This is a little complicated. Eden Ahbez was a proto-hippie who lived under the big HOLLYWOOD sign in the Los Angeles area in the 1950s. He also wrote songs, including "Nature Boy," which was a hit for Nat King Cole. Ahbez recorded an album of beat poetry and exotica, "Eden's Island." It did not do well, and he subsequently abandoned plans for a follow-up. Thing is, he left behind a lot of unrecorded music when he died. The Swedish exotica group Ìxtahuele has gone through Ahbez's archive and recorded those never-before-heard tracks for the ablum "Dharmaland" to be released later this year. "Mana" is the first finished track they've released, and it sounds outstanding with the haunting vocals of Kadhja Bonet. The video is fascinating as well, considering the male actor has an uncanny resemblance to the late Ahbez. How much of this is due to makeup and how much comes down to a fluke of genetics is irrelevant. This is a fitting tribute to the eccentric composer.
The weather's warming up, so that's stirring my interest in all things tiki. Naturally, that extends to music, and the music of tiki is exotica. Now, Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, Gene Rains and the like have their place, but I've discovered there are contemporary groups doing interesting things with that venerable sound. Take, for example, Ìxtahuele, quite possibly the only Swedish exotica band to exist, ever. The lack of a big tiki culture in Scandinavia hasn't stopped these guys from making cool music, however, as their "Curitiba Train" can attest. Fix yourself a mai tai, sit back and enjoy.
Previously on Friday Night Videos... Genesis.
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