DVD Review Roundup: Gustafer Yellowgold, Readeez, and more

It's been a (comparatively) long-held belief of mine that DVDs generally don't change anyone's overall impression of an artist.  If you love the artist, only a shoddy, over-priced video will sour you on their DVD, while the most competently produced visual version of music your family didn't like on CD still won't make it onto your TV or computer.  With that in mind, here are 6 DVDs with a musical hook that may be worth checking out even if you're not completely familiar with the artists.

Let's start with the two best disks here, each from loooongtime Zooglobble favorites and each recommended without hesitation.  Not surprisingly they're from artists for whom videos are an integral part of their music-making -- Morgan Taylor's Gustafer Yellowgold series and Michael Rachap's Readeez series.  Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day is the fifth CD/DVD set about the yellow alien from Minnesota by way of the sun.  Its theme?  Holidays of the year.  As Taylor has gradually used up the songs he wrote many years ago at different times and started writing new songs, the DVDs have become more focused thematically, and this one holds together better than its predecessors.  The songs are mostly the '70s (soft-)rock Taylor must write in his sleep, though he dips into more varied musical ponds, such as the electronica-esque touches of "Four Leaved Clover," written by Taylor's wife, singer-songwriter Rachel Loshak.  Other highlights also include the spirited leadoff track "New Is The New Old" and sweet Valentine's Day song "Keep It Simple Sweetheart."  While mostly uptempo, the album does nestle down into coziness with "Pumpkin Pied" and "Fa And A La," the final two tracks.  The distinctive animation drawn by Taylor and lightly animated hasn't changed, either (see the YouTube channel for more).  There's not a lot that's changed from pevious albums, and in the case of Year In The Day, that's a good thing.

There isn't a lot that's changed in the world of Julian and Isabel Waters, either.  They're the animated father-daughter team at the heart of Readeez and their innovatively-titled third DVD, Readeez Volume Three: Knowledge is good. (I kid because I love.)  Well, OK, there's a new character: Olivia Longlife, a librarian, who makes a handful of appearances.  And it includes "Readee-Oh," Readeez-style videos for songs performed by other kindie artists such as Recess Monkey, Coal Train Railroad, the Okee Dokee Brothers, and Irish band the Speks.

But at its core, this video, like its predecessors, features songs about a minute in length (maybe more) on preschool-aged topics accompanied by minimally-animated videos.  The songs and videos strike just the right balance of earnestness and whimsy and their brevity helps keep the more edu-ma-ctional songs from annoying the parent who may already know how to, say, eat properly ("Plate, Cup and Saucer").  The short length isn't surprising, considering Rachap's advertising background -- think of them as Pre-Schoolhouse Rock.  (Watch Vol. 3 videos and many more.)  As before, Readeez Vol. 3 isn't just good for you, it's, well, just good.

Beyond these two videos, here are four more worth exploring further.

• Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Spelunk the Funk!: Features a live show by the best kid-hopper in the business in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, drawn primarily from his Underground Playground album.  Lots of guest vocalists and props to Skidoo's daughter, DJ Fireworks, who spends the whole concert on stage dancing and sometimes singing.  Also includes a couple
• Debbie and Friends - Story Songs & Sing Alongs: Debbie Cavalier has invested a lot of time (and, presumably, not a small amount of money) in making videos for her story songs with animation company Planet Sunday.  All those videos (plus the fun "Hangin' Around") make their way to this disk, plus 2 live performances.
• Eric Herman - The Elephant DVD: I would say that it features "The Elephant Song," a kindie-video classic (and YouTube viral sensation) and leave it at that -- because, really, that might be enough -- but there's other stuff on here.  Ten more songs, live footage, 15 songs on a "jukebox" feature, and what might be the best kindie DVD bonus feature ever: Herman being interviewed by his daughters.  Somebody get them their own show!
• Spaghetti Eddie - Spaghetti Eddie! and Other Children's Videos: It's brief -- just 5 songs and 15 minutes in length -- and the videos are pretty simple, featuring green screen technology, animation, and kids running around.  But for a relatively new kids artist, it's a decent-looking disk.  Check out the YouTube channel for more.

Review: WeBop: A Family Jazz Party! - Jazz at Lincoln Center (feat. Matt Wilson)

There was a point 4 or 5 years ago when I thought jazz would be the area of the next great kids music explosion. This most American of musical art forms had not been sufficiently explored by musicians focusing on families, and it seemed ripe for artists to fill the space.  And, yes, there were a number of good, even great, jazz albums for families.

