

 

Those look wonderful.

 

To prevent myself from just throwing money at my local half-price books I had to steer clear of a really lush section of records, which included this:

 

[joshuatxuk]

[youtubehd]hxKGfbGKbrM[/youtubehd]

 

Another fav of mine:

 

 

one of the best exotica mix tapes ever right here

http://canopycanopycanopy.com/podcasts/23-time-is-endless

 

DUDE this is excellent thank you for linking to this.

[joshuatxuk]

I completely forgot about this resource: http://www.tikiroom.com/music/index.htm

 

 

Beyond tikiroom.com I found another really slick resource, ambientexotica.com, it's a guy who reviews both contemporary ambient/drone (still only second best to Tauhid ) and old exotica LPs - quite a solid list of classics.

 

I've also really enjoyed a local radio show appropriately entitled The Lounge Show which plays a lot of easy-listening and exotica but mostly centers around cheesy and kitsch tv and film soundtrack, lounge singers, and novelty releases. Playlists are there but sadly that station can't do podcast for licensing reasons. You can stream it online though, 10am-noon CMT.

[joshuatxuk]

I need to fix my Akai 8-track so I can play my copy of this again:

 

[Tauhid]

 

I completely forgot about this resource: http://www.tikiroom.com/music/index.htm

 

 

Beyond tikiroom.com I found another really slick resource, ambientexotica.com, it's a guy who reviews both contemporary ambient/drone (still only second best to Tauhid ) and old exotica LPs - quite a solid list of classics.

 

I've also really enjoyed a local radio show appropriately entitled The Lounge Show which plays a lot of easy-listening and exotica but mostly centers around cheesy and kitsch tv and film soundtrack, lounge singers, and novelty releases. Playlists are there but sadly that station can't do podcast for licensing reasons. You can stream it online though, 10am-noon CMT.

 

 

Haha, I'm flattered. Will check out that site though. Curious to see what I'm missing out on. You should go back and get that Safari record. Only $3.99!

[Guest]

so... like:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiISmYInMOc

 

 

these are kinda a bit bossa nova-ish tho.

[joshuatxuk]

^Bossa Nova is great, I love it and older MPB.

 

 

I hate to really say "just late exotica' for me it's really about the sound and aesthetic, regardless of genre or era. Stuff with appropriated or sampled traditional music of tropical regions, interesting and foreign percussion, suggestive vocal singing, old drum machines and keyboards, faux and real field recordings of nature, etc and an emphasis on hi-fi and/or quality sounds. That can cover a lot of music beyond lounge and exotica: jazz, 50s and 60s OST music, Latin and Caribbean pop music, etc. I'm just not a fan of more recent (90s-present) "chillout" music. Even the really good stuff is often too clean, like not organic sounding or simply closer to other genres aesthetically.

 

I took a musicology class on the music of Brazil and it felt like we barely scratched the surface of the nation's collective musical culture. The Tropicalia movement in particular is my favorite Brazilian music movement. Beyond sounding great and being historically fascinating, it was essentially a rehearsal for postmodern pop, sampling, and genre-mixing 20+ years before any of that really emerged.

 

http://youtu.be/B-_loVXEv6M

 

There was another movement called "Mangue Bit" that is overlooked outside of Brazil that was a in a way a precursor to big beat and trip-hop.

[joshuatxuk]

Edit:

 

I'm just not a fan of most recent (90s-present) "chillout" music. Like, I just googled "chillout music" and found this at #1 on youtube search results and it's proper "meh":

 

http://youtu.be/P8iKcdh5Ims

 

That's why my thread is framed in a very narrow definition. Seems arbitrary but to me it's quite a difference.

 

Everything ya'll have posted and suggested has been right on target!

[Cryptowen]

I just googled "chillout music" and found this at #1 on youtube search results and it's proper "meh"

yeah that stuff right there kinda feels like chillout music for moms

no offence to any moms out there, yer my homies! but as a child of techno i have oft been drawn to lofi grit, dissonant melody, sound soups - any sort of an "edge" to dynamically contrast the chill vibe. Else it starts to feel like infomercial music

 

Applying this to all that old les baxter exotica loungey stuff, obviously there's the old-school tape recording sound, but ignoring that, you've still got the animal noises mixed in, the song structures that dance all over the place in almost cartoonish fashion, the buried tropical percussion, the string swells. The dankest of danks builds a true sonic environment, a mental experience so much more than the sum of its parts

[Boxus]

Awesome thread! I dig this style but never quite pinned it down as a style before.

 

One of my favorite thrift store finds was 'Persuasive Percussion'. I especially love their version of Misirlou:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELQH8nZRns&list=PLF255B8271918E141&index=3

 

The whole album is great. I definitely spotted an Amon Tobin sample at the end of one track.

[joshuatxuk]

Awesome thread! I dig this style but never quite pinned it down as a style before.

 

One of my favorite thrift store finds was 'Persuasive Percussion'. I especially love their version of Misirlou:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELQH8nZRns&list=PLF255B8271918E141&index=3

 

The whole album is great. I definitely spotted an Amon Tobin sample at the end of one track.

 

Nice find. I like how this one of those "Stereo Action" albums, back when that was a rare and innovative perk and not at all the standard.

