Friday, June 27,  DJ Lee spins Exotica, Lounge, Soul, Swinging ’60s plus more Mid Century Delights at Tonga Hut, Palm Springs – 254 N. Palm Canyon Drive, 94462 – 7 pm- 12 midnight or later!

Come out and get creepy with Creepxotica at the San Diego Bali Hai Monthly Monday Meetup group. They are throwing a party to celebrate our first year of meetups. You know you’ve been wanting to come down and meet with them, now here is the one meetup you don’t want to miss. They will be taking over the South Pacific room downstairs for this special event. There will have full bar and food service available for us this evening.

Doors open at 6:00pm and show starts at 7:30pm, first come first serve. A small donation for the band is all they ask.

Bali Hai Restaurant 2230 Shelter Island Dr, San Diego, CA 92106

This is an RSVP event, so post your RSVP on the Monthly Meetup’s Facebook invite page

On Friday, 3/28, I will be returning to Tonga Hut Palm Springs, 254 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262, to spin a set of vintage and contemporary Exotica, kicking it up-tempo with some swinging ’60s for the final hour.  I start at 7 PM and lay down the sound until Midnight. If you are in the area and haven’t checked out the new restaurant/bar, please do, they did a tikitastic job on the layout and decor. Two thumbs up to the food, drinks, and service!

Tune in to LuxuriaMusic.com for the first Over Under Sideways Down of  April! This special Noir and Exotica episode features a 1/2 hour guest segment from Dionysus Records recording artist Jimmy Vargas of  Jimmy Vargas and the Black Dahlias from Australia – along with a stack of exotica vinyl from show host Lee Joseph. Find the show at LuxuriaMusic.com at 3-5 PM, Pacific Time!

Those who live in Southern California, Seattle and Honolulu are in for a treat – Don Tiki will be coming to help us celebrate the holidays, Hot Lava style with shows on December 15 in Honolulu (sorry that one is sold out), December 17th in Seattle at Benaroy Hall (info and tickets) and December 20th in Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall ( info and tickets ) – and, SOCA peeps –  here’s a link for discount tickets at the Disney show!

Fans can expect the band’s signature tunes such as “The Natives Are Restless” and “An Occasional Man.” “Even though we’re tiki-worshipping Pagans, we’ll drop six new  holiday songs to get into the spirit of things,” says producer Lloyd “Fluid Floyd” Kandell, who was one of Anthony Bourdain’s drinking guides when the food impresario visited O’ahu for his series No Reservations. Bourdain came away raving, “Tiki supergroup Don Tiki knows the world, the subculture of tiki…it really doesn’t get much better than this!”

Though the band has lost their beloved lead singer Delmar deWilde, to whom the shows are dedicated, they will carry on with their multi-talented cast and a few added guests. The Don Tiki troupe consists of band leader and composer, Kit “Perry Coma” Ebersbach on keyboards, bassist and purring song stylist Hai-Jung, Charles Degala and Tei Tatafu, Jr. on virile vocals, vocalist, dancer and comedienne Sherry Shaoling, percussionist Lopaka Colón, who continues his illustrious father Augie Colon’s jungle and bird call tradition, tenor ace Tim Mayer on reeds, multi-talented Abe Lagrimas, Jr. on vibes and percussion, tribal drummer Jason Segler, space-age Ryoko Oka on keyboards and t’rung (a Vietnamese bamboo xylophone), exotic dancer Violetta Beretta plus special guest artist Frank Orrall of Thievery Corporation and Poi Dog Pondering. Don Tiki is also honored to bring to the stage special guest artists, legendary SOCAL tiki-shaman Crazy Al, rising Brazillian star Tita Lima and Brazil’s golden tambourine, Carlinhos de Oliveira.

The group has just released their Hot Lava Holiday Songs disc which is available on iTunes and will be for sale on CD at their shows.

Those of us who saw them at Tiki Oasis 10 were knocked out. We are certainly looking forward to seeing the group on their first Los Angeles appearance!

The Martini Kings’ first vinyl LP, Palm Springs Serenade, will be released by Dionysus Records on July 10. The LP features cover art by SHAG. The band will play a record release party (and closing  for Brad “Tiki Shark” Parker’s art show) at La Luz de Jesus Gallery on July 29, details here.

