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exotica-digest          Sunday, June 28 1998          Volume 02 : Number 135



In This Digest:

Re:  (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?
(exotica) Swingtime
Re:  (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?
RE: (exotica) Swingtime
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
(exotica) *More* Free Design?!
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May
(exotica) The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
(exotica) re:Wanderly's Cheganca
Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May
(exotica) A random observation
Re:  Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May
Re: (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
Re: (exotica) Lounge Hound doggy doo:Rant
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
(exotica) Cheganca/Elaine May
(exotica) Swingin' Kong and Burt
(exotica) e-pulse on MusicHound Lounge
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
(exotica) Swingtime
Re: (exotica) Swingtime
(exotica) Compilation requests for other labels
(exotica) Esquivel two-fers

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:54:37 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?

Hi Michele...I think the lounge writers may be reflecting the same thoughts
you had a few months ago when you asked the digest members how many of them
"came" from a punk sensibility. The writers apparently believe that those of
us who like lounge music come from another level of appreciation to this level
called lounge...Since it is largely a white or faux ethnic sound to which we
listen, they perhaps assume that we "came" from punk and its mutant
offspring---"new wave". For me, once the Brit punks "killed" rock and roll,
that WAS the end of it and all that followed meant nothing to me, short of the
brief garage revival of the early 80's. I got into sweet soul from that point
on, and then noticed many of sweet soul and disco's elements within the lounge
sound, but that lounge coupled those elements with a touch of unintended
innocence and irony that is utterly charming in the present day. But none of
the writers have mentioned soul and disco as a possible springboard to lounge
appreciation......Maybe they didn't think of it, but more likely they were
just thinking of themselves and where they came from....Jimmy Botticelli


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 16:08:58 -0400
From: Will Straw <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Swingtime

Today's edition of The Globe and Mail, "Canada's National Newspaper"
had a long article on the swing revival and we've all, I assume, seen the
Research book on Swing by now.  I know this has alll been bubbling under
for some time, but it's curious where lounge is seen to fit in all this.
A lot of the people in the Swing book speak of a continuum that runs from
lindy-hop through lounge and rockabilly, but the Globe and Mail article
makes the claim that, while lounge was for yuppy scum, the swing revival
is genuinely proletarian.   In any case, what seems clear is that the swing
revival isn't much about seeking out obscure records and unusual sounds,
but about a revitalization of live music and bands.  And while the playing out
of lounge is fertilizing contemporary dance music and electronica in an
ongoing
way, the swing thing seems mostly about withdrawing from that whole
battlefield.

Of course, everyone interviewed in the swing book was a punk in 1979 or
1986 or
1991, just like most of us here, so we're all part of the great bohemian
(i.e., pretty
much middle class, pretty much well-educated) continuum.

Any other comments/observations/half-baked theories/rants?

Will
- -------------------------------------------------
Will Straw
Associate Professor and Director,
Graduate Program in Communications, McGill University
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/gpc/



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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 13:32:38 -0800
From: "paul m." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?

>innocence and irony that is utterly charming in the present day. But none of
>the writers have mentioned soul and disco as a possible springboard to lounge
>appreciation......

early eighties analogies:
*animal nightlife
*modern romance
*abc

paul moshay/mighty recording corp.
p.o. bx. 1833, los angeles, calif. 90078
new reply to: [e-mail]
soon:  http://www.mightyrecords.com




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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 16:06:45
From: "Indy Rutks" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (exotica) Swingtime

On Sat, 27 Jun 1998 16:08:58 -0400,
[e-mail] wrote...
>
>Today's edition of The Globe and Mail, "Canada's National Newspaper"
>had a long article on the swing revival and we've all, I assume, seen the
>Research book on Swing by now.

Whaaaaa? ReSearch has a book on Swing?? I guess I missed this...

If anyone feels like filling me in on this, please do so.

