CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

I doubt that any collegiate group out there could exactly
duplicate the sound of this album live (only because of the studio mixing and
the sheer amount of overdubbing involved), but I bet that if any group took a
skeletal version of any of these tracks it would still sound amazing. Ladies
and gentlemen, this means that high school, collegiate and pro groups can use “Shedding” as a kind of sonic library for
vocables, syllables, textures, layers and all the gooey stuff in between. 

Great. So what?

I don’t think anybody has expected any less than this
quality from the ‘Bubs for a while now, so when does this kind of quality of
emulation start to stagnate? Everything I’ve said above is nothing new from any
other review of this album, but it serves to set up the real point of this
critique:

Now what?

While putting forth covers of this level is definitely laudable,
I can’t help but ask myself the same question that floats around the RARB
boards every time a groups records a song with such fantastic precision and
dedication to the original work: “Why not just listen to the original?”

Quick history lesson: The Impressionist movement in painting
occurred as a reaction to the invention of the camera. Before then the highest
goal of a painter was to duplicate the bowl of fruit exactly in another medium
and since the camera could accomplish that goal with the push of a button
painters started to depict how the fruit made them feel instead.  See where I’m going with this? “Shedding” is a musical Polaroid. ‘Bubs: You’ve
unquestionably set up a tent in the camp of arranging royalty, but I still have
a problem. Your tent looks pretty similar to many others and the only thing
that lets me know that it’s you singing is the cover art. I fail to see how much
further you can refine your arranging skills with or without effects so I dare
to throw down a new gauntlet for you. I urge you to dip your toes in the waters
of reinterpretation. 

If I were to set up a “Pepsi Challenge” using you and
another group of the same talent, orchestration and resources, would a listener
be able to tell it’s you singing? This is your next step. Create a musical
fingerprint as unique as Rockapella, Take 6, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the House
Jacks and Vox One, for example.  Strive
to create such a defined style and approach to your music that one could hear a
brand new track by you in the next room and ask themselves, “Is that a new
‘Bubs CD?  Sweet!” Right now, Johnny
Likesacappella is saying, “That’s a sweet piece of ‘cappella!* Who’s it
by?” 

I’m sure that you are capable of accomplishing this and I
look forward to the results.

*Just for the record, I hope that “sweet piece of
‘cappella” doesn’t catch on or Johnny’s gonna get a beating.

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