Berlin-based Contemporary a cappella boy septet muSix's "everything" has some top-drawer arranging and cool production effects, a very fun mix of fairly unexpected covers - Jamiroquai's wonderful "Canned Heat," Terence Trent D'Arby's "Delicate," Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," the Isley Bros' "(I've Got) Work to Do" and a pair by Phil Collins and Genesis, "That's Just the Way It Is" and "Land of Confusion." There's also three originals that win more musical than lyrical points, but show definite promise, especially talented arranger and innovative vocal percussionist Patrick Oliver's ominous "The Poison of Love." Tenor Lukas Teske's leads on "Delicate" and "Canned Heat" really caught our attention-the man has a world-class voice. Some of the lyrics in German, particularly on N'Sync's "I Want You Back," which appears here as "Will Dich Zurich," take something away from the edginess of the original. But for a self-produced and arranged debut CD by a group of 20-something guys, "everything" is very impressive, and turned us into fans. We're expecting big things of this talented, refreshing group, who create such a rich sound on a cut like "Land of Confusion," that they have to put the disclaimer "all sounds on this record are mouth-made, except for the seashore on 14." |