Brian Chidester, co-author of Dumb Angel Magazine 4 and the upcoming Pop Surf Culture book (among other things) has a short film about the Waikiki Beachboys on YouTube currently.

Quote from Tiki central:

It’s a short documentary that I directed four years ago, as a teaser to a larger project about the Waikiki Beachboys… native Hawaiian surf instructors and nightclub entertainers from the jazz age up through the ’60s. There were two great generations of Beachboys, and even though there are still beachboy concessions on Waikiki Beach today, the music and scene is nowhere near what it was back in the day.
I hope you enjoy the clip. I have tons of interview footage ‘in the can.’

These quotes are from a recent interview Evolution of Media made with Chico Hamilton, who happens to be one of my favorite drummers.

…I hear many drummers today, who have amazing chops, but who ultimately leave me cold because they never settle down long enough to get a pocket going, to keep some time. Some consider it old fashioned, but for my own listening pleasure, I enjoy hearing a band that swings. I think you will enjoy it too.

I’m told that people still dance to my music in nightclubs. There’s no greater compliment than that!

…But I can tell you one thing that I do know, which is that if this ‘so called’ industry becomes more about the format, than it is about the music, then it’s a dead end industry.

Chico Hamilton on iTunes and MySpace

I knew about this big back-catalogue re-issue being planned before, but I somehow never could view the web-page until now.

Arthur Lyman died a couple of years ago, and it was a great loss to the people into Exotica and Tiki as he was still performing. He used to play with Martin Denny before he ventured out with his own group. Both artists released similar styled albums, but Lyman kept more Hawai’i in his music as the sixties went on, being hawaiian might be a reason. He had some of the deepest, most atmospheric and soulful Exotica recordings, combining authentic ethnic instrumentation with modern jazz. Another interesting point of note are humorous tunes he often selected to appear towards the end of his LPs. He may not have had a Sandy Warner on the covers, but many are very beautiful, classic Exotica designs. Taboo 2 had an authentic shrunken head on the front, until it was repackaged with a shot from the Pele roll of film.

Kevin Crossman writes on the Exotica list:

Collectors has released 18 Lyman albums in their entirety as 9 two-fer CDs.
…
Don’t be fooled by lame, generic cover art. each release has the cover of both LPs printed in full color. All you have to do is take the front booklet out and fold it backwards to show the cool orig Lp cover art! The CD also contains a reprint of one of the Lp back covers
…
Look for the double titles separated by a slash. Steer clear of the Greatest Hits package – it is not bad but I’m sure you would rather have the full experience of a Lyman lp in its original format
…

go to Collectors’ Choice Music

Every once in a while a man takes his life into his own hands. I can’t wait to see this! I guess Paskowitz should be a household name to a guy with a 9ft Malibu in the corner of his home office, but I’m afraid you have to look elsewhere for further info on this obviously very special family. Wait, the movie should make me that much wiser.

Surfwise – A film by Doug Pray

They are so cute, posting movie stills like there’s no tomorrow. I love these movies, too. It’s amazing how soulful the pictures come across, even with the motion taken out of them. I saw many of these on N3 growing up, and some still range among my all time favorites. And it’s Jean-Paul Belmondo’s birthday today, cheers!

The Fashion Spot

Handprinted wallpapers – beautiful!!

Bradbury & Bradbury | Atomic Age | Googieland

Welcome info about this design show in UK from Jacquelin on MySpace:

Our next Dulwich Midcentury.Modern show is on Sunday 30th March 2008, Dulwich College, Dulwich Common, SE21 7LD. View location on Google Maps.

Set in the light and bright 60’s concrete and glass Christison-designed refectory and the South Cloisters at Dulwich College. Situated on the A205 South Circular near College Rd, SE21 7LD. Nearest train – West Dulwich (trains leave Victoria BR and take approximately 10 minutes). 5 minute walk to college. Other local galleries and museums include The Horniman and The Dulwich Picture Gallery. Refreshments on site. Car parking with college boys showing visitors to spaces

Opening times, 10am–4pm (admission £5). Early admissions for trade from 9am

(£7). Children under 14 are welcome and do not have to pay.

Email us for our latest designer and dealer updates. Designers and dealers, apply to take part.

If you are looking for the best in design from the last century or the latest in future collectables from this one, look no further than Midcentury.Modern. Recognising the eclectic way people dress their homes Midcentury.Modern has fast established itself as the number one destination for sourcing the antiques of the future without the huge retail mark-up. …

read more here

Wow! A website dedicated to bringing back dynamics into modern recordings. I applied there with Tiki Traveling. Hopefully they accept that recording. I will do my best to support the project. I recorded TTWKK in the consciousness of making an anti-loudness record. Being mainly for soundtrack use, I could more easily fight the temptation of being competitive with music recorded for radio, music-tv or a teenager’s music collection, but aimed for the late fifties/early sixties hifi stereo sound instead. Think Command LPs with Bauhaus covers (Enoch Light’s label). I mixed and mastered for a good, enduring listening experience.

These records say: Turn me up! Your stereo deserves being turned up as much as your guitar amp or vehicle. Simply sounds better. Dials are more precise up the scale, too.

I wrote about the so called loudness wars earlier on this blog.

Quote from Turn Me Up!

Turn Me Up!™ is a non-profit music industry organization
campaigning to give artists back the choice to release more dynamic records. To be clear, it’s not our goal to discourage loud records; they are, of course, a valid choice for many artists. We simply want to make the choice for a more dynamic record an option for artists. …

Turn Me Up! | Bringing Dynamics Back To Music

Here’s another link to an article on over-compression of music.

The legendary filmmaker being Bud Browne.

from Pacific Longboarder

The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is delighted to present an historic and exciting night honoring the world’s first surf filmmaker, 95-year old Bud Browne. Now a local resident of the Central Coast, Bud will be honored here by many surfing greats, including surfers Gerry Lopez, Joel Tudor, Peter Cole, Linda Benson, Fred Van Dyke, Walter Hoffman, and surf cinematographer Jack McCoy. Buzzy Trent’s daughter, Anna Moore is helping to coordinate the event.

On Thursday, March 13, 2008, this group of legendary surfers from around the world, will take the stage at the grand Fremont Theatre in downtown San Luis Obispo to pay tribute to the man who inspired modern surf culture by creating the first commercial surf films ever. Surfing the 50’s will be the featured film, and the evening will also include a raffle, Q & A session and a post-screening Surf Party in the old Pier One building on Monterey St. (generously donated by Copeland Properties) with live music, surf films and the opportunity to meet the surf celebrities in attendance.

read more here

Saturday, February 9, 2008
10:00 a.m.

Los Angeles Public Library, Atrium Theatre
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-7000