Click the Hi-Fi button for the 24 hour broadcast of The Swank Pad. Lounge and kitsch classics abound on this variety show of the 'net. Listen while you surf!

What's New Today on The Swank Pad? Updated 3-9-007
Join the Swank Pad Forums for the latest!
Click Here for the "Hapa Haole Hideaway" Tiki Bar Web Cam

Swank Blather

 

Headlines from other sites

New Requests & Contributions Section


Please post all new stuff in the comments here as the previous post has had over 200 comments and is going onto a new page which is making it hard to manage.

Any contributions are welcome especially rare and unusual stuff.

My email is xtabay4@gmail.com.

Here's a tip use Foobar the best open source MP3 player and it uses replay gain. My compilations and shares are all replay gain added before sharing for the best sound. Get it here.

Posted: 9 Sep 2019 | 7:45am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Old requests and contributions post (use new one please)
Please post all new requests or contributions in the new section. I'm leaving this here for reference purposes only.

Thanks for all the comments by the way.
Posted: 12 Dec 2012 | 11:42pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Be afraid....


After devouring the family Johnny still felt hungry, thank goodness for Van Camp's.

Sorry had to show this demonic kids ad from the golden 50s.
Posted: 20 Aug 2008 | 5:52am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

I want one!


1960 Chrysler New Yorker in Terra Cotta.

There was no such thing as climate change in 1960.

More here including groovy retro space art.
Posted: 20 Aug 2008 | 5:18am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Trouser snake
Posted: 20 Aug 2008 | 2:56am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

8th Annual Tiki Beach Festival, Long Beach, CA
[ August 23, 2008 to August 24, 2008. ] Can't Make it to the Islands this Year? NO WORRIES! The Islands Will Come to You! Tiki Festival dates - August 23rd & 24th, 2008 - Both days - Sunrise to Sunset 1st Annual Long Beach Ho'olaulea • An Island Market Place & Cultural Center • Traditional Arts & Crafts Including Tiki Carving, Food Provided by Moana's - [...]
Posted: 19 Aug 2008 | 1:29am US/Eastern    Source: http://tikitalk.astropad.com

Virtual Comic Book Rack
The incredible Datajunkie has done it again: a virtual comic-book "spinner" rack filled with full PDF scans of 12 classic Gold Key Comics, including issues of Boris Karloff's Thriller, The Mighty Samson, Turok, Son of Stone, and my favorite,...
Posted: 18 Aug 2008 | 10:33pm US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

The secret of longiveity
I am about to tell you one of the greatest secrets known to man how to live a long and active life. Well not me actually its Ernest Borgnine who tells us at the age of 91 why he's more active than men half his age.

Just don't shake his hand!




Posted: 18 Aug 2008 | 5:34pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Waitiki - Rare Stuff


Lounge Appeal: 7 Hipness: 7

There's been a couple of Waitiki albums floating around the blogosphere lately and they are one of the best pure exotica groups playing at the moment. To try out Sharebee which Brondonio tells me is the best way to share files and to share some rare stuff that Waitiki made available and most of which is no longer around I have compiled them and here they are. There's some demos, live radio broadcasts and even an interview, all interesting stuff. There's some good videos on their site too.

Just to whet your appetite there's a good version of Quiet Village in there.

Link
Posted: 18 Aug 2008 | 5:02am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Kapu Kai and Mai Tai Pie
Here are a few photos from I, Zombie's luau last night in Minneapolis. We met a lot of nice folks and had a great time. The food and drink were excellent. We contributed a Mai Tai Pie, made from the...
Posted: 17 Aug 2008 | 9:30am US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Kava Kon


Lounge Appeal: 6 Hipness: 5

I'm always looking for new versions of exotica so this album is a welcome find thanks to Paul (the original?) for the heads up. I've downloaded it from a torrent and now here it is. For a limited time only so get in quick.

It has nice exotica sounds but sounds like an electronica production with liberal use of synths and effects but having said that its still very well done.

Link
Posted: 17 Aug 2008 | 12:26am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Done Fishin'
I'm back. As you can see, the fish were biting a little too hard for my liking. Mrs. BH and I have been graciously invited to attend a luau in Minneapolis this evening, so regular blogging will resume tomorrow,...
Posted: 16 Aug 2008 | 8:17am US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Hugo Montenegro Lounge King No 9


Hugo Montenegro: Lounge Appeal: 8* Hipness: 7*

Perhaps my most represented lounge artist with the possible exception of another great man with the same initials Montenegro's name sounded like he should be a Balkan hitman and his records certainly stood out on the shelves.

