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These early Denny creations cover his more wildly "exotic" career phase. The first album, presented in its original "Spectra-Sonic" mono, includes the hit title track in its entire eerie swamp-varmint splendor. Other standouts are the dreamy xylophone on "Lotus Land" and the absolutely wacky "Love Dance," which sounds more like an ornithologist's orgy. The second album, in stereo, gets more intricate and oddly romantic. The best is the opener, "Shoshu Night Serenade," with its ghostly textures and the persistent ringing of bells that suggest the carriage of a typewriter. The Denny arrangement of "Ebb Tide" is also a stunner. This double volume gives listeners a clear picture of how Denny was interested less in an "authentic" Hawaii and more intrigued by an imaginary and often surreal geography. --Joseph Lanza, ISBN13: B000000IAP ISBN10: B000000IAP Material Type: audioCD