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Pentatonix: Season 3 Champs

Rhondinella

By Rhondinella
in The Sing-Off [V]

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GirlvsTV
GirlvsTV

My big issue with that NY Times review is that I don't think the album should be reviewed as an 'acappella' album at all. PTX made a pop album full of songs intended to attract mainstream radio play.

Geeze
Geeze

Avi's new video Quarter Past Four  I read into it why he's stepping back.

debbydeb
debbydeb

@SrPab, yes the whole CASA facebook group discussion baffles me too. It reminded me in the visual art world they're squabbling about Contemporary Art when it first arrived too. But really, for a cont

Kromm

Kromm

The story (at least the ONLINE copy--if it went to print that can't be changed) has been edited.  The same sentence that once said "He then met Israeli opera bass Avi Kaplan through a mutual friend" now says "He then met opera bass Avi Kaplan through a mutual friend".

 

Annoyingly they didn't place an acknowledgement at the bottom (as lets say the NY Times would) that the story was wrong and then corrected.

SrPab

SrPab

Another interwebs window-shopping trip lead me to this: Abi Ann touring with Kelly Clarkson.

 

I'm not familiar with her. How is this tour supposed to work? Will Abi Ann (and Jennifer Waris), Eric Hutchinson, and PTX play before Kelly at each show? Or, will they rotate? Another option: if it's a 90-min show, does Kelly gets 30 mins with the other 3 acts splitting 60 mins? Or, if a 2-hr show: does Kelly get 45 mins, PTX gets 45 mins, and the other 30 mins is divided between Abi Ann and Eric?

Sharpie66

Sharpie66

(edited)

I'm guessing that the first two (or three) will rotate, and PTX will be the lead-in artist for Clarkson's portion of the night. I would think that PTX probably has about 30-40 minutes, the ones lower on the bill have 20-30 minutes, and Clarkson has at least 70-90 minutes.

 

(Back in 1990, I was lucky enough to see Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughan [in his penultimate performance], with a no-name blues performer out of Chicago opening for them, as well as Jeff Healey showing up for Clapton's encore. The show started around 5:00 pm and ended around midnight.)

Edited by Sharpie66
  • Love 1
takalotti

takalotti

Random PTX related story:

Hanging out with friends and my toddler twins, the topic of PTX came up. I was trying to mention what they were up to, but got distracted by the toddlers. So all I said was, "Did you know Pentatonix is touring with Kelly?"

Now all my friends are teasing me that I act like I'm on a first name basis with Kelly Clarkson. "Or do you call her Kel? Kel Kel?"

Sharpie66

Sharpie66

(edited)

The appearance on KC Undercover is this upcoming Sunday (6/14) at 8:30 EDT.

 

But, bigger news than that, they just announced that they are releasing a documentary film on June 18 from their website! I was not all that thrilled with the PTXperience videos that they've had this tour, and this announcement explains that.  Here's the trailer:

Edited by Sharpie66
  • Love 2
ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

Thank you so much, Sharpie66.  I love this group so much - not just for their incredible music, but for their work ethic, and their attitude.  "Days off are not days off anymore."  "I want to remember this when I'm 90."

 

We are so lucky they do what they do.  Plus, their videos are so well made.  Props to whoever puts them together!

 

Man.  Just when I thought I had been to enough of their concerts - I'm thinking, maybe just one more.  (lol)

SrPab

SrPab

(edited)

Also coming "soon": Me handing over a few ducats for a download and/or DVD of this documentary.

 

PTX-adjacent...if you're in the greater-L.A./SoCal area, here are some deets on the A Cappella Academy RETREAT Showcase.

 

LOL, ToxicUnicorn...

...just google instead of trying to find answers on the official website.

Edited by SrPab-PTV
ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

(edited)

Looks like the documentary will be uploaded on vimeo.  Looks like you will have to create a vimeo account to view/download it.

 

Does anyone have experience with vimeo?  Is a Basic account free or do you have to pay for it?

 

(I don't want any more accounts - although I will make an exception this time, if it is free.)

 

ETA: I'm dumb.  Google says yes, basic vimeo is free.  Next time, I will just google instead of trying to find answers on the official website.

Edited by ToxicUnicorn
Kromm

Kromm

(edited)

Pentatodrix: a tribute.

