Tigran Hamasyan - Jazz +world music +meshuggah +fempop

[AugmentedFourth]

He just looks so goddamn happy. It's awesome.

Also holy crap that guitarist keeping up...

Yes, the guitarist (Charles Altura) was the guitarist on "Aratta Rebirth". I saw some comments on the video complaining about his playing, but he really is actually a very talented guitarist. The miking is just awful.

 

[wankerness]

So uh...I didn't like this. There's about 2 songs that could stand alongside the material on Shadow Theater, it sounds like a bunch of sketches instead of fully developed songs. I'll listen to it another 50 times to be sure, but on first listen I'm very disappointed, while with Shadow Theater I was instantly blown away by every single song on the album. It's not BAD but on first listen it's definitely inferior to Shadow Theater, EP No 1 and Red Hail.

I listened to it another 10 or so times. My issue with it is it very much is a trio jam album. The majority of it is crashy, smashy power trio stuff that's insanely technical but is often just smashing the low notes on the piano in conjunction with the bass and drums. For what it is, it's great, but compared to Shadow Theater I find it really lacking. It's like if 3/4 of the album was Alternate Universe, and they cut the vocals and the saxophone out of that song.

The lack of Areni is the worst thing to me, she's on about 4 tracks and really isn't in the forefront on more than two of them (unless you count the "bonus track"). The saxophone is even more MIA. It's just...a heavy trio album with some ballads and vocals here and there. If you go into it expecting that, it's awesome. If you go into it expecting Shadow Theater or Red Hail, you'll probably be bitterly disappointed. Double-Faced and The Apple Orchard in Saghmosavanq are the only two that have songwriting comparable to Shadow Theater imo, many of the rest are just kind of jammy and heavy. Entertain Me is very much representative of the tone of the album. There's some great heavy stuff in there, particularly the last couple songs. Kars 1 is quite reminiscent of Drip, though it doesn't have nearly as much weird stuff going on in it.

The Roads that Bring Me Closer to You is another stand-out, it's got a very cinematic feel and has a nice swirl of vocals. Song for Melan and Rafik starts out amazingly but eventually devolves into some rhythmic chord pounding. To Negate has a very entertaining groove to it, it kinda reminds me of the nutty keyboard section on Opeth's "The Lotus Eater." Most of the album is GOOD, it's just a gigantic letdown to me as I was such a huge fan of the dense, lush sound on Shadow Theater and Red Hail and Ep No 1, and Areni is my favorite singer ever. Maybe the next album will be more composed and this was just sort of a "let's record what we've been doing live" album, I know a lot of jazz guys do that sort of alternating release pattern.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Your description makes me so ....ing stoked to hear this

 

[AugmentedFourth]

Eh, wankerness's description makes me significantly less pumped. Personally I really like Alternative Universe. The melodies are really fresh and the harmonies aren't lacking, with little-to-no chug-a-lug-lug. Drip was more of a weak point in my eyes of Shadow Theatre. Granted, it's an amazing song and I love it, but compared to the other behemoths of the album it seems to pale a bit.

I concur on the point of Areni. She is probably (one of?) my favorite vocalist as well, alongside Andreas Scholl and Stu Smith. I am somewhat disappointed to potentially be seeing more of this.

 

[wankerness]

I love Alternate Universe/Collapse, but if they didn't have the vocals or the long solo sections they'd be like this album! The only stuff I ever skip on Shadow Theater when listening to it are the transition track and the one that sounds like old Sigur Ros.

The smashy trio stuff is certainly much heavier and Meshuggah-ish than that Bad Plus example you linked there, not to mention much more technical, it just did get annoying often when they'd repeat the same "riff" several times without any lead stuff over it or any harmonization changes or anything. It would be awesome live.

Anyway, lowered expectations will probably make you like the album more, so consider this a favor!

 

[JamesM]

But... Areni is what made Shadow Theater so good for me. I wanted a lot of her.

EDIT:
Anyone have a list of stuff she's contributed to?

 

[jonajon91]

She has a website, I think it says her projects somewhere on there.

I wanted a lot of her.

Me too

 

[wankerness]

But... Areni is what made Shadow Theater so good for me. I wanted a lot of her.

EDIT:
Anyone have a list of stuff she's contributed to?

Barely anything. I did an extensive search a few months ago and pretty much the only other recordings out there are just her playing piano in jazz groups and not singing.

 

[BEADGBE7]

wow, how did i not see this thread? Ive been listening to this guy for a couple months now and he's really something.. he's playing 3 California shows this month!! can't wait!

 

[davemeistro]

I'm digging this album so hard

 

[AugmentedFourth]

Because Clément Belio is a god, he posted this transcription of "Vardavar," which he used in his cover of the tune. Praise be.

And @davemeistro, I'm diggin' that tune. I'm gonna have to use that video as a jumping off point for a transcription (unless maybe you already did so?)

 

[octatoan]

^ Alturaesque tapping, here I come!

Edit: A4, gp5 pls, I haz TuxGietur onlie

 

[brownsounds]

EDIT: Found it on amazon

So is there anyway to pre order a physical copy of Mockroot in the US?

 

[wankerness]

Yes, though at this date it's barely a pre-order - mine shipped already. As I posted on the last page, it's on nonesuch records.

Mockroot | Nonesuch Records - MP3 Downloads, Free Streaming Music, Lyrics

 

[AugmentedFourth]

^ Alturaesque tapping, here I come!

Edit: A4, gp5 pls, I haz TuxGietur onlie

Hmm. GP6 is failing to produce a non-corrupt GP5 file. Trying to open it will likely crash your GP5 or TuxGuitar, so I included a .midi and a musicXML as well. The musicXML appears to be incorrect as well, however. Finale and GP5 throw an error at line 173. Your best bet is a very careful midi import.

EDIT: If all else fails, pdf.

 

[AugmentedFourth]

I didn't know Tigran did dubstep:



He starts playing with vocal looping and feedback at around the ~2 minute mark, does some avant-electronica business and then goes straight dubstep at 3:32.

 

[bazdesh]

Here's a quick tabitytab of The Roads That Bring Me Closer to You from Mockroot, I love this theme so much..

 

[wankerness]

Got the physical copy of the CD today, including credits. Areni is actually only on ONE track (Song for Melan and Rafik), damn. Some other woman is on The Roads that Bring Me Closer To You and Tigran does the only vocals on the rest of the album. I thought the female vocals on those other couple tracks were way less interesting, I guess that's cause they were just him doing falsetto and he's not even remotely able to do the same gymnastics in that register that Areni did on the previous album!

 

[AugmentedFourth]

Yes, Gayanée Movsisyan's vocals are easily contrasted with Areni's, since Gayanée's sound so much more operatic and are a bit throatier. Her vibrato is also wider (once again more operatic).

EDIT: It only credits Gayanée for The Roads that Bring Me Closer To You, but she pretty clearly sings on the 'hidden track' at the end.

 

[wankerness]

Yes, Gayanée Movsisyan's vocals are easily contrasted with Areni's, since Gayanée's sound so much more operatic and are a bit throatier. Her vibrato is also wider (once again more operatic).

EDIT: It only credits Gayanée for The Roads that Bring Me Closer To You, but she pretty clearly sings on the 'hidden track' at the end.

Yeah. I wanted to know what the name of that track was cause it sounded vaguely familiar, but no dice, the booklet makes no mention of it.