Each week, Music Canada will be opening up our blog to members of our staff, as well as our neighbours at AVLA, to share their musical picks of the week: one new release and one classic cut. This week's picks come from Janet Turner, Licensing Coordinator at AVLA and vocalist in Toronto-based vocal group Eh-440.

New release:

Pentatonix - "PTX, Vol. 1" (Released: June 26, 2012)

Pentatonix is an a cappella group comprised of 5 vocalists (4 male and 1 female). They were the winners of the third (and final) season of The Sing-Off on NBC in 2011. The album consists of 5 catchy covers and 2 original songs. Before you listen to this album you need to remember that there are NO INSTRUMENTS used, it will give you a whole new appreciation for the human voice.

This is one of those high energy albums that you just want to blast in the car (and sing along to) but then you’ll also want to listen to this album through a good set of headphones in order to hear all of the dynamic sections and the detail in the vocal arrangement and production.

Official Website: http://www.ptx-official.com/

Preview/buy on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ptx-vol.-1/id534568220

YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/PTXofficial

From the Vaults:

Justin Nozuka - "Holly" (Released: March 19, 2007)

I'm not sure if this is old enough to be classified as “from the vault” but it's so good I thought I would recommend it anyway.

A fantastic singer/songwriter and a soulful performer!

Official Website: http://www.justinnozuka.com/

Preview/buy on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/holly/id275064578

YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/justinnozuka

Music Canada Editor: Like what you hear? Check out some more of our team's recommendations in our Staff Picks blog series!