 

I cackled at the joke of Scott being so tall he's out-of-frame from the others, and at Todrick's facial/mouth contortions that are supposed to be Kevin beatboxing.

Heh.  I spent a few minutes trying to decide which one of them gets it "worst" from Toddrick.  Todd-Kristie makes for, lets face it, an ugly girl.  Todd-Avi's beard seems intentionally ridiculous.  And the expressions on Todd-Mitch's face are SO over the top even Todd-Kevin looks normal in comparison!

 

I am interested in the beginnings of Toddrick's relationship with the trio. He's glossing it over a bit with the comment "after growing up with Kirstie, Scott and Mitch" attached to that video.  I know they're from the same town, but he's about a decade older than them.

One imagines them going to town rallies for him when he was on American Idol or something like that.  And then BEFORE they were on The Sing Off (but only just earlier that same year) they did some early videos with him (1 - Jan 2011) (2 - May 2011). So that part rings true.

 

EDIT - I hadn't actually realized that Toddrick being on Idol was so close to their Sing-Off Season.  For some reason I though he was in the mid 2000s.  He wasn't--he was Season 9--2010.  So they were in his online videos less than a year after he was on Idol, and on The Sing-Off only another 6-9 months after that.  That said, he IS still a decade or so older than them, so it's not like he went to school with them. Either they know him through siblings, or he was a neighbor of one or more of them, or he was some kind of arts organizer/recruiter in that community.

Edited by Kromm
SrPab

SrPab

(edited)

Go on Pentatonix! I am often amused/taken aback whenever I window-shop on YT and come across them--especially in contexts or settings where I really didn't expect them/their music to show up or be referenced (if even tangentially). I think these two vids are from a South Korean tv reality show (called Sixteen[?]):

 

Momo dancing to "Problem"

Dahyun dancing to "La La Latch"

 

This one is Mexican tv program Venga La Alegría (a segment called No es lo mismo pero es igual): Homenaje Daft Punk. I don't think this lip-synching impersonation parody was meant to be demeaning or insulting, but you wouldn't know it from many of the comments (per my limited Spanish). But all the thumbs down are a big clue, too.

 

My point is that PTX has enough mindshare nowadays that the above examples are not rarities--you just have to know where to look, or happen upon them inadvertently/serendipitously. Other instances where I've come across their music are in vids about Nightcore [whatever that is], Osu! [whatever that is], LPS [whatever that is], Zumba classes, dance companies (particularly Korean ones), tap dancing competitions, ballroom dancing competitions, marching band pre-game or half-time performances, MIDI score uploads, etc.

 

But I am oddly fascinated by those vids where someone takes a PTX all-vocal cover (of a song that originally used vocals and accompaniment) and turns it into an all-instrumental performance (drum covers, string quartet covers, marching band covers, guitar covers, sax covers). Some of them are good covers-of-a-cover. It's just that my first thought is "an a cappella arrangement inspired the creation of an all-instrumental approximation?" SMH

Edited by SrPab-PTV
Sharpie66

Sharpie66

I just finished watching the documentary. Stuff I learned: Avi can whistle amazingly well, Kevin is taking voice lessons, both Mitch and Kirstie do great catwalks, Avi is very moving and really excellent in conveying thoughts and feelings on camera. Oh, and there are teasers from their new album! I cannot wait for it; my fave song from what little I heard is "Cracked," which sounds really cool.

Best Mitch line (after he manages to toss a water bottle into the trash): "Miami Heat, baby!...They play basketball, right?"

SrPab

SrPab

(edited)

I loved the documentary but I have follow-up questions: Will it be released on DVD, and on what distribution channels? It was about 86-87 mins. long (not counting opening titles and closing credits)--didn't it seem like this was Part 1 of x? The end of it briefly referenced the European concerts. James Rothman was with them for Europe and Asia, too, right?

 

For the sake of the fandom's collective sanity, perhaps they should refrain from using the word "soon" in their hype and messaging.

 

ETA: I sniggered a bit when it showed Tom Corson presenting PTX with their RIAA-certified Platinum Album award. I believe he was quoted in a WSJ article from a few months back regarding attempts by RCA to persuade PTX to add instruments to make them more "radio-friendly".

 

ETA2: Good for Mitch! He got the team name correct and associated it with its proper sport.

