Visionary Sound Arts Interface

THE EXOTICA PROJECT Return to Main Page Return to Reviews Page Return To DarvReviews page EXOTICA WAS LOUNGE-STYLE JAZZ INFLUENCED BY the music and environs of Polynesia and the greater Oceania. Put another way, it was jazz visions of tropical paradise as interpreted by dorky white guys who wear their belt above their navel. (ok, maybe i'm being a little unfair with that remark - which was supposed to be humorous - but in fact EXOTICA, which is now considered to be 50's kitsch (def: the fine art of poor taste,) sounds exactly like that: at turns, campy, cinematic, inspired, and then dorky leading back to campy. This music hearkens back to a time when there WAS NO rock'n'roll, WAS NO electronic synthesis (yes, there was the Theremin--which they used at times--but really no SYNTHESIS as such,) and was pretty much a hallmark of that wonderful strangeness inherent in 1950s American pop culture. Click here for Exotica listing at Wikipedia" Anyway, i've lately started collecting some of the more prominent recordings in the genre by these 3 artists and am not sure whether i should actually include them in the reviews section of the VSA Interface, since i'm sure the dated nature of the recordings wouldn't be exciting to most people. I'm not into this just for the childhood nostalgia factor, either, though it has something to do with that. Likewise, it isn't just that i'm adorning my hawaii bachelor pad with the proper accoutrements, although certainly that is a factor also. A large part of this is my sudden realization that Exotica is, in fact, part of what i mean when i say "Visionary" music. In that Exotica attempted to create an entirely spurious tropical music, it rather qualifies as what Brian Eno meant by "Fourth World Music." In simulating ocean waves, palm fronds rustling, bird calls and even the occasional monkey hoot, Exotica presaged later "new age" music which inserted actual recordings of the natural environments rather than imitations. (In my further sonic excursions, it appears that there was some use of location audio: i'm particularly thinking of Lyman's work.) Much of Exotica is cinematic, intentionally trying to engage the listener on a visual level, trying to put us there in the jungle or on the beach. Often a short two & a half minute song attempts to sketch an entire audio short story, if you will. Writer James Michener, who frequented Denny performances in Hawaii, contributed liner notes to Denny's 1959 release, Hypnotique, which could serve as a general definition of VISIONARY music per se: "This is music to see--and on this record there are many new sounds that will force the listener to create [their] own word pictures. It's music to feel..." Admittedly, Exotica is brushed-off as a music that was specifically designed for getting sloshed at cocktail parties or pool parties. My response? HEY, WHAT POPULAR MUSIC IN THE FIFTIES WASN'T DESIGNED FOR THAT?? In fact, wasn't "Lounge Music," from which Exotica emerged, with performers like Dean Martin or Sinatra for alcohol bar scenes with extra cushy seating? There can be no doubt that much of the atmospheres in Exotica are influenced by Debussy and Satie. i would go so far as to say that it is "impressionistic jazz." This is probably another attraction for me or possibly you. It would almost make sense if Les Baxter was the reincarnaton of Scriabin :)) One great thing about Exotica is the exuberance & joy you can sense in the recordings. These people really got a kick out of playing this stuff, and even today a good selection of Exotica would make a great pool party here in the Islands. As a Visionary deejay, i would really love to someday incorporate this music into my tropical sets. I think i could really provide a greater faux tropique atmosphere for one of the bars around here. or excuse me LOUNGES.... LES BAXTER The original mind behind the genre. Baxter was all about making the music, often leaving the creation of the SONG TITLES to someone else. Highly prolific and influenced greatly by Duke Ellington and Debussy. I recently acquired 3 CDs with SIX Baxter albums: Jewels Of The Sea, The Primitive and The Passionate, Ports Of Pleasure, The Sacred Idol, Space Escapade, and African Jazz. Of these, The Sacred Idol is probably the most exotic, influenced by Aztec culture, and African Jazz is a really FUN album decent for any bachelor pad that allows jazz to be played. However, Baxter is best known for the disc that launched Exotica, entitled, "Ritual Of The Savage." This disc features a great female vocalist named Bas Sheva who someone once wrote made the female singer in the song, The Great Gig In The Sky, from Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon