EXCITING SOUNDS

Exciting Sounds News And Updates For March 31, 2013

2013-03-31T14:47:00.002-04:00

Greetings everyone! There's some new content over at the "main" website --- I went and added some discographies I've had lying around. There's one for RCA's Vik label, the mid-fifties subsidiary that lasted for only a few years but released such classic albums as From Another World by Sid Bass and Wired For Sound by Marty Gold. I also added discogs for FAX Record Company, Treasure Productions

Spotify Vs. The (Traditional) Music Industry

2013-03-29T16:04:00.000-04:00

Recently I've been on a kind of Spotify kick, using the service to play music when I'm out of the house and away from the "comforts" of my external hard drive and way-too-expensive headphones. It's helped me rediscover some old favorites too, music that I love but either never attained a copy of or no longer own. In my honest opinion, Spotify is pretty good at what they do. While some people

Audiophile Update - 3/03/13

2013-03-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: For purposes of integrity, the equipment used to critique for this post is as follows. 1) FiiO E7 USB DAC, 2) Sennheiser HD650 headphones, and 3) AIFF audio files stored on a 2TB external hard drive connected via FireWire.Haven't done this for a while now, so I thought I'd catch y'all up on my gear. :)About two or so months ago, I upgraded to iTunes 11 and, along with it, Amarra

Leo Diamond - Skin Diver Suite + Dave Harris & The Powerhouse Five - Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals (2fer, CD, 1995)

2013-03-02T14:51:00.002-05:00

This 1k limited edition compact disc, released at the height of the Lounge Revival (1995), consists of two wholly unique LPs in the Bachelor Pad Universe. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that they are both pivotal albums of Space Age esoterica. Indeed, both offer visually-tantalizing cover art and equally satiating sounds. Mind you, the same cannot be said for every album with

Tips On Service, Tips On Warranty (7-inch 45rpm, 1970)

2013-02-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

Today I have a 45rpm "single" highlighting the rules and maintenance of buying/owning a new car. It is dated 1970, and is a product of Training Systems, Inc. Frankly, I don't know anything else about this; no indication of who this was made for or why this was made at all. I was, however, able to pull up some information about Training Systems, Inc. According to their website, they offer "

Ted Malone - Intimacy (LP, 1955)

2013-02-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

Ted Malone / Lee Sullivan / Joe Leahy Orchestra Intimacy RKO Unique LP-101, mono, 1955 Some of you might already be familiar with Ted Malone, renowned radio personality of the '30s, '40s and '50s. He captivated audiences with his unique poetic style, which garnered decades of public respect and admiration, as well as countless business opportunities. Malone was also widely-acknowledged as one

Exciting Sounds News And Updates for January 8, 2013

2013-01-08T13:33:00.002-05:00

Well, y'all, I went ahead and launched The Exciting Sounds Project on a new (and probably more appropriate) "dot co" domain -- http://excitingsounds.co/ . It'll take a little more time to get all of the content and functionality set up the right way, but, in the meantime, it's good to get things moving.First and foremost, I'm interested in providing a resource for the more esoteric and

Percussion For Playboys - full album now available for download!!

2013-01-08T12:18:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gents, I decided I'd make an album I reviewed back a few months ago, Percussion For Playboys, available for download in full. It's a great, obscure old LP with a beautiful cheesecake cover (shown above) --- one that is out-of-print and unavailable elsewhere on the web, as far as I know.Just so that you're aware, I'm rather skittish about making too much music available for download

Exciting Sounds News And Updates for December 24, 2012

2012-12-24T11:26:00.000-05:00

Hello all! There are a few things I want to share here, not particularly good news, but nonetheless worth mentioning. Though it's a long story, I've had a recent malware threat on my "dot org" site, one that was scary enough to encourage a complete shutdown of it. Really, though, this was after months and months of not being too happy with my hosting service, considering different paths for

Happy Holidays From Exciting Sounds 2012

2012-12-23T22:03:00.001-05:00

I'm back in time for the holidays! As a tradition during the Christmas season, I compile a "mixtape" of some songs I've been enjoying as a gift for family and friends. This year, I've decided to make it available for download, which means that more people (you) can hear it. :) I tend toward the more obscure side of vintage music --- many of the songs featured here are not available on CD or

The Trans-World Symphony Orchestra - Edmond De Luca's Safari [1958]

2012-10-10T19:29:00.000-04:00

The Trans-World Symphony Orchestra Edmond De Luca's Safari Somerset P-5500, mono [1958] This 1958 long-play on the budget label Somerset (later known as Stereo Fidelity) is quite an interesting journey in sound. It is, for all intents and purposes, an Exotica record; the cover is appropriately evocative and the mood here is distinctly Atomic Age and, for lack of a better word, exotic.

Exciting Sounds News And Updates for July 23rd

2012-07-23T23:05:00.000-04:00

Guys and gals, I just want to remind you all that if you're having any problems with the mp3 players that have been accompanying the posts let me know. For the most part, I haven't had any issues, but I use a certain OS (Mac Snow Leopard) and a certain browser (Chrome). Therefore, I'm not 100% confident that they'll function for everyone. It's an important issue because this is Exciting Sounds,

Michel Legrand - Legrand In Rio (LP, 1958)

2012-07-23T21:28:00.000-04:00

Michel Legrand & His Orchestra Legrand In Rio Columbia CL 1139, mono [1958] Michel Legrand is a well-known French composer, recognized for his scores to the films The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), The Young Girls Of Rochefort (1967), and dozens of others. One of his pieces was also featured on Le Coeur Qui Jazze, a weirdo/rarity CD comp I reviewed

Alan Dean - Music To Bawl By (LP, 195?)

