A-capella

ILLUSTRATION BY RAUL ARIAS


I am a huge fan of acapella. I started liking it after Glee came on T.V. I hadn’t quite realised how much I like music and how much I enjoy watching shows that tell a story with a song until I started writing this post and all my favourite musicals started popping in my head and I realised I am a hard-core Bollywood movie lover!

Songs by the Glee cast isn’t really acapella but Will Schuster introduced acapella with the third episode of Glee, which featured the ‘Acafellas’. By the time I was immersed in my love for acapella, Pitch Perfect hit the screens. The movie might not really have been the greatest where the story line was concerned but we can’t deny that the movie finally made people stop and take Acapella seriously.

I have prepared a really small list of some really cool acapella groovers:

Stand by me by Ben. E. King, performed by  Rockapella

At Number 5 is Rockapella which had been around since 1986! How did I chance upon them? Though the group is originally from New York, they garnered fame in Japan in the 90’s. When you watch and listen to whatever J-pop is made available on YouTube, you invariably land on Rockapella! This band lasted for a really long time and they were so good at what they did. Unfortunately though, they didn’t get the recognition they deserved. In my humble opinion they were the originals. This is my tiny tribute to them in the hopes that their videos will get the views they deserve.

Evolution of A.R.Rahaman's Music by Voctronica

At Number 4 is Voctronica. I love A.I.B. It was when AIB featured them in one of their videos that I first heard of Voctronica and promptly subscribed to their YouTube channel. It is just unfortunate that they haven’t uploaded new content in the past two years. Whatever they have put up for their audience on the channel though is definitely worth many listens!

Paradise by Coldplay performed by Mike Tompkins

At Number 3 is Mike Tompkins. He’s a solo artist who is pulling what Dave Grohl did, when he started the Foo Fighters. Mike Tompkins is one of the ‘Original’ YouTubers and has been uploading his covers for over 10 years now! He is the voice, the instruments, the beatbox and every other element that goes into making the melody of a song.

Mash up of - Lovestoned by Justin Timberlake and Ya Ali from Gangster performed by PennMasala

At Number 2 is PennMasala. Thanks to U Penn we have had Penn Masala for over 2 decades now. This is a band that has its members changing every time the older ones graduate from college and hence we always notice changes in their music. Unlike most of the other acapella groups mentioned here in the list, PennMasala performs acapella of mashups and that is what sets them apart from the other artists. My favourite PennMasala era is 2009 when they released their ‘On Detours’ album. Best.👌

Honourable mentions

The lion sleeps tonight by The Tokens Performed by Straight No Chasers

S.N. Chasers: Listen to how they progress from the Lion sleeps tonight to Brown eyed  girl by Van Morison😊 

 Millionär by Die Prinzen

Die Prinzen: I went through a phase where I wanted to learn German so I chanced up on them.  
Right Round by Flo Rida performed by The Treblemakers

The Treblemakers! Just Kidding! I couldn't help putting this bit from Pitch Perfect in this list.

New Rules by Dua Lipa performed by Pentatonix 

At Number 1 is Pentatonix.  Pentatonix is the first ever acapella group to have won the Grammy’s. They already have 3 in the bag! As a five member group with the occasional addition of Beyoncé, this group has been covering songs beautifully! Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying also constitute the duo called Superfruit and have their own YouTube channel for the same. Pentatonix is all set to release an Album later this month.

Happy Listening and hope you have some new songs on your playlist now!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Google Pixel XL - Review

Image
I had been meaning to change my phone for over a year and it was then that this phone had caught my eye – The Google Pixel XL. I had read so much about it. Found that a lot of people that I am surrounded by had no intentions of getting it. Here is the thing, my sole reason for investing in a gadget has to do with the following: ·         Its price should be within a certain range i.e it should not burn a hole in my wallet. ·         It should at least be guaranteed that the product will be receiving software support for a minimum of 3 years. ·         It should have excellent user interface to make life easy and be a tool for communication as well as relaxation. ·         It should have a good camera. ·         Its accessories must be easily available in the market. It’s with the help of this list that I short list...
Read more

Hey Little Girl... Part I

The little girl aped her elder brother. To her, he was the coolest dude that existed. She was the kid in school who was spoken to because she was so and so’s sister. As a kid she was extremely naïve. Her brother was the quizzer, the topper, the teacher’s pet, the social guy and everybody liked him. She on the other hand was the brat, the swimmer, a teacher’s nightmare, anti social and didn’t want to be liked by anyone. They were polar opposites of each other. Her brother - the witty charmer and She, the *shrugs shoulders* and very impolitely leaving conversation kind of person. Perhaps… the younger version of her envied the ease with which her brother was able to make friends and be at the core of everything that was happening in school. The fact that they were so different and studied in the same school eventually led to teachers constantly comparing them. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. But imagine a little girl always being chastised and all sermons ending with, “why ...
Read more

The Journey

Last weekend was amazing. It began by me traveling solo from Mysore to Madras. I plonked my bags at my best friend's place. Her roomie, she and I headed to Mahabalipuram where we saw the famed sculptures carved out of single boulders. The carvings are pretty intricate and the sight is very pretty but the highlight of the visit was a monkey. While we were leaving the place we saw a troop of monkeys and one of them immediately took a fancy to my friend’s roomie. Now this girl is scared of almost every animal. It became very obvious to her that the monkey was eying the bottle in her hand. She threw it at the monkey. The monkey picked it opened the bottle and gulped the juice and looked so pleased! It was a sight. It does not seem hilarious in print but it was incredibly funny. But before going to Mahablipuram we stopped at the Crocodile Park where I learnt to hold a baby crocodile and also a python. I actually felt the crocodile gulp when I was holding it. The place ...
Read more