Edited by SrPab-PTV
  • Love 1
Geeze

Geeze

I involuntarily (as in had no control, I was in Penta-Thrall) signed on vimeo and robotically bought the whatever it is and I have to admit it is one powerful hit of PTX.  As my son is not currently listed on Ebay (see my previous post) and his major organs are safe for now (there IS the PTX-kelly clarkson tour prep so I will be feeding him up real good), things are in stasis.

 

I will say but I don't think anyone will understand, I prefer my nightingales au naturel, not in their gilded cages.  I am nostalgic, not insane.  This is the music BIDNESS and the more hype that surrounds them, the more money and opportunities they get is what it is all about and I have to wish for them what they wish for themselves, but I desperately miss my wide-eyed baby PTX who were so thrilled with this THING they created/discovered that did not exist before.  I mean they all knew they had IT individually, but when they came together, a new being, if you will, was created such that they enhanced each other exponentially.  It was more than each of them dreamed and I know they absolutely cannot be frozen in time but I find myself focusing (thank the You Tube gods) on their stripped down beginnings.  I am grateful that Scott can sing his dream, that Avi can reach others positively with his drive, that Kirstie won't have to be a starving artist on Broadway, that Mitch can thrive in the PTX nest and be the Power that he was meant to become and that Kevin won't have to beatbox his way through brilliant surgeries where only the operating theatre team and private chamber orchestra friends will benefit from his insane talent and they can all make and extremely good living from this and create such beauty in our lives, so don't get me wrong, but I ache because you can only be on the edge of glory for a brief moment in time, but that moment was so poignant and beautiful.  

I'm not saying anyone has to agree but does anyone understand what I'm saying?

 

I will love and adore the new album and concur in their choice to not fix what ain't broken and the Cracked snippets had me salivating for more and I will be forever grateful for a peek into their creative process and plan on Pentaholic Life Membership, but not without some serious heartache.

 

Cue end of selfish, navel-gazing rant.  Thank you for reading.  As you were.  In case you didn't clue in by now, I'm a wordaholic too.  Sorry.

SrPab

SrPab

(edited)

Geeze, I hear ya. To me, this is their adolescent stage as a group and there may be growing pains of a different variety--but I'm interested in how they come out of it. If songs from their original album don't get on the radio and/or the album doesn't sell well*, will it break them? I don't think so, but what would be the most telling is how they regroup.

 

And even though, according to them, there are no more days off, they could still surprise with another live-on-the-couch video. I'm sure Endless Studios wouldn't mind if they came in and did one of those.

 

Also, it just struck me that if Kevin is taking voice lessons, might that mean more solos from him on the album? Sure, they'll have to arrange creatively to accommodate those times when he's not beatboxing, but as a small ensemble they've always had to arrange creatively to minimize/disguise any acoustic holes in their sound.

 

*Feel free to come up with your own definition of their upcoming album "not selling well". My definition includes: not selling as well as PTX Vol. III (first week or overall), not getting into top 5 on U.S. iTunes main chart, not placing in the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

Edited by SrPab-PTV
Geeze

Geeze

Oh, I fully believe that the wolves are forming packs.  I don't trust the "music media" nor do I even trust the label (kumbayahs to the contrary).  But, I kind of trust the Pentaholic community.  If even 1 out of every 8 of their You Tube channel subscribers buy the thing, you've got your platinum numbers right there (granted I don't know how exactly platinum is calculated now in the digital age).  So moving units I don't think is going to be the problem.   I don't know where or how, but it will come because they are too much of a rogue anomaly to be treated normally (successful group not "controlled" by the current music powers that be if such a thing still exists).  But they have proved before even though the mainstream music community(?) might not like how it was achieved, you have to acknowledge success and I believe they will be successful with this one is spite of all.

 

That being said and once again alluding to my last night's maudlin rant-post now we have Kevin singing and not beatboxing like he did with his whole body and Avi's whole body not singing any more.  Seriously, I'll be better once I go on a nostalgic old PTX You Tube bender and eat this here whole gallon of butter pecan ice cream with a big ol' spoon while wrapped up in one of those zip up blanket onesies with the hood. 

 

  • Love 1
Sharpie66

Sharpie66

(edited)

I'm not going to hold my breath that the all-original album even cracks the Top 20. Look at the numbers for their orignal song videos--they all took forever to get past the first few million views and, except for Love Again, the others haven't come anywhere near their video average hit total. Unless a song or two does take off on the radio, I just can't see them getting big exposure from this first original album.

