ESQUIVEL

Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music

(Bar/None - AHAON043) LP $20.00

Called by a reviewer a "pop avant-gardist" Esquivel's early '60s orchestrations explode like a pinata with strikingly futuristic arrangements tinged with cocktail lounge and ballroom overtones. Recording for RCA from 1957 to 1968 during the Hi-Fidelity explosion, he takes full advantage of the new-fangled stereo phenomenon; scattered among the pianos and trombones are slide guitar, echo, dissonance, beatnik percussion and weird juxtapositions of mood and volume. His "kitchen sink" approach incorporates Chinese bells, organ, jew's harp, gourd, timbales, bongos, glass-shattering brass, and perky xylophones. Lyrics are stripped from pop standards and replaced with whistling, humming, or disjointed phrases, with smooth vocal choruses crooning "Zu-zu-zu," or shouting "Pow! Pow! Pow!" Blue vinyl. From 1994.

ESQUIVEL

Music From A Sparkling Planet

(Bar/None - AHAON056) LP $15.00 (Out-of-stock)

Called by a reviewer a "pop avant-gardist," Esquivel's early '60s orchestrations explode like a piñata with strikingly futuristic arrangements tinged with cocktail lounge and ballroom overtones. Recording for RCA from 1957 to 1968 during the Hi-Fidelity explosion, he takes full advantage of the new-fangled stereo phenomenon; scattered among the pianos and trombones are slide guitar, echo, dissonance, beatnik percussion and weird juxtapositions of mood and volume. His "kitchen sink" approach incorporates Chinese bells, organ, jew's harp, gourd, timbales, bongos, glass-shattering brass, and perky xylophones. Lyrics are stripped from pop standards and replaced with whistling, humming, or disjointed phrases, with smooth vocal choruses crooning "Zu-zu-zu," or shouting "Pow! Pow! Pow!" Red vinyl. From 1994.

PUFFY AMI YUMI

An Illustrated History

(Bar/None - BRNCD128) Used CD $6.00

Infectious J-pop from 2002. Punched barcode.

SHRIMP BOAT

Duende

(Bar/None) Used LP $16.00

Shrimp Boat’s wide-eyed fascination with the scattershot strands of American musical tradition congeals into a remarkably vivid and engaging whole in their 1991 LP — encompassing pop, jazz, country and seemingly everything in between. It’s a laconic potluck which sounds like nothing so much as a postmodern Music from Big Pink. Between the jaunty Eastern European rhythms of the opener track and and the free-form sax of the finale, the album detours into old-timey melancholia, late-night pop, and even reggae, all with a casual disregard for the confines of structure and form.