The five young men who form Contemporary a cappella group measureXmeasure, slimmed down from the original nine who founded the group at the University of Kansas in 1995, have two successful CDs, "Measure by Measure" and "We're Back," under their belts, and "On Our Own" is an impressive third effort! We like to see the little note, "all music on this CD was created by the voices and appendages of the group," because it usually means there's some butt-kicking vocal percussion, and there's some of the best we've heard here. 11 songs, including some originals, "My Heart," "Live and Learn," "So In Love With You," "Everything" and "On Our Own," and some excellent covers: "Up the Ladder to the Roof," "You Don't Treat Me No Good," "Mustang Sally," "Only You," "Don't Let Your Heart," and finishing, incongruously, by nailing Maurice Durufle's sacred masterpiece, "Ubi Caritas." The group does their own arrangements and has the kind of juice and flair only found in the best Contemporary groups like Rockapella and m-pact. "On Our Own" is one of the best we've heard this year. |
