I just found out that Martin Denny died earlier this month. This is a shame, as he was one of the few artists to be championed in the mid-90s lounge music revival that I think genuinely deserved to be championed, in an honest, unironic way. Most of his music followed the formula set by his big hit, "Quiet Village", what with the exotic, spare instrumentation, and the band making bird calls all through the song, to establish ambience. At it's best, his music was elegant and subtle, and while the idea that a guy who looked like a used-car dealer in Hoboken should be an advocate of World Music (a term I personally find laughably vague), he did a lot to introduce non-Western instruments into popular music. Plus, you know, the man did do bird calls. My favorite Denny album is probably Hypnotique, which was released a few years back on a two-fer (with Exotica Vol. 3) by Scamp Records. It's worth checking out.
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The weather is actually really beautiful here today, which I realize for some of you isn't that big a deal. But 60 inches of snow will make you very grateful when the sun is shining bright, and you can smell the foliage waking up. I'm not even that ill today, although I have wandered into the "drainage" phase of the illness, which I will spare you from any further discussion of.
Nothing much else to report. Have a good day!
Song: Martin Denny, "Soshu Night Serenade"
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3 comments:
1. Hope you're feeling better. Drink more tea. It works for everything. ;-)
2. Oh HI! The weather in California has been awful this winter! Already more rain than Seattle, with 7 days of rain starting tomorrow.
3.)I feel your weather pain! 10 years living in the Rockies taught me to really appreciate Spring. I remember thinking that I couldn't take one more day of winter without going mad--and then suddenly, the daffodils popped up, the sun came out and winter finally lost its grip!
Hang in there.....hope is on the way! Ooops, Spring is on the way! (Old mantra's die hard!)
db
I know you have had awful weather in the Undersea World of California, and considered ditching the link, but figured any publicity is good publicity.
I never thought I had seasonal affective disorder, but now I think I do after this winter. But it's hard to separate the weather from all the stuff that's been going on in my life this season, so who knows.
Way ahead of you on the tea thing.
And I like the smell of lilacs in the spring. I can smell a lilac bush from a couple of blocks away.
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