Voices Only, an annual compilation album with songs selected from a competitive pool of a cappella groups from around the world, has chosen "Supermassive Black Hole" as one of the 38 featured songs for Voices Only 2009 from a “record number of submissions.” “Supermassive Black Hole” joins "Magic" as the second song from Note To Self (2008) to be featured on a Voices Only compilation. This achievement makes Voices In Your Head one of eight a cappella groups to have two songs selected for Voices Only compilations from one album.
Voices Only 2009 will be shipping soon. "Supermassive Black Hole" is available on iTunes.
Today, Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, was released featuring Voices In Your Head's "Magic," and 13 other a cappella groups from around the United States. Reviews of the album have been generally positive and some of which pay particular attention to "Magic."
Statements about 'Magic' and Voices In Your Head:
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"Hitting lots of highs, the group Voices In Your Head from the University of Chicago delivers a performance to match the song title on 'Magic.'" |
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"It's only when the groups take chances that the arrangements transcend the originals: The digitally tweaked harmonies on Voices in Your Head's 'Magic' give the song a hypnotic electro-pop sheen…" |
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"The record has its bright spots, too; for starters, 'You Don’t Know Me' works perfectly in an a cappella setting, as do 'Selfless, Cold and Composed' and 'Magic,' and this new version of 'Landed' does a terrific job of highlighting the quality of a single that should have been a hit." |
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"Folds' songs translate to vocal arrangements remarkably well: the cover of 'Magic' by the University of Chicago group Voices in Your Head is even more haunting than the original." |
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"14 different college a cappella groups singing songs like 'Brick' and 'Magic.'" |
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"'Magic' sounds like a Philip Glass variation when performed by The University of Chicago’s Voices in Your Head" |
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"Stand-outs include 'Magic,' 'Landed' and 'Not the Same.'" |
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"The 16-song set features…intricately arranged renditions of Folds songs such as 'Brick,' 'Magic,' 'Evaporated,' 'Fair' and 'Army.'" |
General Reviews:
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"Ben Folds returns with an entourage—they intonate their voices at breathtaking levels, overlapping in a seamless harmony throughout the album." |
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"A courageous and ingenious move for a performer who rarely strays from his 88 keys." |
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"He's commissioned a cappella arrangements of his music from some of the country's best college vocal troupes." |
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"It would be hard to find a more original idea than this album. Worth every atmospheric, epic moment. Buy it!" |
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"Folds' album doubles as a best-of set, but instead of using his versions, he decided to showcase interpretations from groups around the country." |
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"The a cappella movement appears to be having a moment." |
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"The release is a fantastic experiment that pays off brillaintly." |
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"Ben Folds finds perfect harmony." |
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"It is…a “must buy” for fans of Folds’ music and fans of a cappella." |
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"The North Carolina native picked 15 ensembles from 250 submissions for "Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!" (Epic), which came out Tuesday." |
Buy Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! on iTunes or Amazon.com.
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In an article featured on the University of Chicago's homepage, "Pop star puts campus singers in limelight," author Phil Rockrohr describes the process behind Voices In Your Head's selection for Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella. Members from the group describe their a cappella experience and what it was like performing at a Ben Folds concert.
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| Lloyd DeGrane/UChicago News Office |
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For cutting-edge Voices updates and trivia, subscribe to our shiny new Twitter page! |
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Entertainment Weekly's blog, The Music Mix, has posted an interview with Ben Folds focusing on Folds' new album Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!. In a question about the range in recording on the album, Music Mix writes, "there's a group from the University of Chicago called Voices in Your Head that sings "Magic" on the record, and to me they're in a different league than the rest of the groups." Read "Ben Folds' wacky new a cappella record". Listen to "Magic". |
| Kim Tonelli |
| Raphael Wilson |
We had an awesome time opening for Ben's show in Milwaukee tonight. The crowd was great and Ben and his crew were all fantastic to work with!
Voices In Your Head will be singing a 3 song set at the Ben Folds concert on 3/19/2009 at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI. Tickets can be purchased here.
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We just received notification today that Ben Folds has finalized his tracklist and Voices In Your Head's arrangement of Magic will be featured on his next album. The album is slated to be released on 4/28 in stores nationwide.
More information on Ben's MySpace blog here. |
After considering over 200 submissions, Ben Folds has chosen Voices In Your Head's Magic to be one of 18 finalists that will be recorded for his upcoming all a cappella album, slated for release in spring 2009.
To read more and see the other groups selected, check out Ben's MySpace blog here.
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In his New York Times blog, "Living With Music", Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, Songbook and many other books had high praise for our cover of Ben Folds Five's Magic.
Listing the a cappella cover alongside songs from Queen, James Brown, and Ben Folds himself, Hornby called it "a heartstopping cover of one of [Ben Folds'] most affecting songs." The full article can be found here.
Magic was arranged by Chris Rishel, with both Chris and Lily Baker singing the solos. |
| Alistair Grant/Associated Press |
Voices In Your Head is proud to announce the following new members for the 2008-2009 season:
Pieter Ouwerkerk
Nick Balay
Alexandra Gilewicz
Congratulations to our new members! We'd also like to encourage those of you who we didn't end up accepting to audition for us again next year. As we said, our decisions were very difficult, and some of our current members didn't make it in on the first try either. Hope to see everyone at auditions next year!
Voices In Your Head would like to thank everyone who came out to audition for the 2008-2009 season. We heard a lot of great singers, and after lengthy consideration, we would like to call back the following people for our next round of auditions:
Isaac Cheng
Zach Denkensohn
Lauren Fish
Alexandra Gilewicz
Jimmy Hoke
Amanda Jacobson
Persephone Ma
Pieter Ouwerkerk
Clara Spera
Ali Ekrem Yesilkanal
Congratulations to those called back! If you weren't called back, please realize that it is very hard for us to pick just a few names from such a large audition pool. Some of our current members weren't accepted on their first try either, so please consider auditioning again next year!
Voices In Your Head will be holding auditions for the 2008-2009 season from 5:00 PM-9:00 PM 10/1 & 10/2 in Cobb Hall.
Sign ups for time slots are now open, so check out our Auditions Page for more information!
Also, let us know you're coming on our Facebook Event.
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We've accomplished another major milestone this year by making the first a cappella compilation album of any group at University of Chicago! 'Magic' from Note To Self has been selected for the 2008 edition of Voices Only! As soon as the compilation is released, we will be selling it, along with our new album Note To Self.
From the Voices Only website: "Voices Only is an annual two-disc collegiate a cappella compilation album comprised of selected excellent tracks released by various collegiate groups from around the World. A new Voices Only CD is produced and released at the beginning of each school year, and includes songs recorded, mastered or released during the previous year. Groups who have appeared on the compilation include such acclaimed and award-winning ensembles as the Dartmouth Aires, USC Sirens, Duke Pitchforks, Tufts Beelzebubs and Stanford Harmonics." |
Thanks to everyone who came out to our spring concert this past Friday night! The audience was fantastic and we all had a great time singing for everyone!
Our newest album, Note To Self, is now available to purchase. We will be selling in the Reynold's Club over the next few weeks, or you can buy one directly from any Voices member. For our fans off-campus, you can either purchase our album directly from our website on the albums page, on a-cappella.com. Also keep an eye out for our album to be available on soon iTunes, Rhapsody, and acaTunes.
Welcome to our brand new website! Expect more content to be added soon!
