Lounge / Exotica
Space age bachelor pad music.
-
Ella and Leroy: It’s A Good DayYet another selection of such firm mediocrity it seemed only fair to include it in the Waxidermical canon. It definitely has that can’t-quit-put-my-finger-on-it quality that makes it hard to dismiss and harder still to actually compliment. Well, I guess I’m probably leaving out too many of the vitals for you the reader to draw your […]
-
The Sound of Taiwan’s TribesmenWho are these tribesmen the cover speaks of? A record that raises many what, why and when questions.The confusing juxtaposing of Taiwanese villagers and the African savanah is smoothly continued on the record itself. Taiwanese melodies have been given the Daktari treatment with exotic electronic melodies backed by wah wah and cool percussion. “African” grunts […]
-
Dick Hyman & Mary Mayo: Moon GasThere is a distinct possibility that this is the greatest record ever recorded before 1968. Space age bachelor pad music meets concrete music. 1963 was the recording date ! Unbelievable. Strange synths, oscillators and custom made electric guitars with help of the lowrey organ. No words can really describe this […]
-
Erotica - The Rhythms Of Love FAX 1001OG Record Porn from the great people at Fax Records out of Hollywood California. It isn’t dated but I’m guessing its pretty old 50’s or 60’s due to the appearance of the album. Basically you have 2 sides of people having sex on one of those old steel spring mattress. Then for some reason there […]
-
Glenn Derringer: Swingin’ RhythmI don’t really have anything to say about this record but that Lulu cover was seriously starting to freak me out. Anyhow, here’s an MP3
-
Loving CupLounge double lp by these hairy people from Michigan. Like most records of this sort there is a fair amount of totally worthless schmaltz, but unlike most, there’s also a few absolutely jaw-dropping tracks. For instance the version of “Feel Like Making Love” is just amazingly sleazy… complete with seductive moaning. I mean just imagine […]
-
William McCauley - OntarioThis is a nice little obscure 7″ flexi record containing the soundtrack to a film called “Ontario”. I guess it was a promotional documentary of sorts from around 1970, highlighting this and that of the province. Films like that usually ooze loads of period charm and you often wonder where all the nice tunes went […]
-
Adomono: GypsyJerry Stiller look-a-like flamenco guitar dude record that is actually pretty far out. To look at the titles on this set of all covers does not exactly fill you with enthusiasm, but they are so completely drenched with echo that even the most banal 60’s pop cover is transcended into enjoyable weirdness. And according to […]
-
Yogi Adonaiasis: GettingittogetherTruly bizarre double lp made by this lounge singer turned self styled yogi. Side one is deep thoughts about being spoken through super echoed-out effects… almost like what you’d expect to find on a Timothy Leary lp or some other psychedelic guru of the time. The weird part is that the other 3 sides are […]
-
Zalla (Piero Umiliani) - PaesaggiPaesaggi in Italian means ‘landscapes’ (I checked on Alta Vista Babel Fish translator). With a dull cover and very non descript name, I’m not sure what I was thinking in shelling out almost $80 for this record on Eb*y. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. Seems as if (almost) everything Umiliani touched turned […]
-
The “Easy Listening” Group - Vol 1The messages on the sleeve of this record are somewhat confusing. First, the front promises us “easy listening” and adds a logo saying we are dealing with “background music” (or “BGM”). The back adds to the titles classical indications what style and tempo they are in. So we have scherzoso, moderato but also tempo di […]
-
Richard Powell - Memories Of GlenIvyHere’s a great unrestrained real-people hotel-lounge/AOR banger that has probably remained unknown on account of its misleading cover (or I just have terrible taste, which I’m not going to rule out). Richard Powell pens side one himself and leaves side two for covers (Stevie Wonder, Feelings, Get Down Tonight, etc). Side One is the obvious […]
-
Baligh Hamdy - GadaBaligh Hamdy is a composer well known for his work with Egyptian super star singer Oum Kalsoum and Hamdy’s wife, Algerian born Warda. Here’s a real oddity from his hand, an EP with a rather daring silk screened cover (daring considering it was released in Egypt in the sixties). This mini-album has 6 beautiful instrumental […]
-
Willy Wall Trio: the Traveling SoundsPrivate organ trio lounge lp that has been much bandied about as of late. Off-kilter in a very subtle way; this is exactly what you always want out of a record like this, but what none of them ever actually deliver. It really manages to transport one to happy hour in a time and place […]
-
Jose Barroso - FlamencoAnother Crown atrocity that plays like total rubbish. This would actually be not a bad album of flamenco guitar. The guitarist Jose Barroso is really quite good although he only took up the guitar aged 39 & this album of Laurindo Almeida tunes is quite appealing if you are into that sort of […]
-
Marty Paich - Piano QuartetLush, Latin & Cool, mmm. As disastrous as a “Piano Quartet” may sound in theory, this record is actually pretty listenable. Marty Paich gathered three other jazz pianists, Pete Jolly, Jimmie Rowles & John Williams (maybe the soundtrack guy??) as well as a swinging jazz combo including horns to make this record. They really tackle […]
-
Patrice Sciortino - Percussion PowerStrange “exotica” library disc out of Paris, France from what sounds like the late 60’s (no date listed on the label or back cover). A “composition for 30 instruments and percussion accessories” by French composer Patrice Sciortino, and one of the finest of its kind. Sciortino does a great job of creating a distinct […]
-
Belly Dance with Themi Kakias and The Continentals1977 out of Columbus, Ohio. Themi’s bouzouki is backed with guitar and synthesizer, which adds a nice twist on the belly dance sound. “Shades of Rhythm” is a drummer freak out and “Dal se Bami 77″ is hypnotic
-
Jack Marshall & Shelly Manne - Sounds!I forget where I got this record from, but I have probably had it for around 3 years & have listened to it about 3 times (two of those times were in preparation for this review). I do know that it was one of the records I “discovered” in my shelves when I had […]
-
The Oscar Arias Quartet“From the world famous Mexican Village (in Coronado, CA)” 10 tracks of lounge jazz and pop (drum,bass,organ,trumpet,singer), the better tracks being “I Feel The Earth Move” & “Evil Ways”