First and foremost, I was drawn to investigate this release out of curiosity. I mean, a band that's 'committed to the exploration of the acoustic qualities of vegetables' is nothing if not novel.
If the plinks and plonks of 'Malang' resemble a xylophone, then the eerie rumbles and drones that lurk beneath them sound altogether less identifiable in conventional terms, and similarly, the crackles and clicks of 'Pocket Stampede' sound positively alien, and bring to mind the descriptions of the sounds made by the alien invaders in 'The Day of the Triffids'. Elsewhere, 'Transplants' pursues a more rhythm-focused line of instrumentation.
Once you get past the novelty aspect of the orchestra's methodology - and there are hours of amusement to be derived from reading the list of instruments used on each track - what's actually there, musically, is a pretty decent avant-garde / experimental recording with some creeping ambient passages and richly textured arrangements that are good in their own right, irrespective of their origins. And so it is that the Calabash Bass on 'Brazil' could easily pass for double bass and gets quite a groove on - and it courgettes better, with the tracks containing a genuine musicality and sense of form and composition.
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Of course, listening to the music while aware of the instrumentation used leaves you to marvel and to wonder 'how on earth are they doing that? How does that make that noise? What vegetable is making that sound?'
Conceptually bizarre and fascinating, 'Onionoise' is also an intriguing work in musical terms. A whole different kind of 'roots' music, it's well worth keeping your eyes peeled for and I really do dig it.
The Vegetable Orchestra Online
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