seem anemic. His disc, "Tamboo," is also highly regarded and can be found on cd together with another, and in my opinion more exciting, album entitled "Skins." I highly recommend the 2-in-1 cd. "Tamboo" has the kind of string arrangements that make us think of the glory days of the 50s: beautiful housewives on dexedrine with wide headbands and sunglasses, wearing tight-fitting one-piece sleeveless skirts and highheels, walking their poodle through just-invented spanking new&clean shopping malls; riding up new from the future escalators, keeping up with the fashions....and yet....somehow this whole 1950s into the bright tomorrow mind-set keeps getting fused with primitive tropical paradise locations. When you just sit back and regard it outside of its cultural connotations, it is some quite inspired and exuberant songwriting, however hopelessly dated in sound. "Skins" is exactly the kind of album that Beatniks in the 50s would have spent hours listening to, snapping their fingers and saying, "cool, daddio!" predominately hand drums and afrocaribbean rhythms, but with the Baxter melodic touch. Of all the Les Baxter that i've heard, my recommendations as first listens: Sacred Idol, Jewels Of The Sea, Ritual Of The Savage. and for the more jazz oriented: Skins, African Jazz. MARTIN DENNY The name associated with Exotica even more than the tutelary originator, Les Baxter. Denny was the first to hit the charts. Where Baxter was industrious, cramming many ideas into a single song, Denny would take those same tunes and recast them into a more emotional hue. Denny also, i think, was quite influenced by Satie and this shows at numerous times, most memorably in his classic song, Hypnotique. Exotica 1 and Exotica 2 were both tremendous hit albums. i myself also enjoyed Forbidden Island very much. There are lots of Denny compilations out there, but it appears that the 2 CD set, The Exotic Moods of Martin Denny, is dominating as a "best of" collection. i can attest that it is a very tasty collection. ARTHUR LYMAN A member of Denny's ensemble for some time, Lyman released some interesting work, most notably Taboo and Taboo 2. Lyman's music had a softer touch than the other two and his music more jazz emphasized. These albums seem to have stood the test of time as still being cool yet mature, whereas i think Denny and Baxter might require more specialized interests for real appreciation. YMA SUMAC An interesting vocalist with an incredible vocal range, Sumac released the intensely hyped, "Voice Of The Xtabay" album, produced by Les Baxter. This woman was pulling off the kind of bizarre vocal gymnastics that pop would have to wait decades to get another chance for. As with many Exotica artists, her discs tended to be rather short. Half an hour if you're lucky. They include: Legend Of The Jivaro, Bo Mambo, Fuego Del Ande and Legend Of The Sun Virgin. Yma Sumac's canon is solidly based in the music of South America and creates Cecil B. DeMille visions of Incan culture. It's like Ricky Ricardo dropped acid, switched sexes, and suddenly realized he was Carmen Miranda, except from the Andes. ROBERT DRASNIN At the height of Exotica popularity, this working composer was commissioned to knock off an Exotica album, which he did post haste. Rather "tossed it off" in a short period of time. The album, "Voodoo," did well $$-wise, the Exotica fad ended a short time later and this disc was pretty much forgotten by composer and public alike. In th 90s Lounge music revival, it again received notice and fortunately a pristine vinyl copy was discovered (the original tapes long since lost) and recorded to digital. If you are looking for the one single disc to buy for that classic Exotica environment, a disc that is pleasant and intriguing to listen to from beginning to end of its 33-minute duration, this is it. The recording contains none of the ear- splitting high-frequency problems of much Exotica which make you want to rollback the high-end with an equalizer. Many of the themes are familiar, yet it avoids the truly cliche and instead presents us with enjoyable musicianship and a flair for romance. Voodoo II Robert Drasnin Dionysius Records, 2007 47 YEARS LATER: THE ULTIMATE EXOTICA SEQUEL!! I just went through a pretty long and involved rediscovery of Exotica -- composers like Les Baxter, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman -- and did happen upon the first "Voodoo" album,1960, which is possibly the quintessential Exotica release, even though Drasnin pretty much tossed it off and it nearly was lost to posterity but for a vinyl-to-digital transfer by Dionysius Records in the mid-90s. and a fine job they did. This new album has everything one could ask for in a millenial