Review: A Trio of Sleepy Disks

Time once again for another stroll -- a long, langurous stroll we might not actually complete because we're so tired -- down lullaby lane. The last couple times I did this, I reviewed seven lullaby albums, but maybe because I'm only doing this a year after my last list, I only have three to add. Let's get started... you're probably tired anyway.

First up is my favorite of the trio, New England singer-songwriter Mark Erelli's Innocent When You Dream, originally released in 2007 and back in print once again. Like many lullaby disks these days, it's not a collection of traditional (or even standard) lullabies; rather, the album includes songs by "some of [Erelli's] favorite writers that have a certain tenderness to them," and even subtitles the album "Lullabies and Love Songs." Which is why you get folks like Tom Waits, Tom Petty, Wilco, and Shawn Colvin getting covered here. (I already said how much I liked Erelli's cover of Wilco's "My Darling"; the song is originally from this album.) They are songs of comfort and reassurance, so, yes, lullabies, if not ones with easy-to-remember lyrics. Sonically, the album is perfectly pitched, as if Erelli were sitting in the corner of your nursery or around the campfire, singing to you and/or your child, accompanying himself on guitar. It avoids the common lullaby album mistake of being so overwrought that it'll keep everyone awake. Listen to a couple tracks from the 30-minute album here. Innocent When You Dream is a lovely little album and will soothe all but the most savage beast. A couple more albums after the jump.

Review: Outside My Door - Lori Henriques

This review sort of felt like a Krzysztof Kieślowski movie in miniature, with randomness and chance affecting my life (albeit in a small way). I recently received a CD from Portland-based artist Lori Henriques which, while the packaging looked lovely on the outside, had a 2008 copyright date on it. Given my stack of CDs, a 3-year-old CD would not normally be placed at the front of the line. But in a random e-mail, I happened to mention that fact to Henriques, who pointed out that the copyright just applied to the songs themselves, not to the recording, which was, in fact, new. So: yay for chance! Because it meant I listened to this a lot sooner than I would have otherwise, which means I can tell you about it much sooner than I would have otherwise. Outside My Door: Songs for Children of All Ages is unlike any kids' CD I've heard in a long time. It's a throwback to 1970s piano jazz, nothing but Henriques' voice and nimble piano work. It's inspired by Sesame Street, though the lyrics especially are a bit advanced for the preschoolers who are that show's target audience. (Henriques also cites Dave Frishberg as an influence -- he wrote some songs for Schoolhouse Rock!.) It's a Broadway (or perhaps off-Broadway) musical waiting to be made, or perhaps the subject of the first kids' music-themed episode of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, or a Randy Newman album consisting of pleasant narrators. On a slightly more kid-music-related tip, the songs are a little reminiscent of David Tobocman and lyrically it reminds me a bit of Molly Ledford's lyrics for Lunch Money, with words like "ennui" (in "Something You Learn"), "plapable" ("It's Hard To Wait for Your Birthday"), and "Odysseus" ("Mean People"). Heck, it features the phrase "T.O.," which Henriques helpfully provides a Wikipedia reference for. All this eruditeness -- the fact that I'm using "eruditeness" in a review of the disk -- might make it seem very hoity-toity, but it's not. (And not just because she rhymes "goat turd" with "awkward.") The 29 minute album isn't going to cause a lot of dancing; in fact, it's got more melancholy in it than at least 95% of all kids' albums. But kids, if they sit down and really listen, will hear words that do indeed speak to them -- the difficulty of waiting for your birthday ("It's Hard To Wait for Your Birthday") or a secret desire to be a twin ("If I Had a Twin"). The 29-minute album is appropriate for kids ages 4 through 10. You can hear the whole thing here. Also of note: gorgeous packaging courtesy of Henriques' brother Joel Henriques, proprietor of my new favorite website Made By Joel. Another chance discovery. So there you have it -- an album that I said was unlike any kids' CD I'd heard for a long time is compared to maybe a half-dozen other artists. But Outside My Door is something quite remarkable -- an album of "piano jazz for kids" that isn't limited by any of the words in that phrase. A refreshing sound, and an absolute pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock

