Tag: Exotica

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Music Radio

Soft Tempo Lounge Internet Radio

Soft Tempo Lounge offer the best of easy / cheesy / sleazy listening all in one program.  From the station’s website:

“Mentioning the first foray into content creation with the ‘UNCLE JERRY’S PAD’ channel, eventually transforming into SOFT TEMPO LOUNGE 13 years ago, is more perfunctory rather than illuminating. Likewise to hark back to the glorious parties and events we created in the 2010s is nice but seems of scant relevance to the here and now.

The real value is in its purpose – to entertain and encourage a more relaxed way to live in the present moment. The genuine audience experiences, be it an antidote to calm a busy mind, drifting off into nostalgic daydreams or effortlessly harmonising to universal vibrations, all depends on you.

Everything we do, every approach we take is with the utmost appreciation of the style, music and gestalt of the mid 20th Century. With great regard and respect for all those creators and protagonists who have enriched our world ‘lounge’ culture.”

To indulge in the fun, click here.

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Music

Oidopuaa Vladimir Oiun – Divine Music From Jail

A snippet from Oidopuaa Vladimir Oiun’s outsider release at his Bandcamp site:

“Oidupaa spent 33 years of his 55 years of life in prison – in fact, this album was recorded in prison. Oidupaa himself claimed that his conflicts with Soviet legislation were slander, which often happened with other Tuvan artists of that time.

During his imprisonment, Oidupaa Vladimir became a believer and glorified God through his songs, thereby creating an unprecedented combination of Tuvan throat singing and Christian tradition: “With all my voice, throughout the whole universe, I glorify you, my Heavenly Father – among distant people, among near people, through the channels mass media, through the TV screen, through a cassette recorder, in prisons and camps, I glorify your name, my Heavenly Father!”

Oidupaa’s style is pure freedom of creativity and self-expression. His style of unconventional performance of throat singing delights both professionals and musicologists, as well as the common listener. Often living on the road, he found listeners and admirers everywhere. Performing at train stations among crowds was his distinctive feature. In the early 90s, thanks to a caring fan from Japan, the artist gained some fame and gave concerts in Sweden and Switzerland. After returning from Switzerland he was arrested and imprisoned for 15 years. During this prison time, according to Oidupaa, he achieved true mastery. He claimed to have brought his music to total perfection, in a way that no one would be able to copy his style in the next hundred years. In prison his mastery in musical performance and immersion in faith and revelation of the spirit were fused. It was in prison where he recorded his nowadays iconic album.”

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Music

Floreana – Floreana One

I don’t do top tens, but if I did, this album might be EP of the year.  It’s that good.  Imagine early Brian Eno or Tuxedomoon with a sound updated for the 2020’s.  Yes, these names are the ones I’m happy to drop for this release.  From Floreana’s Bandcamp site:

“Floreana One, is the first installment of a three-part series, captures tones reminiscent of early Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, exploring themes of isolation and idealism through tape-saturated woodwinds, hazy synthesizers, and vintage drum machines. Features appearances from her father- David Mordoch, John Carroll Kirby, Nico Georis, Shags Chamberlain, and Daryl Johns.“

Indeed, this EP is worth your time.

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Music

Jorge López Ruiz – Un Hombre de Buenos Aires

I have to say that, until a few days ago, I knew nothing about Jorge López Ruiz, but after reading this writeup and listening to the funky exotic jazz on this album, I’ve become a fan.  From the Bandcamp website:

“Jazz, funk, and bossa vibes kiss each other, all wrapped up in JLR’s trademark cinematic feel. In his colourful Un Hombre de Buenos Aires, recorded in 1978, JLR puts the political outcry of his early 70s works aside and focuses on his love for the city of Buenos Aires.

Jorge López Ruiz gets far less credit than he deserves. His crucial role in shaping Argentina’s jazz history should place him right next to Gato Barbieri and Lalo Schifrin, who found success abroad. It’s an honour do dig deeper into his vast discography after having already reissued his masterpiece Viejas Raíces and his historical milestone album Bronca Buenos Aires.

As always, Jorge López Ruiz enroled for the recording of Un Hombre de Buenos Aires some of the best musicians in the country. The line-up includes Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon, Domingo Cura on percussion and his lifelong friend Pocho Lapouble on drums.”

