Bachelor Pad Music

Break out the brandy snifters, the Cuban cigarillos, and the velvet smoking jacket — it’s time for a swingin’ trip through the kitsch-loving, retro-chic world of bachelor-pad music. If the big-band boogaloo of Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova” sounds familiar, you’ve probably seen it inspiring an onscreen shimmy from the ultimate bachelor-pad hero, Austin Powers. Speaking of legends, the Herb Alpert album cover with the pinup girl clad only in whipped cream is nearly as iconic as the hit single it spawned, the sexy swinger “A Taste of Honey.” And no bachelor pad would be complete without some space-age synthesizer shenanigans, courtesy of Perrey & Kingsley’s quirky-cool Moog maneuvers on “Swan’s Splashdown.”

In Next Steps, indulge in an aural odyssey around the world.

If you really want to get into that Mad Men-era cocktail-lounge groove, you’ve got to pierce the veil of international mystery and venture into the way-out world of exotica, where you can travel to the ends of the Earth without leaving your shag-carpeted living room. One of the architects of exotica, vibes-playing bandleader Arthur Lyman, set the standard with almost erotic evocations of his Hawaiian homeland, like “Taboo.” South American siren Yma Sumac lent her stratospheric vocal range to the musical mythology of her native Peru on the Incan incantations of “Xtabay (Lure of the Unknown Love).” And even though composer Raymond Scott was from the wilds of Brooklyn, that didn’t stop him from envisioning a “Twilight In Turkey” full of finger-cymbal clangs and snake-charmer melodies.

A new bachelor-pad breed fans the flame, in Deep Cuts.

Bachelor pad music may have had its glory days in the ’50s and ’60s, but there are legions of lounge-lovers today, and a new generation dedicated to carrying the tiki torch into the future. No one’s better suited for that task than Kenny Sasaki & The Tiki Boys, who take the exotica lessons of Arthur Lyman into a new millennium with “At the Tiki Bar.” Friends of Dean Martinez formed during the mid-’90s lounge revival, and leader Bill Elm’s dreamy pedal-steel guitar sounds on “Monte Carlo” are surely influenced by Alvino Rey, who pioneered a space-age, decidedly non-Nashville approach to the instrument on tracks like “Blues In the Night.” Incidentally, Rey had another influence on modern music, as grandfather to Arcade Fire leader Win Butler.

Bachelor-pad music encompasses an entire constellation of styles — lounge, exotica, space age, swing, and more. Its roots are in the post-WWII era, when hi-fi stereo systems became a status symbol for swinging singles making romantic maneuvers in their very modern dens. Those lounging lovers needed something snazzy to show off their souped-up sound systems, and the cool, cocktail-friendly tones of Martin Denny, Cal Tjader, Ray Conniff, and others filled the bill to perfection. But even in the age of the MP3, the bachelor-pad sound still conjures up that suave, sexy vibe, with a side order of retro-chic cool. So save a place somewhere between your wet bar and your pair of Barcelona chairs for this super-smooth stack of bachelor-pad tracks.