- -Indy Rutks ([e-mail])





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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 17:49:34 -0400
From: "m.ace" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

> Whaaaaa? ReSearch has a book on Swing?? I guess I missed this...
> If anyone feels like filling me in on this, please do so.
> -Indy Rutks ([e-mail])

Yes, a while back I received a publicity postcard from "V-Search" books (Vale &
Juno having split up), proclaiming Swing "the most significant cultural
movement since punk."

Which I thought was kind of pushing it -- not that I'm exhaustively plugged in
to everything going on there, but all I've heard from that area is
unreconstructed retro aping. Okay, maybe they add an 'original' angle by
playing faster or sloppier. If I'm missing the point, please do point it out.

This sounds crankier than I intended. I mean, it's swell that these folks are
re-employing horn sections, but it seems a little too straight-up retro to me
to be proclaimed as so significant.

m.ace  [e-mail]
OOK   http://www.voicenet.com/~ecam/


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 22:49:52 +0000
From: "Robbie Baldock" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) *More* Free Design?!

1998 definitely seems to be "international year of the Free Design".
We've already had the compilation from Spanish label Siesta and next
month sees the release of Varese's compilation in the US.  But I
discovered just yesterday that Japanese label Trattoria, who have
already released *four* Free Design LPs on CD over the years have
just reissued two more, which means that all *six* of their Project 3
albums are now available on CD!!!

The two recent reissues which complete the collection are "Sing For
Very Important People" (childrens songs) and "Heaven Earth".  If
you're in or near the UK your cheapest option would seem to be Esprit
(htp://eil.com/) who have them for 15 UKP each though they're
currently out of stock.

You'll also have to form an orderly queue behind me and DJ Mingo-go!
;-)


Robbie

- ----------------------------------------------------------
** ** ** * Spaced Out - the Enoch Light Website * ** ** **
** ** ** * http://www.rcb.easynet.co.uk/light/  * ** ** **
- ----------------------------------------------------------


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 18:16:03 -0400
From: Will Straw <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

Reading the V-Search Swing volume, I had the sense that too
many of the live bands were only 2 or 3 degrees of separation
from the Blues Brothers, the way lots of bad live lounge bands
recall overly-theorized  dweeby New Wave art projects from the early
1980s.   Someone in the Swing volume makes the very important
point that Swing is not jump-blues, despite what so many people
think . . . and it's an important point, I think, because, while you can
like both (as I do),  there's a bit too much overlap between the
sensibility of
some jump blues revival bands and the kinds of things members of the
Rolling Stones sometimes get into as side projects.

Will
- -------------------------------------------------
Will Straw
Associate Professor and Director,
Graduate Program in Communications, McGill University
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/gpc/



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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:00:06 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May

At 02:48 PM 6/27/98 EDT, Larry wrote:
>What roles did Nichols play in The Graduate, and Catch-22, and Viginia Woolf?

I was mistaken.  As far as I NOW know, he has only been a director. VW was
his first, then The Graduate, Catch 22, Carnal Knowledge, Day of the
Dolphin, The Fortune, Gilda Live, Silkwood, The Gin Game, Heartburn,
Working Girl, Biloxi Blues, Postcards from the Edge, Regarding Henry, Wolf,
The Birdcage, The Designated Mourner and Primary Colors.  Elaine Mays wrote
the screenplay for The Birdcage.

Byron

      /-
     / '\
    / ___> ; ;  ;    _   ;__
   /    \  [ | /"-  / () |  )
  <}-___/_/(_|/  \_(__/\/|  (_______
          ___<
          -_/
Byron Caloz
Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way
visit my website:
http://www.hubris.net/zolac


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 17:54:49 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Kirsten Whitley)
Subject: (exotica) The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T

Hi Everyone,

I know that _The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T_ was discussed on our list
in the recent past.  I forget what was said, though, since I didn't
know the movie at that point in time.  Now that I do, I'm trying
to recall what was said (has the soundtrack been released on CD?).

I looked in our archives, but did not find anything.  Given the
list of digests, I tried searching inividual digests.  Did I do
this right, or is there an easier way to search the entire set
of digests?