With over eight self-released CDs and gigs-a-plenty, it’s about time that Los Angeles based jazzy-retro-exotica-bossa-nova-cocktail-lounge combo The Martini Kings make an appearance on the beloved vinyl format. In their professional existence, The Martini Kings have performed events for the likes of Clint Eastwood, Stephen King, The Getty Center, Mattel and Universal Studios, had their music in HBO’s “Entourage” and made an appearance during the Malibu cliff-top wedding scene in the ”Six Feet Under’‘ season curtain-raiser. The Martini Kings’ Marsico brothers have performed in backing groups with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Marianne Faithful. Martini Kings bassist Tony Marsico was in East LA punk legends The Plugz and The Cruzados, and played bass behind Bob Dylan on David Letterman’s show.

Their pro-resume aside, The Martini Kings are also loved among tiki and retro aficionados and are a staple at the yearly Tiki Oasis weekender, numerous burlesque, lounge events and backyard tiki parties. They have the technique and sound down to a fine art and in the process inject equal amounts of heart and soul into their craft. The instrumentation is centered around vibes, stand-up bass and percussion with tasty arrangements including piano, guitar, wind and stringed instruments.

“Palm Springs Serenade” is a collection of the group’s favorite tracks from their CD releases and features a track recorded with lounge legend and former Rat Pack member Buddy Greco. The art of their pal SHAG adorns the album cover and visually fits the combo’s sound from top to bottom. And, the sound on this album which was cut on a vintage Scully lathe with the legendary Westrex B3 stereo cutting head is huge and open with lots of warm low-end. The album jacket is printed vintage style; front cover slick on thick board… this is not your ordinary one piece fabricated album jacket but the Martini Kings / SHAG combination deserves no less.  A coupon for a digital download is included in this package.

Black vinyl 180 gram LPs will be shipped to Dionysus Records’ distribuor, ILD (Independent Label Distribution). A limited edition of 100 CLEAR VINYL LPs will be avalible from the band and through Dionysus Records Mailorder only – on JULY 10! 

Tracks: So Danco Samba, Swingin’ Shepherd Blues, Girl Talk, Cuchy Frito Man, Kings Highway, Dance of the Virgins, Lost In Paradise, Patricia, Stardust, Return to Paradise, Rumble, Enchanted Lovers

These new Dionysus releases will be available in advance of street date at Surf Guitar 101, Tiki Oasis 11 and the Dionysus Records cart

Creepxotica four-song 7″
Creepxotica: {Kreep-za-ti-ka}, noun or adjective; having or causing a creeping sensation of the skin, as from horror or fear combined with the relaxing exotic sounds of the South-Pacific. Creepxotica takes you on an exotic ride through time to the sun bleached sands of the Mexican Riviera, and to the cool ocean waters of the Polynesian Islands. The soothing sounds of the vibes will calm your savage soul, while the reverberating guitar will hearken a time of lazy Saturday afternoons. The percussive musings will melt your inhibitions, as low, melodious, bass driven tones will cool your head. So sit back and relax as you embark on a Tiki paradise with the new lounge sensation from Dionysus Records, Creepxotica!

(Shhh – don’t tell anyone that Creepxotica is actually garage punk surf pranksters – The Creepy Creeps. This limited edition four-song red vinyl 7″ comes with a digital download code – it’s got a big hole too! Click to purchase

The Exotic Sounds of Jerry Sun LP
Numbered edition of 500, red vinyl LP with digital download code
We’ve exotica expert Jeff Chenault to thank for this one!  Avid listeners of Exotica music will undoubtedly be familiar with the primitive sounds of Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Robert Drasnin but very few people today have ever heard of Jerry Sun, a professional vibe player whose versatility and unique blending of jazz and tropical melodies would often compare him to Arthur Lyman. Jerry was a big fan of Denny, and Lyman and would often visit them while in Hawaii or when they would tour stateside.  While Exotica was his forte, his biggest influence would come from the Latin-Jazz sound of Cal Tjader. Click to purchase

This album was recorded in 1962 at Audio Recording studios by famous Northwest recording engineer Kearney Barton who recorded The Sonics, The Wailers and The Kingsmen (the hit version of “Louie Louie”.)  Somehow five reels of Jerry’s music ended up in the hands of record store in Tacoma. This album is one of those tapes, unreleased until now! These recordings have been transferred and edited entirely in the ANALOG realm – no digital processing was used in the preparation or cutting of this record.