Chanukah Video Alert : Pella Productions

There has been a merger now between the famous acapella groups: Kol Zimra and Harmonia.

This merger has resulted in Pella Productions. check out their latest release for Chanukkah:

Free Sefira Music from Ari Goldwag

Check out this and play  free single for sefira by Ari Goldwag:  An A Capella version of  Hashem Loves You, sung by Sheves Chaverim. Enjoy!

A Capella Hanukkah Video Wars: You Decide

As you may be aware, the hit song this Hanukkah is that of the A capella group the Maccabeats. Their song Candlelight  (click here to buy it) which is based on Mike Tompkins' A cappella version of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite", has over 2.7 million hits on YouTube. One of the members is actually a Houstonian, Noey Jacobson. These kids have gone from a moderately successful A capella group in a nice market, to full blown rock stars overnight! The phones are ringing off the hook with requests to perform in Italy and other far off places I'm sure. They have been  written up on major blogs, papers and  have had interviews on many TV stations non stop. This kind of publicity by religious Jewish performers is very unusual. With the exception of perhaps someone like Matisyahu, who also put forth his own Hanukkah music video entitled "miracle". Matisyahu's video has yet to get a 1/2 a million hits. Another talented A Capella group, Six13 released their Hanukkah video in conjunction with NCSY entitled "I Light It". This video was based on several songs ("Baby" by Justin Bieber "Heartless" by Kanye West "I like it" by Enrique Iglesias) which got about 164k hits. This video did get some attention online they however, did not get the same kind publicity as the Maccabeats did. The reasons behind why one A capella  group did better than the other can be analyzed to death. Then of course you have copy cats. A group out of Israel, The Fountainheads are trying to cash in on the Hanukkah video craze, put out this music video based on the black eyed peas song "I gotta feeling" . After listening for a few moments you"ll underdstand why it has a mere 10k hits ( they even try to steal concepts from the Maccabeats video). What are your thoughts?

Sefira Alert: A Capella! Facebook Song

Just in time for sefira: The Acapella Facebook song:

A Capella Interview with Bitachon Alumni: Jordan Gorfinkel

Sameach Music has a very interesting interview with Jordan Gorfinkel AKA Gorf. Gorf is a founding member of Beat'achon and a A Capella master/producer. It's definitely worth a read click here to view it. If you missed my latest review on the latest A Capella releases click here.

Jewish A Capella: A.K.A .Pella 2 Review

Ok So I just recently reviewed six13's latest A Capella album and it's time to move on to yet another: AKA Pella #2. This group has certainly stirred up a lot of controversy from copying American Idol on the album cover to using intros from well known American songs such as "Larger than Life" on their opening song L'cha ( The Chevra) and so many others. I'm sure they could have managed to release the album without these intros but perhaps the controversy increases album sales. If I had to compare it to six13, I would say the singers on this album have better voices but this album doesn't have as much as an A Capella feel to it.The guitar sounds a bit to real to me ( although you can tell perhaps it's not the real deal). The album covers songs from The Chevra (Eli Gerstner), Shalsheles, Lev Tahor, Yehuda and others and there is some original material as well. Overall it's a decent album but I wasn't blown away. I did not hear the first album but my understanding from one of my associates was the first album is better. They picked some good songs to cover such as songs from Lev Tahor but they fell short vocally and they didn't do much to make these songs thier own. The album is certainly pleasant to listen to but some people seem to have an issue with it, saying the album sounds too real to be considered sefira-kosher.

Six 13 Volume 2: Jewish Acapella Review

As sefira is upon us many people are running for those A Capella albums.I picked up Six13's latest A Capella album to see what all the hype is about. I did not hear the first one so I can't actually compare them. The album is a mix of covers and original material. I was pretty impressed with the Miami Boys Choir mix which features a string of songs:Yaleh vyavoh, Adon olam and We need you. There was a comic element that was mixed in to this medley, with phrases such as "this song is 6 hrs. long" The first song is an original by Mike Boxer " Al Hanissim also caught my attention with it's digitized vocals ala Lev Tahor style ( since it's an encore album they could not resist having all that fake fan noise in the background). The third song entitled " Son" is very contemporary and would not be mistaken for a Jewish song. The vocals in this song actually remind me of Rob Thomas( stylistically any way). The album also covers an old Bitachon (which is probably one of their best songs) Gadlu. Although it's cool to hear a new updated version it doesn't necessarily beat the old one but it's certainly a more polished sound and was done well. Overall the album is very professional and has a nice variety of sounds. If you like A Capella you will most likely enjoy this release.