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January 11:
The king of Space Age pop

Alas, lounge music afficionados, Juan Garcia EsquivÈl, "father of Space Age pop" has passed away.

He died from the effects of a stroke on 3 January 2002. It's fitting that he lived to see the new century in, since his music was often well ahead of its time.
(link via Beatnikpad)

I'm not big on those kitschy "boink-boink, zoo zoo zoom" sound effects (and much prefer the "oohs and aahs" of lo-fi French pop) but Esquivel's genius should not be taken lightly:

He honed his talent providing background music for a daily radio show where he'd be asked things like "Can you play something that sounds like a Russian guy walking through China?" and somehow would be able to do it.

ï Space Age Bachelor Pad Music