Online Buyers' Club (OBC) Specials

'Round Midnight : New York State Of Mind - ON SALE

Review: What better for well-respected Barbershoppers and 2006 NYC Harmony Sweeps Regionals champs and Audience Favorite 'Round Midnight to dedicate their second album to, than their beloved hometown? Larry, Jeff, T.J. and Wayne have represented their city well, twice reaching the Semi-Finals in the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Barbershop Quartet competition, and also being named the BHS 2010 Mid-Atlantic District Champions. Their first, self-titled CD won major kudos, being nominated for a CARA award for 'Best Barbershop Song.' 'New York State of Mind' features 10 Big Apple (and international) favorites: Billy Strayhorn's Duke Ellington hit, 'Take the A Train,' a pair by Billy Joel, 'Honesty' (a live cut) and the title tune, Lennon/McCartney's 'All My Lovin','' Jazz master Thelonius Monk, Williams & Hanighen's ''Round Midnight,' Sam Cooke's soulful Doo-Wop hit 'Nothing Can Change this Love,' the Barbershop standard 'Some Lucky Day, the bluesy 'Body and Soul,' Harry Noble's pop hit 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me' and Adam Schlesinger's 'That Thing You Do,' from Tom Hanks' 1996 comedy/drama of the same name. The sweet sound, great harmonies and leads, and wonderful arrangements of this talented, veteran quartet add up to the kind of great entertainment that New York City is famous for!

Songlist:

Backbeats : Backbeats - ON SALE

Review: The Sing-Off season two finalists, The Backbeats, release their self-titled, debut album. The record, 'The Backbeats From The Sing-Off,' features a mix of hand-selected cover hits, including the group's rendition of BeyoncŽ's 'If I Were A Boy,' which helped seal their top three position on season two of the show. The album also includes a track featuring the Grammy-nominated and season three judge from 'The Sing-Off,' Sara Bareilles, who guests on the group's version of Sara's hit 'Uncharted.'

Songlist:

Chapter 6 : Color By Number - ON SALE

Review: These seven talented guys from Chicago, six vocalists and one arranger, started singing together at Illinois' Milliken University, where they won the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella in 2001. They were 3-time winners of the Chicago Harmony Sweeps Regional before finally being named National Champs in at the Finals in San Rafael, CA in 2004. Chapter 6 was also featured on American Idol Season 7 in conjunction with bandmate Luke Menard's 'Top 16 run.' Taking regular breaks from their extensive touring schedule to record, new release 'Color by Numbers' is their 7th excellent album, in addition to a live DVD and a songbook. There are 14 recordings of fan favorites here, including the jazzy, scattish 'Rainbow Connection' and manic, swingin' 'Harold's House of Jazz,' the very funny 'Reverb' (sung to the tune of 'Fever'), great faux horns and vocal percussion on 'Interlude I (I Dream of Jeannie),' a breezy, sweet lead and new arrangement of Lennon/McCartney's 'Penny Lane,' a salsa-flavored arrangement of 'Pure Imagination,' a brilliant, funny Swingle Singers take on 'James Bond Meets the Sugar Plum Fairy,' a pair of short, yummy Interludes, 'II (I'm Looking It Up Online)' and 'III (Invention);' A bluenote, rainy-day jazz arrangement of 'Let's Stay Together,' a finger-popping original, 'Left-Handers Unite!,' a surprisingly hip arrangement of 'Fairest Lord Jesus' and a lightly piano-accompanied vocal symphony of 'Rhapsody in Blue' that is a soulful, harmonic tour de force!

Songlist:

Emmanuel Quartet : Hymns by the Book Vol 2 - ON SALE

Review: The Emmanuel Quartet is an a cappella Gospel group that began in 1989 at the Highland Academy in Portland, TN as the Highland Academy Men's Quartet. They changed the name in 1993 and The Emmanuel Quartet was born. The quartet has toured extensively and released six excellent albums, their latest is 'Hymns by the Book II,' the second volume in their Hymns by the Book series, the book being the 11th printing of the Seventh Day Adventist Hymnal. There are 18 songs here, which include some standard favorites like 'Come Christians Join to Sing,' 'Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus' and 'O Sacred Head Now Wounded;' others are new to us, like 'God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens,' 'My Hope is Built on Nothing Less,' 'Lord Who Dost Give to Thy Church,' 'Have Thine Own Way, Lord,' 'We Have This Hope' and 'Sevenfold Amen.' Beautiful harmonies and inspirational lyrics are here on every cut of 'Hymns by the Book.'

