WASTED YOUTH

Organ-driven jazz rock is the best way to describe 'Wasted Youth', an album by the French multi-instrumentalist Sébastien Gramond. First coming to my attention as having arguably one of the weirdest Sébastien Gramond album covers to date, 'Wasted Youth' shows the talent of this fusion musician quite well, giving equal parts of jam material and more focused songwriting. Although this music is generally nothing new or revolutionary for the sound of this prolific artist, there are a couple of tracks here which seek to broaden the man's horizons, and for that the album has been a good listen, more or less.

Much of this album is the same sort of jazz fusion I have heard many times from Sébastien Gramond; rapid keyboard solos, upbeat sound and eccentric tone brought forth through Gramond's tight skills. As always, the weak point in the sound is tied between the rather lo-fi and garage production of the recording, and the rather weak vocals of Gramond, which often sound as if he is trying to sing out of register.

In terms of album cohesion however, there have been steps taken here that other albums by Gramond in similar style seem to lack. There is a nicer sense of flow here; for example, 'Download' and 'Anywhere Foreigner' segue seamlessly into each other. Also, the album has two tracks that really stand out. The first of these is 'Open Your Door', a mysterious track which a latin pallor to it. The second is the title track, which is more based around rhythms than melodic structure, and as a result, becomes a very eerie, yet meditative track.

Not a very notable album by Gramond, but it is fairly good.