8. Arthur LymanTaboo
I just think it’s such an amazing piece of music. It’s got such strong melodies, it’s got such a strong atmosphere, and again, I think it’s just a cornerstone of that exotica sound that has turned out to be really influential to me. I couldn’t really mention exotica without talking about that track. I must have about 20 different versions of it and they’re all brilliant. I probably chose the wrong thing to focus on if I wanted this to be a commercially successful compilation. It has become kind of kitsch, and in some ways it is, but I do see it as having genuine artistic merit because it’s so successful at creating an atmosphere and a place. The way that Brian Eno talks about, with his music, him imagining a place and fitting the music to it, I found that to be so helpful in making music and even in guiding the compilation. I had this sort of imaginary film that I’d put the compilation together around in my head. The song needed to fit a scene, and the scenes needed to make sense with each other. And that’s all this sort of music is about, just creating an atmosphere. As long as it provokes that response it’s really artistically satisfying.