 

Speaking of sales, one thing I liked on the documentary was when they were in Toronto and RCA Canada presented them with the gold album plaque. One of them asked the studio exec if it was true that getting even a gold album was pretty hard in Canada, which he affirmed, and then he added that they were within a hair of going platinum, but Christmas came and went and the sales died out. He did pretty much guarantee that they'd get the platinum plaque next year, though!

 

ETA: I'm excited about this next step in their careers--it was going to happen anyway, as it does to any musical entity who lasts more than a year or so on the musical scene. I'm not trying to equate them in sheer epicness to The Beatles, but bear with me here. You had The Quarrymen (think the trio in Arlington), then Hamburg (no Pete Best parallel, but think The Sing-Off as developing their sound), then the early years with the no-collar suits and the short bowl haircuts (think early YouTube videos and PTX Vols. 1-2 and PTXmas), then A Hard Day's Night (think TCTM, Grammy, Pitch Perfect 2). Then, there was Revolver/Rubber Soul, where they were exploring what it is they wanted to say (think this first original album).

 

It's a thought!

Edited by Sharpie66
Kromm

Kromm

Honestly, the key to them getting any traction with originals--besides the quality of the songs themselves of course--lies in if they properly understand the model that a lot of break out acts have followed in the past decade or so. A noticeable collaboration with a huge star as the "intro", launching to the top of the charts, perhaps maybe even a few of those in a row, and then and only then their "solo" work sans other celeb following.

 

It's far from universal, but go look at the pattern.  Go look at the hits with "featuring" or "and" in the credit, then the successful follow-ups afterward.  

 

They're really never ballads either, those launch pads, so they have to figure out a way to do a more uptempo type original with the proper juice to get the right collab... without of course giving into the demands that they add instrumentation.

ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

I ache because you can only be on the edge of glory for a brief moment in time, but that moment was so poignant and beautiful. 

I'm not saying anyone has to agree but does anyone understand what I'm saying?

 

 

I understand you as well, Geeze, and I think you captured their beginnings beautifully. I love and admire their music, and probably always will.  However, the pure visuals of watching PTX coalesce on The Sing Off is as etched on my memory as, say, the 1980 US-USSR Olympics hockey games.  Somehow, it was a series of moments captured perfectly on film.

 

I was a little sad to see them in concert and looking like such pros, to be honest.  Some of the magic was gone.  I hope it is there for the folks who watched the vimeo video.  I haven't bought it yet, so if you want to keep the reviews coming, that'd be great, too.

  • Love 1
Geeze

Geeze

We talk about radio airplay, the label talks about radio airplay and so does PTX but Is radio airplay how people do mass consumption of music any more?  I really don't know (Geeze is short for Old Geezer).  Can someone like give me a listing, insight, anything, if possible, of where the new album would need to hit the market to do well?  I know we lucked out with TCTM because it was tailor made for Christmas but what would it really take to do numbers outside of radio now?

Kromm

Kromm

We talk about radio airplay, the label talks about radio airplay and so does PTX but Is radio airplay how people do mass consumption of music any more?  I really don't know (Geeze is short for Old Geezer).  Can someone like give me a listing, insight, anything, if possible, of where the new album would need to hit the market to do well?  I know we lucked out with TCTM because it was tailor made for Christmas but what would it really take to do numbers outside of radio now?

iTunes counts as much as radio airplay.

What's less definable is stuff like YouTube hits and streaming audio service plays. iTunes is on-demand--not streaming--so it's far more measurable. YouTube plays are also on demand, but they're not monetized, so it's hard to say how they affect a brand. Streaming audio is neither on-demand, NOR well monetized, then again neither is broadcast radio. Both usually have ad revenue (most streaming services have commercial breaks sewn into them now), so they are similar in that fashion, but the collection of statistics for streaming plays is much harder to get (and give to advertisers) because a.) there are so many competing streaming apps and services each using their own unique metering and b.) most of these services customize the streaming to each user--so while a user can't pick to hear a specific song (that would be "on demand"), it also makes it enormously hard to get a grand total of how often a record is played across ALL of the streaming services out there.

Album sales as a metric is a weird one too. Not many people buy albums anymore. Physically only the old coots (wink, wink) walk into stores and maybe buy them as presents for people. Digitally only big fans of specific artists buy by the album, usually on iTunes or rarely on other services (like Google Play).

