Exotica Redux

As Martin Denny's Exotica plays on the "hi-fi", a little sprite dances around the living room, charming her parents with her best-guesstimate Bali Hai moves. That was my first downtempo moment … "Quiet Village" now seems equal parts campy and thrilling, but it made the suburbs daring for a while, back when the American style was very bland and buttoned-down. People were ready for an opening in the zeitgeist for the tiki lounge exotica purveyed in food and drink at Trader Vic's, in movies like "South Pacific" and on disc by Martin Denny

What we didn't know back then was how persistent this island-life motif would prove to be for modern listeners. Chief among the practitioners of world music-influenced downtempo, Thievery Corp adopts the original exotic touches and marries them with sophisticated modern electronica. Where Thievery leads, others follow along. So pull on your surfer shorts or your grass skirt and lei, and join us at the BeatConscious tiki hut for drinks and dancing ...