And then, silence.

OK, that's an exaggeration.  Coal Train Railroad and Oran Etkin have both released albums that families with any jazz tendencies (and even those who don't) should check out.  But I expected more musicians to try their hand at this.  After all, jazz is -- or can be -- the most playful of musical forms, and what audience is -- or can be -- more playful than a bunch of under-10s?

Well, with the addition of the folks from WeBop, Jazz at Lincoln Center's (JALC's) early-childhood jazz education program, I'm hopeful that perhaps we're on the cusp of another kinder-jazz renaissance.  Their first album for families, WeBop: A Family Jazz Party!, is my favorite jazz-for-kids album since at least Putumayo's Jazz Playground disk from a couple years ago, and definitely my favorite non-compilation since the great Medeski, Martin & Wood album Let's Go Everywhere.

Some of my enthusiasm for this particular disk is rooted in my own personal jazz tastes, which are heavily weighted toward the classic jazz of pre-Bitches Brew Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dizzy Gillespie.  (This isn't particularly surprising, I suppose, given the interests of JALC's Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.)  And one of this album's greatest strengths is its celebration of that heritage.  Unlike a lot of the "introducing jazz to the kids" disks, which take traditional kids' standards (e.g., "Old MacDonald" or "Itsy Bitsy Spider") and put them in a jazz arrangement, many songs on this album take jazz standards and add (or tweak) a few kid-friendly lyrics.  Not every standard is modified -- the Duke Ellington classic "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" speaks just fine to kids as-is -- but some of the adaptations are inspired (I particularly loved the re-purposing of Coltrane's "Syeeda's Song Flute" into "Syeeda's ABC," an alphabet song, natch).  And kudos for figuring out how to work free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman into a kids' track ("Free Jazz Adventure").

Besides the traditionals and standards, there are also a handful of originals.  These songs tend to be a little more pedagogical in nature.  "Shakey Shake Shake," for example, encourages shaking of rhythm instruments and jumping around.  "Playin' Together," a song about, well, playing jazz (playing together, then taking solos) is buoyed by Adam Platt's nimble toy piano playing -- it's probably the first song featuring that instrument that I truly dig.  I don't think they're the equal of the standards, but that's kind of an unfair comparison.  As you'd expect considering the Lincoln Center parentage, the playing is top-notch, from drummer Matt Wilson, the album's music director, on down.  And the participation of kids on some of the tracks, such as on "What Kind of Food Do You Like To Eat?," their take on Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts," just adds the right amount of childishness.

The 50-minute album is nominally targeted at kids ages 2 through 7, but its playfulness will appeal to jazz fans of all ages.  Listen to samples from the album and download a copy of their take on "When the Saints Go Marching In" at the album's page (you can also download an activity booklet).

I like WeBop: A Family Jazz Party a whole bunch.  It's joyful, playful, and full of life.  Even if you're not particularly into jazz -- maybe especially if you're not particularly into jazz -- it's an album your family should check out.  Let's hope this encourages some other jazz musicians to follow suit.  Highly recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: Creepy Crawly Love - Duke Otherwise

It's been awhile since I've heard a good off-kilter kids music album, an album with a distinct perspective on song subjects and a musical approach to match.

If your family collection is similarly deficient, allow me to suggest Duke Otherwise, AKA Noah Riemer, whose debut album Creepy Crawly Love comes out of the Upper Midwest's House of Mercy Recordings to take up space on your family's CD shelf (or computer hard drive) next to John and Mark's Children's Record, The Great Adventures of Mr. David, or perhaps Zak Morgan (thanked in the album's liner notes).

Take "I Used to Think," a jazz-with-a-bit-of-klezmer tune with a hyperactive narrator sounding a bit like Sesame Street's Count declaiming that features the lyrics "I used to think the world was flat, not round / I used to think I weighed a thousand pounds / Can you believe I used to think that e=mcHammer?"  Or Tin-Pan-Alley-via-the-midway "Git Yer Fiddle Out," featuring (among other things) a dog toy, train whistle, trombone, and strummed fiddle, and lyrics like "Get your fiddle out and strum it / Get your trombone out and drum it / Get your xylophone and drive it / C'mon! Drive, drive, drive!" that only get odder from there.  Riemer obviously delights in wordplay, using nifty, brainy lyrics to sing about short-tailed dogs ("Dog Without a Tail"), the Spanish language interrupted by other languages ("How Do You Say 'No' in Español?"), and other eccentrics, all in a musical packaging that's like a slightly peppier Tom Waits.

