The Adults - Live with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra Album Review
It seems to becoming trendy for NZ bands to perform with an orchestra these days, with some doing it better than others. Shapeshifter’s recording with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra is one of my favourite live albums, but other bands either haven’t had songs that translate well into an orchestral sound, or have trouble arranging their music to take advantage of the orchestra.
Fortunately, The Adults had neither problem with their recording from earlier in the year with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. The original album was an interesting mix of songs, some that worked well and some that felt as though they needed a little bit more to get them to fire. Recording the entire album with the orchestra provided that opportunity to add more texture and depth to some of the flatter songs, while rearranging the better songs to great advantage.
The orchestral sound works well with the band’s music and the arrangements all work well – I’d almost have to pick these live recordings over the originals, particularly the recording of Nothing Left To Lose, which seems to have become a darker, and even stronger, song than the album version.
Having seen many of these songs performed live by Jon Toogood, Julia Deans and Shayne Carter, I’d have to say that the Christchurch Orchestra did a fine job of keeping up the standard of performance we’ve come to expect from these three musicians, whilst also adding their own interesting touches and flourishes to the songs.
The live album contains 10 of the 12 tracks from the live recording, and comes coupled with the original album (or is it vice versa?), so you’re able to compare the different versions. This is definitely a recording worth picking up, whether you’re a fan of the original album or not.
About The Adults
After a couple of years “collecting musical ideas” the multi instrumentalist began work in earnest six months ago on what has become The Adults, a celebration of his work with some of New Zealand’s brightest talents and an iconic Kiwi album in-the-making.
A truly collaborative affair, the project began with a wishlist of artists that Jon “loved, admire and respected”, all of whom jumped at the chance to work with him to create the eclectic tracklisting. The roll call of names on the album reads like a who’s who of New Zealand music, including names as diverse as Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits/Dimmer), Anika Moa, Ladi6, Julia Deans, Gary Sullivan (Jean Paul Sartre Experience/Dimmer), Nick Roughan (Skeptics), Ruban & Kody Nielson (The Mint Chicks), Warren Maxwell (TrinityRoots/Little Bushman), Riki Gooch (TrinityRoots), Redford Grenell (ex-Shapeshifter), Steve Bremner and co-producer and collaborator Tiki Taane. Collectively, the group is now known as ‘The Adults’, and the frontman says that after twenty years in the business it was definitely time that he “learned a whole new way of writing music from these people, who do it so well”. They too learned a whole new musical vocabulary from Toogood, and appear on this album in ways you’ve never heard them before.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for The Adults
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