I dunno. Industry people act like music has taken such a huge step into chaos, but essentially the model has been simply been set back to early-recording industry days. People play music live and that's mostly what gets paid for. Everything else is PROMOTION for that. It's how music as a business started, isn't it? Recording of music as a business overtook it's origins.

  • Love 1
ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

I'm not going to hold my breath that the all-original album even cracks the Top 20. Look at the numbers for their orignal song videos--they all took forever to get past the first few million views and, except for Love Again, the others haven't come anywhere near their video average hit total. Unless a song or two does take off on the radio, I just can't see them getting big exposure from this first original album.

 

I am more optimistic.  "Run to You" is fantastic and I think was received as such, and I have to think "That's Christmas to Me" touched anyone with a heart.  I would not have guessed "Love Again" made it so big, but I am glad to be corrected.  I think they can afford to release an original album... like Geeze, I think the Pentaholic (!) community will come through for them.

 

I do think they would be smart to mix covers with originals at a concert, though.

 

Looking forward to listening to the Michael Jackson evolution above.  Thanks, Rick Kitchen!

Sharpie66

Sharpie66

I saw that MJ video yesterday--love it!

 

Interesting thing is the Google news search for PTX. There are a lot of outlets writing up links to that video, and not just the usual smaller-level pop culture sites like Popdust and Fuse, and not the long-time fans of the group like Billboard and Entertainment Weekly, but also People Magazine, Time Magazine, the New York Daily News and Deseret News (the biggest Utah newspaper). So, they are expanding their reach to more traditional mainstream sites, which is very cool indeed!

  • Love 1
SrPab

SrPab

(edited)

No story. More than an hour ago, I was lurking on their FB page (the verified one) and was just scrolling through posts left on their wall and noticed a number of them said the MJ vid was blocked. I know that, for example, in Germany (i.e., German ISPs) many/all of PTX's vids are initially blocked but then the restriction gets lifted.

 

Then, I looked at the location of some of the posters and a number of them were U.S.-based. So, I went to YT and fired up the official video--the playback window had static text saying that the content was blocked due to copyright claim by Warner Chappell. I checked that same official vid about 20 mins later and it played, but with no audio. I think the audio was stripped by YT/Google.

 

It will get resolved, but in the meantime, that vid is going to get lots of dislikes due to no audio.

 

ETA: Just rechecked a few seconds ago...the audio is back.

Edited by SrPab-PTV
Kromm

Kromm

(edited)

I'm not going to hold my breath that the all-original album even cracks the Top 20. Look at the numbers for their orignal song videos--they all took forever to get past the first few million views and, except for Love Again, the others haven't come anywhere near their video average hit total. Unless a song or two does take off on the radio, I just can't see them getting big exposure from this first original album.

Again, the only way they crack this is probably with a lead single that's a collaboration with a big established star, that draws radio play (while their traditional fans take care of the online hits). Also it's not really clear if these kids (and I include the two older ones in that description) properly understand the concept of a "hook".  Their original songs could be pretty sounding at time, but had no real effective hooks to them.

Edited by Kromm
ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

Also it's not really clear if these kids (and I include the two older ones in that description) properly understand the concept of a "hook".

 

Kromm, you always sound like you know what you are talking about, and I mostly don't know much, but in this case, I'm so sick of popular songs' hooks.  Give me a PTX arrangement anytime.

Kromm

Kromm

Kromm, you always sound like you know what you are talking about, and I mostly don't know much, but in this case, I'm so sick of popular songs' hooks.  Give me a PTX arrangement anytime.

But that's suiting to your taste more than what gets on radio.

 

Besides, it's not like their covers don't take advantage of hooks.  It's only their originals which don't match that (so far).

Kromm

Kromm

I hope those RCA songwriters they're collaborating with remind them to put in hooks for each song in the album.

Name a song you actually REMEMBER and of course it has a hook.

 

And yet it seems so hard for novices to actually create them.  And being great arrangers, as Avi and Kevin and Scott seem to be (the three of them seem to drive a lot of that) isn't the same thing as being able to create hooks.  They're so far mainly taking good songs and arguably even enhancing the hooks when they re-arrange them.  But it's not like they're ditching hooks when they make a great cover. Far from it.

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