- --Kirsten


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 19:44:47 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) re:Wanderly's Cheganca

<<Does anyone out there have the Walter Wanderley album "Cheganca"?  If so,
I'd be forever grateful if you could post or e-mail me direct with the
songlist.  Also, does it list a year on it?  I think it's either 1966 or
1967.>>

It just so happens that I have it right here!

CHEGANCA
The Walter Wanderly Trio

Side I
1. Cheganca (The Great Arrival)
2. Amanha
3. Take Care, My Heart
4. Agua De Beber
5. Here's That Rainy Day
6. O Ganso
SideII
1. Mar Amar
2. Voce E Eu
3. O Menino Desce O Morro
4. Da-Me (Stay My Love)
5. Amor De Nada
6. A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et Une Femme)

I see no year anywhere.
But there IS this:
"Walter Wanderly has no worry.  He could play the Pasadena phone book and make
it sound great.  CHEGANCA, Walter's new albumfor Verve Records, is a complete
gas.  His charting is smooth and flawless. He weaves in and out of each tune
like a boxer throwing musical jabs."

I hope this helps you out!



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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 18:31:08 -0700
From: "Carl Russo" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May

>I would liken their performances to audio equivalents of a Jules Pfeiffer
cartoon.

Right on the money!  This brought to mind one of the funniest NY comedies of
the sixties, LITTLE MURDERS, based on a Feiffer play.  Rent it if you
haven't seen it!

Also, Elaine May directed MIKEY AND NICKY, starring John Cassavetes, Peter
Falk and Ned Beatty.  It's so gritty and improvisatory, you'd swear
Cassavetes directed it.

C. "Ratso" Russo







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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 22:17:08 -0400
From: Ross Orr <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) A random observation

Hey, I found this out the hard way, so:

If you are buying/building shelves for your record collection, don't forget
that those thick Stereo Action covers are actually *taller* than other
album jackets. (DOH!)

Ray Martin's _Dynamica_ is in the lead so far, at 12-11/16"
(322mm) tall. So remember to leave yourself a little extra height!

I picked up that LP and many more recently, at one of those weird
"perpetual yard sales" out under the trees of some guy's front yard. It
seemed a little odd that the records were all under tarps--but as I started
to go through them, I realized that I was being pelted by overripe
Mullberries, and worse yet, bird-droppings. Which is how _Dynamica_ ended
up with that big Gorbachev blotch on it. Sheesh, the things we put up with!
But I have to say this was one of my better hauls for a long time.

Someday if this heatwave ever lets up, I may have the energy to describe a
few of them. . .

Boing, Boing,

 --Ross

|| Ross "Mambo Frenzy" Orr  <[e-mail]>
|| Ann Arbor, Michigan USA




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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 02:03:34 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re:  Re: (exotica) Mike Nicols and Elaine May

YES to Little Murders---Vincent Gardenia has always been one of my favorite
Italian character actors and he shines brightly in this one..........a REAL
gem to those who have not heard of it (and to those who have!) ..........Jimmy


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 10:55:50 -0400
From: Nat Kone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) What does new wave have to do with it?

At 11:53 PM 26/06/98 EDT, [e-mail] wrote:
>Why is it these lounge book
>writers feel compelled to throw in New Wave bands as lounge acts???

Well I'm not going to defend this book which sounds horrid but I guess if I
fantasize the perfect book on lounge music that we could all love, I could
see that book having a section on modern bands that embody - or appear to
be influenced by - the lounge aesthetic.  Of course that would be the part
of the book where we'd have arguments.
Myself, I'd find it very cool to find the Tindersticks in that section.
Maybe it's a bit of a stretch, I don't know.  But it seems to me that I see
similar kinds of stretches going on all the time, even on this list.
For instance, (get your swords out), I love Bacharach and I can see a
strong connection to lounge music but I wouldn't call Bacharach "lounge".
Still, it seems his inclusion has become second nature.
Finally, I can understand people being disappointed with this book and
others but these books weren't written for us.  They seldom are.
If you're buying old vinyl records at the flea market, you're not really
participating in the economy, so you're pretty well a non-issue... which
some of us like being.
But you can't have it both ways.

