We had the pleasure of catching 8-man Baudboys, "the Undisputed Kings of Geek A Cappella," live at the 2008 Harmony Sweeps Finals, and we look forward to seeing them again at the 2011 Finals, as they won the Pacific Northwest Regional again this year. Composed entirely of Microsoft employees and alumni, this a cappella group has been performing up and down the West Coast for more than two decades, thrilling audiences with their irresistible combination of musical excellence and geek comedy. "Hello_World," the group's debut recording, has 11 winning covers, with a fair amount of very funny lyric "augmentation" thrown in. Some of our favorites are the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Aeroplane," Mentor Williams and Dobie Gray's anthem "Drift Away," a quintessentially geek/gamer take on Tripod's "Gonna Make You Happy Tonight," Sting's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," Stevie Wonder's moody "Overjoyed," a particularly graphic cover of Weird Al Yankovic's "One More Minute," Cub's manic "New York City," Al Jarreau & Michael Omartian's jazzy, scattish "Boogie Down," Joseph Shabalala & Paul Simon's "Homeless/Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and a completely incongruous, yet lovely, live cut of Dmytrovych Leontovych & Peter Wilhousky's "Carol of the Bells." The Baudboys have a fresh, (dare we say) modern sound, understated vocal percussion and background harmonies, sweet leads, great arrangements and a great sense of humor. Don't miss this impressive, surprising, big fun debut CD from Seattle's talented, slightly crazed Baudboys! |
