This 14-track survey isn't the most extensive exotica compilation, and lacks the single-minded depth of those Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman anthologies. What it lacks in depth, however, it more than compensates for in breadth, especially as it's not limited to the back catalog of a single specific label. Cuts by some of the standard-bearers of the genre are here (Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, the South Sea Serenaders), as well as more unexpected contributions from Duke Ellington and Percy Faith. The absence of Martin Denny excludes this from the top of the field, but it's one of the better introductions to the strange world of exotica, with the expected more or less equal doses of kitsch and off-the-wall goofiness.