See original exotica musician Al Pabilona & daughter Olivia for a session of live exotica music featuring songs and stories in the classic Hawaii entertainer style!

This Sunday, Jan 21, 4-6pm
Forbidden Island, 1304 Lincoln Ave., Alameda, CA 94501

Doors open at 3p.m. • $10 cover • Albums available for sale
Live Exotica and Storytelling and live recording.

(image: Al Pabilona and Arthur Lyman)

Over fifty years ago Al Pabilona recorded the Exotica album titled “Mauna Kea Breeze” with his father and family band in their garage. Al and his family lived in Hawaii and then settled in San Jose where he is still playing music with his daughter Olivia in a band called UNDERTOW.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear live exotica music and catch an original exotica musician. Al Pabilona may be the last living legend playing essentially the same set he would have played in the late 1960s. Lounge and Exotica standards are presented with stories and introductions reminiscent of the heyday of old Waikiki hotel lounge shows.

This show will be recorded live to capture the current sound of Undertow with plans for a future live release.

Al Jr. was only 13 years old when he played drums on an Exotica recording by The Hawaiian Spotlighters. They were originally called Al’s Spotlighters and played at clubs, weddings and other events in Hilo, Hawaii. The family later moved to California. In 1964, Al Pabilona Sr. recorded his musical family inside their garage in Hayward, California. Each family member played an integral part of the band with Bill Pabilona composing the title track “Mauna Kea Breeze”.

He was gracious, kind and awestruck when Dionysus Records approached him to reissue the album – only 200 copies of the original album were made on the Century Custom label. Today, only a handful of these exist, making this one of the rarest exotica records ever recorded!

Desert Soul Club, Tonga Hut Palm Springs announces its’ Fall 2017 Dates, all Saturdays: Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18 and Dec. 16! We have a doubleheader this weekend with Desert Soul Club on Saturday 9/16, and Jesika von Rabbit at the Casbah in San Diego 9/17, with Dani Bell and The Tarantist and Gary Wilson and the Blind Dates on Sunday!

9/16: Desert Soul Club 9pm – 1am:
Tonga Hut Palm Springs: 254 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
9/17: The Casbah: 2501 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
Desert Soul Club Facebook Page
Jesika von Rabbit Facebook Page

ROBERT DRASNIN – VOODOO III LP, CD, Digital officially released

Towards the end of Robert Drasnin‘s life – he set out to work on the third, and final, volume of Voodoo which he left unfinished. Drasnin had requested Skip Heller to complete his works and turn them into a releasable album. Skip finished Robert Drasnin Voodoo III which was rushed out as a super limited release, sold only at Tiki Oasis 15 with a few leftovers sold through Dionysus Records Mail Order.

After numerous delays, including an entire pressing of records recalled to due to a manufacturing defect, the official release including remastered audio, extremely detailed liner notes by Skip,  cover art by Claudette Barjoud, and package design by Bob Deck, is now officially released on LP, CD, and digital (available through iTunes, Amazon, and just about all streaming services). The first pressing of 500 LPs is on transparent blue vinyl.

You can order the LP and CD straight from Dionysus at these links. Search your digital provider for downloads and streams.

Robert Drasnin Voodoo III LP
Robert Drasnin Voodoo III CD

These works encompass all the elements that made Voodoo I and Voodoo II legendary entries in the world of exotica music.

NEW RELEASES on Dionysus Records by Creepxotica:
Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions LP
Creepxotica featuring Rachel DeShon 10″

Creepxotica, the exotica alter ego of San Diego’s The Creepy Creeps announce TWO new releases on Dionysus Records.

Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions is the second full-length LP and Creepxotica featuring Rachel DeShon is a 10″ EP paying homage to Peruvian/Hollywood exotica queen Yma Sumac.

Both vinyl releases were cut at HRS in Culver City, CA on a vintage Scully lathe using a classic updated Westrex 3D stereo cutting head powered by a tube pre-amp. The vinyl releases include a code for free digital download. Distribution by ILD. If you don’t want a record get digital at iTunes, Amazon, etc. or stream from Spotify, Pandora, etc.

Check out this Creepxotica/Creepy Creeps interview in the San Diego Reader!

Get records from finer record shops & mailorders, direct from the band at their shows, or from Dionysus Mail Order – links below!

The Creepy Creeps are currently working on a new album!

Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions
Dionysus Records ID1233170 LP/Digital

Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions is Creepxotica’s second full-length LP. Inspired by the sultry and strange sounds of the Middle East, Asia and Europe as well as Spaghetti Westerns, surf, exotica and psychedelia, this, their second LP, features longer tracks dedicated to an expansive exotic, haunted musical terrain.

Find it the Dionysus Records online shop at this link

Creepxotica featuring Rachel DeShon
Dionysus Records ID1233171 10″ EP/Digital

What began as the “Yma Sumac, the Legend, the Woman the Music” symposium at Tiki Oasis 14 featuring “educator” El Vez (aka Robert Lopez of The Zeros) with Seattle opera singer Rachel DeShon and San Diego’s Creepxotica, has resulted in this extremely off-the-charts 10″ vinyl exotica “tribute” to the Peruvian/Hollywood exotica goddess.

Lopez saw an opportunity to pair the multi-octave DeShon with Creepxotica as part of his talk about the legendary Sumac. The rehearsals and symposium went so well, it was decided that the group would record tracks for DeShon to sing on. And here they are — five mind-bending exotica fueled psychedelic-tinged tracks with DeShon’s insanely beautiful and confident vocals.

Side A of this record are all Mambo! era Sumac covers the likes of which you’ve never imagined performed by anyone but Yma herself. Side B contains two absolute killer Creepxotica originals with DeShon’s vocals bringing them to new dimensions.

Find it in the Dionysus Records online shop at this link

Other recent Dionysus releases

The Hawaiian Spotlighters Manua Kea Breeze LP (Bacchus Archives) – Super rare private pressing ’60s exotica holy grail, lovingly restored and reissued. In 1964, Al Pabilona Sr. Recorded his musical family inside their garage in Hayward, California. Each family member played an integral part of the band. A reported 200 copies of the original album were made by the Century Custom label, a vinyl manufacturer that catered to private pressings. Today, only a handful of these exist, making this one of the rarest exotica records ever recorded!

Find it in the Dionysus Records online shop at this link

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited Emerge with their first radio interview EVER on Koop Kooper’s Cocktail Nation! Follow this link to hear… 

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited Music from the Sixth Floor LP/CD – The Swiss/UK Electronic duo takes their retro spy-surf-soundtrack sound into further reaches. Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited are back, bringing you their long awaited seventh album, Music from the 6th Floor. Written and recorded at their secret lair in a high-rise building somewhere in the foothills of the Jura Mountains, 14 original and unique tracks will whisk you away into a different dimension full of suspense, romance, and adventure

Find it in the Dionysus Records online shop: LP at this link CD at this link

Coming soon
Robert Drasnin Voodoo III – LP/CD/Digital: The final chapter in the Voodoo Trilogy by famed TV/Film composer and exotica legend Robert Drasnin.

Coming soon after
New LPs by Jason Lee and the R.I.P. Tides, Voodoo Organist, Tiger Balm, and Tucson’s ’60s garage legends The Grodes / Tongues of Truth

Back Catalog Spotlight – Special Price!

The Creatures of the Golden Dawn – Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground
Edition of 500 on gold vinyl with digital download coupon $9.95 limited time price

Arriving after the ’80s garage/psych revival, Bethlehem’s Creatures of the Golden Dawn came on the scene with a lot more attitude than did earlier similar-minded combos. Lead by vocalist Mark Smith – their knife-sharp punky garage-meets-the-early-days-of-psychedelia tunes were filled with hooky riffs and always shadowed by varying degrees of darkness. The Creatures amassed a cult following in the States and Europe, and were played heavily on Little Steven’s Underground Garage syndicated radio show.

Dark Was The Night…Cold Was The Ground is a collection of what the late Mark Smith felt were the group’s best recorded efforts and includes tracks from their CD releases as well as their 7″ EPs. Find it in the Dionysus Records online shop at this link

Desert Soul Club upcoming dates

The Desert Soul Club is a mod / soul / funk dance party, created by “DJ Lee” Joseph (Dionysus Records, luxuriamusic.com, bassist with Jesika von Rabbit), and Palm Springs area DJ Bobby California (Bob Deck). The heart and SOUL of the club are based on irresistible dance grooves from a universe of the wonderful hit, and unknown records produced during the r&b, beat, mod, Motown heyday of the early to mid-60s, extending through the funk era of the late 60s and early 70s. Both DJs dig deep into their cache of  45 RPM records, inviting you to stomp, shout and work it on out! The pair has been presenting their club monthly in Palm Springs for over a year now and is excited to debut the night in both the Hi-Desert and in Hollywood.