I could take a lot of time talking specifically about Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock, the fourth Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD set from musician/illustrator Morgan Taylor -- how it's another collection of mellow pop-rock tunes, alternately humorous and wistful, accompanying the slightly surreal adventures of our yellow friend from the sun, Gustafer Yellowgold. Or maybe how it features an honest-to-goodness narrative from start to finish. But what I'd rather do is spend a few words about what Taylor has done with Gustafer, and that's nothing less than create a totally immersive world of characters that Taylor could easily spend another ten, twenty, or thirty years exploring. Just as Dan Zanes has crafted his own niche of family music that never really delves into the specific lives of kids, with Gustafer Yellowgold Taylor has written "kids music" that has (seemingly) nothing to do with the specific lives of kids. After all, on this adventure (featuring Gustafer trying to find the toe-end of the titular sock), Gustafer visits a beehive to see an amazing bee-band ("Beehive") or visits an all-cheese clothing store (the very funny "Wisconsin Poncho"). These are not concerns of your typical 5-year-old. What this story and all the Gustafer Yellowgold stories are is Children's Literature, Fanciful and Fantastic Division. Gustafer is just as much the descendent of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are as it is the descendent of Harry Nilsson's The Point. Which isn't to say that kids might not learn lessons here (the interconnectivity of life, inherent value of all beings, the need to explore), but they're born out of Taylor's basic philosophy, not forced upon the watcher or listener, and they assume that kids are smarter than we often give them credit for. (Which is a pretty good assumption.) This DVD/CD set is appropriate for kids ages 4 through 10. You can watch video clips from the half-hour story here. Visually the DVD, as always, looks great -- minimally animated but distinctive. (The bonus features, including a mockumentary and guitar and drawing lessons, aren't essential but nice to watch at least once.) Current Gustafer Yellowgold fans will enjoy Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock no less than the previous DVDs, and for the rest of you, this is as good a place as any to start. Like the best kids' lit, your kids could still be buying new Gustafer Yellowgold DVDs when they become parents themselves. Definitely recommended. Disclosure: I received a copy of the DVD/CD set for possible review.

Review: Oh Lucky Day - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Lucky Diaz' first album, an EP titled Luckiest Adventure, was a 15-minute blast of folk-pop goodness that immediately caught the ear of all who heard it. As a result, expectations and anticipation for his first full-length disk was high. Today Diaz and his Family Jam Band release Oh Lucky Day and so you're probably wondering, does it fulfill the promise of those first five songs? The answer: for the most part, yes. The new album doesn't tremendously expand Diaz' sound or introduce new styles, but that's OK because his well-produced folk-tinged pop and pop-rock didn't need much expanding to begin with. Diaz clearly thinks the world of his daughter, and many of the songs seem written with her in mind. I love the opening track, the goofy "Say What?," which features some funky scat-and-response between Diaz and his daughter. I am less enamored of "Pretty Princess," a song about, well, being a princess. I guess I just don't need more songs about princesses. A large part of the album borders on the edge of sticky-sweet, and if you are looking for an album with a little more "grit," you may stop listening before you get to the latter part of the album, which is my favorite part. "Race Car" is a, er, revved-up song perfect for car-obsessed preschoolers, while "Gato Astronauto" takes a cat on a New Wave-inspired trip. Following that, "Let's Dance" is for all of you that thought "Video Killed the Radio Star" needed to be turned into a preschool rave-up. (Raises hand.) After all that silliness, the sweet ending track, "Dreamland," a duet with Holly Conlan, puts a pretty little bow on the package. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear one song here and samples here. With Oh Lucky Day, Lucky Diaz has crafted an album of well-written songs and fine arrangements that will satisfy a large percentage of all but the most rambunctious of kid-listeners. It is Diaz' first full-length, but clearly won't be his last. Recommended. I received a copy of the album for possible review. I also ran a contest to win the album.