While a few of the songs will amuse preschoolers, it's really kids ages 6 through 10 who will most appreciate the album.  You can hear clips of many tracks at the Duke Otherwise homepage, or stream a few full-length songs here. I would be surprised if Creepy Crawly Love became a massively popular hit -- it's a bit too off-center for that.  But these types of albums often become adored in some households, and if what you hear here tickles your fancy, then I think your household will give this album a happy home.  Definitely recommended.

A Tasty Review: Four Kids Music Albums for Locavores

Delicious album coverYou don't need to have been locked up in a fast-food restaurant's storage closet for the past few years to know that eating food produced locally has become a Big Thing. Playing around in the dirt and growing fruits and vegetables with bright colors? No wonder that last year's Maria Sangiolo and Friends' album Planting Seeds was just the tip of the iceberg (not the lettuce) when it comes to the mico-genre of "Farmers Market Kindie." I'm not a huge fan of "lesson" music, but it's possible to strike a good balance between entertainment and education. Here are four recommended kids music albums whose musical benefits are as good as the lessons inside. (Note: several food metaphors follow. Tread cautiously.)

The first (and most diverse sonically) album is from Bay Area trio Orange Sherbet, who will release their first album in five years, Delicious, on May 15. The collection of mostly original tunes was inspired by band member Tamsen Fynn's experiences with the Local Foods Wheel, a tool for discovering local, seasonal food in the San Francisco Bay Area. The result of the album Fynn's made with bandmates Jill and Steve Pierce is a sound that's part playground chant, part lounge-jazz, and and a few other genres thrown in, too. (Yes, that is a Santana reference in the Latin guitar rock of "Rice & Beans.) And while sometimes albums that feature lots of different musical genres sound awkward in totality, the result here is much, much closer to the successful, eclectic mix of a Dan Zanes or Dog on Fleas album.  The album's most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9; you can listen to 3 of the tracks here. (Sound intriguing? Check out the band's final Kickstarter campaign.) With Delicious it's likely you'll want seconds.

Groovin' in the Garden album coverNext on the grocery list is Groovin' in the Garden, from New York musician and storyteller Laurie McIntosh, aka Story Laurie. It's focuses much more on playing in the garden. So there are a fair number of traditional or well-known songs ("Shoofly Pie", "Five Little Monkeys", "Hokey Pokey") mixed into the originals from McIntosh. Her partner in crime for the album is New York state producer and musician Dean Jones from the aforementioned Dog on Fleas, who plays nineteen instruments, sings, and probably catered the recording sessions for all I know. It's a little more narrowly folk-focused than Delicious (and geared toward kids slightly younger, 3 through 7), but still features variety in its menu selections.

Grow album coverAndrew Queen represents Canada in this quartet of food-based albums with his latest album Grow. While the fine liner notes feature recipes and some songs -- "Macaroni and Cheese," the traditional "Fried Ham" -- fit very clearly into the food theme, others such as "The Witch's Brew" and "Worms" (no, it's not a paean to composting), seem to, er, strain the theme.  It shares the folk tradition with the other albums here, and musically, the use of instruments like fiddle, banjo, and a well-deployed tuba is reminiscent here.  (There's also a very communal sound to the vocals.)  Queen is more interested in telling stories in song than even Laurie, so if you're looking for something in that vein for kids ages 5 through 9 (and don't need a whole album of songs praising CSAs), this will fit the bill nicely.

Green & Growing album coverAnd for dessert, we have Shannon Wurst's Green & Growing. I've already praised the album packaging, but the songs inside are nice, too.  They are definitely on the preachier side of the food issue (with detours into energy-saving and recycling) -- so if you don't lessons mixed with your music, you're probably better off with the other albums (particularly the first two).  The object lessons aren't always dry, though -- the brief "Label Able Mable" is a tongue-twisting finger-picking ode while "Criss Cross Applesauce" is a soulful activity song.  (Plus, you have a dinosaur on "Recyclasaurus Rex Visit").  The album's best for kids ages 4 through 8, and you can listen to a few tracks here.  For a country-folk take on ecologically sound eating and living, Green & Growing will hit the sweet spot.

