Sako- Flawless (Me Productions)

*** (3 Stars)

Admit it, when you hear about an Armenian singer born and raised in Lebanon who currently lives in the Los Angeles area that has a one name stage persona of Sako, what are you thinking? Yep, I thought so. And, so was I when received this album from the artist. It took me weeks to even entertain the thought of having Flawless grace the high powered entertainment system I have in my old 1993 Toyota Tercel. For those of you who don’t know Sarkis Ghazarossian, he is only one of the biggest new Armenian pop artists in California having graced Armenian TV airwaves, the historic Alex Theater, and countless dinner dances. Same old thing? Actually no. Not this time. Sako has pulled a pleasant surprise over the ears of this self proclaimed finicky music critic. Flawless is an immensely entertaining Armenian pop album with plenty of style and substance to back it up. Sako’s voice and musical approach is eerily similar George Michael which makes for an interesting listen. Add to this that Flawless was recorded at the studio of Enrique Iglesias’s last album and you have slick production qualities added to Sako’s sharply written tunes. Flawless bends more toward the late 90’s techno/dance oriented style rather the trance style he would like for us to buy into. “Yes Kez Serum Em”, “Kyanke Lav Eh”, and “Korstrel Em” are the strongest tracks on the album with bonus remix versions tacked on at the end of the album as well. Ultimately Sako’s Flawless respects the musical sensibility of the listener by giving us first rate sound production with the guilty pleasure if being able to enjoy original Diasporan Armenian pop from the LA market. I get it now.