Itty-Bitty Review: Love Me For Who I Am - Brady Rymer

Deciding to record an album inspired by spending time with students at a school for children with alternative learning styles, as Brady Rymer has done with his just-released album Love Me For Who I Am could have resulted in an album stickily sweet and boring to most listeners. But on this often rollicking album, Rymer successfully avoids both traps. Rymer's strength here is his ability to craft in song the feelings of children who have autism or Asperger's. He moves way beyond sympathy and into empathy, the ability to understand the feelings of others. That's because many of the emotional characteristics particularly felt by those children are shared in varying degrees by the rest of the population. There isn't that much of a gap between the child resisting getting dressed (in "Who Wants To Wear Shoes?") and the naked child running around in Rymer's "Dilly Dally Daisy" from a few years back. "Picky Eater," "I Don't Like Change," "Tune Out" -- from the album titles alone, you probably know a kid who would identify, even if they don't register anywhere on the autism spectrum. I think a child who isn't autistic might not want to listen repeatedly because it's not written from their perspective, but I think few kids wouldn't identify with at least a couple tracks. In any case, it's the most empathetic kids album I can think of in quite some time. Rymer marries those sentiments to his typical roots-rock sound. Once again he gets great support from his backing band, the Little Band That Could, producing a full-bodied sound with echoes of Mellencamp and Springsteen. I particularly liked "Squish Me Squeeze Me," which uses backing horns to great effect (and rhymes the word "anaconda" with "back of a Honda" in a completely non-gratuitous way). Rymer's duet with Laurie Berkner on the tender "Soft Things" is also worth repeated listenings. The album is most appropriate for all kids ages 3 through 7, though that may be different for kids who actually have autism or Asperger's Syndrome. You can here the whole album at Rymer's website. That Love Me For Who I Am is highly recommended for families (or classrooms) affected by autism or Asperger's is terribly surprising. What is more surprising, perhaps, is that other kids and families would probably enjoy listening to the album (or at least a fair number of the songs) on a regular basis. Recommended.

Review: The Family Garden - Billy Kelly

Just in time for Earth Day, Billy Kelly releases The Family Garden, an album of gardening-related songs designed to help kids better understand the impact they have on their planet... Just kidding. I mean, about part of it. It's the other part that, uh, isn't quite so true. But Kelly, whose line in song between truth and un-truth has never been very clear, probably wouldn't want me to tell you which is which. On this, his third album, Kelly eschews some of the production wizardry and elaborate wordplay of his first two disks for a rootsier sound. It's a deliberate choice sonically -- Kelly specifically mentions recording the songs live with his band, the Blahblahblahs. On songs like the title track, or "That Old American Flag," or his cover of "Coney Island Washboard," the roots/country sound matches up well with the songs' earnest nature. Those songs (as well as "We Could Be Pen Pals," his duet with Lunch Money's Molly Ledford) are songs you might find in a gigantic American songbook. Kelly's always had an earnest streak in his songwriting, but he hasn't forgotten the more surreal components, either. "It's Close Enough" continues Kelly's streak of writing songs about the songs he's writing about. "I'm Thinking of an Animal" is as close as he'll get to writing a standard "name the animal" song (which is to say, only about 80% of the way there). "The Invention of the Straw" doesn't reach the heights of "The Legend of Johnny Box" from Is This Some Kind of Joke?, but "Why Is the Moon Following Me?" is way better than Harold and the Purple Crayon. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 8. You can listen to clips from the 37-minute album here. If I had to recommend just one Billy Kelly album for someone's collection, I'd probably start with Is This Some Kind of Joke? -- I think his intricate wordplay and savviness fills an underserved niche for older-kids' kids music. But The Family Garden is a neat expansion of his sound. To some extent, this is a kindler, gentler Kelly. Whether or not we wanted a kindler, gentler Kelly you'll have to decide, but he's not bad to have around. That's all true, I promise. Definitely recommended.