Exotica release. While being more complex, that is: having more depth in instrumentaion and placement in the sound field, Voodoo 2 remains absolutely true to the aesthetics of the genre, meticulously charted and performed and retains the emotional warmth and beauty of the initial release. BRAVO! and the bolero exotique was the cherry on top. after going through my Exotica Intensive over the last year, this seems the perfect capper: a new release just as i've collected the stuff i liked! someone owning no Exotica and just wanting credible background could buy the 2 Voodoo's and call it a day. nearly. ADDITIONAL EXOTICA FAIT ACCOMPLI ================================ This section is for artists not exactly "Exotica," but influenced by it and definitely simpatico for the bachelor pad artiste. HERB ALPERT A suave trumpet player who scored heavy commercial successes with his hybrid mariachi jazz style. He wrote the songs used as themes in The Dating Game and the Newlywed Game tv shows. He had numerous american top ten singles and was the first to have 5 albums in the top twenty! His music was light-hearted, peppy and very Modern. While most greatest hits collections i've seen for Alpert & The Tijuana Brass are decent and low cost, you can't go wrong with the "Whipped Cream" megaseller which is just really a "gas" in the perfect sense of the 60s term. it recently has been remastered and the results is a sparkling 47minute recording that to me sounds as fresh as it did way back when! The remastered "Whipped Cream" which includes the songs that were DROPPED from that now classic album! i grew up with "Going Places" and still regard this as a really solid album, WC's companion release. As an additional reason to be stoked, there has recently been released a remix album of WC which i am ecstatic to give a double thumbs up to. While this album is drum'n'bass with pronounced hiphop elements, the verve of the original is still in it. This disc is mostly instrumental, with the exception of "Love Potion #9," which i think is really well done. Herb himself contributes trumpet improvisations which are outstanding. All in all, if you love Whipped Cream like i do, and also find remix albums interesting (ie: you can stand thumping hiphop bass and the megabeats,) i believe you would find this eminently listenable. But this isn't for people who want a modern mariachi-like remix. it is definitely produced to crossover to sophisticated hiphop audiences. I'd go so far as to say that Whipped Cream Re-Whipped is a more successful remix work than the recent Sergio Mendes Timeless and i would encourage Sergio to release ANOTHER remix disc in this style. (Likewise, Re-Whipped Producer Anthony Marinelli HEAR THIS: "go talk to Sergio and get this album done!")make it instrumental and yo,sergio!: stretch out, man! Lay down some awesome improvisations. i'd buy it immediately. SERGIO MENDES I'm including Sergio here since in my reality it is hard to separate him and Herb Alpert, considering their mutual enormous impacts as modern pop latin music composers, and the hugely significant works of art they have created. Now, i'm a big fan of Sergio Mendes and Brasil 65, since i'm more of a bossa nova than samba fan. "The Best Of" album is the classic all acoustic album with breathy and sensual singer Wanda De Sah. "The Best of Brasil 66" features electric instruments-Sergio on a Rhodes-and a lot of high energy samba. Recently, The Black Eyed Peas collaborated with Sergio on a remix album entitled, "Timeless," which is great fun if you can handle a little rap here and there with your samba/hiphop fusion. THE DISC THAT STARTED MY 2006 EXOTICA PROJECT Mondo Exotica (Ultra-Lounge Volume One) Various Artists Capitol, 1996 DURING THE 1990s, ONE OF THE TECHNO MUSIC FAD GENRES was "Lounge," which i was aware of and even collected a few select artists but didn't really tune in to. Little did i know that the Lounge movements had people actually go digging through thrift and used book stores, seeking out old vinyl recordings of mid20thC Exotica. The demand was so strong that Capitol Records began a series of compilation albums titled ULTRA-LOUNGE in which they were able to dredge material from the extensive archives into an interesting repackaging. This series, if you include the samplers, is over 20 discs and if you include the various spinoff series is double that. I was only vaguely aware of Ultra-Lounge. I bought this album on a whim when at a local musick shoppe to include it in my Bachelor Pad section of my collection which included: The Best of Martin Denny - Bachelor In Paradise (CEMA Special Markets, 1996) inferior digital transfers Bachelor In Paradise - The Love Handle Lounge in Hi-Fi (Laserlight Digital, 