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VARIOUS: People In Your Neighbourhood (Auckland 2009)

This British Council-funded initiative brings together Aucklanders of varying cultures, ethnicities and genres. 17 local artists in all contribute to tracks in collaboration with UK’s Urban Soul Orchestra (hence the BC involvement). The idea is to snapshot the melting pot of culturally diverse talent in any given neighbourhood (in this case Auckland). Artists featured here include Spanish, Maori, Chinese, Brazilian and Korean, and are all largely underground artists. Such a ‘blending of cultures’-based project is nothing new, in fact it wasn't so long ago Loop whisked away local artists for their OE:Brazil concept. While this one sounds good on paper (and indeed went down well live at its WOMAD showcase), the irony is that for a supposed sampler of fresh NZ produce (‘capturing the new face of urban NZ’ the press release breathlessly calls it), this is a most un-NZ sounding album. In fact it could’ve been recorded in any western country with a decent immigration policy. By that I mean there’s no strong NZ accent to this to distinguish it from similar projects from other regions. Many of the tracks fail to deliver, the universal language of music being lost somewhere in translation. I prefer the music of any number of NZ bands featuring the sons and daughters of those from other lands. As for the stated objective to promote a diverse and harmonious society – I think we’re all fans of that one. •

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