Hi there, Hoddlers! It’s the boss man taking the reins for Fitzie today as he takes a well-deserved vacation.
Oh, ok Matty, I see you starting a theme talking about your favorite trip-hop tracks from the ‘90s. Good call, but I’m going to raise the stakes a little — let’s talk about neo-exotica.
Exotica was all the rage back in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. It’s why in movies and TV shows either made in or referencing that era you get those wild tiki references — the bars with the grass bars and the tropical ersatz vibe, the waitresses with coconut bras and hula skirts, that longing for the South Pacific even though most people could (or would) never visit and could hardly point to where Samoa is on a map. Yes, there’s a strong undercurrent of mid-century colonialism in the fetishization of (air quotes) FOREIGN LANDS and that makes it in retrospect a bit problematic, but if you look at it through a lens of camp, well it can — and still is — a hell of a lot of fun.
And the music. Oh, the music! Do a spotify search for Martin Denny (or better yet, let me do that for you) and you’ll get the idea — piano driven, but with tropical percussion, simulated animal/jungle sounds and vibes that are two parts Oceania, one part Hawaii and one part Southeast Asia. It’s nostalgic, campy, dreamy, and just plain fun.
Exotica never fully went away but it was definitely consigned to cringe for a long time. In the past ten years or so it’s started to make something of a comeback. Not just tiki (though the cocktail revolution definitely sparred a tiki revival), but an expression of modern exotica that also pulls in elements of music from Africa, Central Asia, and South America. And this time they’ve made it funky.
Remember that scene with the egg bar in the Apple TV+ show Severence? That music in the background was “Chinese Surfer” by Kava Kon, a Detroit neo-exotica band that’s having a moment right now. There are other groups too — the Tikiyaki Orchestra, Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, Ìxtahuele, the Sorcerers.
This music clearly isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a musical vagabond like me, neo-exotica might scratch an itch you didn’t even know you had.
Song of the Day: “Summoning the Monkey God,” The Sorcerers
And now, your links.
The Athletic has a great article on Spurs Women’s trip to the FA Cup final.
Dele was on Monday Night Football and talked about how he sees “a light at the end of the tunnel” with regards to his long term injury and absence from football.
Neverkusen no more — The Guardian breaks down Bayer’s historic Bundesliga win.
It’s been 35 years since the Hillsborough Disaster.
Chelsea trying to sell a hotel to itself for PSR reasons is a sign that team is in a heap of trouble.