It is the illusion of a tropical paradise in a harsh desert. It is the kind of fantasy that a place like this series’ namesake, Palm Springs, California, was built on. A fancy jungle-themed bar and lounge in Hollywood where you might find Frank Sinatra, well, lounging. A perfect soundtrack for sipping a cold cocktail in a swimming pool on a 100° afternoon and letting your mind float off to faraway places… A suburban backyard paradise for the WWII vet who got a taste for the “Exotic” while fighting in the Pacific. Exotica is, arguably, a Postmodern fusion music-it’s part-jazz, part-pop, there are Latin and Afro-Carribean influences, and plenty of Polynesian and Asian influences… but it is always ALL AMERICAN. It’s campy, it’s cool, it oozes leisure. Tiki visual style is a mash-up of traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian art with Mid-Century Modern and Atomic Age/Googie design. It is, in many ways, a mid-century pop/kitsch equivalent of Orientalism ( the recent use of TIKI® torches in an overtly racist rally does no one any favors), but while the appropriative nature of the genre is problematic, it can also be appreciated as a fascinating, wholly unique American aesthetic. The terms are often interchangeable.Įxotica is a weird, tricky genre. Volume 2 of Summer Jams is a 4-part series-that is a coherent organizational structure, right? Dig the excess!įor clarity purposes, the term Exotica typically refers to the genre of music we will explore here, and the term Tiki (in a non-indigenous context) usually refers to the overarching “total art style” of Tiki Culture-encompassing architecture, graphic design, clothing, food, cocktails, music, and even to some extent the ideology of the “beachcomber” lifestyle. I first introduced my Palm Springs Tiki Lounge mix on this blog as a single mixtape, but it has since bloated into a FOUR -part series.
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