If You Like Exotica, Check These Out

Two noteworthy modern acts that will fit nicely in between your Haole Kats and Yma Sumac spins. Toumani Diabate's "The Mande Variations" is a laid-back, melodic yet highly-sophisticated take on African styles (something I'm not normally a fan of), featuring his mastery of the kora--a 21-string West African harp, and an exotic yet classically-beautiful disc that anyone who claims to like music should enjoy.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing Cabezas de Cera live at NEARfest in Bethlehem, PA, who mopped the stage with the other acts. They are a trio from Mexico who incorporate tribal rhythms & voicings into their prog-rock format, with the result being "Ritual of the Savage" meets early-80's King Crimson Africa-inspired experiments. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of their sound is the home-crafted and home-designed metalwork stringed instruments they play, best shown off on their set "Metalmusica." Check out http://www.cabezasdecera.com.mx.
They're not surf, lounge or rockabilly, but they will expand your musical horizons. Give 'em a listen.

Ok, there is a HUGE difference between exotic music and "Exotica". This should not be posted here.

Having said that, these guys are amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyqrIHJrdRY&feature=related

It is like King Crimson mixed with the band Rudder. That's a chapman stick, by the way.

I always thought there should be a tie in between exotic music and our thing, but there really is not. Exotica is a term for lounge music/mood music/easy listening music of the 1950's. It was not meant to really be deep or thought provoking, despite the somewhat descriptive song titles. It is music with a heavy kitsch factor, meant for fun and cocktails!!

This music is more for bong hits and shrooms. I like it though. A lot!

Ok, there is a HUGE difference between exotic music and "Exotica". This should not be posted here.

Balderdash. You purists should acknowledge that lounge didn't simply emerge out of Southern California's asphalt fully-formed. It has musical precedent as well as evolutionary offshoots, both of which deserve exploration and embracing. Tiki living is all about enhancing one's life experience,not limiting it.

No, not really. And I am hardly a purist. But read the tiki central mission statement. There are definate limits.

Fusion, prog rock, world music...not even remotely tiki. But since I love all those genres a lot, I always post about them in Bilge.

On 2009-06-30 09:46, White Devil wrote:

Ok, there is a HUGE difference between exotic music and "Exotica". This should not be posted here.

Balderdash. You purists should acknowledge that lounge didn't simply emerge out of Southern California's asphalt fully-formed. It has musical precedent as well as evolutionary offshoots, both of which deserve exploration and embracing. Tiki living is all about enhancing one's life experience,not limiting it.

Well in that case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nZeAzQjwFY

One could argue that the above clip is an evolutionary offshoot of lounge but that doesn't mean it belongs here. Lucas is right, and yes, read the "mission statement":
http://www.tikicentral.com/about.php

You are right, Hakalugi, as you usually are!

(What's up with the dogs, though?)

See, this to me is very exotic, but NOT exotica!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCWnZ0qILUA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNG9OojcNHY&feature=related

And Jon Hassell has claimed Les Baxter as one of his influences, even.

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2009-06-30 10:22 ]

Thanks, but I'm well familiar with the mission statements: they do a great job of telling us what Tiki isn't, but are nowhere near as articulate as to what it believes Tiki is. My mission is to connect appropriate music (related to Tiki interests, not confined by them) to those that would enjoy it: which I succeeded in doing in your case. I do know that if I'm interested in exotic music, exotica, etc., I'm logically going to access the music forum, not bilge. One man's focus is another's narrow-minded spectrum, and I find it very odd that so many TC posters with ready claims of what Tiki isn't seem to be the same ones buying up every scrap of anything with Shag printed on it.
It's Tiki fundamentalism that belongs in bilge.

Who the hell are you, and what is your agenda here? Seems like you definitely have one.

Tsk, tsk. Language. Some socialite you are. No agenda, other than spreading the good word about some good music. Didn't mean to upset the Shi'ite Tikiphile militia. Carry on.

Congratulations. This is your 5th post here and I already can't stand you.

