ACAPPELLA CD RECOMMENDATIONS

DaVinci's Notebook
Cantus
FourShadow
Flying Pickets

You might also try

http://www.a-cappella.com/

If you like gospel (heck, even if you don't) try the Fairfield Four: "Standing in the Safety Zone" on Warner Bros.

Surprised that the premier acapella group of our time hasn't been mentioned yet, TAKE 6!! Their debut album, 'Take 6', and the 2nd, '2 much 2 say'(?) are truly outstanding. They come from the Church but lean strongly into doo wop/jazz stylings. 1st time I saw them was on a Grammy show 15-20 years ago, the camera pans to the front row of the audience and sitting together, heads bobbin' with ear-to-ear grins, was Diana Ross, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson!

As already mentioned the Cantus CDs are very good. They are available from Stereophile. I think "Let your voice be heard" is the one I like best. I'll have to look when I get home.

I've also heard the ARC Choir, I don't know why, but I hate it. I do know a number of people that like it though...

I second the Fairfield Four, but would suggest that "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" is more 'accessible' (Standing in the Safety Zone is classic but it sounds as if it is mostly recorded off old 45s and while it's great gospel, the recording quality of CHNP is MUCH better).

I am also a big fan of Arvo Part choral music (my personal favorites are "Orient & Occident", "Miserere", "Magnificat", and "De Profundis", and some of the more recent recordings of the Berliner Messe). I find his music to be both beautiful AND intellectually stimulating though one has to be able to accept listening to unabashedly religious themes (a good deal is in Latin but there is no mistaking what it is...)