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Beauty and the Beatbox

The Swingle Singers

London Evening Standard, 13th August 2007, ****
CD of the Week

The Swingles are back. Those laid-back Parisians who redid Bach in Barbershop style and challenged The Beatles in the 1960s pop charts have a brand new line-up and mouthy beatboxer to boot.

The singers are less cohesive than Ward Swingle's original octet of Edith Piaf backers and the vocalisations are more verbal, but the mood is just about right. Beethoven's 5th at the head of the album is one of the weaker attempts at giving classical street cred. But cut to a riff on Chick Corea's take on the Rodrigo Arajuez theme and we're into clever improvisation with multiple variatons.

Expecting to be repulsed, I was intrigued by a citrus twist on Dido's Lament and found myself listening to Albinoni's Adagio with something approaching tolerance - which never happens in Giazotto's original version. I'm not sure what the Starsky and Hutch TV theme is doing in a classical mix but the beatboxer Schlomo earns his rent in a Bach finale and the whole sounds edgy and almost cool.

Norman Lebrecht

Classic FM Magazine, October 2007

A close-harmony choral version of Beethoven's Fifth slides into 'Staying Alive' by the Bee Gees, all over vocal drum'n'bass… yes, it could have been awful, but the Swingle Singers and Shlomo ('the human beatbox') get away with it with fabulous panache. On this amusing disc they present funked-up arrangements of Dido's Lament, Albinoni's Adagio and inter alia, the theme from Starsky and Hutch. Their precision is awesome, their technique impeccable. If one or two of the pleasant, vibrato-less voices sound a bit thin occasionally, it doesn't prevent this amusing and witty disc from being a little gem.

Warwick Thompson

The Hit Sheet, November 2007

In our quest to bring you something different we think we have excelled ourselves. In our opinion this is a work of genius from conception to delivery. For those purists who say that if Beethoven were alive today he would be turning in his grave, we say mock ye not and get with the times, Daddy-o!

This track features Shlomo, considered to be one of the finest beatboxers around, and is taken from the Beauty and the Beatbox album which features performances from other vocal percussionists. For those who like their Swingle 'unwrapped' there is the Xmas album ...unwrapped.

The groundbreaking debut album of the vocal harmony group was released 44 years ago. Since then there have been many imitators but only one group who have followed on from founder Ward Swingle's original style. The current incarnation are certainly making it funky now and are bringing it right into the 21st century. They are at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in New Year's Eve for a cultural gala concert.

Paul Kramer

Choir and Organ, January/ February 2008
***

Always recognisable, the Swingle Singers have appeared in various line-ups over the years. Added to the mix this time is vocal percussion where all the sounds come from the voice or parts of the body – it's extraordinary. Beethoven, Purcell, Albinoni, Ravel, Mozart and the inevitable Bach are given the Swingle beat. I've never had any objection to this kind of treatment of the classics, but in spite of amazing feats of vocal dexterity continued listening becomes monotonous. Fun in small doses.

Shirley Ratcliffe

The Singer, August/ September 2008

Beauty and the Beatbox by the Swingle Singers featuring Schlomo and the Vocal Orchestra (Signum Records SIGCD104) is a stunning achievement in vocal discipline, cohesion and precision in itself, but beyond that, the beatbox arrangements simply take your breath away. We are hit right between the eyes with a vocal arrangement of Beethoven’s Fifth à la Bee Gees that knocks your socks off too. More traditional fare, such as Dido’s Lament and Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor, don’t escape, however, and one simply waits in wonder for the beatboxing to make its entry into the already perfect harmonies. Like the Beethoven, tracks like Ravel’s Bolero have the added smile factor – and the final ‘Backbeat’ track is simply astounding.

Antonia Couling