LOUNGE MUSIC
Music for chaises longues Chanel. DJs like Dimitri from Paris were making up more of a musical accompaniment than a ‘mix’ as such. At the same time, another musical trend – downtempo – was seducing tired clubbers together with a new public who were being put off by jerky and simplistic beats. The lounge trend was inspired by it, drew certain new ingredients from it and, little by little, left the worlds of easy-listening and exotic sounds of its origins to turn towards music that was more up-to-date.
Lounge … a word that evokes plush salons, lazy afternoons or a cozy bar. The music for these places had still to be created. As for its name, it had already been found.
When electronics pay court to jazz and bossa-nova Lounge music is above all a question of atmosphere. Musical cocktail is conceived as a sound décor. Wallpaper colored with Brazilian rhythms for tastefully furnished interiors, hedonistic sushi bars and cozy restaurants. For those times when the day’s work is done and
the evening sun dapples the leather Chesterfield. Not to mention those nights when an infinite variety of long drinks follow one upon the other in endless succession. There isn’t a fashionable bar worthy of the name today that doesn’t play this music with its warm and seductive rhythms. However, the first wave of lounge music didn’t appear just yesterday. In fact, just before the Beatles swept the world, exotic sounds coming from all corners of the globe had already been imported into Britain, homogenized to the tastes of the public at large and transformed into instant commercial hits. Lounge music made its first major comeback towards the middle of the nineties. A touch of ‘lift music’ à la Burt Bacarach, a sprinkling of bossa-nova or cha-cha, a soupçon of soundtracks from Italian films of the 60s … The foundations had been laid, and lounge music was reinvented. It soon found its way into the select circle of the happy few, heard at fashion shows given by great designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and
Sofa house and cocktail jazz Since the arrival on the electronic scene of genuine musicians – notably those coming from the jazz world – who favored live instruments to samples and mechanical beats, lounge music has taken on a new lease of life. The trend has been spreading at the same time as the beat was slowing down, and today lounges are flavored with all kinds of sauces, cleverly accommodated to the exclusive attention of Epicureans in love with voluptuousness and sensuality. Brazil is never far away, nor are the chaises longues. So, sit back, relax & enjoy …
Capital 17