Zooglobble

So last week's Billboard charts were pretty anemic, as Idolator pointed out that the 61,000 albums Alicia Keys sold of As I Am was the second-lowest chart topper in the SoundScan era. And once you go down the list, it's kinda shocking to find out that 27,000 albums can get you a Top 10 slot -- 27,000 albums used to get you a swift kick in the tail if you were the major-label A&R person for an album that debuted with those sales totals.

This week's charts were little better, with the Juno soundtrack selling 65,000 albums and the Hannah Montana 2 disk placing 10th again, this time selling 30,000 albums.

So what does this have to do with kids music, our little corner of the music world? Well, you're probably aware about this They Might Be Giants CD/DVD, Here Come the 123s, which is released next week? (That was sarcasm, of course you're aware.)

Well, I think Here Come the 123s could break the Billboard Top 10. Not the kid audio chart -- the whole enchilada.

Think about it -- its predecessor, Here Come the ABCs went gold (500,000 albums) in just 2 1/2 months. The album is, at the time of this writing, sitting at #21 in Amazon's Bestsellers list, right around Billboard Top 20 artists like Colbie Caillat, Daughtry, and Mary J. Blige. Their podcast for kids is a huge hit on iTunes. I mean, really, why couldn't they sell 35,000 - 40,000 copies the first week of release? Frankly, the only reason why I didn't ask why They Might Be Giants reach #1 is that that honor will likely go to Jack Johnson, who's got a new album coming out next week, too. (And who knows a little bit about kids music himself.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got an e-mail a week or two ago from an artist who asked me:

"Do you know you if applying for the Parents' Choice Awards is worth the application fee?"

Well, as someone who spends a whole bunch of time thinking about the relative merits of hundreds of CDs suitable for kids and families, I'm probably not the best person to ask that particular question. I don't need the Parents' Choice Awards. It's like asking the staff of Film Comment if launching an Oscar campaign is worthwhile.

But lots of artists (and authors and manufacturers) do submit their stuff, paying the fee ($225 for CDs) to submit their product for consideration, even though you might end up not getting any recognition at all. (See this post from Amy for a not entirely complimentary view on the matter.)

So I have two questions, one for the artists out there, the other for the parents, librarians, and general consumers (which might just include some of the artists).

Artists: So is the Parents' Choice entry fee worth it? Is there some other award or recognition that's particularly useful in terms of driving sales?

Parents/librarians/consumers: Do you care about what type of Parents' Choice Award a CD or artist has won, if any? Is there some other award or recognition that's a really good guide for you?

Now, I'm perfectly happy if the artists just want to respond anonymously -- I understand if you'd rather not have your name attached to any comments. And I guess in general, anybody who's reading (and commenting) here probably isn't a typical family music consumer, but I think the comments would be valuable for the artists reading.

Finally, I'm not attacking Parents' Choice here -- I'm honestly curious as to the responses I hope you'll provide. There's an artist (and probably many more) who needs you.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

With Dan Zanes visiting Phoenix for the first time on tour with Dan Zanes and Friends less than two weeks from now, I thought it'd be a good time to catch up with the singer. I've done both these things before (seeing him perform in Tucson in April 2007 and interviewing him back in summer 2006), but nothing ever stands still in Dan Zanes' world these days. So I called him up in Puerto Rico and chatted a bit.

Read on for his views on what makes a good Dan Zanes and Friends concert and what he does the first time he visits a city. (Phoenix-area readers, feel free to chime in with suggestions for what he should do here.) Find out about the upcoming album, ¡Nueva York!

And even if you've never even been to Phoenix, you'll want to read the end of the interview where I find out exactly what he was doing in Puerto Rico and what Paul McCartney has to do with it. Trust me, it's worth the time. (And thanks to Dan for making the time.)

Zooglobble: How would you describe a Dan Zanes and Friends concert?
Dan Zanes: As much like a little Grateful Dead show as possible. I try to make the theatre feel like your living room. There's lots of people singing along, lots of people on stage, and as much roaming around, laughing, and crying as possible. And then the whole dissolves into a whole dance party. I want everybody who comes to feel like we're all in this together.

What's your favorite part of the show?
Two things: first, how much people throw themselves into singing. Are they singing their heads off? Second, what's the level of the dancing? Are the aisles filled? How many people are upfront? How much chaos? How intense does it get?

I can't even remember the last show where people didn't dance. In the world of young people, it's so much how they relate... in a physical way.

Will this be your first time playing Phoenix and Flagstaff?
Yes.

What do you do the first time you visit a city?
Try and find good Mexican food. I look for music stores, I look for thrift shops. See if someone we like is playing in town.

