November 30, 2010

Little Anthony and the Imperials - Pure Acappella

Brooklyn, NY's Little Anthony and the Imperials are still performing, and their Doo-Wop chops (including Anthony's creamy falsetto) are as sweet as they were when their own big hit, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" was on top of the charts! "Pure" is introduced by radio personality Bobby Jay, who gives us interesting info about each song before each song, as if he was doing a radio show. There are 14 tasty cuts here, the title tune, then a Doo-Wop "best-of,"The Valentines' "Don't Say Goodnight," The Eldorados' "I'll Be Forever Loving You," The Flamingos' "I'll Be Home," The Heartbeats' "You're A Thousand Miles Away," The Penguins' "Earth Angel"/The Clovers' "Devil or Angel" medley, the Hi-Lo's arrangement of "Georgia," "I Only Have Eyes For You," the a cappella anthem "Goodnight, Sweetheart"—this is some of the best, most authentic a cappella Doo-Wop we've heard, by one of the premier groups—it doesn't get any better than this! 8259 CD 15.95
Listen to "Don't Say Goodnight

Posted by acapnews at 12:05 AM

November 24, 2010

Take 6 - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Legendary, pioneering Contemporary Christian A Cappella group Take 6 has been mixing elements of Jazz, Gospel, R&B and Doo-Wop for nearly 25 years, winning 10 Grammys, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award, and two NAACP Image Awards in the process. Claude, Mark, Joel, David, Dr. Cedric and Alvin bring us a cool 10-song collection of Christmas tunes from their childhoods: a finger-popping title tune, smooth and jazzy "The Sugar Plum Dance" (based on "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"), a wonderfully greasy "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," a breezy, jazzy "Sleigh Ride," a surprising, salsa-flavored "White Christmas," eggnog-smooth bluenote Jazz arrangements of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear;" a rewritten, strikingly-arranged take on "I Saw Three Ships," and a piano-accompanied "Christmas Time is Here," featuring a sweet lead by a marvelous female guest vocalist. Take 6 has delighted and amazed us through the years of their groundbreaking career, and we were very happy to receive "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and feel that way again, listening to this finely-crafted album. It's been a long wait for a new T6 release, but this makes it all worth it! 2392 CD 15.95
Listen to "I Saw Three Ships

Posted by acapnews at 12:42 AM

November 23, 2010

Who's Your Daddy! - Who's Your Daddy!

"They sing! They rock! They need a nap!" is the teaser for all male a cappella quartet Who's Your Daddy!, and might make you think they're a lightweight garage band; but you'd be mistaken. Freddy, Rick, Adam and Chris have some serious vocal chops, as well as long, extensive credits in the music business, as well as in film and television. This is the debut album for these four dads, and it's got 14 freshly-arranged Rock, Pop and Soul favorites, joyously and powerfully sung. From The Cars' "Let's Go," Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "Livin' For The City," to the Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime," Brian Wilson's poignant "In My Room," the Spencer Davis Group's 1967 hit "Gimme Some Lovin'," The Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and The Young Rascals' "Groovin'," these are great songs sung by guys who know how to do them justice. Two other favorites are medleys, "Time of the Season" segued with Prince's "When the Doves Cry" and Queen's anthem "Bohemian Rhapsody" segued into Queen's "Somebody to Love." But every cut is a stone, fun winner. Treat yourself to "Who's Your Daddy!" 7593 CD 14.95
Listen to "Shining Star

Posted by acapnews at 12:45 AM

Go Fish - Kickin' It Old School

Jamie, Andy and Jason, "The Go Fish Guys" have the mission to create "Great Music for Kids That Won't Drive Parents Bonkers," and they have six excellent Contemporary Christian albums and two wonderful live DVDs in the Primarily A Cappella catalog at Singers.com. The Guys use synthesizers, sampling and hip electronic effects and cutting edge arrangements to reinvent and teach classic hymns to a whole new generation of children, songs such as "Sweet Song Of Salvation/I Love to Tell the Story," "This Is My Father's World," "Blessed Assurance," "I'll Fly Away," and "The Old Rugged Cross." There are also new tunes with the same themes, the title tune, "I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord," "Before the Throne of God Above," the Blues/Rock "Shelter in A Time of Storm" and "The Solid Rock" featuring Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. Often accompanied, these three guys have once again created an album full, rich, joyous, inspirational sound that children and adults will surely love! 2617 CD 14.95
Listen to "I'll Fly Away

