Bret Easton Ellis’s Glamorama it-boy Victor instructs his staff on his club’s opening night music. As he points out, it essentially amounts to putting on an Ultra-Lounge CD. (The first of which, Mondo Exotica, was released in 1996, a couple of years before the book was published.) An interesting comment on the ease of adopting an aesthetic which, over a decade later, still flourishes in the bar and hotel industry.

“Great. Okay, what are we playing during cocktails?” Beau asks as I start walking out the door.
“Start with something mellow. An Ennio Morricone soundtrack or Stereolab or even something ambient. Get the idea? Burt Bacharach. Then let’s move on to something more aggressive but unobtrusive, though not elevator music.”
“Space-age bachelor-pad Muzak?”
“Mood sounds?” I’m flying down to the fourth floor.
“Some Polynesia tiki-tiki or crime jazz.” JD flies after me.
“Basically an ultralounge cocktail mix.”