Eden Ahbez – Eden’s Island

One of the great classics of exotica, a style of easy listening music that emerged in the mid ’50s alongside tiki culture blending jazz, swing, latin music, psychedelia, and folk, Eden’s Island (The music of an enchanted isle) presents the “Nature Boy” Eden Ahbez’s vision of a utopian society existing in peace and harmony on an island far away from the modern world. A beat poet and composer, Ahbez lived a well-documented proto-hippie lifestyle not too dissimilar from what was outlined on the album living outdoors with his family in the mountains of Los Angeles. He was famously found sleeping below the Hollywood sign. Whether you connect with his vision or not, the songs here are enchantingly peaceful, filled with a dreamy haze, and surely succeed in transporting listeners to another world.

Recommended – Full Listen