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Music

Various Artists – Ecuatoriana – El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969​-​1981 (Analog Africa No​.​37)

Analog Africa, one of my favorite reissue labels, is going well above its mission of reissuing African treasures and is now delving deep into the music mines of South America – in this case, Ecuador.  Polibio Mayorga was a hit-writing machine during the early days of Ecuadorian rock, but he also had an interest in sci-fi, weirdly lounge-influenced music and his native cumbia.  From the release’s Bandcamp site:

“In the decades after the second world war, outer space was on everyone’s mind and the ‘space race’ of the 1950s and 60s not only produced groundbreaking efforts to launch artificial satellites, send space probes to Mars and land a human on the moon, it also had a huge impact on the movie and music industry which was taking advantage of the world’s fascination with space voyages and lunar missions to create instruments capable of mimicking imaginary interstellar sounds. These synthesised space effects that captivated the imagination of a whole generation of young Ecuadoreans coincided with a period in which workers and musicians from the provinces started flocking to Quito and to the commercial port of Guayaquil, some hoping to find regular work, others looking to break into the musical big leagues by getting hired by one of the prestigious urban radio station. These artists brought riches of rhythms to the major Ecuadorian cities who would soon witness the explosion of what would be known as “Andean Cumbia.”

…

Polibio has never considered his music to be “tropical psychedelia” – although he thinks it would make a good name for a band. He has the sense of humour of a genius and the ability to make anyone laugh, yet he remains discreet, eloquent and humble … but as a musician he is daring and visionary, with an intrepid, vigorous style almost impossible to imitate. More than perhaps any of his peers, Polibio Mayorga established a unique place for himself at the vanguard of tropical music.“

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Music

mama!milk – Concert at Art Gummi Kanazawa, 2022

mama!milk are a project out of Japan who mix the experimental music vibe of Pauline Oliveros and tango.  Weird mix, but beautiful in its own way.

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Music

Domenique Dumont – People on Sunday

I came across a “composer” (really, a duo) based in Riga, Latvia called Domenique Dumont. The pair consist of Latvian multi-instrumentalist and producer Arturs Liepins and vocalist, ethnomusicologist Anete Stuce, and they have produced a shimmering, gentle piece of electronic music.  From the release’s Bandcamp site:

“People On Sunday is an original soundtrack to the 1930 silent film variously known as Menschen am Sonntag, Les Hommes le Dimanche and People On Sunday. The film is a key work of interwar German cinema, based on a screenplay by Billy Wilder.

Part documentary, part fiction, People On Sunday follows a group of characters going about their business in Weimar-era Berlin over one weekend and shows normal life in Germany before dictatorship.

Domenique Dumont was invited to compose the score for a special screening and live performance at the Les Arcs Film Festival in the French Alps in December 2019.

“Working on this score strengthened my belief that the time we currently live in, although far from perfect, might be the best time to be alive. All the bells and whistles, all the advantages that we have the opportunity to enjoy in the 21st century, are things people couldn’t have dreamt of only a hundred years ago. At the same time, we haven’t yet transformed away from our sense of humanity. As absurd and optimistic as it may sound, we are living in a utopia compared it to what came before and, perhaps, what is to come. Somehow this movie made me think of the present more than the past.””

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Music

The Jagaloons – Ruin The Party

The Jagaloons are an instrumental surf/garage-rock band out of Albany, New York.  They have the energy of a punk band, the suaveness of those who play exotica, and can work in spaghetti western themes into their music.  Brilliant stuff.

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Music

Various Artists – Sabroso Go Go

Spain’s Munster Records has a legendary reputation for putting out some amazing garage rock albums, including a lot of prime reissues.  This compilation covers some lost gems from the Venezuelan Discos MAG for your enjoyment.

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Music

Arthur Lyman – Island Vibes

The ever-brilliant Aloha Got Soul Records is about to release a lost masterpiece of exotica.

Arthur Lyman played vibraphone and marimba, and with these tools, nature sounds and some fine musicians backing him up, he managed to conjure up images of life in the South Pacific and Hawaii, which had just become our 50th state in the United States.

This album was originally recorded on Broad Records in 1980, but it seems to have been forgotten, which is surprising given the explosion of exotica, easy listening and lounge music which occurred during the 1990s.

As of today (July 23, 2021), there are three tracks available for listening.  Each sound relaxing, and definitely in keeping with Lyman’s mellow sound.