Most of the band likes walking and exploring cities. Elena (Moon Park, fiddle and trumpet) has a graduate degree in urban policy.

How do you choose or find local musicians you have joining you?
Usually we start with the presenters, who tend to be tapped into the community. A lot of times I'll go online, research Latino/Mexican cultural centers or African drumming groups.

Often I'll look for groups working with young people. If kids are seeing other kids on stage, that's really meaningful. I think most of the groups we have are working with traditions that require creativity but also understanding of cultural roots. For me, that's very, very emotional to see. Young people will really keep the traditions going. It's an incredible feeling because there's so much inspiration for where the country's going.

You have a new album coming out soon, right?
Yes, ¡ Nueva York!, in April. We're celebrating the music all around us in New York City from the Spanish-speaking south. It's the sound of the band collaborating with Latino musicians in New York City, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina.

On a personal level, it's my pro-immigration record. What I haven't heard is much acknowledgment of how much the culture of the United States is revitalized by this culture. When I learned Spanish couple years ago... I spent time on the border last year with humanitarian groups, and I saw the whole zone on both sides of the border. I saw more than I imagined and it was heartbreaking. I want to be building bridges instead of the mean tone of conversation. [The album] is the sound of people getting together sharing stories and celebrating each's others culture. Everybody's welcome here -- let's get the party started.

I've heard a couple of the tracks, it seems like maybe it'll be geared for a little older audience. Will this be like Catch That Train or will it be a little more like Sea Music or Parades and Panoramas?
It really is the next family record. For a lot of people it might be hard to hear it that way. But for other people, it might be this fantastic thing that there's this family CD that's all in Spanish. There's not as much out there in terms of family music in Spanish. I think a lot of our existing fans will get on board. It'll be a fun year. We had an amazing time collaborating in New York -- the whhole thing has made me feel happy.

How much of the new album will you be playing at the show?
1 or 2 songs. Definitely at least one.

So what are you doing in Puerto Rico, anyway?
We're working on a new CD, actually. We got this crazy call from Paul McCartney's publishing company. He's got this company, MPL Music Publishing. They've got a fantastic collection -- Frank Loesser, Harold Arlen -- and they decided they wanted to actively work the catalog. The first call they made was to us to see if they wanted to make a family record of Broadway tunes. I said, "Are you sure you want us?" But then I explained what I thought we could do with them.

We love Sir Paul and they're a great group of people. It was going to be an interesting challenge to take these songs and make them sound like wild folk music. And since they're writing the check, we thought maybe we could make a wild adventure. This is my best band yet and I wanted to do something a little different, more of a musical collaboration with the group, where we went somewhere, worked hard for a week. So we're here in Puerto Rico. It's been great -- we've recorded about 18 songs. We'll go back to New York and finish it up.

I don't think I own a single soundtrack except for Fiddler on the Roof. It never connected to me. But these songs are incredible. We take 'em apart and work 'em up...

Thanks to Dan for the time... Phoenix-area readers: C'mon -- now you know what Dan and the band does on tour -- where should they visit in Phoenix?.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember last month when I told you that the Barenaked Ladies had a new kids' album coming out?

Well, more details have emerged, thanks to those hardworking folks at Billboard. They're reporting that the band will release Snacktime on their own Desperation Records on May 6.

Even though I don't have any ads here on the site, I'm going to gin up some tension and page views by making you click on the link below to see the track list. Hee hee.

Here's the track listing, and don't tell me "Canadian Snacktime Trilogy" isn't the funniest song title you've read in a looooong time:

Raisins
The Ninjas
Pollywog in a Bog
7,8,9
Food Party
Canadian Snacktime Trilogy: "Snacktime"/"Popcorn"/"Vegetable Town"
Drawing
Humongous Tree
Eraser
My Big Sister
Louis Loon
I Don't Like
Allergies
I Can Sing
What a Wild Tune
Here Come the Geese
Bad Day
Things
A Word for That
Curious
Wishing
Crazy ABC's

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York band Astrograss has, at least in its music for kids, always had an affinity for words -- after all, its first EP for kids (review here) set its bluegrass-y jazz (or jazzy bluegrass) to the lyrics of Shel Silverstein.

So it's no surprise that the first song the band's made available from their upcoming album, tentatively called Let Me Stay Up All Night continues with the fanciful wordplay. Called "There Their They're," it includes the zen-like phrase, "Someday, when I learn to spell 'spell'..." and is set to Astrograss' adventurous musical stylings.