This forum takes a dim view of internet trolls. If you read the mission statement, then you already knew what this forum was about. If that's the case, and you post your spam anyway, that means you are breaking the rules. Frankly, I think you should find another forum if you can't abide by the rules here. You don't just come on this forum and make your own rules, ok? The tiki music section clearly outlines what type of music to post about. I won't bother posting it, because I am assuming you are physically able to read.

Why do people fight in public when we have PMs so the rest of us don't have to see the squabbling?

On 2009-06-30 11:08, GROG wrote:
Why do people fight in public when we have PMs so the rest of us don't have to see the squabbling?

because not everyone bothers to answer their PMs. You should know, right?

My goodness, what a tense lot of hipsters you are. Presuming that you too are able to read, I've been a member here for over two years, and in fact my wife & I run a bookshop. And I personally take a dim view of some random individual telling me where my post should go, when my judgment is just as good as yours. Hopefully, most of the folks reading this thread of presumption and bad manners will read my first posting and connect with some soothing music to enjoy after all the drama.
And might I suggest to those of you with constricted parameters and apparently not enough to do: pull your ears out of the sand (or whatever orifice they're wedged into), because there are a few good bands out there you'll dig, even if they're not "tiki music."

If you have been here two years, then you know very well that I am hardly a purist when it comes to tiki music. Nor am I a "hipster".

Don't be like this, please. I responded to your first thread that it was an incredible band, and that I really liked it. It's just in the wrong place, that's all. If not me saying it, it would have been someone else, believe me.

And don't bother calling me a tiki shiite....the overwhelming majority of people on this forum do not like any music unless it comes with a custom tiki mug or a fez. Would you believe me if I told you that most people on this forum don't even like Hawaiian music very much? You are preaching to the choir on this one.

Oh, it's all in good fun, believe me...no offense taken or intended. But until someone can tell me exactly what "tiki music" consists of, I'm at liberty to broaden their horizons and so I'll post it wherever I gosh-darned want it to go. You really would enjoy Cabezas de Cera live, if you ever get the chance to catch them. And their instruments only start with the Chapman stick...some of their custom-made stuff looks (and sounds) like something out of Blade Runner.
Cheers!

[ Edited by: White Devil 2009-06-30 12:07 ]

Oh brother, here we go again. WhiteDevil, those posts are straight out of the rulebook for posting with a chip on your shoulder. This kind of behavior has been characterized here before...

After getting ruffled feathers, post something to indicate standing up to THE MAN! There are endless examples of this... "I don't care what you all say, I'm going to decorate my home how I want to, not how you tell me too!" Or "I thought tiki was about fun and freedom from rules!" Or "Well I think I'll go somewhere else if this site is just a bunch of tiki police!" (substitute other terms like "hoity toities" for tiki police). Or "I'm tired of people telling me what I should like." Or "Tiki has to grow and expand its boundaries" - one of my favorites for its sheer meaninglessness.

But that doesn't make it any more of a joy to read each time it comes up again. True, we got to see some new epithets though (Shi'ite Tikiphile militia - haha! haven't seen that one before!).

Anyway, WhiteDevil's words have inspired me (especially the part about pulling my ears out of an orifice), and it's all clear to me now. I shall henceforth visit TC to read about things that are NOT topical to TC! And you should too! That is the point, right?

On a more serious note, I actually do think it's interesting that there are some pretty unclear boundaries for the music that's considered related to the tiki culture. Surf music generally seems to count, although there have been some threads disputing whether it should. Even though I've been into surf for years and years (and I'll be including some when I deejay at Oasis, plug plug) it's always seemed to me that surf gets included by kind of a special exception. Likewise for rockabilly and some other stuff.

I don't really have a clear concept of "tiki music." In the strictest sense, it tends to be midcentury exotica, and even exclude things like hapa haole. Somehow that seems too narrow to be practical, but then there's a lot of genres that are far enough unrelated that they don't count. For the purposes of the Tiki Music forum, I think the list of genres that are given is pretty clear. Even if you don't agree with that list, it's easy (and considerate) to try to see if your subject is consistent or not.

More broadly, I think "tiki music" is more of a question of context. Obviously the criteria for what you listen to at home, or even what people would like to hear at an event like Oasis, is different from the question of what is topical on a themed forum. I've been to "tiki" parties at people's houses where there was a lot of 60s and 90s garage music playing. That doesn't mean I'm gonna start talking about those genres in Tiki Music (but maybe Beyond!).

