I really think Esquivel pales in comparison to the others mentioned here, except for maybe, André Popp. A couple of days ago I received a very interesting album in that vein by Dean Elliot & His Orchestra "Zounds! What Sounds!" (Basta Music). The music isn't that innovative, but what's really shocking about it is the sound effects, anything from Cement Mixers to human coughings or air compressors mixed with a classic big band sound. There's no info about the recording date, but I assume this is from the late 50's-early 60's.
Correct. A lot of great 'Space age pop' albums, with lots of extreme sound effects where made around that time. Basta Audio Visuals has a nice back catalogue of interesting music by the way. Check them out at www.bastamusic.com. It's funny to notice that I started listening to the names mentioned above about 10 years ago, and that I only started to "discover" John Zorn about 2 months ago. Marco www.weirdomusic.com