Plenty of kids' bands say that they don't sound like anyone else -- Astrograss is one of the few that can back up that claim.

Listen to (and download) "There Their They're" here. Let Me Stay Up All Night is out March 9.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many months ago, I had this crazy idea that instead of giving away a copy of the Deedle Deedle Dees' excellent album Freedom in a Box (really, top 10 of 2007 for me!) to a reader, I'd give away a copy of the album to a school or library designated by a reader. All readers needed to do to enter was to suggest a historical figure the Dees could write a song about.

And then chief Dee songwriter Lloyd Miller had this crazier idea of actually writing the song.

Loyal reader Katy was randomly selected to win this contest, having suggested not one but four figures, including Amelia Earhart. And while I've heard the resulting song before, Bill has now sent it onto the internet, not once but twice, first on this weekend's Spare The Rock show and then at a benefit show later that day, from which the very brief clip below comes from.

It's lots of fun.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Elizabeth Mitchell made another appearance on NPR today, this time on their podcast/newscast/somethingcast The Bryant Park Project. The visit was ostensibly to plug the new CD from Mitchell and husband Daniel Littleton's band's Ida, Lovers Prayers. Oddly enough, though, most of the interview is spent talking about that kids career, rather than the new CD. Anyway, go here to listen to the interview and to hear Mitchell, Littleton, and their daughter Storey sing "Green, Green Rocky Road," which Mitchell says they "just recorded (with a VERY special guest) for [their] next children's record." It sounds suh-weet.

Update: Watch a video of the live recording here.

Update #2: Mitchell reports in her latest newsletter that their "VERY special guest" with whom they sing the song on the upcoming album is Dan Zanes. As I said, suh-weet.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boston-based singer-songwriter Ellis Paul has over a dozen CDs to his credit, and many accolades from fellow musicians. It is, therefore, a sign of the ascendance of kids and family music that after all that time this artist with such a career recently released his first album for kids and families, The Dragonfly Races.

Paul has written (or co-written) a number of strong folk and folk-rock tracks here, with themes that will be familiar to listeners of folk music -- peace, or speaking truth to power. Indeed, the leadoff track, "Wabi-Sabi," talks about some things, as they get older, having "wabi-sabi soul." That's a good thing for Paul, but more distinctively, when was the last time you heard a kids' music CD use the word "soul"? It's a sign that Paul is not about to dumb down his material just because the audience might skew a little younger. And in many places, that choice pays off in spades. The most rousing track on the CD, "Because It's There," is an inspirational song about doing dangerous things "Because it's there / Because we could / Because we should / Because we dare..." It's a fabulous folk-rock song. Songs that tackle slightly more kid-focused topics such as swinging on a swing (the mid-tempo "I Like to Swing"), or pinwheels (the lullaby titled "Pinwheel," natch) do so with fun wordplay and imaginative lyrics.

I should note that the album has a definite political undercurrent, and I'm not sure it always serves the album well. It wasn't the content itself -- if you're a fan of Dan Zanes and Pete Seeger (as I am), nothing here will offend you. But I was much more taken with the CD when Paul is telling stories or reeling out his views of life in smaller-scale ways. "Abiola," co-written with Antje Dukevot, is a fantastic song about a girl who ignores rumors spread by a king about a nearby monster to find out the truth. No small political allegory, there. Kids will enjoy the story and, the older ones at least, will understand the point. "The Million Chameleon March" and "Nine Months to Fix the World" have similar themes, but don't work nearly as well on this CD. Perhaps on another one, one targeted primarily at the parents...

Kids ages 5 through 10 will most appreciate (and understand) the themes tackled here. You can hear several of the songs from the 40-minute album at the album's Myspace page or clips from all the tracks at its CDBaby page. (I would also mention that the album packaging, with artwork from Paul, is one of the nicer kids' music album packages I've seen recently.)

In the end, I don't want to leave you with the impression that this is an overtly political album, because it's not. The Dragonfly Races is, however, political in that Ellis Paul has recorded songs that speak very clearly to the type of world he, as a parent of two young kids, would like his kids to grow up in. I suspect that most of you readers envision a similar type of world. These tuneful modern folk songs celebrate imagination and dedication -- we could use more of those. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yes, Putumayo Kids has a very full release schedule, with African Dreamland the next CD scheduled for release in March.

But it's their next CD that really has me jazzed.

In a recent interview Putumayo Kids director Mona Kayhan reveals what's to come:

"It's our first collaboration with Sesame Street — we're calling it Sesame Street Playground, and it has all their songs from all around the world. For example, you've got the "Rubber Ducky" song in Chinese or the opening song in Dutch."

