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The Man With the Bird in His Mouth: Augie Colon- Sophisticated Savage (1958)
Augie Colón is an Exotica giant, in a way. His work as a percussionist helped to define the smaller-combo Denny sound, and that of its various imitators, but his most noticeable contribution to the...
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The Waning Years of a Musical Prince, Pt. 3: Arthur Lyman- Yellow...
"The name Arthur Lyman symbolizes the exotic percussion era. There have been other albums by the same title but none as apropos of the real spirit of exoticism... contrasting the native and the...
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KA-TA-KO
There is nothing I could say which would be adequate. My god, it feels like such a loss. I can't even listen to the records yet. When I do, it will be the first time I hear them sung in the voice of...
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Hypertension Functions: Flash Strap & William Onyeabor, a love story
Over the summer I was contacted by Luaka Bop with regards to our mutual appreciation of the fantastic Mr. William Onyeabor. I learned of their long-in-the-making plans to release a deluxe, remastered...
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Jungle Drums in the Primordial Wasteland
I'd like to present to you all a piece of work that I've recently completed: a three-part video suite, comprised of re-edited dinosaur claymation videos, salvaged from my elementary school library and...
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A Savage Toy Recommendation: The Tropicals- Urumbamba (1972)
Of all the incredible, one-of-a-kind treasures over at Boxes of Toys, Urubamba is a major highlight for folks, like myself, on the eternal exotica hunt. Just in case any of you in my readership were...
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In Search of the Waters of Oblivion: John Tender- Fantasyland Vol. 1 (1981?)
As we slide like snails down the edge of a straight razor, utterly doomed to tip our inarticulate bodies over the side and into the precipitous chasm of an unknown and unknowable new year, I feel like...
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Flash Strap Presents: Exotiste•Control Car, The Jaws of the Pink Widow (Lalo...
When I first heard Lalo Schifrin's 1976 disco-jazz LP, Black Widow, I was simultaneously excited and disappointed. Schifrin's work is often amazing, and the idea that he might pack an album with...
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Flash Strap Interview with Magia Negra (now with link)
Magia Negra, the excellent black magic-and-music radio show on Portugal's RUC, just published an interview with yours truly. Please check it out, if you like. It's a sprawling chitchat across a wide...
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Flash Strap Mixtape on Magia Negra Tomorrow
In a follow-up to the interview at Magia Negra, I wanted to let you all know that they also asked me to put together a mixtape, and that that mix will be airing at 1pm tomorrow (that's 1pm Portugal...
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"A Queer Tone Hovered in the Air- Could It Be a Girl?": Norrie Paramor- Amor,...
This would have been an easy record to pass by. My goodness, what an unappealing cover. I ran into this one in a thrift bin somewhere and almost ignored it, but because there was definitely something...
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Collages Musicales: Antropoloops
I just want to take a moment to say that I really like this project and I admire the way it's carried out: Antropoloops. Sound collages of music from various far-flung regions, full of interesting...
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Flash Strap Presents: Piero Umiliani- Esotico Ossessione
Good news for those of you out there who enjoyed my Roger Roger and Nino Nardini compilation, Obsession Exotique-- I've done a similar thing with that other unbelievable maestro of library exoticisms,...
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The Synthesist Map of the World: Peru Mega-Post
This should surprise exactly none of you, but I am fascinated by records that propose to take the listener on a global journey, to arrange exotic locations along an exhibitionary order and then take...
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Desire and Plantasy: Mort Garson- Plantasia (1976), Roger Roger- Musique &...
Hi. Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been... busy. So busy. You understand, I trust.Let me just jump back into the game by highlighting three records which explore a similar theme. These are...
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EXPEDITION: On View Now
Over at my website, I'm displaying every page of my book, Expedition. Please check it out. It is so exotic.The online images aren't the most ideal version of the book (it's hard-to-impossible to read...
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Panoramic Library: Bruno Nicolai- La Muraglia Asiatica (1975)
Of all the exotic library LPs, this is one of the absolute best. I came across this one a couple years or so ago, dropped in a forum by Little Danny of the absolutely superlative, indispensable Office...
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Esperanto of Pangaea: Flamingods Tour 2014
I've just made a tour poster for UK/Bahrain exotic experimental group Flamingods. Check out their new video for the track "Hyperborea," from the album Hyperborea (which you can listen to/purchase...
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Flash Strap Presents: Jungle Shadows Vol. 5
Let's take this summer seriously with a new Jungle Shadows mix. Please enjoy, and don't forget to grab both parts. Put this on and head straight for the adventure like a cannonball; alternately, have...
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Some Opals for your Coffers: Sonny Silver- Midnight in Kenya; Gianni Safred-...
I've got some hopefully exciting new things for you all in the next week or two, but in the meantime I wanted to link to a couple things that have really been pleasing my speakers recently. The first...
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