In the world of exotica, Les Baxter is Pink Floyd to Martin Denny's Beatles. Baxter approached his music with a seriousness and attention to detail incongruous with the cheeky view most people take of the genre. In other words, Put down the martini and wipe that smirk off your face! To Baxter, exotica was art. He got pretty close achieving that ideal, too, as The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter proves - two CDs of his incredibly evocative musical tales. At his most intense, Baxter could be scary and carnal or downright pagan. Most of the time, however, he lulls you towards sleep and serenity with peaceful trips down jungle rivers or sunrises over the Andes.

Les Baxter's non-exotic works are compiled on Baxter's Best (Capitol, 1996) - which overlaps with Exotic Moods only on "Quiet Village," the exotic national anthem written by Baxter but popularized by Denny - and also on The Pop Side (Collectors Choice, 2000). Baxter's pop stuff is tame but playful; "The Poor People Of Paris," in particular, is positively giddy, but some of the songs teeter precariously on the edge of elevator music.