As always, exceptions are the rule, so even though I consider the initial post offtopic, I didn't have any problem with it being here. All the ruffled feathers nonsense is a drag though.

-Randy

Not to be argumentative (and you do bend over backwards to be fair), but don't you think Denny & Baxter were considered to be genre-busting when they concocted their own offshoot of big band/light jazz/lounge? What potential limbs do we lose when we cut off budding offshoots because it's one thing and not another? This mindset is nothing new: it's the same thing jazz innovators encountered in the fifties, and what Bob Dylan encountered when he went electric. It IS about context, which is why the exotic tribal voices & rhythms in the acts I cite are far more "exotica" (and authentic) than what you might find in Arthur Lyman, or anything with a "lounge" label cynically slapped on it. So far, it seems that "tiki music" is anything with:
a) a bathing beauty or hula girl on the cover
b) a tiki carving on the cover
c) an eyeball driving a hotrod on the cover.
Notice a trend here? It should be about musical content & context, not about the jacket art, appealing as it may be.

Well the point about context is that there's the context of the Tiki Music forum, the context of the Beyond Tiki forum, and the context of LIFE IN GENERAL. Narrowness in any one of these contexts does not imply narrowness in the others. Mixing these contexts up doesn't help the conversation.

I wouldn't say that cover art is a big part of what makes something tiki music. For example, this beautiful cover by Art Chantry encloses an LP that does not contain tiki music.

However, I LOVE great cover art. And in the best cases, a great cover amplifies the power of great music inside.

Here's a video example - snippet from 1964's Get Yourself a College Girl. Tikis are in it, and I love the music and the scene, but it's NOT tiki music.

I would also say that "authenticity" is not the hallmark of tiki music. In fact to me, the lack of authenticity is part of the essence (and appeal) of exotica. The only time authenticity comes into play (I'm talking about my tastes here, not some kind of doctrine) is when a modern band tries to be authentic to something like a midcentury exotica sound.

But again, I'm only making these comments for the context of Tiki Music forum discussions, which is not to say that people wouldn't like to discuss other music in Beyond. No cutting off limbs is necessary.

-Randy

But the Art Chantry MUST contain Tiki Music, or else you wouldn't have posted in the Tiki Music forum. I'm confused!

Yes, you are confused. You are also argumentative.

Am not.

On 2009-06-30 13:30, aquarj wrote:

I would also say that "authenticity" is not the hallmark of tiki music. In fact to me, the lack of authenticity is part of the essence (and appeal) of exotica. -Randy

Yes. And this has been defined by people such as Sven Kirsten and others. It's the lack of authenticity that seems to be what most people into tiki love, including myself. I like the authentic stuff as well, though. I am a big world music fan myself.

Even in the Hawaiian music genre (Which I know a few things about), the Hapa Haole music I love so much is not real Hawaiian, Polynesian or Tahitian music. It's from there, about there, but authentic? No way!

About the new tiki scene (the one with the hotrods and eyeballs on the covers)....this music may not be all that authentic, but is pays serious homage to what most of us consider tiki music, which is Denny/Lyman/Baxter. It evokes it in a big way.

There are bands right now that in probably would not really have fit in a cocktail or tiki bar back in the 1950's, for the simple reason that surf music was not part of the original scene. However, they are still excellent bands and way more "tiki" then world music, or fusion. And in style and substance, they get "tiki"....

I cited Jon Hassell, and posted some of his stuff. His album cover art could have been designed by Squid or some of the other major lowbrow and tiki artists on this site.

http://maarifastreet.com/images/painting_big.jpg

Not quite the same, of course, but you get the idea...it's exotic and modern at the same time, somewhat tribal.

I do feel that white devil likes to argue. That's ok, so do I. He (or she) is missing the point that I actually really dug the music clips and links he posted!

I'm horribly offended by the first post because it should be The Crazed Mugs that spins between Haole Kats! and Yma Sumac.

African, indeed!

I personally just didn't like the song...sorry, but good on you for finding something interesting to play.