Good things often come in pairs… socks, cocktails, pears, and as far as I’m concerned, exotic bird caws and mysterious xylophone melodies are no different. Presented here are Arthur Lyman’s 1958 smash Taboo, and his 1960 follow up, Taboo Vol. 2. The former had been sitting in the collection for three or so years, but the latter just showed up at our doorstep (he shudders in the attempts to contain his excitement). Now, I’m slowly beginning to realize that drunken bird calls aren’t necessarily for everyone (though I’m not entirely sure why), but both Taboo volumes do a phenomenal job of uplifting the listener to bygone nights of exotic, island bliss (think dirty feet, tiki torches, and a lot of rum). For you newbies, start with Taboo (obviously), and when you’re ready for that perfect paired compliment, hunt down Vol. 2. Like with all other space age pop albums, the exotic sounds of Arthur Lyman come highly recommended.
So, Voodoo Suite Plus Six All-Time Greats somehow jumped into my Discogs Wantlist. I don’t remember if it was the cover, another Perez Prado discovery, or if I read somewhere online about the off-shoot Space Age Pop and Exotica records worthy of hunting down, this being one of them. I’m not sure if any, or all of these are true, but it really doesn’t matter. I was willing to shell out $15+ (before shipping) for this gem, but stumbled across it the other day for a cool $1. The Wantlist is shrinking, one cosmic, dollar bin, Space Age Pop find at a time.
The Prudent Groove 