 

Persuasive_Percussion

[Lane Visitor]

Oh dude..

 

have you heard Welcome to the Acid Lounge yet? (or any of the other Acid Lounge series put out by Hed Kandi?)

 

Incredible stuff and my introduction to these styles-- Gentle People, K&D, Gotan Project, Bebel Gilberto, Lisa Ekdahl, The Dining Rooms, etc tons more are all on there, remixed by other djs, icluding 45 Dip (hed kandi producers)- all electronica-tinged bossa/psych jazz/deep/spacey house/downtempo/exotica/weird/dreamy/sleazy retro stuff.. so fucking good.. its pretty much my staple of mixed electronica cds, and what got me so hooked on hed kandi,

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Welcome-To-The-Acid-Lounge-Vol-1/release/194540

 

it also comes with a fucking stellar comic book about these two guys in london who are bored and stumble upon this weird corner bar they never saw before and it turns into something kinda "out of this world" when they go in.. i wont say anything more lol super fun, the whole concept/music/transitions/art

 

also check out Stephan Pompagnac's (dont know how to spell his name) Hotel Costes series, as well as bascially ANYTHING by Dimitri From Paris...

 

There used to be a Secret Agent internet radio station-- i think thats what it was called- that i listened to on itunes and it was all this stuff, of all decades, bond theme-style stuff, surf, exotica, downtempo, trip hop, left field, etc etc. spy music haha

 

damn, i needa get back into listening to this stuff... welcome to the acid lounge, is, however, on my playlist all the time as it reminds me of many weekend nights driving back home from friends houses in high school at midnight/ 1 am, all blazed, and eating wendys drive thru in the car, whilst driving home with that compilation in my car cd player.. haha.. so good for that

[sheatheman]

 

The quality of the video too.

[sheatheman]

Oh dude..

 

have you heard Welcome to the Acid Lounge yet? (or any of the other Acid Lounge series put out by Hed Kandi?)

 

Incredible stuff and my introduction to these styles-- Gentle People, K&D, Gotan Project, Bebel Gilberto, Lisa Ekdahl, The Dining Rooms, etc tons more are all on there, remixed by other djs, icluding 45 Dip (hed kandi producers)- all electronica-tinged bossa/psych jazz/deep/spacey house/downtempo/exotica/weird/dreamy/sleazy retro stuff.. so fucking good.. its pretty much my staple of mixed electronica cds, and what got me so hooked on hed kandi,

 

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Welcome-To-The-Acid-Lounge-Vol-1/release/194540

 

it also comes with a fucking stellar comic book about these two guys in london who are bored and stumble upon this weird corner bar they never saw before and it turns into something kinda "out of this world" when they go in.. i wont say anything more lol super fun, the whole concept/music/transitions/art

 

also check out Stephan Pompagnac's (dont know how to spell his name) Hotel Costes series, as well as bascially ANYTHING by Dimitri From Paris...

 

There used to be a Secret Agent internet radio station-- i think thats what it was called- that i listened to on itunes and it was all this stuff, of all decades, bond theme-style stuff, surf, exotica, downtempo, trip hop, left field, etc etc. spy music haha

 

damn, i needa get back into listening to this stuff... welcome to the acid lounge, is, however, on my playlist all the time as it reminds me of many weekend nights driving back home from friends houses in high school at midnight/ 1 am, all blazed, and eating wendys drive thru in the car, whilst driving home with that compilation in my car cd player.. haha.. so good for that

 

I heartily approve of that. I need the CD.

[sheatheman]

 

great art with this one!

[chim]

This is my fuckin' thread right here. This shit is the BEST!

 

joshuatx, you just haven't gone cratedigging deep enough, there's tons of good 90s stuff and post 90s that fits the bill

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIA6r3iVZdY

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-a6c1b0qCs

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NehaWlztZPc

[chim]

There used to be a Secret Agent internet radio station-- i think thats what it was called- that i listened to on itunes and it was all this stuff, of all decades, bond theme-style stuff, surf, exotica, downtempo, trip hop, left field, etc etc. spy music haha

There still is. http://somafm.com/secretagent/

 

Also recommend this one for your bachelor pad needs: http://somafm.com/illstreet/

[Lane Visitor]

 

There used to be a Secret Agent internet radio station-- i think thats what it was called- that i listened to on itunes and it was all this stuff, of all decades, bond theme-style stuff, surf, exotica, downtempo, trip hop, left field, etc etc. spy music haha

There still is. http://somafm.com/secretagent/

 

Also recommend this one for your bachelor pad needs: http://somafm.com/illstreet/

 

 

Oh sick! Thanks for the head's up.. glad to see it's still broadcasting! gotta git ma tiki/spy/space on (;

[Nebraska]

a side project i worked on a few years ago. limited to 10 physical copies

 

[sheatheman]

[Tauhid]

Nice. What's playing?

[sheatheman]

Let me check...

 

 

On my 99 ¢ copy, someone wrote in marker, "Lisa" after "the romantic lure of." Just noticed that.

[joshuatxuk]

Nice.

 

I'm trying to get my shit together and sell my Technics turntable asap - otherwise I'm going to drop all the cash in my money jar buying every exotica LP I can find in Austin.

[Tauhid]

Chill find. I wonder how many of these lesser known exotica albums are out there.