Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Cool Lounge Collection, But Grossly Mis-Titled, February 13, 2005
This is an interesting collection, unsure if it wants to be an lounge-y orchestral tribute to the promise and exuberance of the opening years of the Space Age and American baby-boom technological innovation, or a snarky cynical review of the extreme camp and whimsy which accompanied exploration beyond our atmosphere. The liner notes, which I must say are extremely imaginatively written and an interesting argument in themselves, say that what lies at he heart of this release is "the ability to hear music in the construction of suburbs." Okay, interesting statement, and given the extensive cultural and sociological riffing in the liner notes, this works. But if this is the aim and theme here, then the title "Space Capades" is simply wrong. "The Great Consumer Society," "Suburbatopia," "Technological Leisure," something like that would've been more accurate to what they're shooting for here.
You've got 18 tracks on this 1996 release. There is good mixing and separation, good stereo sound throughout, with clean arrangements.
We open with "Gay Spirits." You could project this instrumental into the astral plane, I guess. The liner notes ask us to imagine a blast of central A/C, fondue pots, and enthusiastic housewives rushing to buy consumer electronics. Given the extensively developed premise, I guess this fits, but again, I'm not in outer space with this opener.
"Lover" follows. Given the title, it's very smooth, slinky, and jazzy, with an up-tempo bridge in the middle, a true lounge treasure. But again, there's not a whole lot of outer space in this work, except for a couple little elements of the orchestration.
"Moon Moods" is at track 3. The title supports the theme, as do the liner notes, citing original space-themed Les Baxter albums and with some excellent quotes. Note that rocking theremin wriggling in the background. This one fits, but its sound also takes me on a whimsical European road trip.
For any child of TV who spent time with classic WB cartoons, "Power House" isn't about space at all, it's about industry, pulsing machinery, black smoke, automation. This is the classic Raymond Scott work that WB directors used so incredibly effectively in their classic cartoons. Great orchestration here, but no ringing sounds of outer space, satellites, none of that. I just can't get the vision out of my head of heavy industry putting Bugs Bunny into peril.
"Drivin' Around the Block" is a pretty cool, speedy, heavily bongo- and percussion-driven piece with a decided backing island feel, with some really nice guitar work inside the primary horn theme. Nice lounge song, without a doubt, but it's a long way from outer space, even from rampant material acquisition. Put this track on an Ultra-Lounge "Behind the Wheel" release instead.
Les Baxter's take on the iconic "Calcutta" follows. Classic smooth lounge stuff, conjuring up in my mind exotic travel, badges on battered steamer trunks, chiffon scarves over impeccable bouffant hair-dos, horn-rimmed sunglasses, pearl chokers, the whole bit. I'm trying, I swear, but I'm not hearing man's first tentative steps into outer space in this tune.
Then there's the even more classic lounge tune "Holiday for Strings," with its soaring vocals and plucking strings. This is the first tune in this collection that's really getting me into space. The sounds, vocals, and orchestration, including a couple of vocal time markings sounding like a countdown, definitely evoke space exploration, if you're listening with an open mind.
The novelty "You're The Top" is a fascinating little 1962 piece, a collection of sound effects and vocal affectations arranged into the main theme. To me, it's a very smooth Spike Jones with a full backing orchestra. You've got arrow thwangs, telephone rings, gongs, doorbells, plucks, drips, drains, bangs, slide whistles, boings, and even a nasty emphysema cough near the end. Interesting diversion, but I don't get how it plugs into the theme(s).
I really like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)." The arrangement is excellent, with some squeaky violins and bells creating a great atmosphere. The piece builds very nicely, with a paced yet steady beat evoking an elephant's rhythmic gait. This is a great addition for any They Might Be Giants fans who don't realize TMBG didn't originate the tune. Ultra-Lounge has done a truly excellent job of mixing two separate recordings into this track, putting parts 1 and 2 of this tune together with separate artist recordings from 1953 and 1961, respectively. The orchestration and approaches to the tune are very different, but are mixed expertly for a fantastic single track. All this being said, how does it relate to space or US consumerist technological advancement?
The classical classic, Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" follows, but I just can't escape the instant image of frenetic Chinese plate-spinners or cheezy magicians pulling scarves. The arrangement here is on, pure lounge, with the wispy vocalizations and Gibson Les Paul Custom accents at all the right points. But again, I'm just not connecting this piece to the theme.
"This Room is My Castle of Quiet" offers more theremin, lots of it, but its mood and influence vacillates between cheezy horror matinees and the groundbreaking sounds of "Forbidden Planet." They're close to the theme here, real close.
"Puttin' On the Ritz" is a frenetic Vegas lounge jumble, and "Blues in the Night" is confused between easy blues and Stratocaster whammy-bar punctuation.
"Saturday Night on Saturn," the only track with a theme title, most disappointingly sounds more like a noir TV detective show theme than a soundtrack for alien terrestrial weekending.