Nat



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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 10:55:52 -0400
From: Nat Kone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

At 04:08 PM 27/06/98 -0400, Will Straw wrote:
>
>Today's edition of The Globe and Mail, "Canada's National Newspaper"

Do I sense sarcasm there?

>A lot of the people in the Swing book speak of a continuum that runs from
>lindy-hop through lounge and rockabilly,

I thought everything was a continuum.  You mean it isn't?

>but the Globe and Mail article makes the claim that, while lounge was for
yuppy >scum, the swing revival is genuinely proletarian.

Well the Globe would know, wouldn't they?  They're tapped right into the
proletariate.
I guess my interpretation of this remark would be that since the swing
revival is for dancing, it must be a proletariate movement since, as we all
know know, the proletariate love to move their bodies... or shake their
booties, as the case may be.  And this is because their bodies are the only
part of their being, they're really connected with.
Whereas yuppie scum like myself (except I'm neither young nor professional)
are disconnected from our bodies and totally in our heads and that's why we
like the more sedate things like lounge music.
Also, we yuppie scum like to overanalyze and intellectualize everything and
for some reason, lounge lends itself to that.  We get to say things like
"exotica was a sanitized way in which to contact the OTHER".
Whereas for some reason, it's hard to intellectualize something when you're
dancing your ass off.
Oh and I almost forgot, the proletariate like to buy really fancy clothes
that they'll never get to wear again after the trend is over.
Or is that yuppie scum who like to do that?
Forget that point.


> And while the playing out of lounge is fertilizing contemporary dance
music and >electronica in an ongoing way, the swing thing seems mostly
about withdrawing >from that whole battlefield.

I couldn't have said it better myself.
I hope that's true because I'm going to be thinking that from now on.

>Of course, everyone interviewed in the swing book was a punk in 1979 or
>1986 or 1991, just like most of us here,

I wish I could say I was a punk in 1979 but though I did attend the
concerts and buy the records, I think the truth is that the last time I was
a punk was in grade four when I got the strap and back then the big punk
act was called Fabian.

>Any other comments/observations/half-baked theories/rants?

No.




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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 11:24:34 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Lounge Hound doggy doo:Rant

If I can throw my 2 cents worth on the martin Denny entry...the first choice
in  "recommended" recordings according to the entry writer  is the 2 CD
Capitol set which by the way, the writer also praises for the insightful liner
notes!!

Well not only does the 2 CD set omit 13!!!!!! true Denny classics like "Jungle
Flower," "Love Dance," "The Queen Chant,"Escales,"March Of The Siamese
Children,"Bangcock Cockfight,"Baia," "Simba,"Aku Aku,"Martinique,""Jungle
River Boat," "Caravan,and "Congo Train" (all contained on the Rhino
compilation) in favor of lesser tracks and unreleased tracks, but the
"insightful" liner notes by RJ Smith have more errors than an early Mets game.
I own this CD courtesy of Martin Denny who sent it to me with all the
incorrect facts and disrespectful passages highlighted, and let me tell you it
looks as colorful as a freshman college textbook!


Ashkley


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Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 11:50:03 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

In a message dated 98-06-27 16:10:13 EDT, [e-mail] writes:

<< Today's edition of The Globe and Mail, "Canada's National Newspaper"
 had a long article on the swing revival and we've all, I assume, seen the
 Research book on Swing by now.  I know this has alll been bubbling under
 for some time, but it's curious where lounge is seen to fit in all this.
 A lot of the people in the Swing book speak of a continuum that runs from
 lindy-hop through lounge and rockabilly, but the Globe and Mail article
 makes the claim that, while lounge was for yuppy scum, the swing revival
 is genuinely proletarian.   In any case, what seems clear is that the swing
 revival isn't much about seeking out obscure records and unusual sounds,
 but about a revitalization of live music and bands.  And while the playing
out
 of lounge is fertilizing contemporary dance music and electronica in an
 ongoing
 way, the swing thing seems mostly about withdrawing from that whole
 battlefield.

