Latin-Esque / Exploring New Sounds in Hi-Fi

Digitally re-mastered two-fer containing a pair of albums by the Mexican band leader, arranger, and Lounge legend on one disc. Esquivel was the quintessential Space-Age pop musician; the embodiment of late-fifties, early 1960s modernity. LATIN-ESQUE and EXPLORING NEW SOUNDS IN HI-FI are supreme examples of Esquivel in all his thrilling pomp; the King of Stereo Action, the playful Svengali who invented the 'zu-zu-zu' vocal punctuation, the pioneer craftsman intent on scouring the sonic universe for every creative possibility. Unlike most recordings there is no attempt to cement the right and left speaker channels into a cohesive whole; for Esquivel, the space between speakers was an empty vessel through which normally immovable instruments roamed, sometimes hovering in the air or darting back and forth like hummingbirds. Crude as the sound magic is, the illusionism has parallels both with the kinetic painting and sculpture of Bridget Riley and Pol Bury or with the surreal imagistic dislocations of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte.