Review: Taxi - David Weinstone (Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals)

Nearly ten years ago, New York City musician (and parent) David Weinstone, dissatisfied with assorted kids music programs, decides to start one of his own. The result, Music For Aardvarks and Other Mammals, became a popular program in its own right in New York City, even expanding beyond New York City. Over those nearly ten, Weinstone's put together 10 CDs of original material to accompany the classes. This week sees the release of Taxi, one of three compilations of material from the first 10 CDs. (It reflects favorites of both Weinstone and class attendees.) I decided deliberately to listen to Taxi without finding out more about how the songs were used in MFA classes because I think the purpose of these CDs is to introduce the music to a much wider audience -- people like me who've never stepped foot inside a MFA class. So the question becomes, how does this hold up as an album? And the answer is, pretty good. Weinstone is definitely willing to write directly to kids' interests -- getting candy at the end of a doctor's visit in "Lollipop Doc" or the eternal fascination of the belly button in "Belly Button Song". But that wouldn't mean much if he weren't able to wrap those topics in appealing lyrics and a diverse range of musical styles. "Dirt," for example, folds lines such as "I like dirt. / Dirt's what I dig. / I like pokin' around, / with a big old twig" into a loping, brass-band march. "Have You Seen My Nose?" mixes silly lyrics about discovering one's nose (and mouth) with a laid-back Brazilian melody. "Big Boom Whacker" is a nonsensical synth-heavy tune that survives an Ah-nuld reference. My favorite track, "Ruby's Friends," is a folky waltz about pretending. (And I haven't even mentioned the Santana riff.) This isn't to say you can't tell the album's music class origins. Songs such as "Big Old Tree" and "Tango" have class participation and movement written all over them. And the "Hello" and "Goodbye" songs -- required for any kids music class -- are here, too. (They're perfectly fine to listen to.) But they don't overwhelm the album -- you could listen to them having never attended an MFA class and not feel puzzled. I think the album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear snippets of all the songs at the album's CDBaby page. While there are no songs here that absolutely stand out as immediate kids' songs classics, Taxi is a strong collection of kid-appropriate and parent-friendly songs. Whether you're hearing these repeatedly between MFA classes or occasionally in the CD changer, you'll probably find them worth your family's time. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Stories from Duke Puddintown - Greg Loop

When I review a CD that I'm not enamored of, it's often because I hear something that somebody else might appreciate or because I think the artist shows promise. So let me begin by saying that I think Pittsburgh-based Greg Loop shows a gift for lyrics on his 2006 album, Stories from Duke Puddintown. Take this lyric in "Rhythm Time," for example: Spills and chills make for little thrills / In the pond live fish with gills / They double bubble, rubble bump / underneath a hickory stump That's some fun wordplay, and it's repeated often on this 27-minute disk. What's less compelling is the music. The music in general, garage-folk-rock, is OK -- a bit repetitive, perhaps, over the course of the disk, but it has an agreeable lo-fi sound. Loop's voice, however, is not supple and melodious. While it's too far off the mark to say that his melodies are writing checks that his voice can't cash, it is fair to say that his melodies range too far for his voice. (And perhaps I'm a vocal snob, but you should be used to that by now.) Given those comments, it's not surprising that my favorite track here is "Butterflies," a virtual instrumental showing off Loop's guitar work that sounds quite unlike the rest of the album. The album will be of most interest to kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear samples here. And while I'm not really a fan of Stories from Duke Puddintown, there are enough good things here to make me want to hear Loop's next attempt.

Review: Sir Jerry's World - Sir Jerry

Get this man a TV show. Now. Wondering what in the world I'm talking about? Go check out the website or the music video (lower right-hand corner of the "house" -- the sky-blue horizon room -- yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's a good indication of the creativity at work with this artist. Take one listen to Sir Jerry's World, the 2006 release and second kids' album from Toronto-based Sir Jerry, and tell me that that 37-minute album wouldn't make for a great episode of television, regardless of whether you're 8 or 38. Sir Jerry, er, Jerry Levitan, interviewed John Lennon -- yes, that John Lennon -- when he (Jerry) was just 14 years old. As a result, a lot of his press coverage tends to make Beatles comparisons, but I don't hear it too much. Sure, perhaps in songs such as "The Chi L'in Purse," the Eastern sounds of the story song give it a very Beatles-go-to-India effect, but Sir Jerry explores a much broader musical palette. The horn-based rock of "Sir Jerry's Theme," the played-for-laughs rapping on "Do the Melman," the sheer They Might Be Giants-esque goofiness of "Swinging Through the Portals of Time," the winsome pop of "Superhero," -- all show a very Beatlesque willingness to try new things, but don't really sound like the Beatles. Another more apt comparison musically that's been suggested is David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust, which on tracks such as "King Santa" makes more sense. (And the band, led by Levitan's partner in musical crime Ruben Huizenga, sounds pretty good, too.) With so many different musical approaches and combination of jokey and less-jokey stuff, the album doesn't quite hang together, but it's definitely never boring. The album is targeted mostly at kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear some selected tracks at Sir Jerry's website (go to the room in the upper-left-hand corner and click on the piano to hear 2 songs from each of his albums). With an elaborate stage show (up to 10 people at a time) and time spent acting on Toronto stages, Sir Jerry would seem to be a natural person to tackle a goofy Pee Wee's Playhouse-type TV show. I like Sir Jerry's World the album. But I'd love Sir Jerry's World: The TV Show.

Review: Not Naptime - Justin Roberts

Not Naptime, the title of the 2003 album from Chicago-based Justin Roberts is somewhat misleading. This album, Roberts' third for kids, is probably his most down-tempo, the one most I'd most likely play, well, not at naptime, but at least at quiet time. To be honest, I've always thought Roberts' rave-ups and alt-pop were his best tunes -- think "Yellow Bus," "Our Imaginary Rhino," or "Day Camp." And so I think the best tracks here are similar -- the furiously played "D-O-G," or "Billy the Bully," an alt-poppy story-song about taking on bullies with a tension-filled bridge, released with a chorus of "one-by-one-by-one-by-one." The gentler songs, sometimes they work (the now slightly anachronistic "Nine Planets") and some are just OK ("Nightlight"). I should note, however, that Roberts is one of the best at writing the album-closing slow song that just about every kids' album seems to have. Here, he's so good that he's written two fine closers, "Dad Caught Stars" and "Last Night the Moon was Full." With a couple of songs about school on the disk, the target audience here is probably ages 4 through 8. You can hear some samples here (or a full version of "Billy the Bully") at Roberts' website's radio player. Roberts' oeuvre is broad enough that each of his five CDs is probably the favorite of several families. Not Naptime is certainly a good album, and recommended. Whether this most mellow of Roberts' CDs is your family's favorite depends on how you and your family like your Justin Roberts -- faster or slower.

Review: Down at the Zoo - George Carver / Papa Mali

Usually when I review CDs that aren't of the most recent vintage, it's because I want to go back and touch on a reasonably well-known CD and see whether or not it's stood the test of time (recognizing that that test might just be two or three years long). I've been writing reviews in one form or another for five years now, and even though I might not have reviewed everything, I've heard quite a bit, and heard of a lot more. But every now and then I stumble across a CD that makes we wonder how this escaped my radar screen. Down at the Zoo falls into the latter category. Even though I'm just now hearing the CD, it didn't completely escape notice -- it won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal award. But this 2002 disk, from Austin musicians George Carver and Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne (each with more "adult" recordings and bands), deserves greater attention, even almost five years later, because it's an excellent collection of family-friendly tunes. The 35-minute CD includes 10 songs, all about the zoo or zoo animals. This theme, however, doesn't become at all tiring because the tracks are so strong. From the Cajun-styled opening title track all the way through to the final reggae tune, "Jammin' at the Zoo," Carver and Welbourne have crafted strong melodies and matched them with accessible lyrics. The pure country of "I Don't Like My Cage" touches on the good and bad of zoos for endangered species ("I don't like my cage / It's not where I should be / But it's all that's keeping my kind / from being a memory.") On top of that, Carver and Welbourne have recruited an able group of musicians to join them on these tunes, which besides those mentioned above include the folk-blues ("They Got Feet"), big band ("Jungle Swingers"), and what a Tom Waits kids' track might sound like ("Snake House"). The band really tears it up on my favorite track, the soulful and funky "The Funky Yak." The album's best for kids ages 2 through 7, though older kids may still dig it well past the age of 7. You can hear samples at the album's CDBaby page. Better late than never? In this case, yes. Down at the Zoo may be five years old, but this fine album is worth a listen even today. Definitely recommended.

Book/CD Review: Hello Hello / Jump Up! - Dan Zanes and Donald Saaf

You might think Dan Zanes is mostly artistic musically, but his family creates art in other ways. His sister Julia and her husband, his brother-in-law Donald Saaf, exhibit their paintings in galleries, and Donald has done the artwork for all five of Dan Zanes' family albums. So if you're Dan and you're thinking of doing a book, who do you turn to? Donald, of course. In 2004, Zanes and Saaf released Hello Hello and followed that up in 2005 with Jump Up!. Each book comes with a 5-song EP of music Zanes recorded with his band, accompanied by Saaf's paintings. Of the two EPs, I think Jump Up!'s is the stronger of the two. Perhaps it's the perkier, more uptempo nature of the songs on the collection, but I found the latter CD a better collection of songs. I also think it's more diverse, following up "Hal-An-Tow," an English song on which David Jones makes an appearance with "Mango Walk," a fun Jamaican folk song. In other words, it sounds more like an actual Dan Zanes album than the Hello Hello EP, which I found less diverse. I did like "Alabama Bound," but also thought the re-recorded version of "Hello" on the EP sounded too muddy.

The books themselves are OK -- Saaf's drawings are fun and filled with fun details, but he's illustrating the title tracks' song lyrics which don't, in and of themselves, have much of a plot. They're nice to look at, but not the most compelling books by themselves. The books also have notes, chords, lyrics, and liner notes for each of the songs on the EP, to help the readers who want to play the songs on their own. I think the books are most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. (The songs on each of the 13-14-minute EPs are appropriate for everybody, natch. They're Dan Zanes!) You can get the books at many booksellers, and you can watch a video for "Hello" (the original version, but featuring Saaf's artwork similar to that in the book) here. You can also purchase the EPs on iTunes here as an album called Social Music, minus "Hello," but plus the Loudon-less video version of "All Around the Kitchen". The music on Hello Hello and Jump Up! is similar in nature to a set of B-sides, some songs just as strong as the regular albums, others OK, but nothing special. If you have friends who don't know Dan Zanes, this isn't a bad way to introduce them. If your family includes Dan Zanes fans, they'll like these, though they're not as essential as the regular albums. But even less-than-essential Dan Zanes music is still recommended.