Swing seems to be mainly about reviving dances like the Lindy-Hop etc. and as
any fad built around a dance i.e. the macarena and the lambada, it is destined
for short life. Unlike the lounge "movement" or electronica (segments of which
are embracing influences and sounds in compositional styles and sampling), the
swing movement is fairly one dimensional in scope and style of music.

One of the main reasons for swings popularity is that there are and have been
for a long while bands across the country who for years have been doing covers
of Louis Jordan, Louis Prima or old r&b songs or orginals in that style. Let's
face it you  hire any wedding band and you have all the elements of a swing
band not to mention usually playing "In The Mood" or some such number to get
the parents dancing. (Remeber "The Curly Shuffle"?)

As any musician on list list can confirm, you don't need to be classically
trained to play this stuff. However when it comes to "lounge" or easy
listening, not only does the compositional and musically adept bar go up, but
as a great deal of this music was studio based (how many touring orchestras
can you name?) and there are very few groups who can succesfully perform this
kind of music in a live setting.

 What I don't quite understand in the current swing movement is the inclusion
of rockabilly. Rockabilly was firmly against the "parents" music of swing.
And, please correct me if I'm wrong, swing music did not include the "race"
music or early r&b which was thought of as too wild.

Ashley


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 10:16:30
From: Brad Bigelow <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Cheganca/Elaine May

Cheganca tracks:

Cheganca
Amanha
Take Care, My Heart
Agua de Beber
Here's That Rainy Day
O Ganso
Mar Amar
Voce e Eu
O Menino Desce O Morro
Da-Me
Amor De Nada
A Man and a Woman

Also Elaine May has appeared in front of and behind the lens--most notably
in "A New Leaf," in which she did both, in addition to writing the script.
She plays a klutzy millionairess married by the newly-poor Walter Matthau
in order to bump her off and resume the lifestyle to which he has become
accustomed.  I think it's showing on AMC sometime this week.  Not the
greatest comedy, but memorable for the scene where Matthau raoms the
streets in shock, muttering, "I'm poor!  I'm poor!"

Brad
[e-mail]


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 14:05:37 -0400
From: "m.ace" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Swingin' Kong and Burt

> From: [e-mail]
> Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime
>
>  What I don't quite understand in the current swing movement is the inclusion
> of rockabilly. Rockabilly was firmly against the "parents" music of swing.
> And, please correct me if I'm wrong, swing music did not include the "race"
> music or early r&b which was thought of as too wild.

Yeah, I've noticed that the current Swing thing certainly doesn't seem to fit
the traditional definition of swing. Do they include Sha-Na-Na? If so, they
should be worshipped as living gods for doing greaser retro in the paisley
heart of the hippy movement (i.e. Woodstock). I know *I've* long admired them
for that move.

But for another kind of swing, I've just read that there's a new cd of Max
Steiner's score for the original "King Kong" (1933). Now *that's* some
proto-exotica. This is not the original recording, but a reconstruction of the
score by John W. Morgan, performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The review
(in Filmfax magazine) is very positive -- of course, you never know. I'm pretty
intrigued. 72 minutes, 36 page booklet. Released on Marco Polo (8.223763).

The Burt Bacharach site has some news on the Rhino set here (among other
items):
http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~mark/bacharach/bacharach_news.html
It seems that it is still on track, just secured the last of the licensing and
may be out around August to October. You can also link to upcoming tour dates
there.

m.ace  [e-mail]
OOK   http://www.voicenet.com/~ecam/


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 20:32:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Lou Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) e-pulse on MusicHound Lounge

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 09:30:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: E-Pulse Mag Mailing List <[e-mail]>
Subject: epulse 2.45 [level]

epulse 4.25 [level]
^^^ ^^^ ^^^

- ---  CONTENTS / June 26, 1998
>>>  Welcome back to epulse, the musically omnivorous weekly ezine of
Pulse! magazine

     .  trivia: lounge accessory
     .     epulse8: lounge
Drop us a line at [e-mail].
^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^
- ---  FREE STUFF
>>>  The prize of the week: 'MUSICHOUND LOUNGE: THE
ESSENTIAL ALBUM GUIDE TO MARTINI MUSIC AND EASY
LISTENING' (Visible Ink Press, 590 pages). See the epulse8, below,
for a description.

