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Alan Semerdjian - When There Was Something Wrong With You
- Generally, I just don’t like pretentiousness. Anything that goes out of its way to claim that there is some sort of general truth beneath it or greater energy, around which it orbits, irks me to the point where I just naturally gravitate toward less “deep” material. Sure, Jess Simpson may be an airhead, but she is also remarkably forth-right about the fact, whereas you can find no end to the number of frustrated artists and rockers whose work has been tainted by a vicious self-importance. Of course, acting in the role of a critic (even a poor one) requires no small degree of pretension either, so, before I go off sounding like an utter hypocrite let me just say that I really enjoyed much of what Alan Semerdjian put into his latest foray.
The New York Indie-rock/folk singer/songwriter would seem to be the poster-child of post-modern nonsense run amok. His web-site describes the album as blending “together indie-folk pop, alt-country forays into the world of punk and free jazz, as well as subtle hints of his Armenian-heritage…” I have no idea what the hell they are talking about here, but to keep in step I’ll describe the tunes as electric folk with a smidgeon of wild rock-west guitar and a prevailing gust of poeticism. This kind of art-speak is what post-modernism is all about: words, images and sound devoid of any firm content. The meaning is supposed to be polymorphous I guess, but as far as judging the music selection I encourage you to listen to what is here rather than how its supporters would describe it.
To put it simply and unequivocally, this is alternative folk music. Semerdjian screws around with some weird instruments now and then, but they serve mostly to distract, as if to say, “Look at this, it’s that Australian Aboriginal thingy in the background! That’s different.” However, when he sticks to his strong suit, powerful lyrics belted out by an almost-conversational beatnik voice, a scruffy guitar and melancholy piano backing everything up, the results are enough to make you want to start snapping spontaneously.
Reviewer: Alexander Rogers
new
Reviewer's Rating: 6.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 2-May-2006
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