‘Surfer Girl’ is a schlocky, heartfelt ballad of unrequited teenage love, Brian Wilson clawing his way out of the gooey larva of his California pubescence. Paul Simon works his magic on it, tapping the genius that is Brian, elevating it to a work of great beauty.
Continue reading...A Cappella
139: The Swingle Singers, ‘On the 4th of July’ (James Taylor)
This week we talk about the United States’ bar mitzvah, how we discovered Bach, the history of The Swingle Singers, the marvels of Scandinavian a cappella festivals, and older people falling in love.
Continue reading...288: Accent, ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ (Vocalmente 2018)
I’ve just returned from the Aarhus Vocal Festival, the most moving musical gathering I’ve been at since Woodstock.
Continue reading...105: The Boswell Sisters, ‘Crazy People’
The Boswell Sisters had 20 hits in the early 1930s, and are arguably THE best vocal jazz group ever. Their 3-part harmonies are tighter than Aunt Bertha’s girdle, and their arrangements are constantly chock full of unexpected shifts in tempo, major/minor mode, key, and tone, flipping cheekily from dead serious to insouciant comic and back. They have a wicked and sometimes rather racy sense of humor. Their vocals are so hot they were often thought to be black. They scat with the best of them, and do knock-out imitations of instruments and nonsense sounds. A pleasure and an education, 80 years on.
Continue reading...208: Vocalocity, ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’
Hi all you loyal readers!
Vocalocity is a 40-voice a cappella group I had the great fortune to co-found in 2013.
It was the apple of my eye, the (musical) love of my life. I think we’re did some pretty great and even groundbreaking music.
The Origins of The Real Group and Modern A Cappella — Interview with Peder Karlsson
An extensive interview with Peder Karlsson about the history of The Real Group and their impact on Modern A Cappella.
Continue reading...063: Pust, ‘En Reell Halling’
Who wouldn’t scoff at a Norwegian a cappella sextet singing a musical battle between their own halling dance and an Irish jig?
You wouldn’t, if you give it a listen.
228: Roger Treece, Achinoam Nini (Noa)/Gil Dor, Vocalocity — ‘Zeh Po, Zeh Mugan’
I had a dream–that Roger Treece, the mad genius of modern choral music would join up with Israel’s amazing virtuoso singer Achinoam Nini (Noa) and with my 40-voice vocal orchestra Vocalocity, to make a kind of music that’s never been made before.
Incredibly enough, sometimes dreams come true.