RULES: To take part in the drawing for the prize tome, correctly answer
the following question and email your entry to "[e-mail]" putting
"exotica" in the subject header. It is not necessary to re-quote our
question. Do not send an attachment file to your email, as it will not be
read or considered. And PLEASE only one entry per person.

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: What the real name of Yma Sumac,
she of the multiple octaves?

IMPORTANT Please include in the body of the letter 1) your full name, 2)
daytime (USA) phone number and 3) email address or it will be ineligible.
Email must be time/date marked before 9 a.m. PST/noon EST on Thursday,
July 2, 1998, to be considered for the drawing. Good luck.:
^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^^
- ---  THE EPULSE8
>>>  A peek at the notebooks of your favorite editors, featuring reviews
and news on new and imminent music and other media (tentative release
dates in parentheses, all info subject to change).

1. easy reading of the week:
     "If you stick around long enough, what goes around comes around,"
writes Martin Denny in his extremely brief introduction to 'MUSICHOUND
LOUNGE: THE ESSENTIAL ALBUM GUIDE TO MARTINI MUSIC AND EASY LISTENING'
(Visible Ink Press, out now). Alongside Denny in this 650-entry
compendium, you'll find fellow exotica heroes (Esquivel, Arthur Lyman,
Korla Pandit), latter-day revivalists (Combustible Edison, Cherry Poppin'
Daddies), crooners (from Billy Eckstine to Bryan Ferry), pioneering
legends (Slim Gaillard, Sam Butera, Louis Jordan), and a number of
unexpected artists who are strangely appropriate (Nick Cave, Erykah Badu,
David Lee Roth). As with any such encyclopedia, it's easy to nitpick:
Bette Midler and Christopher Cross are included, but not Kid Creole or the
Pointer Sisters. Sure, the press materials refer to the book as an album
guide to "middle-class white people's root music," but if that's the
criterion, where's John Davidson? Anyway, you get the idea. With its
arsenal of 60 critics, MusicHound tends to provide more critical
perspective than many such tomes, complementing the entries with
recommendations on what to buy and, perhaps more important for this genre,
what to avoid. The book also includes a 24-cut 'Ultra-Lounge' compilation
CD (though the copy that arrived here was packaged in such a way that
gummy, gluey stuff was stuck to the rim of the disc). Suddenly timely due
to the passing of Frank Sinatra, not to mention the resurgence of swing,
'MusicHound Lounge' is well worth consulting before that next trip to the
swap meet or the easy listening bin. (Forman)



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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 16:29:58 -0700
From: "Carl Russo" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

Nat sez:

>I guess my interpretation of this remark would be that since the swing
>revival is for dancing, it must be a proletariate movement since, as we all
>know know, the proletariate love to move their bodies... or shake their
>booties, as the case may be.  And this is because their bodies are the only
>part of their being, they're really connected with.
>Whereas yuppie scum like myself (except I'm neither young nor professional)
>are disconnected from our bodies and totally in our heads and that's why we
>like the more sedate things like lounge music.
>Also, we yuppie scum like to overanalyze and intellectualize everything and
>for some reason, lounge lends itself to that.  We get to say things like
>"exotica was a sanitized way in which to contact the OTHER".

My feeling is that yuppie scum buy into trends to ACQUIRE hipness, as
opposed to just digging the stuff.  Though they don't realize it, yuppie
scum identify themselves in terms of what they consume.  I've witnessed an
influx of computer/advertizing vermin trying to buy a lifestyle when they
move into their San Francisco lofts.  Whereas the original SF underground of
the 70s and 80s has long since been priced out of town.

Whether or not they can shake dey booties I couldn't tell you, though they
certainly have the money for clubs and drugs.

