WORDS & MUSIC FOR SUPERMARKET ELEVATORS

Alas, when a musician opts to create such a quantity of music, there's bound to be a few duds along the way. With a title like 'Words & Music For Supermarket Elevators', there is already the implication that Sébastien Gramond has never intended for this to be one of his prouder opuses from the beginning, and while the French composer takes a much different approach than has been heard before in his music, the change of pace results in a piece of music that feels lackluster, inconsistently produced and performed; mundane at best, but irritating at worst. Even here however, Gramond squeezes in a few pleasant aspects into the music, but- as one may have guessed- supermarket elevators do not make for a very good inspiration when making music.

An apparent homage to Brian Eno's 'Music For Airports' (correct me if I'm wrong...); Gramond largely averts his jazz rock leanings here, to go for a lounge style of 80's pop; the style of music featured in many a derivative PG-rated comedy saturated with acid-wash jeans, two- dimensional characters, and one-dimensional plots. For the aspiring progressive rock listener, the music here can be very close to what Genesis sounded like after Phil Collins took the reins, if that's any indication. Musically, the sound here is comprised mostly of danceable, simple beats, some sort of basic synth backup, and vocals from Gramond that usually feel too muffled or delayed in the mix to comprehend the lyrical content,

Even an unsuccessful album from Sébastien Gramond has its positive qualities, however. As I have believed for quite some time now, Gramond's musical forte lies in his skill with the guitar, which far outweighs his talent with electronics or vocal ability. Coincidentally, the guitar is scarcely heard on 'Words & Music For Supermarket Elevators'; the torch is instead handed here largely to synthesizers. Of greater coincidence is the fact that the two songs I gathered the greatest appreciation for are the only two where I really noticed the guitars. First of these is the jazzy lounge piece 'Moon Shines On The Beach' and secondly, the slow ballad 'I Could Even Be Your Slave', which makes some good use of melodic lead playing, and even gets a decent groove going.

Unfortunately, the majority of the album relies on disposable 80's pop music for its foundation. While Gramond's sense to experiment with every genre and style known to man is admirable, it's clear that not everything is going to work as it may have been intended.