Itty-Bitty Review: Hot Dog! - Caspar Babypants

Hot Dog! album coverThere is no stopping Caspar Babypants.  He released my favorite kids album of 2011, Sing Along! (review), in August 2011, and his next album is due out in September 2012.

An album out once a year would reflect a pretty creative clip as it is, but that's too slow for Mr. Babypants -- AKA Chris Ballew -- as next week his new album Hot Dog! is released.  How's a new album every 6 months or so work for you?

It works for Ballew.  There's no sign that he's cranking out subpar music, trading on his good name for a quick buck or two -- just the opposite, in fact.  He's tapped into some super-creative vein, a modern-day folksinger amplified with a home studio with a whole host of instruments and mixing programs.  With Laurie Berkner taking multiple years between album releases, Ballew has taken over the mantle of Preschool-Songwriter-In-Chief.

Ballew's equally adept at reconfiguring traditional folksongs ("This Old Whale," a take on "This Old Man") and writing new ones ("All That I Have Got").  He'll mix in the occasional story song ("Eleanor the Elegant Elephant") and pure kid-friendly pop (the funky "Stompy the Bear" and the light-as-a-feather "I Don't Mind").  And while Ballew is responsible for most of the music here and offers a clean, minimal sound, he puts the occasional guest artist (Visqueen's Rachel Flotard, for example, on "More Moles") to good use.

The 49-minute album will be most appreciated by kids ages 1-6, but as with most Caspar Babypants albums, you'll probably listen unabashedly even if they're not around.  With Hot Dog!, Chris Ballew continues his streak of fabulous songwriting for kids.  I, for one, am glad I'll only need to wait another five months or so to hear more Caspar Babypants music.  Highly recommended.

Review Two-Fer: Putumayo's Instrumental Dreamland / Brazilian Playground

Instrumental Dreamland album coverYear in, year out, the Putumayo Kids offshoot of the main Putumayo label consistently releases a handful of well-curated albums of music from around the world and closer to home (if home happens to be North America).

From a reviewer's perspective, they almost do this too well -- if the quality varied more, it would be easier for us to note the outstanding ones, and ignore the misfires.  As it stands, they're inevitably all good, but it's hard for one to stand out and demand special attention.

I was reminded of this as I listened to the two most recent releases from the label.  There is nothing bad with Instrumental Dreamland, the latest in Putumayo Kids' "Dreamland" series.  You could give it to a parent at their wits' end in trying to comfort a wailing infant, and they would probably be grateful.  It's soothing, devoid of over-emoting vocalists, and peaceful -- a solid album of lullabies.  It is also somewhat superfluous amidst the sea of other lullabye albums available.  Because almost every song features a guitar (or at least some other guitar-like plucked instrument), there's a sameness to the songs that is frankly unusual for a Putumayo disk, which generally features more instrumental and stylistic diversity, even in its Dreamland series.  I even felt it was too Western-ized -- do we really need yet another cover of "What a Wonderful World?"  Kids of all ages (and their parents) will appreciate Instrumental Dreamland either at night or anytime a half-hour of quiet time is needed, but there's far less "need" for this album than most of Putumayo's disks.

Brazilian Playground album coverBrazilian Playground, on the other hand, is closer to a "typical" Putumayo Kids disk (if such a thing can be said to exist).  It features eleven songs from the Brazil's large and diverse musical heritage.  The album opener, "Alo... Alo," deftly mixes the traditional sound of the bossa nova with electronic beats, while the follow-up, Gui Tavares' "Pancada" has a mellow pop sound.  And Chico Cesar's "Mama Africa" sounds like it draws as much from reggae as anything from Brazil.  (My favorite track: Adriana Macel's bright, sun-dappled "Samba Dos Animais")

This is not an entirely new disk -- Putumayo released this originally in 2007.  For this re-release, Putumayo cut 5 tracks, added 3 new ones (Cesar's track, a jazzy "O Rio Tem Cachoiera" and a slow track at the end called "Anhanga), and re-ordered and remastered the rest. The three tracks are fine, but owners of the 2007 disk shouldn't feel the need to upgrade.  Kids ages 3 through 7 will be the ones most likely to dance along and enjoy Putumayo's typically solid work on the liner notes.  Brazilian Playground is Putumayo doing well at what it does well -- bringing a mostly unfamiliar sound to English-speaking America and presenting it in a sparkling light.  Recommended.