Showing posts with label Space Age Pop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space Age Pop. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Gary McFarland - The In Sound (1965)


Oh, lounge music- why are you so awesome?

Vibraphonist, vocalist, arranger, composer extraordinaire Gary McFarland's 1965 record The In Sound explores exotica, pop, jazz, space and bossa nova; sometimes incorporating up to three of these styles all in one track. Whether this is going to be used as background music or on headphones (the best way to enjoy this record) it won't disappoint.

Enjoy this "in sound" from Out Sounds...


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Esquivel - Other Worlds, Other Sounds (1958)


Juan Garcia Esquivel was the King of Space Age Pop, that quirky brand of late 50's-early 60's bachelor pad music that was meant to be played at cocktail parties; basically- lounge music with elements of jazz and a Latin flair designed to get you laid.

When this album came out in 1958, it blew minds- even listening to it in now in stereo I'm amazed at how well Esquivel played the knobs in the studio, how voices, trumpet blasts, guitar bends, vibraphone runs, etc. all are bounced around back and forth between my various speakers (I'm listening on four). I read somewhere that listening to this in mono would be like looking at the Mona Lisa in black and white.

Other Worlds, Other Sounds opened up a whole new world of what can be done with stereophonic sound, as well as opened up a whole new set of listener's ears when Exotica (or Space Age Pop) underwent a renaissance in the early 90s.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Perrey-Kingsley - The In Sound From Way Out! (1966)


Jean-Jacque Perrey and Gershon Kingsley made space age pop albums before the term electronica ever entered the music-scape, they were considered much too avant-garde to be "pop".

While working for folk company Vanguard Records, Perrey had accumulated hundreds of hours of animal noises and began experimenting with tape loops (before multi-tracking technology you had to do everything by hand, so literally it took days to compose short musical passages with this anti-technology; just scissors and scotch tape!). He was masterful at splicing the magnetic tape to create the desired loop effect; and by speeding up or slowing down the playback he created a synthesized feel to the music. Enter Kingsley; with his composer background and his knowledge of Moog synthesizers (he was the first to play one in a live setting) they created the earliest form of listenable, electronic "pop" music.

So I'm happy to bring to you the very first electro-pop record...