Shots In The Dark: Worst A Capella: The Semifinals

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Worst A Capella: The Semifinals

It's the Penn Chord versus the Dartmouth Cords. (Really bad names!)

I'm torn: the Dartmouth group seems to be better. But in a capella, better is actually kind of worse.

Take a look, you'll see what I mean.

The question is really, why is a capella so annoying? Is it the awful dancing? The sickly sweet versions of songs you previously liked? The astonishing, discomfiting whiteness of it? The fact that it gives every appearance of being the kind of thing that high school students do to get into college, but should be instantly dropped once they arrive?

I know these aren't exactly matters of state. But still, I've always wondered.....

¶ 8:06 AM

Comments:

a capella is like Satan. You don't need to explain why it's evil. It defines evil.

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 10:15 AM

You hate a capella because it unmasks the dirty secret of your whiteness.

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 12:44 PM

It is annoying because it lacks musical instruments by its very nature. Guitars or bass or drums or piano or sax or whatever actually enhance music, make it more complex, with a stronger rhythm.

Someone once gave me a CD with the soundboard recording of Marvin Gaye singing "Sexual Healing" minus all the instruments. It sounded kind of interesting -- almost like a gospel song -- but ultimately you wanted to hear the whole song with all the instruments (and think of that slow dance from the senior prom).

Sasha Frere Jones may be the second most annoying thing in music after a capella but he did have a good piece in the New Yorker a couple of weeks ago about how contemporary white music (particularly the whole neo indie folk thing) has lost its connection to black music and, importantly, rhythm. There is no better example of that than a capella.

# posted by think twice : November 1, 2007 1:03 PM

Think Twice: you must be the only person on the planet who thought that Sasha Frere-Jones piece was good. Everyone I've talked to about it agrees that it was the single most ridiculous piece of music criticism all year -- and that was before I got to the part where he talks about his rap skillz...

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 3:12 PM

Well it must be true if everyone you talked to thought that.

I guess that's why I use the name Think Twice, because I believe in questioning what everyone assumes.

# posted by Think Twice : November 1, 2007 6:07 PM

I'm going to think twice about that.

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 6:29 PM

12:44 - since when is Richard's whiteness a secret?

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 8:03 PM

The movements have to do in part with listening. When there are no instruments, and you're singing in close harmony, you have to listen very hard to the singers around you--otherwise, things can get out of tune very quickly.
Another reason for the movements is that, unlike an orchestra with a conductor, a capella groups essentially conduct themselves. The body movements help everybody keep in time. They have to be rather obvious because they need to be clear to all of the participants.

# posted by Anonymous : November 1, 2007 10:25 PM

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