2012-07-11T03:25:00.000-04:00

Alan Dean - Sings Music To Bawl By Panama ALP 1014, mono, 195? On one of my routine thrift store excursions, I happened upon this record, and, having never seen anything like it ever before, decided I had to pick it up. Indeed, whenever an opportunity presents itself to buy Music To... or Music For... albums, it's best to snatch 'em up! As you see, this record consists of a male vocalist,

Nelson Riddle - Lolita OST (LP, 1962)

2012-07-09T20:31:00.001-04:00

The classic work of literature by Vladimir Nabokov became a (mid-century) modern cinematic hit thanks to Stanley Kubrick, Sue Lyon and friends. And it was Nelson Riddle, one of the better-known composers from the late '50s and '60s (widely-acknowledged for his Theme From "Route 66" and a healthy repertoire of releases in the Space Age Pop and Exotica vain), who, along with Bob Harris, wrote

Exciting Sounds News And Updates for July 1, 2012

2012-07-01T12:59:00.000-04:00

Hello all! Just wanted to share that I've been having some technical difficulties with the mp3's on this blog, but the problems should be fixed now. As visitors may know, I was using a simple Quicktime plugin to play samples of albums for a month or two, but I came to realize that they were too incompatible with certain browsers and operating systems, so I went and switched all of the mp3's to

Various Artists - Percussion For Playboys (LP, 19??)

2012-05-26T15:45:00.001-04:00

Various Artists - Percussion For Playboys, Omega OSD-2, stereo [19??] (originally titled Bedside Companion For Playboys, Omega OSD-2) Ahh, Percussion For Playboys -- yet another sexy, cheesecake-covered LP from the early years of stereophonic sound. A tall, thin woman posing in a negligé against a moonlit sky in some sort of semi-exotic (and erotic) type of environment. C'mon though, man.

Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra - Poe For Moderns (LP, 1960)

2012-04-29T15:23:00.001-04:00

Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra - Poe For Moderns RCA Victor “Living Stereo” LSP-2208, 1960 This album, dated 1960, is a mid-century makeover of literary giant Poe's previous century repertoire. What it unfolds as is actually rather happenin', despite perhaps appearing hopelessly kitschy to some of the less "enlightened" ones among us. (lol) Poe For Moderns is from the Living Stereo series by

John Bult - Julie's Sixteenth Birthday (LP, 1985)

2012-04-07T15:23:00.001-04:00

John Bult - Julie's Sixteenth Birthday (1985) The man behind Retrospace posted a blog entry about this album yesterday, and, having seen the art for this LP on the Internet many times over the years, I decided to download the sample mp3 and hear the sounds for myself. As many would know, this album cover has appeared on a myriad of "worst album art of all time" slideshows and galleries, and

Audiophile Update for 2012-4-06

2012-04-06T20:11:00.002-04:00

I've added several more music players (audiophile-quality for OS X, that is) to my "collection" over the past few months. Decibel, open source Audirvana, and, since that turned out well, Audirvana Plus (for a fee). My first experience with plugins/standalone players/the like was with the BitPerfect plugin for iTunes (sometimes) and Amarra Junior for iTunes (the rest of the time). After a certain

The Exciting Sounds Watchdog - Apr. 5, 2012

2012-04-05T18:21:00.000-04:00

Note: Kind of a short list for The Watchdog's first run. Bear with me as I hone my research skills. :) DOWNLOADS: Esquivel – More Of Other Worlds, Other Sounds (audiophile 192kHz/24bit; available @hdtracks com) [2011] CDs: Les Baxter – Jewels Of The Sea, El Records [May 22, 2012] Davy Jones – The Bell Recordings, Friday Music [April 24, 2012] Henry Mancini – Moon River And Me, El Records [

Conversations Regarding The Future Of Architecture (LP)

2012-04-02T19:50:00.000-04:00

Conversations Regarding The Future Of Architecture Reynolds Metals Company [1956] Today I've got a mid-fifties academic spoken word record about the discipline of architecture. Really, I think I'll let the LP do most of the talking here--literally--but I will add that it's a pretty interesting window to the '50s, though a rather "brainy" one. It was meant to be taken very seriously as a

FREE MUSIC! Now That's What I'm Talkin' 'Bout!!

2012-03-16T13:18:00.000-04:00

I've decided to post the download link for an album I reviewed back in September called How To Get The Most Out Of Your Stereo, a '60s stereophile sampler complete with the lurid cover art (shown above) and great jazz/swing arrangements of popular standards from the mid-century. So, without further a-do-do, here is. As is always the case, feedback (especially regarding engineering/recording

Exciting Sounds News and Updates - 2012-3-12

2012-03-12T07:55:00.002-04:00

I've got some other news to share with you guys, about this blog and more. For one thing, during the past few weeks I have been busy preparing a new website: The Exciting Sounds Project. It's mainly an effort to preserve and make accessible obscure audio and video recordings from the '50s, '60s and '70s (roughly). None of this involves copyright infringement (though I might technically do

The Exciting Sounds Watchdog - on the hunt for exciting new releases and reissues

2012-03-11T07:10:00.000-04:00

Beginning this month is a new feature, The Exciting Sounds Watchdog (pictured above), my canine companion who will go out there and track down the information you want about exciting new releases and reissues on CD, mp3, flac, vinyl, and other formats to keep you in the know. All I have to do is give it a bone once in a while and buy some of that pet stain remover to keep nearby. So now you