1996) lounge standards from artists like Esquivel, Xavier Cugat & Nelson Riddle Exotica-Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Michael Danna (Varese Sarabande, 1994) very influced by Satie Bongos In Paradise by The Bongo Kings (Starbound Records, 1997) cheesy but fun bongolizing MONDO EXOTICA - ULTRA-LOUNGE VOLUME ONE is a first-rate Exotica album from beginning to end. no fizzlers. top-notch production from Capitol at a time when a Capitol production MEANT something. Lush and breathtaking with impressive performances. This is seriously entertaining MUSIC. Care has been taken in the choice of compositions to avoid the campy or cheesy parts. it is really just a great collection. There would be no point in desribing artists long since out of the limelight, but this one disc has choice offerings from Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, The Out-Islanders, Bas Sheva and some brilliant gems from lesser- known Exotica artists. the kind of music a bachelor can take pride in blasting out the window for all to hear. (of course, i never do this-on headphones almost all the time now.) Bongoland (Ultra-Lounge Volume 17) Various Artists Capitol, 1997 THE OTHER ALBUM YOU NEED IN THE ULTRA-LOUNGE SERIES this is the album that the beatniks would be snapping their fingers to and saying *cool, daddio.* that's this album. what containing lots of great exotica, this disc busts out into more straight ahead jazz moments, avoiding the sugary sweet string shmaltz that can be found on other albums in the series. this also at times has a latin flair that is fun. the various productions are all top notch. one should be able to enjoy saxophone for this album. =========================================================== MODERN DAY EXPONENTS =========================================================== MAKOTO KUBOTA & BLUE ASIA This Japanese producer has a musical history which extends back into the 80s with his group The Sunset Gang and then later The Sunsetz (i haven't heard any of either.) i guess about the late 90s, he and friends developed the music project which has become Blue Asia. to me, what these people are doing is reinventing Exotica, only now it is AUTHENTIC and not an imaginary one. each of Blue Asia's albums focuses on a particular cultural area. the four members reach out to musicians who have mastered the unique instruments of their homeland and invite them to record. each of these albums is entitled "Hotel" which is followed by a location name in the region. so Hotel Bangkok is Thai. Hotel Waimea is Hawaiian. and so on. In addition, Kubota himself has been compiling wonderful companion discs which are "Cafe" placenamed and collected from the numerous recordings in the Asian label, King Records' massive collection. Each album is like a delectable plate of unfamiliar cuisine. almost like a cybertourist, one finds each new song is a completely different sidetrail or alleyway in some shockingly new landscape. different tunings create radical shifts in feel. the pieces are all influenced by the music of the region and often there is a cover of a traditional. the singers are locals too. voices and ambient nature sounds from the homeland are intertwined throughout. while being very acoustic and true to the sound, in the spirit of Cheb i Sabbah's concept of "mixology," much of each album sounds completely postmodern, with traditional rhythms hooked up to hiphop, reggae or funk patterns. particularly in the later releases, i believe i hear some influences from Deep Forest and Wiliam Orbit, but if that is the case, THIS is the direction i always WISHED those guys would go in. the production is scintillating and i've often found myself comparing it favorably to the big, lush sound of Steely Dan or Orbit at their best levels of production. there are lapses - like where the pick-up on an acoustic guitar has a little buzz - but really it all seems to work and perfectly blend relaxing downtempo atmospheres. and this sounds much more authentic and "natural" than what say Makyo is doing (which feels fairly synthesized) and also his interests are mostly arabic and of India. this stuff is mostly southeast asian and Oceania (which i've been LONGING for!) I will write at length on these soon, but am giving my HIGHEST recommendations to: Spirit Of Healing - Bali (Della, 2005) Completely enthralling 50minutes of Balinese music and not just the gamelan but also jegog and other stuff, intermixed with modern beats and the Exotica sensibility. Features beautiful local singing and chants, field recordings of the local fauna, distant conversations in thai. some of the modern stuff sounds like it is mixed with french and hence cajun musics. the Kubota production touch and