Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Music

Remembering Bob Thompson – A Pioneer of Space Age Music

This morning I woke to the sad news of the passing of Bob Thompson. A composer, arranger, and orchestra leader who scored film and television soundtracks, and wrote commercial jingles. He was a leading exponent of Space Age Bachelor Pad Music. This experimental orchestral music became hugely popular in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the home stereo systems that had become popular....

How to Restore the Sound Quality of Your Vinyl Records

When it comes to record collecting there is nothing better than a great find in a charity store. Getting that record home, checking out the cover and then putting the needle on the record and hearing that sweet sound for the first time. Sometimes that sound will be a little scratchy and a little hissy which can be a little disappointing. Most of us these...

Sex and Hi-Fi – Let me show you my woofers and tweeters

At some unspecified moment of the 1950’s the burgeoning technology of high-fidelity sound and sex became synonymous. Instead of grand-dad’s ukelele or uncle Frank’s player piano, vacuum tubes and transformers took over the machinations of audio seduction. Clearly it was the breakthrough technology of throbbing bass and ecstatic treble that opened the path to perdition. The breathless merging of woofer and tweeter. But there were...

An Audible Smorgasbord of Luxuria Music
Written by Katharine Miller in Music

An Audible Smorgasbord of Luxuria Music

Tired of spinning the same old Esquivel and Les Baxter on the hi-fi? First, make sure you’ve given a listen to the fabulous Ultra Swank compilations curated by our own Chris. Then feast your ears on Luxuriamusic.com. And what a feast it is! Luxuria is an audible smorgasbord of tiki, exotica, and lounge music of our favourite era. Since its humble beginnings in 2000, Luxuria...

Exotica for Modern Living
Written by Amy Thyr in Music

Exotica for Modern Living

Exotica music began to take its roots as early as the 1930’s, but after WWII this romanticized version of Polynesia, far-away places, and tropical islands was clearly permeating its way into the American culture, transporting the listener with distinctive sounds like jungle drums, idiophones, Indonesian and Burmese gongs, Tahitian logs and the exotic sounds of bird calls, primal screeching, and other abstract jungle sounds. Martin...

The Sound of Raunchy and Erotic Italian Film Scores

Ever wonder what an Italian film score sounds like? Yeah? Well how about Italian scores from erotic films? Even if you haven’t seen an Italian “erotica”, these scores are great for every lounge music lover (pun intended). “Beat At Cinecitta” is a music score compilation from, you guessed it, raunchy Italian films from the 60’s and 70’s. Italian composers such as Piero Piccioni and Riz...

Jazz for the Jet Set
Written by Steven Padal in Music

Jazz for the Jet Set

Dave Pike has created this swell recording for all those swingin’ bachelors. Herbie Hancock plays the keyboard along side Dave Pike’s vibraphone. Bobby Hebb had wrote “Sunny” and introduced it in this album, which was later released for hundreds of additional recordings. This album reminds me a little of Cal Tjader, who was the creator of Acid Jazz. Some of my favorite recordings are “Blind...

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