He excelled at popular tunes using cool vocals, reinvented spaghetti western soundtracks and really good moog and other synth noodlings. He is one of the few artists where you can pluck out just about any tune from his repetoire and it could be included in a compilation with no loss of quality. He is one if the easiest artists I have compiled with choosing stuff to leave out being the only problem.

I've included some of his more obscure stuff so should be something here for everyone. I recommend his incredibly hip version of Stevie Wonder's Superstition for special attention but its all great stuff and don't forget his ultimate take on the Our Man Flint theme.

Track list in comments (while you're there....).

Vol 1 Vol 2
Posted: 15 Aug 2008 | 8:25pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

I’m at Tiki Oasis
Having a wonderful time, wish you wrer here! You can follow along from home and pretend by following my Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/humuhumu Also, I’ve been busybusybusy adding more features to Critiki, take a look! http://www.critiki.com
Posted: 14 Aug 2008 | 10:01pm US/Eastern    Source: http://blog.humuhumu.com

Ron Goodwin is No. 10


Ron Goodwin Lounge appeal: 8* Hipness: 2*

I've decided to feature compilations that focus on my 10 favourite lounge artists. You probably won't agree with some of my choices. For instance there's no Martin Denny or Les Baxter as I figure they are mainly exotica artists and their lounge music while excellent wasn't quite as good as their exotica stuff. Also artists that don't have an extensive catalog or at least I don't have many examples of their work aren't featured either. The competition was fierce and Ive had to leave out some legends such as Mauriat, Legrand and the 3 Suns.

My first exposure to exotica was when I was around 13 and my neighbour played me this record with a cover showing a village hut scene and the tune had weird and wonderful bird calls. It was of course Quiet Village and the album was an Australian pressing of Arthur Lyman's album of the same name. Likewise my first exposure to lounge music was the theme to The Trap by somebody called Ron Goodwin and it really stood out on a radio featuring British beat groups. I still love that tune and it leads of my compilation of my number 10 choice the great Ron Goodwin. These compilations will be all good stuff with no filler or dreck at least I hope you'll agree that's the case. There's a good selection of his themes blended with more exotica flavoured tracks.

Track list in comments.

Link
Posted: 13 Aug 2008 | 9:09am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Sex Mob Sexotica


Lounge Appeal: 5* Hipness: 7*

Who said exotica was dead? Here's New York's avant garde jazz group Sex Mob's take on it. Their Bond album is worth checking out too.

This album is available here at Listen the Silence blog. Thanks to Paul for the heads up on this one.
Posted: 12 Aug 2008 | 8:10am US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Lounge is alive!


Lounge Appeal: 8* Hipness: 9*

Lounge music in its many guises is still very much alive today particularly with instrumental groups and film soundtracks. Just to prove it here's my latest compilation featuring some of my favourite (mostly) contemporary lounge tunes.

The file is over 100mbs but I have made it a Trafficshare download which Rapidshare tells me treats everybody as a premium user. If you have any problems downloading this file let me know.

Track List

01. James Taylor Quartet - [Lounge isnt dead #01] The Austin Power's Theme
02. Sex Mob - [Lounge isnt dead #02] Dr. Yes
03. Waitiki - [Lounge isnt dead #03] Primativa
04. 8FatFat8, Davis, Julio - [Lounge isnt dead #04] Clutch Cargo Cult
05. Sad Salamanders - [Lounge isnt dead #05] Ritual Of The Bachelor Pad
06. Quiet Village - [Lounge isnt dead #06] Singing Sand
07. Irving Szathmary, Gordon Goodwin & The Hollywood Studio Symphony - [Lounge isnt dead #07] Get Smart Theme
08. Thomas Newman - [Lounge isnt dead #08] Wall-E
09. Combustible Edison - [Lounge isnt dead #09] Breakfast At Denny's
10. Don Tiki - [Lounge isnt dead #10] Hot Like Lava
11. Ape - [Lounge isnt dead #11] Caravan
12. The Moon-Rays - [Lounge isnt dead #12] Hyponitique/Our Man Flint
13. Voodoo Court - [Lounge isnt dead #13] 007 - Goldfinger
14. The Weisstronauts - [Lounge isnt dead #14] I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
15. The Ventures - [Lounge isnt dead #15] Moon of Manakoora
16. The Hellecasters - [Lounge isnt dead #16] Valley of the Pharaohs
17. The Boss Martians - [Lounge isnt dead #17] Malaguena
18. Pollo Del Mar - [Lounge isnt dead #18] Hall Of The Mountain King
19. Los Straitjackets - [Lounge isnt dead #19] Out Of The Shadows
20. Goldentones - [Lounge isnt dead #20] Miserlou
21. CHRIS REA - [Lounge isnt dead #21] 008 Jimmy Bond
22. Anton Karas - [Lounge isnt dead #22] The Third Man Theme
23. Ben Vaughn - [Lounge isnt dead #23] Our Favorite Martian
24. The Hillbilly Soul Surfers - [Lounge isnt dead #24] Beyond The Reef

Link
Posted: 10 Aug 2008 | 10:49pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Hungry Cannibals


Lounge Appeal: 8* Hipness: 6*

This rather interesting looking album can be found here. Look down the page for the entry. Thanks to yesyesyes for the heads up on that one and cheezefactory for the share. Lots of other cheezalicious and hilarious stuff in there too.

