Show 13: Music from the Ether

Finally got around to fooling with the Theremin I bought last year. An incredibly difficult instrument to master. Plenty of great info on Lev Termen’s (Leon Theremin) early electronic instrument can be found here and here.

I’m far from mastering the instrument but here’s a small sampling of songs in which you can hear the Theremin either playing a melody line or creating otherworldly effects.


Song 1 : : Galaxy
Artist : : Frank Comstock
Album : : Project Comstock: Music from Outer Space

Project Comstock is a Theremin classic from the heyday of space age pop. I read that the Theremin used here is actually an electro-Theremin, aka a Tannerin, like the one used on The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations. Here the instrument is used both to play a melody and to create an atmospheric effect.

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Song 2 : : Sensual Hallucination
Artist : : Les Baxter
Album : : The Dunwich Horror (soundtrack)

A record that uses the Theremin to create spooky sounds, as it is often used on the soundtracks of thriller, horror and sci-fi films. From a film score by exotica master Les Baxter.

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Song 3 : : Oracle
Artist : : Hecate’s Angels
Album : : Hidden Persuader

Pietra Wexstun sampled and added effects to a transistor Theremin on this and other tracks on her band’s first record.

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Song 4 : : Sinners
Artist : : Freddie and the Hitch-Hikers
Album : : 45 RPM single

One of the earliest uses of a Theremin in rock music can be heard on this rockabilly tune. This song was later covered – sans Theremin – by The Cramps.

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Song 5 : : So Attracted to You
Artist : : Herbi Silvers and his Orchestra
Album : : 45 RPM single

This one’s really great and it features a man who is regarded as one of the mid 20th century’s greatest and most famous thereminists, Dr. Samuel Hoffman.

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Song 6 : : Ed Wood (video)
Artist : : Howard Shore
Album : : Ed Wood (soundtrack)

A more recent film score that features the Theremin as performed by one of today’s more well-known and well-regarded thereminists, Lydia Kavina.

Show 12: Exotic/Electronic

A few songs that blend exotica and electronics... from two different records, one old and one new.

The two tracks from Jungle Obsession are actually pieces of library music from the early 70s composed by French production music masterminds Nino Nardini and Roger Roger. Their take on exotica (a few years after the trend had died out) throws in early electronic sounds and interesting new beats.

Kava Kon are a current duo whose music combines exotica and lounge electronica. Very atmospheric stuff. More info here.


Song 1 : : Jungle Obsession
Artist : : Nino Nardini and Roger Roger
Album : : Jungle Obsession

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Song 2 : : Chinese Pirate
Artist : : Kava Kon
Album : : Departure Exotica

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Song 3 : : Oceania
Artist : : Kava Kon
Album : : Departure Exotica

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Song 4 : : Mowgli
Artist : : Nino Nardini and Roger Roger
Album : : Jungle Obsession

Show 11: Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood’s birthday is on July 9...

I just can’t get enough of his music... I’ve always loved it. From the low-key poignant stuff, to the big sounding studio productions, to the hokey cheesball lounge-a-billy pieces.

Starting as a DJ, he went on to become a singer, composer, producer, sometimes actor, an influence for Phil Spector, the studio mastermind behind Nancy Sinatra...

He titled one of his records “Poet, fool, or bum.” He’s all that and much more.

Happy 77th birthday Barton Lee Hazlewood!

Lee’s got an official website (I think he designed it himself), here.

There’s also a more complete and very informative fan site here.


Song 1 : : For My Birthday
Artist : : Lee Hazlewood
Album : : For Every Solution There’s a Problem

A song composed just a few short years ago from a good album of rarities and unreleased stuff. Lee wants a P.O.A. or a B.J. for his birthday... a pear or apple or blue Jaguar.

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Song 2 : : Stranger In Your Town
Artist : : Billy Strange
Album : : Strange Country

Lee has often worked worked in the studio with noted writer, arranger, conductor, producer, publisher and as a performer Billy Strange...

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Song 3 : : Baha
Artist : : Jack Nitzsche
Album : : The Lonely Surfer

Lee was apparently also an influence on Jack Nitzsche...

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Song 4 : : I Move Around
Artist : : Lee Hazlewood
Album : : These Boots Are Made For Walking

A nice big-sounding production of the type Lee is well-known for. This is a favourite of mine.

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Song 5 : : Forget Marie
Artist : : Lee Hazlewood
Album : : Cowboy in Sweden

A more low-key song but also one of my favorites... from one of Lee’s many Swedish TV specials.

Show 10: Clouseaux - album preview

A little sneak preview of the new album called Beyond Good and Evil by the intoxicatingly exotic Clouseaux!

I can’t say enough good things about this band! This is the real deal... an amazing amalgam of exotica, surf, spy, sci-fi, jet-set lounge... and more! You can get the full story on Clouseaux’s exciting exotica on their website or their MySpace page.

Beyond Good and Evil will officially be released on July 8th... You can pre-order the CD now at either of the above links.

Enjoy the set of four songs from the new album... Mix up a potent Mai Tai and listen up as the excitement builds from one track to the next...


Song 1 : : Paraiso
Artist : : Clouseaux
Album : : Beyond Good and Evil

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Song 2 : : Genie vs. Genie
Artist : : Clouseaux
Album : : Beyond Good and Evil

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Song 3 : : Hunt of the Savage
Artist : : Clouseaux
Album : : Beyond Good and Evil

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Song 4 : : Jungle Witch
Artist : : Clouseaux
Album : : Beyond Good and Evil