ROOTS LAND AGAIN

My second experience with Sébastien Gramond's 'Roots Land' series, I am still finding difficulty placing a theme, or anything that might make this series different from the rest of the albums done by this man over the years. As it is, 'Roots Land Again' is about as diverse as any other Gramond album you're going to come across. With rock, jazz, gypsy music, and acid folk all playing a role here, the album is- as is quite usual for Gramond's earlier work- very over the place and unfocused, but in that, there is more than enough variety here to keep the listener guessing.

The music here is very loose in nature, and when the vocals of Gramond do come in, their melodies often feel as jammed out and improvised as the rest of the instruments. That being said, some of Gramond's best work is when he lets the instruments play for themselves. 'Roots Land Again' features very few memorable moments or structures in it, but the jams here can get fierce. My two personal favourites from this batch of Gramond's are the title track 'Roots Land Again' and 'Get That Nelson Out Of Your Butt'. The first of these is where the gypsy sound comes in, featuring an exotic sound driven by violin. The second of these is where the album holds its greatest strength. 'Get That Nelson Out Of Your Butt' is among Gramond's greatest jazz rock jams, featuring some great saxophone work.

Besides that, the music here does tend to get a bit listless, although there are always the intermittent solos thrown in here and there that give some added life to the music. Two standout tracks does not make the entire album a worthy experience, however. 'Roots Land Again' is decent for the most part, but while there is certainly the potential for something greater to work here, the music tends to get very inconsistent.