Akasa a cappella group

Vocal harmony and percussion creates the sound that is Akasa. This four member group from Melbourne, Australia sing passionate, rhythmic music a cappella style. Four distinctive singers, who combine great songwriting skills and musical abilty to form a repertoire that is original and distinctive. Influenced by the sounds, politics, social and cultural movements across the world, Akasa's music is immediate, relevant and empowering. Akasa formed in 1998 in Melbourne Australia.

Within a short time Akasa was heralded as the most promising vocal act in Australia, and although each member of the group had established solo careers outside Akasa, the band soon became the major focus for the women as performance schedules increased and interest in the group grew. In 2000 Akasa received two awards from the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) - "Best World Folk Album" for their self-titled EP and "Best World Folk Song" for the composition "Walk With Me" by the group's main songwriter, Melanie Shanahan. Akasa rapidly built a dedicated fan base in Australia through their powerful performances infused with social justice themes, world/roots sounds, beautiful ballads and great songwriting.

Discography

Views From A Urban Jungle

Not For Profit
Bubazinho
Indigo Tails
Cry No More
Leap Out
Council Coconuts
Freeway
Runaway
I Won't Break
The Cycle
Need Some Care
Lullaby

Melbourne, Australia's dynamic all-woman quartet Akasa, Vicki, Andrea, Diana and Heidi, gifts us with their third recording. "Views" is happily mostly originals by group members, with an activist, ecological theme. Favorites are Heidi's "Not for Profit" ("Imagine if every business in the world operated not for profit"), "Leap Out," "Council Coconuts," "Freeway" and "I Won't Break;" Diana's "Indigo Tails" and "Need Some Care;" and Andrea's "Runaway," "The Cycle" and "Lullaby." These four dynamic, beautiful young women have a lot to say, emotionally and politically, and they write and sing it with style and grace. 12 thought-provoking tunes with some non-vocal percussion, played by the group. "Akasa" (pronounced A-ka-sha) is Sanskrit for brilliant/cavity of the heart/ether/that which fills everything, and we couldn't have described them better. Powerful words, powerful music!

Listen to "Bubazinho" in Real Audio.

9891 CD $14.98

World Citizen

World Citizen
Eewoyi A
Sweet Dreaming
Power of the People
Pin Ye Bo
Slave
Human Zoo
Divorced
Drifting
Singing the Land
Rere Ahu
Walk With Me

The Sanskrit word Akasa (pronounced A-ka-sha) means "Cavity of the Heart/Ether, that which fills everything." Vicki, Mihi, Heidi and Melanie, the four young women singers of this Melbourne-based group sing songs with an African flavor and rhythms. Their debut CD won "Best World Folk Album" at the 2000 Contemporary A Cappella Awards in the U.S. They sing of the oneness of all people on the planet, of never leaving your dreams behind, songs of the pain of divorce, songs against rich developers, songs of the power of people acting together, songs against slavery, songs of revolution-messages of social change and activism. We hear various kinds of percussion on these songs, played by the women themselves, but the emphasis is on the rich voices of the singers and their message. There are 12 songs: "World Citizen," "Eewoyi A," "Sweet Dreaming," "Power of the People," "Pin Ye Bo," "Slave," "Human Zoo," "Divorced," "Drifting," "Singing The Land," Rere Ahu" and "Walk With Me." The liner notes are beautiful and include all the lyrics. Moving, powerful, rhythmic music!
Listen to "World Citizen" in Real Audio.

6749 CD $14.98

Akasa (self-titled)

Trust
Walking Song
Walk With Me
It's Love I See
Yahwe
Turn Back the Time

Akasa is four beautiful young women from Australia. This is their debut CD, as far as we can tell, and it features six spiritual songs, "Trust," "Walking Song," "Walk With Me," "It's Love I See," "Yahwe" and "Turn Back The Time." There is light, non-vocal percussion on all the tracks. The spiritual focus of the songs is universal, and the women harmonize with conviction, energy and joy. The liner notes are lovely and contain all the words and some nice pictures. This is an impressive, touching debut CD, and we're looking forward to hearing more good stuff from this group from Down Under.

6796 CD $10.98

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