The Gentle People - Mix Gently (1997)

Tri-continental ambient lounge group the Gentle People are a bizarre amalgam of influences and affinities, combining the esoteric club culture of the 1990s with the cocktails-and-tiki-trinkets kitsch of the 1950s, hitting just about every opportunity for nostalgic, cheesball second-hand embarrassment in between. Signed in the U.K. to Richard "Aphex Twin" James' Rephlex imprint since 1995, the group's relaxed brand of sugar-coated, vocal-based easy listening is a far cry from the typically abrasive lo-fi machine music of that label. With members originating in America, the U.K., and Australia (the band is based in Los Angeles), the four-piece (including cartoonish "members" Dougie Dimensional, Laurie LeMans, Valentine Carnelian, and Honeymink) have nonetheless attracted a committed international following, with releases appearing in both the U.K. and Japan and material showing up increasingly on American compilations of loungecore and exotica (a marketing trend which hit its peak in 1995-96). In addition to a number of national and international tours and festival engagements, the group have also remixed tracks for the likes of Pizzicato 5, as well as having their bubbly fare popped, smeared, and otherwise disheveled by the likes of Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin, DJ Wally, and many others. Following the 1997 album Soundtracks for Living, the Gentle People returned two years later with Simply Faboo. ~ Sean Cooper