Joe here.I've been flirting with a love of a cappella music for about a year now, and DeCadence, hailing from the People's Republic of Berkeley, was one of the first groups to tempt me down that path.
On the one hand, it's a shame that the only real a cappella to be found out there is on the college campuses. On the other, it's takes the particular blend of pop culture, academic pursuit and youthful energy found only on these campuses to produce such gems as DeCadence's Songs From The Closet.
Check out the track listing:
1. River of Dreams (Billy Joel)
2. King of Carrot Flowers (Neutral Milk Hotel)
3. Let Her Cry/ Foolish Games (Hootie and the Blowfish/ Jewel)
4. You Gotta Be (Des'ree)
5. Hurt (Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash)
6. Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson))
7. Summertime/ Motherless Child (George Gershwin, via a Princeton a cappella group)
8. Falling (Ben Kweller)
9. Say Goodbye (Angela Don)
10. Super Mario Brothers (Live) (Koji Kondo)
The arrangements are (largely--there are a couple of duds) good, the singing excellent, the selection tasteful...the only downside is that the only way to get it is through their website.
I particularly like "Let Her Cry/ Foolish Games" -- put it with The Beatles's "For No One" and Ryan Adams's "Dear Chicago" and you've got a the sound of heartbreak.
DeCadence - Let Her Cry/ Foolish Games (Hootie and the Blowfish/ Jewel cover) [download or die]
DeCadence - Falling (Ben Kweller Cover) [highly rec'd]
Buy Songs From The Closet from DeCadence's website.
P.S. I've fixed the links on my Shiny Toy Guns post--sorry about the delay!
Labels: a cappella, Berkeley, DeCadence, joe post
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I saw Limbeck last night. They were amazing. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm a fan now.