Posted by acapnews at 12:00 AM

November 22, 2010

Praise-apella - Love God

Jen, Amy, Dean, Ryan and Ron are Praise-Apella, a mixed-voice Contemporary Christian a cappella quintet hailing from Avon Lake, OH. Love God is the debut album by this talented, soulful group, who combine solid, rhythmic vocal percussion and inspirational music with pristine vocal harmonies. There are 8 joyous, foot-tapping tunes that make you want to dance and sing along: "I'm Letting Go," "Don't Get Comfortable," "Blessed Be Your Name," "I Give You My Heart," "You're Worthy of My Praise," a beautifully re-invented cover of Bill Withers' 1972 hit "Lean on Me," "Everlasting God" and "How Great Is Our God." Hearing most of these songs for the first time, we have to say that Praise-Apella's full, rich, soulful sound owes equal amounts to some of the best vocal percussion we've heard in a Contemporary Christian group, top-drawer leads and harmonies, and innovative arrangements. "Love God" is a feel-good album of praise and worship. You may have heard Praise-Apella on the popular Christian FM Radio station The Fish. If all this sounds like Praise-Apella made this album just for you, you will definitely love "Love God!" 2619 CD 14.95
Listen to "Don't Get Comfortable

Posted by acapnews at 12:54 AM

November 4, 2010

Nota - Nota

Longtime Harmony Sweepstakes fans like us experienced a curious sense of deja vu while watching the Finals of NBC's "The Sing-Off." This was not surprising, of course, because the show was directly inspired by the Harmony Sweeps, but watching the first Champions, Nota, some of the singers looked very familiar. Searching the Sweeps website, we had to go back to the 2004 Finals, where a 7-man group from Puerto Rico named "Alpha", winners of the L.A. Regional, failed to place but impressed a lot of us in the audience. Since that evening "Alpha" members Edgar Rios, Johnny Figueroa and Ludwig Henderson joined with friends Jose Angel Rodriguez, Juan Eli Diaz and David Pinto to form the beautifully-named Nota, and the reaction of the tv audience, studio audience and judges underlined what everyone could tell from the first few notes—Nota ranks among the best, most entertaining a cappella groups in the world! There are 11 cuts on "Nota," covers of Lil' Wayne's "I Gotta Feeling," Jay Sean's "Down" (which has a marvelous salsa segueway), William "Smoky" Robinson's "Track of My Tears" and "My Girl;" Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know" and Maroon 5's "This Love;" and originals such as "You Own My All," by group member David, "Con mi nota en do" and "Solo sin ti" by Edgar, Ludwig, David and Eduardo Reyes, "Que tengo que hacer" and "Todo cambio." We're going to list the first cut, "I Gotta Feeling" as our favorite because listening to it we knew how good Nota is, and, as we expected, the other 11 cuts are all joyous, bilingual musical treats. Listen to the faux harmonica on cut #7, "My Girl," the faux electric guitar solo on cut #6, "This Love" or the faux horn section on "I Need to Know." Look and the amazing performance photos of the group in the liner notes, or go to YouTube and check out a couple live Nota performances. Then, like us, you'll be a huge Nota fan, turning on your friends to this sweet-singing, big fun group of a cappella champions! 7590 CD 11.95
Listen to "Down

Posted by acapnews at 12:09 AM

November 1, 2010

House Jacks - Level

As longtime fans of this talented, pioneering Bay Area a cappella group, on "level" a quintet composed of vets Austin Willacy, Deke Sharon, Roopak Ahuja, Troy Horne, and Jake Moulton. When we first fell in love with the Jacks they were blowing us away reinventing covers of Led Zep's "Kashmir," the Gershwins' "Summertime" and Lennon/McCartney's "All You Need is Love." In the last few albums they have been reinventing themselves, using the songwriting, composing and arranging talents of everyone in the group to give notice that the Jacks are still a cappella Big Dogs. "Level" is 12 songs, all original material, with "You Were Everything," "From the Boy in Me," "The Path You Walk" and "Show Your Face" written and composed by Austin; "The Boy is Gone" by Roopak; the lovely, surreal "All Away" by Deke; "Days of Desire" and the symphonic "Believe" by Roopak and S. Chakrabarti; "You're the One" by Deke, Austin and Roopak; " one of the best a cappella blues songs we've heard, by Jake and Deke, "So Bad (It Feels So Good);" "Red Dress" by Roopak and Jake; and the final cut, the heart-tugging "To The Only One" by Troy. Always known for grounbreaking vocal percussion, the Jacks have added electronic augmentation to create synthesizer effects and a rich, full sound that mimics almost any instrument. Listen to the faux synthesizer on "Red Dress," and "Believe" featuring Savita Ahuja is a guest vocalist (which, as far as we can tell, has the first faux a cappella sitar we've heard) it's an unbelievably rich vocal tapestry with an infectious hook. Every cut on "Level" reinvents what is possible in a cappella, and the album should take the Jacks to the level we think they deserve, one of the most creative performing and recording groups in a cappella! 7595 CD 14.95
Listen to "You're the One

Posted by acapnews at 10:48 PM