MASTERPIECE OF SHIT

Especially when compared to the earlier albums that Gramond was putting forth even five years before the release of 'Masterpiece Of Shit', an entire world of development and improvement can be heard. While I have been a fan of Sébastien Gramond's even with his earliest available material with 'Trip' and 'Pell Mell', I have noticed that the general quality of his albums seems to ebb and flow, releasing a batch of records that sound great, then proceeding to metaphorically 'shit' on those ones with material that does not even come close to fulfilling Gramond's potential as an artist.

Even more recent bouts from this artist like the abysmal 'Rock n' Roll Train' have proved to let me down as a listener and fan. But there has been a trend over the course of years where his skills as a recording artist have quite audibly been touched up as time goes on. 'Masterpiece Of Shit' is clearly a more involved album from Gramond; everything from the humorous artwork to more graceful sense of album flow and production tends to suggest that while everything here is still tongue-in-cheek, Gramond now sets out to release quality over quantity. While still being far from my favourite album by Sébastien, 'Masterpiece Of Shit' excites me to hear what the man might be doing in 2011 and beyond.

Opening with a song that almost approaches the eighteen minute mark, 'Goodbye Little Brownie' hits off Sébastien Gramond's so-called 'masterpiece' on an interesting start, with some beautiful piano work. Where the music starts to lose my appreciation is when Gramond reverts back to his old ways; being the extended keyboard solo jam. That has been something that has always been a grinder on my nerves with the music of Sébastien Gramond, despite the fact that each time he proves himself to be a great musician and multi-instrumentalist. Instead, the several minutes of jamming and improvisation has me tuned out almost right from the start, and one can only wait for the other tracks to come along.

Thankfully, the other songs are kept more concise, which is something I have really preferred with Gramond's music. More keyboard melodies, warm acoustic guitars (a more recent staple of his music I have really come to love) and some vocal work that is quite a bit deeper than I usually hear from the man. The songs here are very pleasant to listen to, but still feel as if they lack some memorable aspect to them; the lasting power that would have me instantly want to hit the replay button. Instead, Gramond's 'Masterpiece Of Shit' is a good album that is still quite flawed, but charming enough to warrant a curious listen.

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