RCA, 1958. Very Good+
A classic bit of percussion madness from RCA – featuring conductor Dick Schory at the head of the "biggest battery of percussion west of Cape Canaveral"! The set was recorded in Chicago, and includes local studio talents like Bobby Christian and Johnny Frigo, as well as Schory ...
Capitol, 1952. Sealed
A masterpiece of exotica! Ritual Of The Savage is one of those must-have albums from the 50s – a super-huge record upon its initial release, and an album that pushed the genre of exotica far further than most others at the time! Before this record, most attempts at exotica were simple ...
Liberty, Late 50s. Near Mint-
Weird and wonderful work from the great Martin Denny – and a record that adds in some great extra elements to his core exotica groove! The depth of the album is apparent on the very first tune – "Tsetse Fly", which features a buzzing variation on the sound of the insect in ...
Pacific Jazz, 1967. Very Good+ Gatefold
Fantastic record, and perhaps the best thing that Victor Feldman ever did. He takes his vibes and marimba – which are normally very snoozy in a jazz context – and gives them a nice Now Sound twist, with a cool studio South American feel. He plays with some great LA studio players ...
United Artists, 1969. Sealed Gatefold
(Stereo pressing, still sealed with some sticker remnants.)
Capitol, 1958. Very Good+
Les Baxter conducts a set of string-laden ballads with a sweet dreamy feel. Titles include "Dawn On the City", "Rush Hour Romance", "Afternoon Affair", and "Hot Summer Night". And despite the fact that this stuff's not his exotic material, Les still wrote a ...
Elektra, 1967. Near Mint-
The Zodiac never sounded so spooky – and the album's one of the first in a trend that explored astrology with funky musical backings! The music for the set was put together by moogy maestro Mort Garson – then making a transition from being a straight easy arranger in the early 60s, to ...
RCA, 1961. Very Good+
Another masterpiece of RCA's Stereo Action series – billed on the front cover as "The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow"! Schory certainly gets in the spirit of the session – using a variety of percussion instrumentation to bounce between the right and left channels, coming up with ...
Phase 4, Mid 60s. Very Good+ Gatefold
Pretty compelling stuff from Brit arranger Ray Martin! Sound Of Sight – a record that's exactly what it's titled at – a very visual set of sounds, made up mostly from music, but also featuring some cool sound effects as well – all laid out over original tunes by Martin, which act ...
Philips, 1970. Near Mint-
A classic bit of mature mood music – one that featuers 60s instrumental pop themes, mixed with sound effects of a rainy stormy night! Titles include "Love Is Blue", "Waltz For Tricia", "Lover's Lullaby", "Visions", "Come Saturday Morning", ...
Cozy, Late 60s. Very Good+
A rare Chicago moog set – recorded by our own Larry Taylor, in a moog-heavy style that doesn't feature much other instrumentation at all! Tracks include "Just A Gigolo", "Easy To Love", "Our Love Is Here To Stay", and Taylor's own "Synamoog". The ...
Capitol, Late 50s. Near Mint-
(Mid 80s French pressing on Pathe Marconi in a barcode cover.)
Liberty, Late 50s. Very Good+
An amazing little set that's as compelling as the title and cover might imply – and easily one of our favorite Martin Denny albums ever! There's a sound here that is, actually, quite "hypnotique" – as Denny's core combo is expanded by some larger arrangements, Japanese ...
Dot, 1968. Very Good+ Gatefold
An incredibly groovy album – filled with instrumental tracks that shift between funky big band and groovy 60s soundtrack – all arranged by Mike Nesmith and Shorty Rogers! The feel here is like that of some of Rogers' other groovy late 60s instrumental one-off albums – like his ...
Liberty, 1957. Very Good+
The birth of a sound and the birth of a legend – Martin Denny's first album in the Exotica series, and a record so great it named an entire genre! Denny certainly didn't invent the tropical style of easy listening that came to be known as "exotica" in the 50s – but with a ...
Liberty, Late 50s. Very Good+
An undisputed classic in the exotica genre – and the record that yielded Martin Denny his biggest hit! The title track "Quiet Village" was originally written by Les Baxter, but it was Martin Denny's approach that really managed to send the tune over the top – using spare ...
Vanguard, Late 60s. Very Good+
One of the moogiest records of all time – a legendary LP of "electronic pop music of the future" – sourced and claimed as an influence by everyone from Stereolab to the Beastie Boys! The legendary team of Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perry are working here in early tape ...
Liberty, Late 50s. Very Good+
One of Martin Denny's greatest albums – thanks to some extra special added elements! For the record, Denny's classic quartet is augmented by a wealth of odd added percussion – including gongs, cymbals, tuned logs, steel drums, chimes, and "chromatic bamboo"! All of these ...
Columbia, Late 60s. Very Good+
(Stereo 360 Sound pressing.)
Capitol, Late 50s. Very Good+
A lush romantic reading of Les Baxter's extended suite "La Femme", a bunch of Frenchy sounding compositions designed to fit nicely with Capitol's "Capitol Of the World" series. Pourcel conducts the work in a rich European style, with the usual overblown number of musicians in ...
Capitol, Late 50s. Near Mint- Gatefold
Karaoke old school style. Kind of like a Jamie Aebersold album, with a full book of music and lyrics, so that you can play or sing along to Nelson Riddle's orchestrations. Pretend you're Sinatra, Nat Cole, Judy Garland or Dinah Shore on numbers like "Darn That Dream", "Day In, Day ...
Columbia, 1973. Near Mint-
(Stereo Masterworks pressing. Cover has light wear and a promo ink stamp in back.)
Columbia, 1968. Very Good+
(360 Sound stereo Masterworks pressing. Cover has light wear, splitting on the bottom seam.)
Audio Fidelity, Early 60s. Very Good+
(Mono gold label pressing with deep groove. Cover has a small split on the bottom seam and light wear.)
Capitol, 1963. Near Mint-
Movie Themes For Lovers Only is a great one – a set that takes some of the best film themes of the early 60s, and turns them into great vehicles for that mellow Gleason sound – that warm mix of orchestrations and some very light jazz touches – heard here on solos from Charlie ...
Liberty, Early 60s. Very Good+ Gatefold
(Stereo pressing in the original die-cut gatefold cover, with splitting on the top seam, surface wear, and spine wear.)
Capitol, 1960. Near Mint-
(Rainbow label stereo pressing.)
Capitol, Late 50s. Near Mint-
A pretty great album from Les – quite different than his exotica albums from the time, but in a nice way! The record features lots of guitars – as you'd guess from the title – including a lot of Spanish-type acoustic work that's set up in some pretty tasty acoustic grooves. The ...
Strand, 1961. Near Mint-
(Mono pressing. Cover has bumped corners, some splitting in the top seam, and some light wear and aging in back.)
Sacred Bones, 1970. New Copy (reissue)
One of the rarest albums ever from the legendary Mort Garson – an all-electronic film score, one that was originally only available on record in the lobby of a Seattle theater that was showing the film! The tracks are shorter than on some of Garson's more commercial projects of the time, and ...