THE PERSISTENCE
OF EXOTICA

Some of you may be asking, "What the heck is exotica?" (you hipsters who already know may want to skip this paragraph, though the oversimplifications should be amusing). Exotica -- in its strict definition -- is a musical genre that developed in the mid-1940's, blooming into full flower in the 50's. Stated most briefly, it was mood music incorporating elements evoking non-European / North American regions: Asia, India, Africa, South America, the tropics in general (though sometimes outer space was involved as well). Whether these elements were genuine or not was usually irrelevant. If you watch some jungle movies from the same time period, you are almost certain to hear some exotica in the soundtrack. For general introductions, Mondo Exotica (Capitol CDP 32563) and Music For A Bachelor's Den, Vol. 2: Exotica (DCC DZS 092) fill the bill nicely. For some of the finest exotica, check Les Baxter - The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter (Capitol CDP 37025) and Yma Sumac - Voice Of The Xtabay (The Right Stuff / EMI T2-91217). As rock music came to absolutely dominate the marketplace in the 60's, this strand of exotica slowly faded into vapor -- its last wisps hanging in the form of synthesizer albums aimed at the middle-aged market. Either forgotten or dismissed as muzak, exotica made a return in the 90's, with fans of the obscure digging it out of thrift store bargain bins -- eventually thrusting it into the hipster limelight, if not the mainstream. You can read more about exotica (and other marginalized genres) in Incredibly Strange Music, Volumes I and II (Re/Search Publications #14 and 15).

Okay, enough wit' the background. The revivalists have done a valuable job of exposing this genre and getting us to hear it anew. I know my sonic life is richer for having absorbed the lush sounds of Les Baxter. But let's go a step further and look at another genre that (in many circles) is held in contempt greater than that thrown at exotica: art rock of the early 70's. It grew out of the psychedelic rock of the mid-60's, and grew is the proper term. Song lengths kept growing longer, virtuoso doo-dads grew ever more ornate -- culminating in full album-length (or double album) quasi-classical suites. Yeah, classical music was often cited as the big influence back then, but I see another strand of DNA running through here.

Looked at in terms of its basic usage, 50's exotica was often used as music to relax to. Close the door of your bachelor pad, slap that platter on the turntable of your space-age hi-fi, down a few cocktails and just drift away. Now look at the basic usage of art rock. Hang out in your hippy crash pad, drop the needle in the groove, indulge in some psychoactive elements and drift away. With the exception of chemicals and fashions, they were both used in the same way -- music for spacing out and going somewhere exotic.

In dictionary terms, exotic is something "not native, foreign, strange." Obviously lending itself to escapism. The 50's exotica filled this bill with real or faked musical references to other lands. Art rock continued that approach with plenty of exotic scales and unusual metrical patterns. If one considers exotic to be a quality that applies through time as well as distance, the art rock usage of baroque and classical elements also qualifies. And for exotic escapism, those wacky art rock lyrics certainly qualify. Overheated sci-fi/fairy tale fantasies burst out like over-ripe mangos in a technicolor jungle.

Led Zeppelin was basically a hard rock band, but there was always an arty element to their stuff -- and dig some of those way-out lyrics. Anyway, listen to Tak Shindo's rendition of Bali Ha'i (1959) and compare it to Robert Plant's opening wail on Immigrant Song (1970). Bob may go on about Celtic banshees and all that, but I think it's just a case of exotica imprinting. The rock musicians of that era always talk about the huge influence they got from 50's rock 'n' roll (rightly so), but they were also exposed to primal exotica -- Yma Sumac's Voice Of The Xtabay (1950) was a hit album, after all. And while it may have been an uncool secret or a subconscious influence, exotica was certainly lurking somewhere in those rock gods' skulls. Or, listen to Les Baxter's High Priest Of The Aztecs (1959) -- very much in the vein of something Frank Zappa might have done in his early 70's big band phase (although I don't include Juan Garcia Esquivel in the strict exotica genre, I think Zappa must have heard him back in Lancaster). In fact, legendary R&B tenor sax man, Plas Johnson, worked on recording sessions with both Baxter and Zappa.

So we see that while transformation is involved, exotica is one persistent strain. Heck, we can trace it backwards if we want to. Maurice Ravel is most often cited as a classical predecessor to exotica, but one could name any composer who toyed with Oriental or Arabian themes -- right on back to the Middle Ages, when the novelty of it would have had a huge impact in those dark, chilly castles. I'm not studied up on classical music well enough to cite names anymore, but I'm sure someone could.

Where does exotica go when we move forward from art rock? An obvious area (actually from the same time frame) would be the German space music genre: Tangerine Dream, early Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze, Can, Cluster, etc. Lots of synthesizers creating soothing drones from other worlds. Textbook exotica. After all, Les Baxter was doing space-themed exotica back in 1946.

One can see things splitting off in various directions from this space scene. Ambient music got going with Brian Eno in the mid-70's and seems to be gaining a lot of ground in recent years. New Age split off from the space scene somehow or other -- sort of the schmaltzy side of contemporary exotica. One could make an argument for the synth-pop bands of the early 80's, but not a very strong one -- even though Duran Duran's Rio (1982) gave it a good try. Too much pop and not enough mysterioso. Meanwhile, space and punk had a baby, and they called it industrial (Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, etc.) -- giving rise to exotica in the key of grouchy. Separately from the space-offshoots (although a case could be made for Can as a catalyst), the whole world-beat or world-music phenomenon has been sprouting since the late 70's. A little more authentic than 50's exotica, but still plenty fakey sometimes, world-beat takes ethnic music and slaps it together with Western dancebeats. Speaking of which, as we roll through the 90's, all of these exotica outgrowths have been cross-breeding voraciously with techno and other cutting-edge dance styles, leaving a dense tangle of latter-day strands of exotica.

So classic exotica has returned -- and on that 50's level, it's true. But on a sneakier level, it never left us -- it's only gotten stronger. We're surrounded by exotica! And if you don't like it, too bad. You cannot escape the persistence of exotica.

© 1997 M.Ace

Kulture Links:

The Space Age Pop Music Page provides plentiful information on exotica and related genres.
Like this short bio of Les Baxter.
Or this one on Tak Shindo.
Yma Sumac receives thorough coverage at SunVirgin.com.
King Kini's Club Velvet gives you even more Les Baxter.
The Temple Of Martin Denny calls to you from the tropics.
Vik Trola's Lounge of Self Indulgence provides total lifestyle coverage of exotica and other relevant regions.
The Tiki News focuses on the tiki side of life.
A brief bio of Maurice Ravel.
The Progressive Rock Website has tons of art rock links (yeah, I know -- I call it art rock, they call it progressive rock -- let's call the whole thing Offenbach).
Zappa.com, The Black Page and The St. Alphonzo's Pancake Homepage are all (surprise) devoted to Francis Vincent Zappa.
Mixmaster Morris provides info on German Space Music. His site also covers recent outgrowths.
A Brief Guide To Krautrock covers the same territory in a lengthy article.
EnoWeb is devoted to (surprise) Brian Eno.
The History Of Synthpop is exactly what it claims to be. It is also available in Swedish.
Brainwashed covers industrial music both old and new.
Hyperreal covers that whole contemporary dance, trance, rave, techno, ambient, tribal, you-name-it scene. As usual, lots of links on hand.