Wed., June 21, Gold Diggers
5632 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90038 9 PM – 1 AM
no cover
www.facebook.com/golddiggershollywood

Desert Soul Club delivers irresistible 60s soul to Tonga Hut Palm Springs, Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown, and Gold Diggers Hollywood!

San Diego’s Creepxotica is releasing not one but TWO new slabs in June!! Their second full-length Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions AND Creepxotica featuring Rachel DeShon!!

Creepxotica will celebrate the release of  Swinging Sounds from Beyond the Nether Regions at TikiBeat 2017, the official San Diego CityBeat Summer Kickoff Party, at Bali Hai in Shelter Island.

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The show will feature Creepxotica, Jason Hanna & the Bullfighters, The Upshots and more, plus the Drop Dead Dames Burlesque show, the annual Summer Fashion Show, Polynesian Dancers and Drummers, Tiki Art Shows, Live Chainsaw Tiki Art from David James Hermanson, Photo Booth and more!

This record will not be available to the general public until its’ release date of June 9, attendees of Tiki Beat will have a chance to purchase the record before street date!

Tikibeat
Fri, May 19, 2017
6:30 PM – 10:30 PM PDT

Bali Hai Restaurant
2230 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
Tickets: $15-$25
at this link 

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited Emerge from their secret lair! For the first time EVER!

Head to KOOP KOOPER’S COCKTAIL NATION, www.cocktailnation.net at or after 9:00 AM, Pacific Time and grab the show podcast (4/15 in the states, 4/16 in Australia)! This is the FIRST EVER INTERVIEW with Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, who, since the late ’90s,  have released seven albums on Dionysus with nary a photo or word from the group! SSSU’s Karen Diblitz (Karen Simpson) will be talking to The Cocktail Nation’s Koop Kooper about the group, their new and past releases. Koop will also be giving away copies of their latest album, “Music from the Sixth Floor” on Dionysus Records! THIS IS EXCITING NEWS!!

Super Rare Exotica Gem Mauna Kea Breeze by Hawaiian Spotlighters reissue on Bacchus out TODAY! Release celebration at Forbidden Island, Alameda, CA., 4/23

ORDER YOUR COPY AT THIS LINK!

Exotica expert and fanatic Jeff Chenult first heard about the elusive HAWAIIAN SPOTLIGHTERS album called Mauna Kea Breeze in 2015. A copy came up on eBay which he bid for, and won. Shortly thereafter he set out to locate group member Al Pabilona or any of his musical family who were still around. He found Al’s profile on Facebook; still playing music with his daughter Olivia in a band called THE GOOD VIBES DUO/UNDERTOW. What luck! To say Al was surprised would be an understatement. He was gracious, kind and awestruck that we wanted to release a record that he had recorded with his father over fifty years ago! Al Jr. was only 13 years old when he played drums on this record. They were originally called AL’S SPOTLIGTHERS and played at clubs, weddings and other events in Hilo, Hawaii. The family later moved to California. In 1964, Al Pabilona Sr. recorded his musical family inside their garage in Hayward, California. Each family member played an integral part of the band with Bill Pabilona composing the title track “Mauna Kea Breeze”.

A reported 200 copies of the original album were made by the Century Custom label, a vinyl manufacturer that catered to private pressings. Today, only a handful of these exist, making this one of the rarest exotica records ever recorded! The audio has been lovingly restored by the legendary Dana Countryman (Cool and Strange Music Magazine, co-conspirator with the late JEAN JAQUES PERREY among others) and cut using a tube system, vintage Scully lathe and Westrex cutting head at HRS in Culver City, CA. The reissued LP features cover photography by Jochen Hirschfeld, producer of The DVD of Tiki. Red vinyl too!!

Tracks:
1) Adventure in Paradise
2) Misirlou
3) Un Like No A Like
4) Yellow Bird
5) Beautiful Kahana
6) Filipino Love Song
7) Mauna Kea Breeze
8) Sweet and Lovely
9) Kawohikukapulani
10) Caravan

Good Vibes Duo / Undertow Facebook page can be found at this link
The duo will be performing at Forbidden Island, Alameda, CA, Sunday, April 23 in celebration of the release, during the bar’s 11th anniversary weekend!
3pm Doors
4-6pm Showtime
Forbidden Island
1304 Lincoln Ave, Alameda, CA 94501