tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56535102011-12-13T21:52:45.960-05:00Brutally honest Armenian CD reviews for your consumption. Ratings from Zero to 4 stars. New reviews every Tuesday. Brought to you by www.pomegranatemusic.comRaffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1165104028140089932006-12-02T18:58:00.000-05:002006-12-02T19:00:28.143-05:00

DETI PICASSO- Ethnic Experiments (Deep Movement)Where do we start with this one?The band Deti Picasso is from Russia. Two of the members are Armenian in lead singer Gaya Harutyunyan and brother/guitar player Garen Harutyunyan. The 2004 CD "Ethnic Experiments" is sandwiched in between two other releases, 2002's "Mesjac Ulybok" (CD Land Records), and their new 2006 release "Glubina" (Deep Movement)

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com364tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1130174467193730482005-10-24T13:20:00.000-04:002005-10-24T13:21:07.200-04:00

Dear Recording Academy Voters:For the 2006 Grammy Awards show in LA on Feb 8, 2006, please consider voting for the following selections on your ballot under Field #30- Classical. Best Classical Album- Category 96- Selection 062- Fortress City: Armenian Songs from Nagorno Karabagh. For more information on this album, please refer to www.cdbaby.com/karabagh Performed by the Mrakats, Varanda, and

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1129254641070736412005-10-13T21:42:00.000-04:002005-10-13T21:59:03.610-04:00

Review forthcoming.

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1126327625267917912005-09-10T00:44:00.000-04:002005-09-10T00:47:05.273-04:00

*** (Three Stars)Like Zulal, Hooshere Bezdikian’s self titled/produced CD has been percolating for several years now in the New York/New Jersey Armenian scene. After a long and multi-tiered process of recording in both New York and Armenia, Hooshere is finally here-ready for mass consumption. A gifted musician since her youth, Hooshere has had classical and jazz vocal training especially

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1125964776328075712005-09-05T19:57:00.000-04:002005-09-05T19:59:36.333-04:00

** (Two Stars)Even before I put this CD into my sound system, I could hear and predict exactly what was going to be on this disc. Mal Barsamian is one of the hardest working men in Armenian-American show business here on the East Coast. He is probably one of the more talented as well. Barsamian’s legend has grown as a gifted clarinet player, guitarist (Masters Degree in Guitar from New England

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1125406392815283712005-08-30T08:46:00.000-04:002005-08-30T08:54:46.453-04:00

*** (Three Stars)In certain Armenian music listening circles, Zulal Armenian A Cappella Folk Trio’s self titled album Zulal was the most anticipated independent release of 2004. On the heels of 18 months of touring and a long winded recording process, we finally can hear on CD what people have been talking about after their concert performances. Consisting of 12 Armenian Folk songs sung in the A

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1124764872361225122005-08-22T22:32:00.000-04:002005-08-22T22:58:48.973-04:00

** 1/2(Two and One Half Stars)OK, let’s get a few things straight before we begin. First, the name of this band is officially BBR. Their album is called Bambir. BBR is also referred to as Bambir, Bambir 2, or Bambir Kids. There is another band called Bambir based in Gyumri, Armenia that was formed in 1978. They are the original Bambir and they still perform. Here is their original Quake album.

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1124323339455168292005-08-17T20:00:00.000-04:002005-08-17T20:02:19.466-04:00

*** (3 Stars)Old Street is the latest album from New York/Los Angeles based vocal ensemble Cascade Folk Trio. Produced by Bandaz, Old Street is an impressive ethno-pop approach to the now-tired genre of Armenian popular music. Boasting an army of talented musicians from Armenia such as Norayr Kartashyan (duduk/shvi), Artashes Kartalyan (piano) and Hayko (arranger), Cascade Folk Trio’s talented

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123626984967520962005-08-09T18:31:00.000-04:002005-08-09T18:36:24.973-04:00

