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Salmonella Dub: Live with the NZSO

On the surface, the dub reggae and beats of Salmonella Dub should co-exist in a fine marriage with an orchestra - two largely instrumental forms with lots of room and space to explore soundscapes - however the combination of careless song selection and lacklustre arranging deny this album any dizzying heights. This is a massive shame, as the interaction could've been stunning but the NZSO fail to add anything of substance to Salmonella's already lush vibe. A tremendous opportunity to make real use of the orchestra's percussion has been wasted in favour of the Dub's beats, and there's too much emphasis on brass for colour - ineffectual when Salmonella already have horns at their disposal. There are so many other crayons in the box - how about more cello for a darker feel for example? Strings in general could have been used for more depth and variety. Quality guests Paddy Free, Whirimako Black and Richard Nunns fail to work their considerable charm either. If you've heard remixes of these tracks then you've heard more interesting reworkings than this which mostly recorded earlier this year at the Aotea Centre in Auckland. I'm left feeling a sonic route with loud gats and drums rather than the NZSO would've been more rewarding. This has proven chart-friendly and is indeed fine accompaniment to a beverage as the sun goes down and dusk takes hold. But you can say that for any Salmonella (or NZSO) release

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