Songlist:

Groove For Thought : Inspired - ON SALE

Review: We were first blown away by Seattle's 7-voice (6 men, 1 woman) Groove for Thought when they stepped onto the stage at the Harmony Sweeps 2005 National Finals, where they won 'Best Original Song' and the National Championship. Their amazing arrangements, hot leads, and an infectious, unique blend of jazz and R&B left little doubt in our minds and the judges' who was the best group on stage. The second time was in 2010 on NBC's The Sing-Off, when this talented group survived three intense rounds of tough competition with great performances, gaining millions of fans and joining an elite group-the best performing a cappella ensembles on the planet! 'Inspired' is a tour de force collection of 11 cuts that only underline that perception, and is certainly one of our early favorites for best jazz album of the year (although we'd also listen to arguments that it's the best R&B album of the year!) Some favorites are a cappella winners, Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature,' Ray Charles' hit 'Hallelujah, I Love Her So,' a sublime arrangement of Lennon/McCartney's 'Got to Get You Into My Life' and Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors.' Accompanied favorites are EWF's 'Shining Star,' Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours' segued into Wilson Pickett's 'Knock on Wood,' Pickett's 'Midnight Hour,' Cyndi Lauper's 'Who Let in the Rain,' and Marvin Gaye's 'How Sweet it Is.' More accompaniment than we were expecting, but very cut is a gem here-don't miss 'Inspired,' a powerful album by one of America's best!

Songlist:

Postyr Project : Postyr Project - ON SALE

Review: Postyr Project is a mixed-voice (two women, three men) quintet out of Denmark, and on their debut album the five singers 'strive to explore the border land between the natural softness and vitality of the human voice and the uncompromising and merciless roughness of electronic instruments.' There are 13 tunes here, all sung in English, some such as 'Interlude' are obviously accompanied; others like 'Veins,' 'Go! Don't Stop!,' 'A Wave,' 'In Vernalis,' ' Elps (Breath),' 'Broken,' 'An Open Chapter,' 'OMG,' 'RunRunRun' and 'Walking' are more ambiguous and mostly focus on some wonderful, mysterious vocals. The last two cuts are an 'Electrocrank Remix of Go! Don't Stop!,' and a 'SWAB Remix of Breath.' There are some sweet leads, ethereal harmonies, haunting arrangements and lyrics here that touched and moved us, although some lyrics here are not for children or the easily-offended. That said, Postyr Project has a tremendous amount of vocal talent, and their self-titled debut CD is an impressive winner!

Songlist:

St. Olaf Choir : Great Hymns of Faith Vol. 3 - ON SALE

Review: Recorded at the college's Boe Memorial Chapel, Great Hymns of Faith, Vol. III is a magnificent, inspiring collection of 23 songs, many of them accompanied by organ, brass quartet, piano and percussion. Some of our favorites are classics like 'Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer,' 'It Is Well with My Soul,' 'Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me,' 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God,' 'Jesus Christ is Risen Today' and 'Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee;' and lesser-known but equally lovely tunes like 'Gather Us In,' 'Open Your Ears, O Faithful People,' 'Canticle of the Turning,' 'Let the Whole Creation Cry,' 'Come, Ye Disconsolate' and 'Send Me Lord.' Wonderful, spirited harmonies and soaring leads from this powerful, beautiful collegiate ensemble!

