J. ARMEN Plan B (2003) Rating (out of 10): 8 Tracklisting: Dancing Maria/Got To Be Going/Waiting For Mine/Stay Away/'Til Georgia/10 to 10/The Epic/Fallen Angel 'Plan B' is the stunning debut album from Armenian-born singer songwriter J.Armen. Now based in New York, Armen has a considerable amount of musical experience under his belt, having been involved in a diverse range of musical projects including lead-guitarist in the Boston-based band 'Bones Inc', lead singer-songwriter and founder of 'Medicine Hat' and other projects as varied as guitarist of his father – Arthur Meschian's album 'The Dialogue of a crazed Violinist, composer of a musical score for a drama called 'Mirrors' and producer of the Armenian A Capella trio 'Zulail'. This vast and varied experience can be seen as coming together in 'Plan B', which is a highly mature and accomplished album. It is a beautiful piece of work, understated, and subtle, full of poetic lyrics, and luscious accoustic guitar. Armen draws on the culture of both Armeria and American culture to produce an original blend of accoustic folk rock with a slight latin flavour and an overall contemporary sound. Without a doubt, the best thing about 'Plan B' is J. Armen's voice. Slightly rough with a raw edge to it, yet warm and soothing, it draws you into the song, captivates you, makes you feel comforted and alive. It is the sort of voice that would make any song sound good. 'Dancing Maria' gets things off to a bit of a false start. It's the most latin-sounding track on the album and conjures up images of dancing girls and darkened night-clubs. It is a perfectly good song, but bares no resemblance whatsoever to what the rest of the album is going to be like. 'Got To Be Going' is where the album really begins for me. It is a truly wonderful song with deep, poetic lyrics and some amazingly accomplished guitar work. It defintiely draws you into the album, making you want to hear more, making you hope that all the other tracks are as good as this – and they are. 'Stay Away' has a slightly old-fashioned, yet timeless feel to it and it really is utterly beautiful, with J. Armen putting in a particularly strong vocal performance. 'How Long 'Til Georgia' is another dream-like piece of songwriting with beautiful backing vocals and gentle stumming guitar accompaniment. Without a doubt 'The Epic' is the most ambitious track on the album and sees Armen's experience as a producer come to good use. It combines strings, guitars, samples of operatic vocals, and Armen's own voice, all to great effect; and the result is amazing, highly contemporary and immensely effective. When J. Armen first contacted me asking me to review this album, I really didn't know what to expect and was hugely surprised and pleased when I listened to it and realised that it was one of the best albums I'd heard this year. It goes without saying that J. Armen is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter who deserves a lot more acclaim and publicity than he has received so far. 'Plan B' really is a beautiful album, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Send A Comment BACK TO INDEX       BACK TO MUSIC REVIEWS INDEX

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