Sound unheard, I wonder whether this is a better idea in concept than as an actual album, but if done properly, I think it'd be a pretty great global introduction for a lot of families.

Update: Apparently the Sesame Street CD's been pushed back to September. Just so you know...

Y'know, the obvious YouTube clip here is the Sesame Street theme song (seeing as Sesame Workshop's new video player doesn't have a clip available), but given the international flavor of this post, I thought I'd post Ozomatli's energetic reworking of the melody and the 2007 South by Southwest Festival.

Ozomatli - "Sesame Street Theme Song"

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't note every last reference to this website from other reaches of the web, but when an article nails a particular album so much more succinctly than I ever could, I feel the need to share (even beyond the kind words the author saves for this site). Discussing Buck Howdy's Chickens, author Sarah Bardeen writes:

"We're still lamenting the lack of fart jokes (a mainstay of previous albums) but Buck Howdy did so well with this album of chicken-fried kiddie country that we're prepared to forgive him."

Yes, I've now used the word "fart" on this website for the, er, second time.

Read the whole list here and listen to a playlist of about 2 dozen tracks from a whole bunch of CDs here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been awhile since I checked in with Toronto's Jerry Levitan, who's put out a couple kids music CDs as Sir Jerry (read my review of his latest CD here).

So I was a bit surprised to see him resurface... as an Oscar nominee. That's right -- Levitan produced I Met The Walrus, which animates a 5-minute excerpt of his 40-minute interview with John Lennon. I mean, I knew he was developing a movie on the experience, but it's not everyday that films based on 40 minutes of one's life get made, let alone nominated for Best Animated Short Film. So good for him.

(Hat tip: The Daily Swarm)

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kids' music videos don't have to be complicated or produced on a "Thriller"-like budget. In fact, this video, the first from The Hollow Trees' excellent new album Welcome to Nelsonville, is a little better because of the cut-and-paste nature of the video. It's not the best song from the album, but it's a cute little 2-minute video.

The Hollow Trees - "Animal Alphabet Song"

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another month, another breezy mix CD from Putumayo Kids. This time it's Hawaiian Playground, which will be released tomorrow, January 22nd.

As with other Putumayo Kids collections, the strength of this CD lies in its well-considered blend of modern and traditional sounds, silly and serious songs. I'm not sure too many other collections of Hawaiian music would have the nerve to kick things off with a song from a New York City band, but the Moonlighters play expert Hawaiian steel guitar music, and their jazzy cover of Sam Koki's "Right On" is lots of fun. Joe McDermott's well-produced Hawaiian pastiche "Come to Hawaii" is the most accessible song for kids here, all about using one's imagination about visiting the far-off state. The other artists here are from the islands, and the songs show how diverse the state's musical culture has become. With a number of traditional-sounding albums in my own collection, I preferred the more traditional sounds of Raiatea's "Po La'ila'i" or Keali'i Reichel's "Toad Song." But Hawaiian music today also includes styles such as "Jawaiian" (a mixture of traditional Hawaiian music and Jamaican reggae, as heard on Robi Kahakalau's "Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu").

The collection is typically all-ages, but I think kids ages 3 through 7 might enjoy talking about Hawaii via these songs (and liner notes) the most. You can hear samples of the half-hour disk at most internet shops. Hawaiian Playground isn't an introduction to the history of Hawaiian music; it is, for the most part, a sampling of what Hawaiian kids and families might listen to today. For those families looking for a brief audio vacation to the islands, this album will be the ticket. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, not songs by dinosaurs -- you know me better than that -- songs about dinosaurs.

My latest article for Education.com, Crazy for Dinosaurs? 13 Songs to Try Now, is up.

Note: this was written a long time ago, otherwise I might have added song #14.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is not my favorite song on They Might Be Giants' Here Come the 123s CD, but it might just be the most-beautiful video on They Might Be Giants' Here Come the 123s DVD. Yes, it's the "next installment":

Tell me that's not an awesome picture book come to life.

Plus an additional video ("Letter Shapes") and an awesomely dorky-but-tuneful theme song for the podcast.

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

While we wait for the next installment of They Might Be Giants' Podcast for Kids (did you catch last week's gorgeously animated ballad "Even Numbers," along with "Letter Shapes" from Here Come the ABCs and the John and John finger puppets singing a silly song of their own?), how about listening to a song the old-fashioned way?

You know, on Myspace?

Catch TMBG's stream of the bright, South American-inflected "Zeroes" from Here Come the 123s here. E eats everything, so perhaps as punishment they've taken it out of the title of the song on the Myspace page.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know I'm a little late on this, but wanted to point out that the fabulous Lunch Money now has ("have"? grammar people, help me out here) their own Myspace page. (About time!)

