"Quiet Village"
Martin Denny, 1957
Exotica
is such a fun offshoot of lounge music--it's what happens when cocktail
tunes try and get wild. Instead of crooning singer you get chirping birds.
All at once, we penthouse bachelors can be instantly transported to the
sultry jungle, all of it's impending dangers confined to the safety of
our hi-fi's. Exotica came about historically because of several reasons:
the advent of stereo recordings (giving composers and producers more ticks
to use), the increased consciousness of Asian and Pacifia cultures due
to World War Two, and a sort of primitive nostalgia brought on by mechanical
doomsday devices of the cold war. When you think of Exotica, two names
come to mind, Les Baxter and Martin Denny,
and with Quiet Village, you get the apex of Exotica music.
In fact, the title tack was composed by Baxter and arranged by Denny.
You can't get any better than that! Quiet Village ranges
from bird-squawking/bongo thumping jungle tunes, chop-suey numbers, and
a few hula grass skirt shaking cha cha's. All the tunes are vibe heavy
with just enough percussion magic to give it spice. Denny
at his best does what great classical music composers do and paint a lush
landscape through music. At his worst he sounds like a vacation tour gone
bad from the local discount tiki travel agency. Good or bad, each song
present a wholly original world all strung together by Denny's
suave magic touch.
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