keen aesthetic is present throughout. Spirit Of Healing - India (Della, 2006) Oh, yeah, this album has to be considered among the cream of the crop in asian underground. this is better than Talvin Singh or Midival Punditz. it is like picking a perfectly prime stone fruit that still has the morning chill on it from a tree and eating it in the warm late morning air while watching the last of the mist disappear from the valley. it is like the sheer refreshment one feels when diving in the ocean after a long day in the sun. man, this is WAY better than Karsh Kale or Tabla Beat Science. you may have heard asian underground before, but have you heard it done by top asian musicians under the production of an ace producer STEEPED in the music of the region? and that is one of the cool things here: this actually IS the music of India with a subtle AUTHENTIC east asian twist! i would get rid of all my music by those other artists to keep this one. (good thing i don't really have to *heh*.) Hotel Ibah (King Records, 2001) i believe this is the first Blue Asia record. nearly 70 minutes and quite perfect in every way. it is based on the music of Bali, but here things are less sedate than on "Spirit Of Healing-Bali." in fact, it gets downright joyous, the kind of vibe i remember from the first Deep Forest disc that they for some unknown reason never got back to. this disc is like a mini-vacation. you can never predict what the next song is going to be like. the production pays great attention to detail and many times one is simply struck in awe with the beauty of it all. of all of these Kubota releases, THIS is the disc that i start wishing would never end when we're still only halfway through and then at the end of each song i'm wishing it hadn't ended. why can't albums like this just go on&on forever and never end? Hotel Bangkok (King Record Company, 2006) Blue Asia is a group originally formed with him in the late 90's, but Kubota has been around since the 80s -- and i'm just finding out about him. What a wealth of backlog for me to get! Blue Asia has recorded a number of albums, each of which takes a focus on a cultural area of the far east or mid east. The four person group then invites very competent musicians familiar with the local music to record with them. While the musical themes that they take up are often traditional, through the DJ science of Kubota, these ancient motifs are spun into a totally modern technoambient hybrid that really IS "asian underground." The work stands on a par with ANYTHING that Cheb i Sabbah or Makyo have done. The production values are obviously cognisant of greats like William Orbit or Deep Forest, but Kubota is really on to something here. He's not a "Westerner," this is music that really has grabbed the music by its roots. The tuning is that of the local cultures. The mix is so high gloss, i'm sometimes tempted to compare it to the best productions of Steely Dan. The performances are absolute high caliber from the hand-played percussion (there is apparently some drum programming, but i could swear that i'm hearing quite a bit of sophisticated hand work) to the precise and amazing vocalists, the entire album from beginning to end is a sheer sonic delight! Now, you might ask, "what does it sound like?" It sounds like Thai music that drank psilocybin tea and took over the midtempo room of a rave. However, the synthesis is tastefully placed as a complement to the human performances and rarely in the center of the mix. I have an album by Rama IV titled "Silk Mind" which i reviewed sometime ago and is a Deep-Forest-like mix of asian and rockbeats. It's a great western Thai pop album. Also, i'm reminded o f Jalan Jalan's two albums, "Bali" and "Bali Dua." This album completely blows them out of the water! The compositions themselves probably make immediate sense to Thai people, but to westerners these are strange, entangled things, easy to dance to but hard to immediately understand because everything is SO different from the watered-down drivel we've become accustomed to: the just intonation is a different vibe from our equal temperment, the vocal styles put "scat" singing to shame, the complex breaks defy our typical formulaes. you have to listen. but throughout, the mix is so LUSCIOUS, the performances so INTRIGUING and the compositions themselves so impressive that this stuff HAS to win over anyone who has been listening to and enjoying trance dance or world fusion, and those into psyambient or electrodub are more than likely to dig it. and i don't see how anyone who likes Deep Forest, Makyo or William Orbit Strange Cargo 3 could ever not immediately love Blue Asia. Hotel Waimea (King Record Company, 2002) I live in Hawaii and am always