Shalom! It's a Jewish A Cappella special episode. Six songs from some very talented menschen. Also names full of puns and references. Six13 (there are 613 commandments in the Torah), Shabbatones (from Shabbaton), Shircago (Shir means song), Kaskeset ('Fish Scales', a Kosher/Music joke), and Manginah ("Melody").

• Six13 - Son
• UPenn Shabbatones - Ani Shelach (Neshama Carlebach)
• Binghamton Kaskeset - Birthright
• Shircago - Ani V'ata
• Brandeis Manginah - B'Shem Hashem (Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach)
• Six13 - D'ror Yikra

Some of my favorite parts of this episode: Six13's rythyms. Manginah's extra echo to bring out the choral effect. The imagery in Kaskeset's lyrics. Oh, and a tip that came in e-mail: Ani Shelach was soloed by Rachel Fried, sister to Ilana Fried of Kaskeset. It's a family episode! All of these groups can also be found on BOJAC 2006 (Best of Jewish A Cappella).

Enough already, go and listen to Show #44!

Podcast | 2 Comments »

It's that time of year again, when various groups and organizations help highlight the best of contemporary a cappella music.  We've got competitions, in the form of the ICCAs and the Harmony Sweeps, which are already underway or starting in just a few months.  We've got compilation albums like BOCA 2008, BOHSA 2008, Voices Only 2007, and more.  And we've got awards and accolades like RARB's best albums of 2007, and the CARA awards, the Grammys of A Cappella (Although I keep hoping to see an A Cappella category at the actual Grammys).  To give you a sample of groups that have made it to the top recently, I present to you:

• The Faux Paz - It's My Life (No Doubt)
• The Beelzebubs - Come Sail Away (Styx)
• Duwende - Electrify
• baSix - Star People (George Michael)
• Mosaic Whispers - Meaning (Gavin DeGraw)
• Jewel Tones - Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

You'll find all of the above great music on Show #43 of The Acapodcast!

Podcast | 2 Comments »

Hey all you Acapodcast fans, your host here.  I was going to have a show out tomorrow, the regular Thursday night, but I'm knocked out right now by a cold I think I picked up at last weekend's Superbowl party.  (American Football Championship for the international crowd)  So I'll push that out this coming weekend.  But that means I'm not going to be able to tell you on the air about some scheduled downtime coming up.  Starting Friday night, and going until about midday Saturday (depending on what time zone you are in), the Acapodcast will be undergoing a server migration, and will be offline.  No website, no show feed, and e-mails will be queued up during that time.

Don't worry, this is all a good thing, ultimately.

Peace,

Chad Bergeron

News | No Comments »