Weird Studies12 Mai 2021

Episode 98: Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica

Exotica is a kind of music that was popular in the 1950s, when it was simply known as "mood music." Though somewhat obscure today, the sound of exotica remains immediately recognizable to contemporary ears. Its use of "tribal" beats, ethereal voices, flutes and gongs evoke a world that is no more at home in the modern West than it is anywhere else on earth. With its shameless stereotyping of non-Western cultures and its aestheticization of the other, exotica rightly deserves the criticism it has drawn over the years. But as we shall see in this episode, if you stop there, you just might miss the thing that makes exotica so difficult to expunge from Western culture, and also what makes it a prime example of how the "trash stratum" sometimes becomes the site of strange visions that transcend culture altogether. REFERENCES Phil Ford, “Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica” Future Fossils, Episode 157 Weird Studies, Episode 21: The Trash Stratum Weird Studies, Episode 79: Love, Death and the Dream Life Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness Maria Montez” Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer Les Baxter, "The Oasis of Dakhla" Steely Dan, "I Heard the News" Stravinsky, Rite of Spring Les Baxter, “Hong Kong Cable Car” Jacques Riviere, review of The Rite of Spring Nenao Sakaki, Japanese poet Lew Welch, American Beat poet JF Martel, “Stay with Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the truth of extinction” Jeffrey Kripal, Mutants and Mystics Captain Beefheart, “Orange Claw Hammer” Martin Buber, I and Thou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Episoder(242)

Episode 219 – Composing the Cosmos, with Meredith Rigby

In this episode, JF and Phil are joined by their beloved assistant and invaluable collaborator Meredith Rigby (formerly Meredith Michael) to discuss her recently completed doctoral dissertation, Compo...

23 Sep 1h 25min

Episode 218 — A Mighty Matter of Legend: On J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Two Towers'

Having taken up the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in episode 207, Phil and JF turn to part two, The Two Towers. Together, they peel back the husk of familiarity to reveal the st...

9 Sep 1h 14min

Mid-Hiatus Bonus: A Door in the Fourth Wall

Episode 218 will drop at the end of our summer break on September 9, 2026. Today, enjoy this recent audio extra, originally released for members of the Weird Studies Patreon. In the intro, JF announce...

26 Aug 45min

Episode 217 – Books, Spirits, and Hysteria, with Asti Hustvedt

Researcher Asti Hustvedt joins Phil and JF to discuss a talk she gave at the Lily Dale Symposium this year entitled "Bibliophantoms." The question: What does it mean to "get lost" in a book? Asti's an...

5 Aug 1h 17min

Episode 216 – Artworks Are People Too

"Now and then, a mysterious life and potency will flicker out of an artwork and confront you." So began "Artworks Are People Too," a talk Phil presented at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute e...

22 Jul 1h 34min

Special Episode: Make Art!

Owing to circumstances preventing us from releasing a new show this week, we are offering you one from the archives. This episode was originally released on our Patreon in March 2026. In it, we discus...

8 Jul 41min

Episode 215 – Where No One Can Hear You Scream: On Ridley Scott's 'Alien'

In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror blockbuster Alien. Together, they wipe off the patina of familiarity that beclouds the film, restoring it to its original weirdne...

24 Jun 1h 29min

Episode 214 – Fortune's Fools: On Gordon White's Philosophy of Fortune-Telling

It was with heavy hearts that Phil and JF learned of Gordon White's passing. Gordon was a force to be reckoned with: as an author and podcaster on all things occult, he offered unique perspectives and...

10 Jun 1h 15min