Lounge refers to a strain of easy listening music from the '50s and '60s that was based on the lush styles of latter-day swing and big band music. Lounge scaled these back, borrowing ideas from the worldbeat exploration of exotica, as well as the futuristic aspirations of space age pop. Lounge wasn't as adventurous as either form, yet it wasn't as watered down as Muzak — instead, it occupied the middle ground, appealing to fans of traditional pop as well as space-age pop.
In 90's lounge revived thanks to rising interest to original 50's and 60's records. New bands emerged working both in traditional lounge (Combustible Edison, Hooverphonic, De-Phazz) and bringing lounge sounds to electronic music (Jaffa, Zimmer-G, Café del Mar and Hôtel Costes compilations).
Related links
Combustible Edison
De-Phazz
Montefiori Cocktail
Pizzicato Five
Sam Paglia
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