Songlist:

Standards : The Standards Collection - ON SALE

Review: We've been big fans of the Standards, five sweet-singing brothers from Idaho, twice when they nearly won the Harmony Sweepstakes Finals, and then there were their four excellent CDs. 'Collection' is a sometimes accompanied, 16-song best-of album that may be better described as a 'tour de force' album. Our favorites are of course the a cappella cuts, 'I Got A Feelin',' 'Put a Little Love in Your Heart,' a kickin' vocal percussion arrangement of Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl,' a dreamy, soaring 'In Absence,' wonderful vocal 'horns' on the Mamas and the Papas' hit 'California Dreamin',' the rhythmic, powerful 'I Can't Break Away,' and live covers of Bill Withers' 'Lean On Me,' 'Put a Little Love in Your Heart,' the Motown hit 'Just My Imagination,' 'Brown Eyed Girl,' Smoky Robinson's hit 'My Girl,' the Doo-Wop anthem 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and the jazzy, surprising 'Single Grain of Sand.' These last seven tunes remind us of why we loved The Standards, one of the best live shows in the business, wonderful harmonies, strong vocal percussion, leads to die for. 'Collection' is big fun, don't miss it!

Songlist:

Tam Echo Tam : Dawn - ON SALE

Review: The blossoming music scene in Brussels, an exciting cultural melting pot, has given birth to mixed-voice quartet Tam 'Echo' Tam, two men and two women of French, Guayanese, Moroccan and Zairian origin. Valerie, Aline, Larbi and Daniel use their solid mastering of vocal expression to create an eclectic repertoire that combines elements from African roots music, American folk-bop, French chanson, gospel and jazz. 12 songs, some favorites are the bluesy title tune, joyous finger-popping 'One day life,' the inspirational guitar accompanied 'Blessed,' a rhythmic, street corner take on Stevie Wonder's 'Master Blaster;' the ethereal 'Quando' and 'Yvan' the spicy, slightly greasy 'El trabajo del amor,' the surreal 'L'ultima danza,' the bluesy French 'Du tout au tout,' the kind-of-depressed reggae tune 'On a mis longtemps,' and the guitar accompanied heartbreaker 'Be your friend.' We love the cover photo of these beautiful young singers mugging, grinning and having fun with each other-it sets the tone for 'Dawn,' a not too serious, singing together on a sunny afternoon in Brussels kind of album. That is, big fun!

Songlist:

Whiffenpoofs : The Invention of A Cappella - ON SALE

Review: The 14-strong, 2011 version of the Yale Whiffenpoofs, tired of run-of-the-mill accompanied music. They'veÉ well, we'll let them announce this incredible breakthrough themselves: 'That's right, ladies and gentlemen, after months of tireless work, endless tinkering, ingenuity, and and plenty of pluck, we've developed a new genre of music. We call it A Cappella.' As proof, the back of the album is a photocopy of a U.S. patent form from January 1, 1909, filed by 'Whiffenpoofs of Yale, the,' listing 14 prototype songs by groups-to-be, like 'Got to Get You Into My Life' by Lennon & McCartney, Lerner & Lowe's 'On a Clear Day,' Stevie Wonder's 'All in Love is Fair,' Green Day's 'Wake Me Up When September Ends,' Van Morrison's 'Moondance,' Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now,' Billy Joel's 'Movin' Out,' David Bowie's 'Space Oddity,' Simon & Garfunkel's 'The Boxer,' and closing with the group's deathless 'The Whiffenpoof Song,' which was actually around in 1909, as were the Whiffenpoofs. A very strong collection from one of our favorite Collegiate ensembles, and the Patent Office obviously agreed, giving the form a large, official, red 'Approved' stamp. Say, we kind of like this newfangled 'A Cappella' stuff, and the 'Poofs can really sing harmonies that are 'In the Groove' and the 'Cat's Pajamas!' What will people think of next?

Songlist:

Persuasions : Persuasions of the Dead - ON SALE

Review: A re-invented, remixed, rearranged, updated, and expanded two-CD set from the sessions for The Persuasions long out-of-print Grateful Dead tribute album. Persuasions of the Dead (named by Tom Waits!), was conceived by Los Angeles writer/producer Rip Rense as a sweeping two-CD set, formatted like a Grateful Dead concert,with six new tracks, six new guest artists, and an entirely new feel. Guests include Country Joe McDonald, Mark Karan of Bob Weir's group, RatDog, saxophonist James King, Vince Welnick the Dead's last keyboard man, Jackie LaBranch and Gloria Jones of the Jerry Garcia Band, Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Peter Rowan, vocalist Alyn Kelley, and Dongming Qiao, Chinese erhu virtuoso.

Songlist: