Review: Don't Forget the Donut! - Wayne Potash

A number of months ago, someone e-mailed me and suggested I check out the kids music of Boston-area musician Wayne Potash. She said that he was (and I'm quoting here), "completely lacking in hip-ness... His band is called 'The Music Fun Band' which is one of the stupidest names I’ve ever heard of, and Wayne looks like a hippie freak wearing a fish hat. However, if you can get past that, he’s an amazing musician for little kids." Well, those of you who have read me for any length of time know that those are exactly the kinds of things I can get past. (I don't think I ever had a fish hat, but did have a bag that looked like a trout, so there you go.) And if you can get past those things (and the not-terribly-inspiring album cover, too), his 2005 album Don't Forget the Donut! might just be up your alley. From goofy little songs like "Stunt Car" and "Wiggly Tooth" to breezy reworkings of classics like "When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along" and "The Frim Fram Sauce," Potash has a relaxed attitude that serves the music well. He's not trying to remake children's music, he's just having some fun. Not that the music isn't well-played. Potash mixes some jazz (the classic tracks above) with some bluegrass ("Hot Corn, Cold Corn", "Cindy") along with some poppier originals like the groovy "Lobster Dance." His duet with Suzanne Clark on "Down in the Valley" is -- dare I say it? -- better than Dan Zanes. I liked Potash most in his quieter, folkier moments, such as on "Street Sweeper," as opposed to the more '70s guitar-oriented stuff at the end of the album (it's about 8-10 minutes too long), but it's all done without pretension. (Proof of that is the ended-by-laughter version of "Haul Away Joe.") Kids ages 3 through 7 will enjoy these songs the most. You can hear samples of all the tracks at the 48-minute album's CDBaby page. Yes, the album is 3 years old at this point, but he's also working on a new CD. Wayne Potash isn't trying to set the kids music world on fire, he's just covering some good traditional and classic songs and writing decent original music. Don't Forget the Donut! might not become your family's most favorite album, but I can see it lasting in the CD player long after other CDs have worn out their welcome. As my original e-mail tipster said, "he doesn’t rock, exactly. He’s extremely uncool. And yet, he’s pretty amazing, either despite those things or perhaps because of them." I think those of you out there know if that applies to your family. Recommended.

Review in Brief: The Dino-5 (Baby Loves Hip-Hop Presents...)

Andy Blackman Hurwitz, mastermind of the ever-expanding Baby Loves Music empire, recently released the first CD from his Baby Loves Hip-Hop brand, Baby Loves Hip-Hop Presents The Dino-5. With hip-hop producing legend Prince Paul on board, along with a whole host of well-known names from the hip-hop world telling the story of five hip-hop dinosaurs, the expectations for the project were pretty high. The end result? Well, it's a mixed bag. To be sure, the music is first-rate. I don't listen to a great deal of hip-hop, but the funky music and beats heard here are right down my alley. "Yea Me Too" has fantastic interplay between MC T-Rex (Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, who is essentially the lead rapper here and does a fine job) and Billy Brontosaurus (Wordsworth), while "Tell Me More" is a funky song with a sinewy melodic line. And "Jump," which features Pos and Dave from De La Soul will, indeed, encourage jumping. The songs, all 9 or 10 here, are lots of fun to listen to. And if the CD had stopped at that, it would've been an excellent little CD clocking in at just under a half-hour. But interspersed between the songs are a story about how the "Dino-5" came to be. The story itself is OK, your fairly standard "don't judge a book by its cover" story (T-Rex is, shock, a nice guy!). But rather than using poet Ursula Rucker to tell the story in a unique way, creating characters or dramatizing the story in her own words, the recording uses her in the role of a mother reading a story to her child, just setting up the scenes. According to the press materials, the story may be heading for Broadway or a cartoon series; I can see those settings being much better for this source material than the way it's presented here, which is a little boring. The music will appeal most to kids ages 3 through 6. You can hear tracks and samples here or here or at one of the Dino-5 Myspace pages (like MC T-Rex) -- who knew dinosaurs had myspace pages? The list of good kids' hip-hop albums is pretty short, and even with the narrative tracks slowing it down, Baby Loves Disco Presents the Dino-5 should make that list, because the music is solid. Here's hoping that it's not the last appearance of the Dino-5 and the next time around, the integration between story and song is a little better.

Review in Brief: Hug Trees - Tom Freund and Friends

Southern California-based singer-songwriter Tom Freund released Hug Trees in late 2007, and I'm sort of surprised it's gone under everyone's radar (including mine) until just recently. In many ways, the album, inspired by his preschool-aged daughter, is a typical "kids' music" CD -- it's got a "freeze dance" song, there's a rendition of "The Cat Came Back," there's a song about baking a cake. But there's a relaxed and playful attitude to the whole affair that makes it more compelling than you would think from the description above. Take "Freezedance," for example, which has a very funky '70s sound (Freund mentions James Brown as a particular inspiration for the track) and doesn't just involve Freund occasionally yelling "Freeze!" but also has him encouraging listeners to emulate animals and throwing out musical adlibs. "The Cat Came Back" is an admittedly hard song to screw up, but I quite liked his mellow approach on the song. "Party in the Yard" was actually written by Brett Dennen (who appears on this and one other track), and it's a soulful, funky tune (think Jack Johnson) about playing outside. (If you get a bit of a Ben Harper vibe, too, well, Freund's played with him quite a bit.) Freund's roots-rock vibe on some tracks ("Hug Trees" or "Bump Bump Bump") will remind listeners of Brady Rymer, while on the closing "Go To Sleep (Fais Do-Do)" or "Seashells" (the former with Abra Moore, the latter with Victoria Williams), Freund sounds a little bit like a West Coast Elizabeth Mitchell. (And on "I Walk the Dog," Freund just sounds like a tired guy who knows how important it is to walk your dog, if you've got one.) The 33-minute album will appeal mostly to listeners ages 3 through 6. You can hear four tracks at the album's Myspace page, or hear selections from more tracks at its CDBaby page. The biggest strength of Hug Trees is its overall vibe, which turns what might have been a collection of typical kids songs into a fun little disk, something beyond ordinary. Fans of Brady Rymer or Elizabeth Mitchell I think will respond well to the musicianship and playfulness from Freund and friends here. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Ditties for Kiddies - Deep Fried Pickle Project and Pals (V/A)

There's nothing terribly fancy about Ditties for Kiddies, a benefit CD for the Little Kids Rock organization, which brings free musical instruments and music instruction to public schools. The CD comes in a small slipcase with nothing but the cover art on the front and song titles and artists on the back. But, you know, so long as the music's good, I'm OK, and the music's good here. There's a wide variety of songs here, but a lot of them would fall in the "jamband" category. Compilation producers Deep Fried Pickle Project contribute their jug-band original "Picklejuice," while Hot Buttered Rum turn in a sprightly and bluegrass-y "Firefly." Other tracks, such as Greensky Bluegrass' take on "Boom Boom" (which Raffi's done) and ALO's "Mashed Potatoes" mine similar veins. Deadwood Revival's "Daisy" is a sweet Americana tune. It's not entirely on the Americana side of roots music -- one of the most fun tracks is "Who Stole the Hot Sauce" by Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, a rollicking zydeco-influnced tune. And there's the electronica dance tune "Milk Man" by Zilla. But if you're not keen on roots music, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. (And if you're looking for a CD with a sound more directly targeted at kids, look elsewhere, too. It by no means is kid-unfriendly, but aside from a Melanie Dill track and a couple other tracks, it's really kid-friendly, not focused.) The songs may be most interesting to kids ages 3 through 8, but, as noted above, the appeal is probably pretty broad. You can listen to track at the album's CDBaby page. In Ditties for Kiddies, the Deep Fried Pickle Project have put together a sweet little compilation CD that will appeal to a number of listeners, particularly those families who like the jamband/roots music sound. Recommended.