on the lookout for ambient Hawaiian musics or tribal musics with shamanistic drumming. there isn't as much of it as you might think because Hawaiian music is intensely colonized by american country music. old recordings of authentic Hawaiian are usually of low quality and the singing is often in the high nasal quality of native american singyelling which freaks out most westerners. okay: the bummer is that i have a natural antipathy to american countrywestern music because growing up it represented that part of society which hates and excludes people of my skin color and genetic background. to this day it pretty much gives me the creeps and the country-styled works of Brian Eno (like "Apollo") or of his guitarist brother, Roger, are about as close as i can stand. Even slide guitar in the country style appalls me and it took Robert Rich to rehabilitate the instrument for me. i'm not bashing country music, but informing you of my own limitations as a critic. now, of course, Hawaiian music took all that finger-pickin' and hoopsydaddle and gave it a signature Oceanic twist which is distinct, but i sometimes still start getting the willies. thank Kane they use a ukelele rather than a banjo or i'd go completely nuts. the singing style is quite different because the Hawaiians were able to adapt their native style to the colonizers' gospel choir and the result is a distinctly different sound that is quite appealing. that being said, let me say this about this album: it begins with a distinctive island hand-played percussion section and an introductory Hawaiian chant. in less than a minute, the guitars - steel, 6-string elec, 12 string + ukelele - kick in, the rhythm subtly changes to the country "bringin' the doggies home at sunset" clipclop and we find ourselves in a pretty standard hawaiian/country hybrid, guitar heavy with slide guitar sailing around. it is called "No Ke Ano Ahiahi," which means, according to me, "the dread of disrepute." a brief interlude of solo guitar and the sounds of people fooling around at the beach then leads into another country song featuring strummed ukelele and female vocals. the song is named "Ho'onani," which means to glorify, honor, exalt or adore. i find this interesting since it reinforces the first song, indicating the emphasis that Hawaiians have on Honor and Goodness in their culture. up to this point, these are two songs that could be on Hawaiian radio or on the music system where i work. they are pretty standard modern Hawaiian pieces, very much the kind of thing i don't look to buy because it is all over the radio and i hear it all the time. the next piece is a wonderful guitar piece which creates a feeling of serenity. it is like something Steve Hackett or Anthony Philips would do, like it could be on a windham hill record or something. it is followed by another slow country tune with slide guitar. on this piece, there seems to be some buzz in the pick-up for one of the acoustic guitars. i imagine Kubota left it stet to give the piece some fuzz or perhaps it was the limitations of the equipment that they had to work with. finally, we start moving into some groovier spaces at track 6, with a female vocalist chant-singing in Hawaiian, some hand drumming and Kubota's singnature organ with Exotica-style strings & harp. the liner notes dedicate Hotel Waimea in part to Arthur Lyman, one of the original greats in Exotica, and this piece shows the influence. this one I LIKE. then the guitars kick in again with an electric acoustic bass filling the bottom. i fancy this actually shows the more hawaiian side of the island country thing. nicely done combo piece. follows then the ukelele and what sounds like a group of women chanting together off in the forest. the sweet female vocals and beautiful harmonies create a delicate atmosphere and i don't really want to admit that it sounds like "polly wally doodle all the day" or whatever that crazy song in the back of my mind is (western brainwash maybe?) OKAY!! then track 9 "TIKI GOD" starts and this is what i live for. this is modern hawaiian exotica paying tribute to the Baxter, Denny, Lyman triad. too bad it is only 4 minutes long. i could see taking a whole album in this direction. is it from a cartoon or old movie in my memory? but i see totem poles covered with Hawaiian tiki masques walking upright on two legs, mantis like, while the wahines in grass skirts dance before them. it even has a momentary Bas Sheva sample! well track 10 gets back to the country. "Waimanalo Cowboys," indeed sounds like cowboys kicking back with a brew. did i mention that the so-called "Wild West" was in Hawaii? it is true. they did a lot of ranching of cattle in these parts and brought over many Mexicans to