*** (3 Stars)Every so often, an Armenian album comes out of nowhere to impress the listener and leave them wondering, “Where the hell did this come from?” In the case of twentysomething year old schoolteacher Mariam Matossian, the answer is Vancouver, Canada. Far From Home is a collection of 10 Armenian folk songs spread over 13 tracks (the song “Groong” is sung three different times) sung in a

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123463672735933912005-08-07T21:12:00.000-04:002005-08-07T21:17:31.480-04:00

Folks, the artist is Paul Baghdadlian. The album is called "Mortsir" (Forget it). Is it me, or do I not see the sexy bitch factor here? Where else can you get such quality design and high production values... yep... Parseghian Records.

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123429021424653382005-08-07T11:33:00.000-04:002005-08-07T16:08:23.393-04:00

* (1 Star)When word first leaked out of collaboration between world renowned violist Kim Kashkashian and contemporary Armenian composer Tigran Mansuryan, I began to count the days until the official CD release. When news filtered in that the recording was going to be released on one of the world’s premier record labels in ECM New Series, I frothed at the mouth. Add to that the fact songs by

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123428076830175582005-08-07T11:11:00.000-04:002005-08-07T11:21:18.020-04:00

http://www.oneworld.am/blog/ is a fantastic window into contemporary Armenian issues while on the ground in Hayastan. Onnik Krikorian is a leading journalist in Armenia who reports on issues others ignore. As Diasporans, we owe it to ourselves to get informed about issues regarding the underpriveleged or under represented in Armenia. For the purposes of this website here at Armenian Music Review,

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123355551271119442005-08-06T15:03:00.000-04:002005-08-06T15:18:42.953-04:00

Armenian Music Review will be nominating the TOP 10 worst Armenian CD album covers in the next couple of months with an open vote to determine the winner in November 2005. If you have any nominations, please send a JPEG or JIFF to my email address at raffi@pomegranatemusic.com for consideration. This first nomination is the CD cover to Guy Chookoorian's "Guy Chookoorian does the apple tree song

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123332255189749162005-08-06T08:43:00.000-04:002005-08-06T15:50:33.776-04:00

www.arminrock.am - Armenia best (and only) Armenian rock resource. This webpage is run by Artyom and Arman. Highly recommended.

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123293873552935282005-08-05T22:03:00.000-04:002005-08-07T16:07:51.663-04:00

** (Two Stars)Armenian pop/jazz vocalist Aramo’s latest release on Narek.com records is entitled If Only (Yerani). This particular album leans more toward pop/jazz fusion with Aramo’s trademark jazz scat style of vocal delivery. Unlike other Armenian pop singers, Aramo has a more varied and versatile voice. His vocal traits are certainly put to the test as If Only is the classic example of an

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123293217284415162005-08-05T21:49:00.000-04:002005-08-07T16:07:19.066-04:00

*** (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

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123292792492573402005-08-05T21:42:00.000-04:002005-08-07T16:10:26.666-04:00

*** ( 3 Stars)Keyboardist and composer Armen Chakmakian is a true artist. Rumor has it that this former Grammy award nominated member of the new age ensemble Shadowfax obtained a second mortgage on his home to pay for the completion of his second solo album, Caravans. Furthermore, Chakmakian offered to “sell his soul” on eBay to finance this project. The tongue-in-cheek ploy did not get any

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5653510.post-1123161203941899622005-08-04T09:11:00.000-04:002005-08-05T21:36:44.616-04:00

Hi Everyone,This is Raffi Meneshian here from Pomegranate Music. I will be launching a new blog today dedicated to reviewing Armenian CD's. In addition to CD reviews, I will have a special edition of the worst Armenian CD covers of all time. Submission of CD's, reviews, bad album covers can either be emailed to raffi@pomegranatemusic.com or sent to Pomegranate Music, PO Box 381641, Cambridge, MA

Raffihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02650319887917462179noreply@blogger.com0