Review: Songs For Sleepy Beings - Half Moon

Maybe it's been a long and sleepy week, but I'm very taken by this CD. Songs For Sleepy Beings is the creation of Michigan's Gretchen Eichberger-Kudlack, who put together Half Moon, an old-timey string band which here plays a set of quiet-time folk music on the first half of this CD. Traditional lullabyes ("Pretty Little Horses") mingle with ever-so-slightly more current lullabyes ("Goodnight Little Gwen," attributed to Woody Guthrie). The musicianship here is first-rate, with the Half Moon musicians hitting just the right balance of technical expertise and tenderness, saving the album from the mushiness which afflicts many lullaby CDs. The band rightly plays second fiddle (if you'll pardon the pun) to Eichberger-Kudlack, who has a clear, bright voice. Initially her voice seems too bright for a quiet-time CD, but the secret genius behind the CD's appeal is the tracking, as the music and arrangements grow ever-so-slightly dimmer with each track. By the time the CD hits track 7, "Baby's Bed's A Silver Moon," 20 minutes in, her vocals are much more appropriate for a sleepy baby. Following that is another 15 minutes of Eichberger-Kudlack playing familiar lullabyes unaccompanied (mostly) on piano (there's a couple tracks with vocals). By this time your child (or you) will probably be fast asleep. The album is most appropriate for kids ages birth through 6. You can hear clips at the album's CDBaby page, or listen to some complete songs at the Half Moon music page. The packaging (featuring artwork by Jamey Barnard), I should note, is simple but very pretty. I hear few lullaby CDs I can recommend whole-heartedly. Songs for Sleepy Beings is the exception -- it meets that high standard. Besides being a lovely gift for new parents, you might want to consider it for your own family. Definitely recommended.

Review: Ladybug One - The Harmonica Pocket

I hesitate to use the phrase "the most unusual kids' album you'll hear all year," because, I assure you, no matter how unusual a particular kids music album, I've heard odder ones (don't get me started). So let me describe Ladybug One, the second kids' CD from the Seattle-area Harmonica Pocket thusly: It's the most unusual good kids' album you'll hear all year. I hope that doesn't sound like damning with faint praise, because the album is quite good. But it's definitely not a collection of straightforward kids' pop, folk, rock, jazz, or anything else. Oh, sure, there are a few elements of that here -- the indie-pop "Spiders In My Breakfast," re-appropriated from the band's first album (for adults), and the soulful and jazzy take on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," for example, are fun tracks that don't sound too unfamiliar. "One Tree Said" sounds like a track from a future Decemberists kids' CD. But many of the other tracks veer into more challenging territory -- the psychedelic "I Love the ABCs" or the number of songs on which band mastermind Keeth Apgar explores Indian music. You might not think that "O Susanna" and sitar and tabla percussion would make a good fit, but it does, actually helping to hear the song fresh. In fact, one of the most successful things about the album is how the wide variety of instruments here (including didgeridoo, mbira, and saw, and quite possibly my favorite, hula hoop) serve the songs, not the other way round. The instruments aren't being used to show off -- they genuinely make sense within the context of the songs. And kids will enjoy the variety of songwriting approaches -- story, metaphor, humorous, counting. It makes "Mere Bacche Ke Liye Lori," a Hindi lullaby, which could potentially come off as pretentious, sound part of a whole. The album will be of most interest to kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear clips from the 55-minute album (many of which have been reworked from their first kids album) at the album's CDBaby page, or listen to four excellent tracks at the band's own music page. The Harmonica Pocket's Labybug One is unusual, but a couple spins of this low-key but well-crafted album should make many listeners aware of its numerous charms. Definitely recommended.