teach the Hawaiians how to be cowboys. you may not realize it, but along with the large Japanese and Phillipino communities, Hawaii also has a very sizable Mexican subculture. i LOVE being around all these brown people! after another ukelele with female vocals song, we get to another Kubota-penned instrumental which is perhaps the best at combining the hawaiian/country with his trademark far-east flair. this is followed by Rene Paolo playing the traditional "Hawaii Aloha" on live piano at Waikiki's Moana Hotel. you can hear everything that is happening in the lounge and the ocean outside, which is interesting. then Paolo has t o play "Happy Birthday to You" during the last 30secs... and the final piece is - guess what? - ANOTHER guitar laden instrumental with prominent steel slide guitar. so if you like contemporary Hawaiian music, this is a very mellow album that has lots of the Aloha feeling. on my second listening, i felt healing aspects to it, which surprised me. Aloha Therapy - Ambient Hawai'i (Kubota,et al) (FOA Records, 1998) I think i prefer this one to Hotel Waimea, as it has many more true ambient pieces, some interesting electronica, and downplays the guitar aspect. the first piece is a great tiki exotica piece with what sounds like big logs being struck. the second combines ukelele with ZITHER and the guitar in the background. the third piece is a slow drifter like something Brian Eno would do and here for once the slide guitar works great as supporting instrument. track 4 is a favorite, "Polihale," which is primarily synthesis with some birdsong and swirling calm ocean. this definitely would get airtime with the Darv. very delicate and uplifting. yet another song which suggests an entire album. with this song, a gentle vibe is introduced which is so sublime one almost wants to remain motionless in order to not break it. it lasts through the a cappella female "Greeting Chant" to the enchanting "Menehune" (the Hawaiian version of "Little People" like Leprechauns or Faeries) track 7 then brings the guitar and countrybeats back, but it is very languid and peaceful. this is around the place i can handle it. lots of love and no shitkickin cowboys for miles. next is "Lapita" which is like something Raphael & Kutira of Oceanic Tantra would do. very big, mysterious sound that i have to characterize as angelic music in the Raphael vein. it segues nicely into a piece which features native percussion and blown conch shells.the percussion quickly draws the listener into trance and soon a wahine sings a prayer above it. the tempo increases as the mana influx waxes. after more guitarsong and a reprise of the title track, we get a one minute dash of ambience which deserved a continuum and then a reprise of the slow drifter mentioned above. all in all, both Hotel Waimea and Aloha Therapy are good albums but much of it is pretty standard fair compared to what is in Hawaii. i find them not as intriguing as the other works. but now i DO own some Hawaiian albums and they fit in with my library. Hotel Istanbul Blue Asia KICP, 2002 TURKISH WORLD FUSION ALBUM FULL OF SENSUAL SURPRISES this disc brings my Blue Asia collection up to date and what a fantastic journey it has been! contrary to my expectation of harsh percussion and bleating vocals, this is a quite lush lounge album built around sambas and other latin rhythms which have been fused to Arabic music. one song has a pretty wild Sergio Mendes reference! i found myself pretty much being *WOWED* time and again, utterly taken off guard and surprised by how lovely and disarmingly endearing the melodies and production are to me. while the Latin influence is much more pronounced in this release than the hiphop influence (more than made up for in the treatment of select songs on the hiphop compilation Hotel Rechampur that i recently reviewed,) Hotel Istanbul still is saturated with Turkish influences in melody, guest musicians, location recordings and the mojo which makes Blue Asia one of the world's TOP global fusion projects (according to me.) a bit pricey as albums go (doubt you can get it delivered for less than thirty dollars,) i must say that Blue Asia is one of those artistic endeavors that i have no problem laying out the cash for. now if there was only a way to see a live performance.... Hotel Istanbul Blue Asia KICP, 2002 TURKISH WORLD FUSION ALBUM FULL OF SENSUAL SURPRISES this disc brings my Blue Asia collection up to date and what a fantastic journey it has been! contrary to my expectation of harsh percussion and bleating vocals, this is a quite lush lounge album built around sambas and other latin rhythms which have been fused to Arabic music. one song has a pretty wild Sergio Mendes reference! i found myself