SOUNDTRACK: ESQUIVEL-Merry X-mas From the Space-Age Bachelor Pad (1996).
Esquivel was a master of the Space-Age Lounge/jazz music. He combined groovy chill lounge music but he added zipping steel guitar sounds and backing vocals like “Zoo zoop! Pow!”
And of course, his records were mixed as stereo masterpieces for kick ass hi-fi equipment. He flourished in the late 50s but had a resurgence in the 1990s, when this collection was released. All of these songs were recorded in the late 1950s.
Esquivel himself doesn’t sing on these tracks (he does provide the spoken intro (with music by Combustible Edison)) on a terrific “Jingle Bells” (zoo zoo zwee). The rest of the songs feel delightfully loungey with fun accents from the insturmets and vocals. Xylophones, keybaords and great use of strings.
It feels cheesey, and it kind of is, but the musicianship and experimentation are very cool. This is great addition to anyone’s Christmas collection. Sprinkle a few of these songs into a mix and see if people zu zu zoom along.
Jingle Bells
White Christmas
Here Comes Santa Claus
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
The Christmas Song
Frosty the Snowman
Snowfall
Sun Valley Ski Run
Blue Christmas
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
Auld Lang Syne (Adios from Esquivel!)
[READ: December 19, 2017] “The Friend”
Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar. This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.
Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.
If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.
(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)
This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection.
This story begins in 1931 with a man who had been working for Cline & Company for nearly ten years. Prior to that, he had been in the war–something of a requirement for any employee as Cline felt compelled to contribute to the country’s servicemen in some way (Cline was ineligible to fight).
Cline also felt that the exposure to seismic blasts in peacetime work might help to alleviate the stress from the seismic blasts soldier experienced in battle.
The narrator was sent to Big Sur to check out the progress of the soon-to-be-built Bixby Bridge–the company’s new $200K project.
But things were not going well. The ocean had attacked the structure. The wood looked ravaged and rotted as if it has been up for decades, not weeks. The foremen of the project said it was practically demonic the way the waves attacked it.
It was Christmas Eve that night and everybody went out to get drunk except for the narrator. He stayed behind. On his way back to his quarters he encountered a man. This man was not like the workers–he smelled earthy and seemed much calmer than the others He invited the narrator back to his house for a meal, but the narrator was spooked and so he declined.
But the next morning, he decided to talk to the man. He found the cabin–up in the hills, not down with the others–and knocked on the door. The man called him around back. He was naked. The narrator was embarrassed but the man did not seem ashamed. He said he was praying and he thought that the narrator was God knocking.
The narrator asked him if he worked on the bridge. He said “Yes, bit not with the crew.” When pressed, the man said he didn’t like the bridge’s location “I think its arrogant and aggressive.”
The final section of the story sees the narrator visiting the bridge again decades later. It looked impressive and had even become a tourist attraction. But really he wanted to see if he could find the man again.
Might he still be there? Was he even real?
This was a fascinating look at the power of nature.
I Just Read About That... 
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