NEO CLASSICALIEN MUSIC

For the few albums I've heard leading up to Gramond's 'Neo Classicalien Music', I have noticed that the work of this French multi-instrumentalist has become increasingly more electronically- based than his earlier time as a rock and jazz man. As a potential result of events in his personal life, there would be a time (most sorrowfully felt on 'Words & Music For Supermarket Elevators') where the music of Gramond would be made primarily using computer software, rather than with recorded instruments. While one can easily expect that this will take its toll on the sound quality of Sébastien Gramond's music, it is made all the more regretful in the case of 'Neo Classicalien Music', due to the fact that many of the arrangements here are really fantastic.

As can be expected from the name of this album, the music here generally revolves around Gramond's work with symphonic orchestration, using his 'Virtual No-Budget Orchestra'. While the pieces to this overall work do not feel as if they have a flow to them, they work well within themselves. Each piece stays fairly short, with a few longer exceptions such as the eerie sci-fi outing and highlight 'UFO Constructor' going the extra step and taking the electronic soundscape to the music's halfhearted advantage. There's a general lack of melodies here that stand out, but the complexity of some of the music here is impressive, to say the least. Unfortunately, this is bogged down by a sheer lack of playability, the fake and synthesized sounds here work to hurt the music more than they ever contribute.

Some interesting experiments in classical composition for Sébastien Gramond, but it does feel as if these keen skills of writing would be put to better use with live instruments.