pretty much being *WOWED* time and again, utterly taken off guard and surprised by how lovely and disarmingly endearing the melodies and production are to me. while the Latin influence is much more pronounced in this release than the hiphop influence (more than made up for in the treatment of select songs on the hiphop compilation Hotel Rechampur that i recently reviewed,) Hotel Istanbul still is saturated with Turkish influences in melody, guest musicians, location recordings and the mojo which makes Blue Asia one of the world's TOP global fusion projects (according to me.) a bit pricey as albums go (doubt you can get it delivered for less than thirty dollars,) i must say that Blue Asia is one of those artistic endeavors that i have no problem laying out the cash for. now if there was only a way to see a live performance.... THE MOON-RAYS I just discovered this group from Des Plaines, Illinois, and think they are just about the coolest thing i ever heard. They are fulfilling an absolutely NECESSARY void in pop music. Combine the theme songs from the horror/suspense TV shows and movies of the 50s & 60s with intense surf rock a la The Ventures or Dick Dale, throw in some spy movie soundtracks and seriously competent jazz and you start to get the picture of The Moon-Rays. This is the best thing since The B-52s. Quentin Tarantino would love this stuff. They take The Munster's theme song to the next level in "1313 Mockingbird Lane." They make explicit the relationship between Martin Denny's "Hypnotique" and the theme song from the James Coburn movie, "Our Man Flint." They take the Robert Cobert theme song for the TV series, Dark Shadows, and recast it as Exotica. One Step Beyond, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, it's all there somehow. And, throughout, these MONSTER breaks of blistering surf punk and freeform jazz. Their debut 2002 release, "Thrills And Chills," starts with the aforementioned Munster's influenced track and then proceeds to burn a hole in your brain, filling it with some enigmatic glowing alien goo, with track after track of joyful weirdness. i haven't had this much fun since i discovered Senor Coconut. Their 2004 album, "The Ghouls Go West," seems to be more influenced by Mancini & Morricone, bringing some horror contortions of spaghetti westerns into the mix. It begins with an absolute classic rendition of the theme song to One Step Beyond, moves through a really well-done blues segment to then burst into a ghastly MAMMO conglomeration of horror-surf-cowboy-spy Exotica. I have recently acquired their September 2006 release, "Sinister Surf," because i am so stoked on the first 2. This third album is tamer and more laid back if you ask me. It sounds more like the music you want playing in the back of your Woody station wagon as you burn one and contemplate the wisdom of the north shore monster break. I'm guessing that these are the tunes that came up from gigging around as The Moon-Rays. The musicianship is extremely competent, the prevailing atmosphere good for party backsound and in this regard perhaps downplaying the halloween angle is cool. quite different from the first two in sensibility. A warning: these are not particularly long albums. I think the first one is around 36 minutes and the second about 45 minutes. But within those time frames lies some really unique bachelor pad strangeness that would make great backsound for not only halloween celebrations, but also pool parties, barbeques and the de rigeur mostly male beer swilling fiascoes. SENOR COCONUT I should include this incredibly oddball mix of electronica and south american dance music. Created by Uwe Schmidt, aka Atom Heart, Senor Coconut uses samples of the latin big band mixed with state-of-the- art synthesis to create a completely engaging hybrid dance music. I can recommend without any hesitation whatsoever his completely crazy EL GRAN BAILE. The Senor has gone even further with this insanity in EL BAILE ALEMAN by taking the music of KRAFTWERK and turning it into Latin cha cha's and merengues as if played by a hot brazilian band on ayahuasca. It is an album that will at once delight and enrage true Kraftwerk aficionadoes. As if this wasn't enough, Senor Coconut has recently released the YELLOW FEVER disc in which he not only subjects the music of the Yellow Magic Orchestra (who were basically the Japanese Kraftwerk) to his strange brewing process, but he actually gets THE MEMBERS OF YMO to HELP him do this. Anyway, there is little pop dance music that gets THIS aggressively weird out there, so natch the true bachelor with a discerning taste is required to inflict this on the neighbors. Return To DarvReviews page Return to Reviews Page Return to Main Page