C. "Ratso" Russo






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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 20:31:34 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

In a message dated 98-06-28 16:52:14 EDT, Dlsmay writes:

<< Think back to any visual you have of Bill Haley and his Comets.  Does that
instrumentation look like the Stray Cats?  Nope, there's a steel guitar and an
accordion in that group.  Why?  Because Bill's boys were really a small-combo
Western Swing group.  And they pulled just as hard off the Jump Blues teat as
they did off of honky tonk (lots of Louis Jordan and Count Basie riffs and
covers).


**It is very well known that rockabilly was a cross-fertization betrween
country and r&b elements.


As the rockabilly scene has evolved to include more pre-rockabilly sounds
(notably Big Sandy & the Fly Rite Boys, which aim for the pyrotechnic
interplay of guitar and steel associated with Jimmy Bryant and Speed West),
they've come to include the sounds of all post-war dance musics:early R&B,
jump blues, western swing, swinging lounge novelties etc.

**Please don't talk about the evoltion of rockabilly using Big Sandy! All Big
Sandy and the current crop of rockabilly acts are either revialists or groups
who take rockabily as a steping stone to experiment and add other genre
influences, they are by no means part of an uninterrupted rockabilly movement.
Remember rockabilly was displaced/buried by things like Merseybeat, hard rock,
metal etc.

This "Swing movement" doesn't explain anything really, there have always been
genre crossing covers. I mean you have country artist Junior Brown doing
things like "Pipeline" or "Secret Agwnt man" in his set yet he is not swing,
but country, plain and simple.


Also, there's a natural cultural crossover between the rockabilly enthusiasts
snapping up vintage wear (including house furnishings) and the swing scene's
dedication to old duds (on Haight St. alone, I've watched all of the staff at
the used clothings stores convert from art students to swing kids in the last
two years).  Throw in the commonality of swing dancing in both musics and
you've got fertile crossover. >>

***The purchasing of vintage clothing was done prior to swing, prior to
"lounge" and probably even prior to punk, so wearing old clothes doesn't make
swing that much special either with respect to cross-fertilization.

So, somebody pleeease tell me what is so special about Swing! All I can see is
that it is the bandwagon for a lot of mediocre groups doing poor cover
versions of old r&b and WW2 numbers and unfortunately dragging the fine art of
rockabilly with them!
By the way, if you walked into a Gene vincent show wearing a zoot suit I
imagine you'd either get the shit beaten out of you or you'd be laughed out.

Let's face it folks this movement is primarily about dancing and dressing up,
It is not innovative but merely reactive and imitaive of far better music that
has gone before it, hence it will be very short-lived.  Bets anyone?

(At least "lounge" stuff is finding a happy home in electronic music and being
used to dreate something new and innovative)



Ashley


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 17:44:10 -0800
From: "paul m." <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Swingtime

>Let's face it folks this movement is primarily about dancing and dressing up,
>It is not innovative but merely reactive and imitaive of far better music that
>has gone before it, hence it will be very short-lived.  Bets anyone?

short lived?  i doubt it.  from a more pyscho-social view point, young
women enjoy dancing generally.  wherever young women are guys are
sure to follow.  sexist, maybe.  reality, most likely.

paul moshay/mighty recording corp.
p.o. bx. 1833, los angeles, calif. 90078
new reply to: [e-mail]
soon:  http://www.mightyrecords.com

paul moshay/mighty recording corp.
p.o. bx. 1833, los angeles, calif. 90078
new reply to: [e-mail]
soon:  http://www.mightyrecords.com




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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 21:05:50 -0400
From: Will Straw <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Swingtime

I'm fascinated with this Swing discussion, and the postings by David and
Ashley
were absolutely fabulous, I thought, and full of insight.   And M.Ace's
comments
about what Sha Na Na meant in the midst of  Woodstock should be on a T-shirt.
I spend lots of time thinking this is the smartest bunch of people on the
internet.