In conclusion, this is a must-have for the dedicated Ultra-Lounger, But if you're taken with the theme, and are looking for a boss collection of way-out spacey lounge tunes, this CD won't scratch that itch. The collection is fantastic and enjoyable, sure, but the connections between the title, the esoterically argued and supported themes, and the music itself are tenuous at best. I recommend you buy it for your Ultra Lounge collection, but not as a ready collection of out-of-this-world tunes.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spaced-Out Fun!, January 16, 2000
I really just bought this volume for "Puttin' On the Ritz" and hoped that I'd like the rest. Imagin my surprise when the whole thing was incredible! This truly is some of the kitschiest stuff you will ever find on CD. It really brings to mind images of the way things used to be and the way people percieved space and the future back in the '50s. Now, sadly, it's just a fun novelty, but back then this was serious stuff, and "THE SOUND OF THE FUTURE!" If you listen long enough, you feel like you've gone back in time and find yourself imaging the future this way too. It's really cool how this CD in a way functions as a...great big time capsule.From the opening of "Gay Spirits," you're pulled in. Those first notes make you see pictures like the one of the Milky Way at the beginning of "The Jetsons." The incomparable Les Baxter, who seemed to excel in whatever he tried, was the pioneer of space-age exotica before he got into the jungle exotica that's found on other U-L volumes. His spacey stuff is the very epitome of futuristic kitsch, and it's irresistible to listen to. "Moon Moods" will show you that. And get a load of the jumping orchestral piece "Saturday Night on Saturn," with its lush, swirling strings and its bongos and trumpets--it rivals "This Room is My Castle of Quiet" as the best piece on the CD. I'm not exactly sure HOW spacey his cover of "Calcutta" is, but it's cool. Dig the maracas! Dean Elliott heard as one big cartoon. Take a listen to his two offerings. Cole Porter's "You're the Top" complete with ringing phones and a host of FX that sound like they were mined from the Hanna-Barbera sound library. And the disc is closed with the fantastic, swinging "Lonesome Road." I fell in love with this one on the Fuzzy Sampler, along with the gargling, car horns, coughing, popping bubbles, crashes, tinkles, whistles, high heels, slamming doors, pops, and baby noises. Very infectious, indeed! For more kitsch, there's the pizzicatto choir on "Holiday for Strings." (Listen for when they go "Zing-boom, zing-boom...") Tak Shindo has a very funny and Oriental-sounding "Stumbling," Baxter serves up a crazy "Sabre Dance" from his 'Wild Guitars' album, and Felix Slatkin features chimes on "I Get a Kick Out of You." If you have, by chance, ever played the classic "Earthbound" for Super NES, "Satan Takes a Holiday" will remind you of music from that game. Very oddish-sounding, it's somehow effective. Space, like most things, can be jazzed up, as is evident in the light vibes on "Lover." Vibes are also prominent on "Power House," probably one of the best-recognized tunes ever. (Remember those Rube Goldberg machines on the old toon shorts?) It doesn't sound like space to me, but I love "Drivin' Round the Block!" That beat is inescapable! The song I bought the CD for, "Puttin' On the Ritz," didn't fail to please. A big band, a swinging arrangement, bongos, vibes, guitars, and even castanets all work together for a really slam-bang number. Swing fans, see if you can catch the part where the band samples from "Sing, Sing, Sing!" Loved it! I first heard "Istanbul" when They Might Be Giants did it on "Tiny Toons" years ago. The strongly jazzy version included here is the best ever. This is largely due to the boisterous trumpet player, sounding like Satchmo gone Latin. From the flamenco flourish at the intro to the last naughty growl, you're hooked. The version that follows really leave something to desire, not being able to leap the bar that the first left. The standout piece is Billy May's eerie "This Room is My Castle of Quiet." It'll keep you listening for hours. The melody is played by a theremin, recognized by most as that odd vibrating whistle used in old sci/fi movies when the aliens attacked. It's so effective, and makes the haunting melody linger in your mind long after the song has ended. My only complaint about this disc is that there was only one theremin track.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hold the Vermouth, November 9, 2006
I picked up Space Capades out of curiosity, thought the campy lounge would be a fun little background goof for my martini ritual. But I actually really got into this music. It's got that early-60's-bad-movie soundtrack feel, like cotton-candy flavored ether for your ears. It's very relaxing, but floating over the lush orchestral arrangements are xylophones, springs, car horns, coughs, cowbells, sneezes, and- the cherry-on-top for your audio trip to the local soda fountain- none other than Dr. Leon Theremin himself soloing on theremin.
I should mention that, being born in the early seventies, the nostalgia I reference cannot be true fifties nostalgia. It's nostalgia for the fifties nostalgia of the seventies, so it is an ultra-filtrate. The music tickles sanitized memories of sanitized memories, and that is just fine to go with my dry, dry, dry Tanqueray martini. With a couple of olives.
A friend stopping by, picking her daughter up after a play-date, heard Space Capades playing pianissimo in the background, and decided to stay for dinner. True story. She didn't want to leave, saying our home was much more relaxing than her home, but said she wasn't sure what it was exactly. She thought maybe it was the soft lighting.
See for yourself. Buy it. Enjoy. You can listen with tongue in cheek, or lighten up and just give yourself over to its hypnotic reverberations.
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