Wish I could have taken a look at Tikiyaki at TO9 but couldn't get in the room.

"Maybe there aren't any surf bands; there's only surf music?" Tuck

here is the link to listen to tikiyaki on their site.
http://www.tikiyakiorchestra.com/listen.htm

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Chris Barfield has been writing a ton of songs in the exotica bend for Casino 66... (Crime jazz too.)

Alert Argentina!!

Jeff Utterback

I'm listening to a Exotica podcast right now.
and they played "Moon of Manakora"

some surf bands have done cool versions of that.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Thanks. I'll be giving those a listen as soon as I get a chance.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

WhorehayRFB
BTW, has anybody mentioned "The Exotic Sounds of the Cocktail Preachers" on this thread? If not, I am. If so, well EXCUUUUUSE ME!

Where's the arrow though the head emoticon when you need it?

yes, I agree,
and also,
one of the first surf cds I got was by the Aqua Velvets.
on the back the review said Dick Dale meets Martin Denny.
I don't know if I agree with that comparison,
but it is definitely surf meets exotica.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

sorry brain fart moment,
if anyone else can chime in an answer this for him,
I'd appreciate it.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

BeachBumScott
I just wish I knew what to do with my strat and amp to get the sound they have.

Practice like a sonofagun and you'll get there. Most of what you are hearing comes down to good technique . . . and a bit of tremolo.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Klas
I'm a big fan of the genre and agree that there are similarities even though exotica mainly attracted adults while surf music obviously was more for teenagers.

Uh-huh.
What could be more mainstream adult than, say, Bali Hai from South Pacific.
Also, Surf was no doubt easier for teens to play, with the resources they had.

I'm not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing.

I’ve thought a lot about this thread over the last few weeks and feel that the initial posit is right on target. The common threads between Surf music and Exotica are easy to hear. Starting with the “telescriptions” of Korla Pandit a practice of using an instrument unconventionally seems to have evolved. Mr. Pandit’s use of the lower manual as a percussion instrument strikes me as a precursor to muted strings playing into a dripping reverb tank. The deliberate precision of his melody playing reminds me of the way it feels to play the lead line in a Surf song. Somehow I get the feeling that if Korla Pandit had been stranded on a desert island and a load of Fender gear from 1962 washed up on shore (along with a source of electricity) he would have come up with something very similar to the mellow side of Surf music.

I don’t like to spend a lot of time and energy building fences between musical genres because those fences seldom stand for long. It is my long held opinion that all music is a product of what has come before it even if only by virtue of exclusion. The people that were leading the charge of Surf music in the early ‘60s had been exposed to the music of the ‘40s and ‘50s and they could not have helped but account this into the music they created. Some things were excluded, you didn’t hear a lot of big band influence in Surf music for example, but other things were incorporated whether consciously or not.

At roughly the same time as Surf music came along similar sounds were used in movie Westerns and spy flicks. All had individual traits yet there was a lot in common among these types. In my opinion all of these musical types had an element of Exotica within. Listening to Frankie and the Poolboys CD “Ewa On The Beach” strikes me as an example of the durability of the Exotica/Surf tie-in. If you played that song for Korla Pandit’s audience in the early ‘50s I doubt that anyone would be surprised by what they were hearing (although the instruments it was played on may have seemed a trifle to futuristic for the average person in 1951).

I listened to the Ventures classical album (Joy) and their Latin album while riding my bike recently and was struck by the similarities to Exotica, especially on the Latin album. It was just a taste here and there but to me the link was obvious.
I had earlier mentioned the Cal Tjader/Charlie Byrd recording entitled Tambu but I think that a great deal of Cal Tjader’s Latin/Jazz recordings would have something to offer to fans of Exotica. I guess that this is as good a place as any to end today’s rant because it serve to reinforce my point about not building fences between musical types. Who would have ever guessed that a Chicagoan of Swedish extraction taking a leading role in the world of Latin Jazz.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.