Oh My!
What a fricking day!
I finally found the sparks I have been in need of to fuel my mundane Armenian life lately. It came from a few unexpected and somewhat familiar sources. The first was a good old fashioned debate on the GlendaleChick blog Raffi Kojian has referenced on the other side. The dialog begins on her "The Daddy Syndrome" and continues in the comments section. Nothing like a little debatin' to get the blood pumping. I definately recommend the log to those who want a fresh perspective or Los Armenos. And, in some logs, even more expanded borders. Highly entertaining. The other blog I highly recommend is the One World http://www.oneworld.am/blog/ It's got great interviews and thoughtful commentary and photos on contemporary Armenian issues. These blogs are popping up everywhere. But, these two are the best for various reasons.
The other blog news is that later this month, I will be launching an all Armenian Music blog. It will be limited to CD reviews of Armenian Music CD's with star ratings. I will eventually catalog all of these and create a database of these reviews to be used as a reference for people who want a little direction on what to spend their hard earned money on. It will have a star rating system between Zero and 4. Hopefully, it can be a forum where people can some useful info. However, artists beware, I am a tough reviewer and any and all crappy CD packaging/stupid lyrics/and general BS that people don't know about when they crack open a $15 CD bought from your local Glendale grocery will be exposed! However, more importantly, I want to bring out the great stuff out there that doesn't get discussed often enough. Finally, I want to start a dialogue and exchange between local Armenian musicians and the Diaspora music enthusiasts by reviewing their local CD's as well. Let's see how it goes. Here is the new link...http://armenianmusicreview.blogspot.com . In addition to CD reviews, I will occaisionally have a special edition of the Worst Armenan Album/CD covers of all time. If you have candidates, please refer to the new blog link and send info as noted. A good reference point for bad album covers was established on this link http://porktornado.diaryland.com/albumcover.html This link is courtesy of Aram Hajian.
However, the real charge in the day was my conversation with singer/songwriter Gor Mkhitarian. The Pomegranate label will now be re-directing our focus and resources back on Gor in 2006 with a potential brand new recording in Armenian with some special guests people will enjoy hearing from. The plan is to combine our experiences and do a joint GorMusic/ Pomegranate Music production and have it recorded in Armenia. In a strange way, it kind of what I hoped for when we began working together about 4 years ago- to have each other work on equal footing. By overcoming some initial cultural misunderstandings on both ends, I think my own Hayastansi- Diasporan bridge has finally been built solidly in this artist/label relationship.
To my extreme surprise, in a parallel project, Gor sent me a rough draft of his first fully developed English language song set to the tune "Yeraz" with guest artist Oud Master John Berberian in his first potential appearance on a record in over 20 years. The result is electric and completely shocking. Gor's knowledge and English language speaking skills have improved dramatically, however it remained to be seen (or heard) how it would translate into song. The Vanazor Kid pulled it off and look for this English language indy-pop record to be released sometime next year. I think it has the potential to turn some heads. That one will be a Gor Music project. So far the single is called "Memory of a Breakdown"
We are hammering out a Boston date for Gor to perform in September/October in addition to his New York show at CODA in August. GorMusic.com for info on the NYC show.
My CD pick of the month is Arthur Ispirian's "Asum Em Te". Very smooth sound and great production values.
The Oud Legends Series with John Berberian show is set for November 5th in Boston with special guest Ara Dinkjian (Night Ark). You can all the details on Pomegranate Music in the next few weeks.
Things are finally moving...
I finally found the sparks I have been in need of to fuel my mundane Armenian life lately. It came from a few unexpected and somewhat familiar sources. The first was a good old fashioned debate on the GlendaleChick blog Raffi Kojian has referenced on the other side. The dialog begins on her "The Daddy Syndrome" and continues in the comments section. Nothing like a little debatin' to get the blood pumping. I definately recommend the log to those who want a fresh perspective or Los Armenos. And, in some logs, even more expanded borders. Highly entertaining. The other blog I highly recommend is the One World http://www.oneworld.am/blog/ It's got great interviews and thoughtful commentary and photos on contemporary Armenian issues. These blogs are popping up everywhere. But, these two are the best for various reasons.
The other blog news is that later this month, I will be launching an all Armenian Music blog. It will be limited to CD reviews of Armenian Music CD's with star ratings. I will eventually catalog all of these and create a database of these reviews to be used as a reference for people who want a little direction on what to spend their hard earned money on. It will have a star rating system between Zero and 4. Hopefully, it can be a forum where people can some useful info. However, artists beware, I am a tough reviewer and any and all crappy CD packaging/stupid lyrics/and general BS that people don't know about when they crack open a $15 CD bought from your local Glendale grocery will be exposed! However, more importantly, I want to bring out the great stuff out there that doesn't get discussed often enough. Finally, I want to start a dialogue and exchange between local Armenian musicians and the Diaspora music enthusiasts by reviewing their local CD's as well. Let's see how it goes. Here is the new link...http://armenianmusicreview.blogspot.com . In addition to CD reviews, I will occaisionally have a special edition of the Worst Armenan Album/CD covers of all time. If you have candidates, please refer to the new blog link and send info as noted. A good reference point for bad album covers was established on this link http://porktornado.diaryland.com/albumcover.html This link is courtesy of Aram Hajian.
However, the real charge in the day was my conversation with singer/songwriter Gor Mkhitarian. The Pomegranate label will now be re-directing our focus and resources back on Gor in 2006 with a potential brand new recording in Armenian with some special guests people will enjoy hearing from. The plan is to combine our experiences and do a joint GorMusic/ Pomegranate Music production and have it recorded in Armenia. In a strange way, it kind of what I hoped for when we began working together about 4 years ago- to have each other work on equal footing. By overcoming some initial cultural misunderstandings on both ends, I think my own Hayastansi- Diasporan bridge has finally been built solidly in this artist/label relationship.
To my extreme surprise, in a parallel project, Gor sent me a rough draft of his first fully developed English language song set to the tune "Yeraz" with guest artist Oud Master John Berberian in his first potential appearance on a record in over 20 years. The result is electric and completely shocking. Gor's knowledge and English language speaking skills have improved dramatically, however it remained to be seen (or heard) how it would translate into song. The Vanazor Kid pulled it off and look for this English language indy-pop record to be released sometime next year. I think it has the potential to turn some heads. That one will be a Gor Music project. So far the single is called "Memory of a Breakdown"
We are hammering out a Boston date for Gor to perform in September/October in addition to his New York show at CODA in August. GorMusic.com for info on the NYC show.
My CD pick of the month is Arthur Ispirian's "Asum Em Te". Very smooth sound and great production values.
The Oud Legends Series with John Berberian show is set for November 5th in Boston with special guest Ara Dinkjian (Night Ark). You can all the details on Pomegranate Music in the next few weeks.
Things are finally moving...
posted by Raffi at 4:56 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the shout-out!!!
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