Reminds me of a scene from a Marx Bros film where Groucho is asked by the usual matriach whether he is a man or a mouse his answer was "put down a piece of cheese and you'll find out". I used this answer on many occasions when I was asked this same thing with regularity by whichever female I happened to be with at the time. This either says something about me or my choice of female companion.



Sex Appeal: -1,000,000 Hipness: 0

Living proof being as rich as Croesus doesn't mean you can look good or even afford a decent rug.

Posted: 10 Aug 2008 | 6:31pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Riz Ortolani - The 7th Dawn


Lounge Appeal: 5* Hipness: 6*

From Paul Troon here's an exotic film score from one of Italy's finest film composers Riz Ortolani. I'd never heard of this film or score before so its a nice treat for me as well.

Link
Posted: 8 Aug 2008 | 6:32pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Gone Fishin'
Back in a week or so....
Posted: 8 Aug 2008 | 7:37am US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Circus Museum
[Link: Circus Museum][via Coudal]...
Posted: 7 Aug 2008 | 6:18pm US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Satanerd
Posted: 7 Aug 2008 | 5:43pm US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Critiki Updated
If you have any interest at all in Tiki, then you've probably visited Humuhumu's Critiki website at least once. I use it every time I travel, and rely on it heavily when attempting to locate Polynesian Pop venues in...
Posted: 7 Aug 2008 | 10:08am US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

Mad Monster Movie Music Party?
Okay, since nobody paid any attention the last time I posted about them, I guess it's time for me to plug the Monster Movie Music weblog again. Your hosts, Eegah! and Tabonga! serve up a steaming pile of psychotronic movie...
Posted: 6 Aug 2008 | 7:37pm US/Eastern    Source: http://www.mrbalihai.com/goof/

The party might be over
EXTRA!! Poll now in sidebar, vote for your favourite file sharer.

Some multiple sharing sites like Shareoneall have recently been attacked by a European rights group called GEMA. Shareoneall has had to shutdown. It doesnt really effect me yet because all my stuff is on Rapidshare although most older files are buffered through Lix.in.

Rapidshare is appealing a German Court ruling see the following article. This is disturbing and could effect the whole blog scene in a huge way. I know if it happens all my file shares will disappear overnight.

Rapidshare: We're going to appeal shut-down ruling

02/15 2008 | 12:09 PM
Posted by: Janko Roettgers
Rapidshare has announced that it is going to appeal a recent ruling of a German court that could have potentially forced the company to shut down its website. A Dusseldorf court ruled in January that Rapidshare has to block access to musical works from rights holders that are represented by the German music rights group Gema. The ruling included a mandate to "take measures that might have the risk of making Rapidshare's service substantially less attractive or even close it down completely."

The company has now told the German online magazine Netzwelt.de that it is going to appeal the ruling. "Rapidshare wants to clarify the legal situation for hosters", a representative told the magazine. She explained that there have been different rulings with sometimes contradictory requirements for file hosters in the past, and argued that it is impossible for Rapidshare to filter its uploads because files can be renamed, split up or saved in different formats.

Rapidshare's spokesperson also added that not all uploads of musical works were illegal, because music fans could use Rapidshare to make back-ups of their own MP3s for personal use without giving the links to anyone else.

Gema on the other hand told Netzwelt that it is in settlement negotiations with Rapidshare but didn't want to comment on any details. It will be interesting to see if the two sides can actually agree on a solution.

If there's a settlement Rapidshare will disappear as we know it rather like Napster. Another way will be found but it'll cause massive problems.
Posted: 5 Aug 2008 | 11:33pm US/Eastern    Source: http://xtabaysworld.blogspot.com/

Mail Swanky

So you want to use some images from The Swank Pad? Ok. You can, IF you credit The Swank Pad with a link and you download the images and put them on your server rather than linking to The Swank Pad images directly. And drop me a line too. Thanks! -Swanky aka Tim Glazner

What is The Big Hairy Deal?
Locations of visitors to this page