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24 Aug 2009 17:02
The Waitiki 7 - Adventures In Paradise
Adventures in Paradise utilizes most of the sonic signatures of
Exotica: bird calls, vibraphones, animal noises, latin
percussion, and ukulele, performed with jazz and oriental flair,
drawing from a richer pallette that paints a more compelling
picture than much of the blanched white-bread sonic excursions
around the world. Of the original Exotica, much of it was
recorded as background music for seductions or cocktail parties,
or to audition new Hi-Fi systems. In short, it was
easy-listening, and the emotional range could be rather bland. A
lot of interesting experiments and innovations arose from the
era, and Waitiki 7 embraces the strengths and weeds out a lot of
the chaff. Standards like "Totem Pole" by Lee Morgan, "Left Arm
of Buddha" by Martin Denny, and "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington,
are mixed in with eclectic originals like "Her Majesty's Pearl",
a beautiful conversation between piano and vibraphone, "Ned's
Redemption", a madcap xylophone ragtime improvisation with slide
whistle, and "L'ours Chinois", an oriental-sounding violin
concerto that is chilling, but resolves into an upbeat Eastern
adventure. They seem to have spent the time wallowing in far-off
sounds, getting to know them and how to play them proficiently,
rather than merely perfoming generic stereotyping to make
something sound weird.
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