CASA - the contemporary a cappella society

Reviews: Recordings

Written by Frances Gomeztagle - Colorado Springs Independent

Thursday, 14 December 2006

I'm in my car when I first hear Unleash the Periscope, the album put out by Colorado College's all-male a cappella group, The Back Row. I'm driving along, bopping my head, when I come to a stop light. I look over, and the high school boys in the car beside me are smiling in my direction and bopping their heads, too. Turns out that passengers in surrounding cars could hear the vocal percussions on The Back Row's cover of David Bowie & Queen's "Under Pressure." Who knew?

I'm such a dork, jamming to an a cappella group and possibly being hit on by high school boys. But I'm both swept up by and listening intently to the music, trying to figure out how voices make every sound. The group's incredible mimicry of instruments is at least one reason The Back Row made it onto the album BOCA 2007: Best of College A-Cappella "07.

Read the entire article here: www.csindy.com

Read the RARB Review of Unleash the Periscope here .

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CD Review: 17th Avenue Allstars' Blend

Written by Elie Landau

Thursday, 12 October 2006

My first exposure to the 17^th Avenue All-Stars was via their inclusion as the first musical track on CASA’s wonderful “Urban Harmony” disc. Their “Stay With Me Tonight” was and is an infectious and enjoyable take on the Jeffrey Osborne favorite and I found myself curious to listen to one of their several full-length CD releases.

So off I went and to pick up their 2000 release “A Cappella” and, their 1993 Harmony Sweeps win notwithstanding, I found that the group’s magic is a bit fleeting. Their talent is unmistakable and their energy palpable – which no doubt has contributed to making them so beloved both in their native Colorado and throughout the national and international a cappella world – but their work has an inconsistency of sophistication that only occasionally equals the flash of excitement I felt when I first heard “Stay With Me Tonight”.

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CD Review: Northwestern University's Brown Sugar's "Rhythm Room"

Written by Ranjan Ahuja
Thursday, 05 October 2006
Brown Sugar�s new �Rhythm Room� album has an eye-catching and crisply professional appearance, down to the insert text and photo. Production and recording quality are good, with clean vocals, decent tuning, and excellent togetherness. Yet, the album is not over-produced, in that the human quality of the sound is preserved. The voices blend wonderfully, and there is a smooth, silky texture to the backgrounds that I found soothing to the ear. And from listening to the group sound and the soloists on all the tracks, it is clear that there is much talent here. Disappointingly, however, the CD was otherwise rather underwhelming. From the insert: ��Brown Sugar has continued to push the envelope of musical creativity, exploring an unprecedented breadth of South Asian and Western Music. In Rhythm Room, we present an especially unique blend of lush Indian melodies and Western a cappella sounds.� Be first to comment this article \| Add as favorites (35) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 2133

CD Review: Rochester University's Midnight Ramblers' "Transistor Radio"

Written by Dan Jordan
Thursday, 28 September 2006
In recent years, we�ve seen a major influx of collegiate vocal groups. The driving forces of CASA (Deke Sharon and his ground-breaking crew of Ambassadors), along with Mainely A Cappella (Don Gooding and his ensemble of talented folks who have brought us the ICCA and IHSA), are to be commended for opening our ears to a seemingly limitless offering of talented groups from literally coast to coast. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favorites (38) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1855

CD Review: Random Chants' "Chants Encounter"

Written by Robert Dietz
Sunday, 24 September 2006
Random Chants, an all-female semi-pro group from Boston, has unfortunately come up a bit short in many areas on their CD debut, �Chants Encounter.� Listening through was a rocky ride. However, I did spend a fair amount of time with this disc and I�m glad I did. Subsequent listens allowed me to get into this group�s energy, and to hear a lot more good things going on; things that give me hope for the growth of this group. Unfortunately, the fact remains that I had to listen hard for them, which means that this time out Random Chants has fallen a bit short of the mark. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favorites (35) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1624

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