Whither does Nomadic Orcherstra roam today?

I don’t research these things, so I don’t know whether Nomadic  Orchestra still exists as a going concern but if one can go by what’s available on Apple Music, they’ve released only two albums,  Move Your Things (2013) and Love at Last (2016) and nothing since then. Given the lack of imagination or creativity in these records, I’m not surprised.

Nomadic Orchestra followed in the footsteps of The Dynamics, Truly Fully Hey Shoo Wow Band and The Honeymoon Suites from the late Nineties (though The Dynamics originated in the Eighties), all of which were big, horn driven bands, probably composed of music. Specifically jazz, students, who wanted to put together a project band for some extra cash ad some on stage fun while they were studying. 

Apart from the horn sections, these bands shared a common misconception that they could bring the funk to  the music scene, but this misconceived ambition was let down by ponderous, creaky rhythm sections that couldn’t be funky if their lives depended on it.  Another common trait was that arrangements, often intricate and quirky, were intended to drive the groove yet failed miserably in that endeavour and only succeeded in showcasing the pro forma talents of the instrumentalists and the virtues of rigorous rehearsals. In live performances and on record the music was dire, plodding and excruciatingly dull after one song. So much sound and fury signifying so much nothing.

This material defect applies exactly to Nomadic Orchestra. There’s no denying, I suppose, the technical ability of the musicians and the ingenuity of their arrangements but they can’t seem to write the decent, catchy hooks or riffs that are required to sustain interest in an album of mostly instrumental doodles.

The production values are  top notch and there is a lot of energy on display but it all seems such a waste if one is simply running on the spot.

There are more vocals on the second album than on the debut but they are of the jokey, shouty variety and there are no real songs, nothing to engage the listener who isn’t going to be fascinated by and impressed the virtuosity on display. The latter should be the given and only the underpinning of the substance that is songcraft. Here the virtuosity is the main, and only,  element. Well played, energetic tedium is still tedium.

This type of music may be entertaining in a live setting with a well-juiced audience and that’s probably where it should stay. Recording these performances are a nice memento, I guess, but no more than a period piece on display. Neither album is a record I will listen to again willingly. Not because they’re bad, but because they are so much flavourless vapour.