Surely though, folks, we're not going to dismiss the swing revival as
"primarily about
dancing and dressing up," though, when we've all muttered about magazine
coverage of lounge which made the same claims.    There's not going to be
the same
kind of discography-mongering and reissue-lobbying in the swing revival as
there is
around lounge -- mostly because jazz fans did most of this work years ago,
partly because, as Paul suggests, the swing revival is attracting lots more
people who
dance but don't collect records obsessively (i.e., more females).

Will
- -------------------------------------------------
Will Straw
Associate Professor and Director,
Graduate Program in Communications, McGill University
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/gpc/



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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 18:19:08 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (exotica) Compilation requests for other labels

I would like to hear what you think!

We all know that Capitol has brought together all the cool releases from
Liberty, Capitol and whatever other labels it now has control over.

RCA, did a limited version of the same (only three, doggone it!).

What about other labels?  Barring a miracle or some intense pressure from
the likes of us, I doubt this will happen.  Still, I'd like to know:

What artists or performances would put on a label-exclusive compilation
from...

United Artists,
MGM (although I guess there is some already from them...),
Columbia,
Warner Brothers,
Time,
Command,
ABC-Paramount,
you-name-it.

I know for UA I would argue for Terry Snyder, Al Caiola and Don Costa.
Columbia: Belmonte, Ferrante & Teicher, Andre Popp.
Warner Brothers: Warren Barker, Mel Hanke, Buddy Cole.
Time: Al Caiola, Hugo Montenegro, Hal Mooney.
Command/Grand Award: Terry Snyder, Dick Hyman, Charles Magnante
ABC-Paramount: Ferrante & Teicher.
GNP-Crescendo: Buddy Merrill.

This is a complete off the top of my head list...there are obviously others
to add.  Also, I don't advocate EVERYTHING by the particular artist...only
the coolest cuts.  AND, I am certainly leaving out some labels.

So, what would you want?

Byron

      /-
     / '\
    / ___> ; ;  ;    _   ;__
   /    \  [ | /"-  / () |  )
  <}-___/_/(_|/  \_(__/\/|  (_______
          ___<
          -_/
Byron Caloz
Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way
visit my website:
http://www.hubris.net/zolac


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 18:19:02 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (exotica) Esquivel two-fers

An unusual opportunity presented itself...the ability to patronize one of
my favorite internet stores, get a discount and buy three of the Esquivel
two-fers...all at the same time.  I am glad I did.

While the liner notes said there were more than the three CD's I got
(representing *SIX* Esquivel albums), as far as I can determine, Bar/None
has not done any others yet.  As far as I am concerned, all of the Esquivel
albums should be released in the same manner.

Yes, I do have all three Esquivel compilations (two from Bar/None and one
from RCA) and yes, I now have some cuts repeated on three different CD's.

However, there is nothing like getting all the music from the same LP heard
together.  This is *THE* way to hear the music.  Now I can understand the
relationships between recordings.  It is much more interesting than what I
got out of the compilations.

And, I believe that even if I bought at full price, these two-fers would
have been a great bargain.  I like my CDs "full platter" and this is what I
get!  The packaging, while not extravagant, is stylistically consistant and
fun.

Above all, these CDs only re-emphasize for me something I have known for a
long time (but occasionally need to be reminded of): Esquivel is the king!
There has never been anyone who has been so original and on top
consistantly with his arrangements.  He developed his own musical
vocabulary that works and no one else could quite duplicate or even
emulate.  And he used it again and again...without ever sounding tired or
repetitious.  zoo zoo zoo.

I still don't know how he did it.... but he did.

I hope he knows how much people like me appreciate what he has done.  Thank
goodness for Esquivel...and for his champions which have revealed his music
to new generations.

Byron

      /-
     / '\
    / ___> ; ;  ;    _   ;__
   /    \  [ | /"-  / () |  )
  <}-___/_/(_|/  \_(__/\/|  (_______
          ___<
          -_/
Byron Caloz
Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way
visit my website:
http://www.hubris.net/zolac


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------------------------------

End of exotica-digest V2 #135
*****************************