Even better, it's streaming a new recording of a track intended to appear on their next album. "Tiny Dinosaurs" encourages roaring, always a fun thing for kids to do. Who knew there was a dinosaur called "microceratops?" (Go here to see them performing this song live this past summer.)

Oh, and go ahead and listen to "Silly Reflection" and "Yes We Have Rhythm" from their debut CD at the Myspace page. You know you want to.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the best parts of Sara Hickman's performance at the Austin Kiddie Limits Festival last September was her performance of "Iolana," from her album Big Kid (that's the song I made my Bob Dylan reference for). Well, the fine folks at DadLabs got Sara to visit them in their studio and give them another performance.

(Warning: I think I've skipped past some of the saltier language in the first half of the video -- yes, a post with kids' songs that has salty language, great -- but in case I'm still low-tech here, the song starts about 4:30 into the video.)

Between this and part 1 of the interview, Hickman sounds like she'd be a heckuva fun person to have a beer with. (Note: the song in this first part is hysterical, but definitely not for the kiddos.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I should have posted this before now, but it's been a busy three days 'round these parts. In any case, I wanted to note news from the kidstuneoblogosphere (yeah, I got a feeling that's the first and last time I'll be using that phrase).

First, Warren Truitt from the excellent Children's Music That Rocks website announced that he was going on hiatus due to his library's building being sold and the library being kicked out. "I'll be back...," he promises, and that's a good thing.

Also, Clea Hantman, who spun both kids music and music that kids just dug at (sm)all ages until deciding to focus once more on writing actual books than just mp3 posts, just released her latest book, 30 Days To Getting Over That Dork You Used To Call Your Boyfriend. Clea says, "it is the perfect gift for that 12-47 year old in your life who needs some perking up, some life lessons, some joy. It's filled with activities, nuggets of inspiration and of course, bitchin' soundtrack suggestions!" You can buy it in your friendly neighborhood bookstore or here.

And, thankfully, there's another mp3 blog to go with it -- Getting Over the Dork. Great break-up tunes. Hopefully you don't need it right now, but you never know...

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You want to know why I keep posting these videos from They Might Be Giants' Podcast for Kids? It's because they're all awesome.

And if you're afraid that somehow they're just posting the only good videos from Here Come the 123s... they're not.

They Might Be Giants - "The Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go To Work)"

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm an occasional XM Kids listener. I know I'm not the only one, so I know I'm not the only one who knows that this song has been getting increasing play on the playlist. It's not kids music, and, heck, since it was recorded in about 1950, it's older not only than the kids listening, but probably everybody listening.

If this song doesn't put a smile on your face, then your candidate probably placed behind a write-in candidate in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Eileen Barton - "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"

The video is actually still pictures, so I'd just play the thing and work on something else. Only the first 2:45 of the clip is the Eileen Barton song, but the rest is a couple of Weavers songs, including "Goodnight Irene," so you can get a little Pete Seeger in there, too.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I've got a copy of Nettwerk's fine For The Kids Three! CD (review) to give away, courtesy of Nettwerk. There's just one catch -- I'm not giving it away here.

Instead, go here and enter. In order to comment you'll need to sign up with Offsprung, but I promise promise promise, we're a very non-evil organization, even more (or less) so than Google. And we're tons of fun, too.

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's right, Frances England has announced an album title -- Family Tree -- and a release date -- spring 2008 -- for her 2nd CD. OK, "spring 2008" isn't really a release date (release season, perhaps?), but I know Frances has been working on the album for a while now, and to see her publicly commit to a title and release timeframe makes me happy.

I think artists in this genre tend to be more willing to have deadlines slip if only because many of them, unsurprisingly, have young kids. I'll be interested to hear what subjects England, whose own family tree is larger than when she released Fascinating Creatures, tackles now...

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Despite the fact that jazz is one of the great American art forms, its current popularity among the population is not exactly mass-market. As a result, I'm hesitant to call Let's Go Everywhere, the first kids music CD from the popular modern jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood, a good kids' jazz CD. Because if I did so, I'm afraid that a lot of people that would otherwise enjoy the CD would just tune me out.

Take the insanely catchy title track, which, unlike MMW's previous discography, features vocals (by Tim Ingham) and lyrics that beg for singalongs. The track, which echoes Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere," features throwaway lines like "Tijuana, Grand Bahama, don't forget to call your mama." It's propulsive, hand-clappy, and a poppy hit -- it certainly won't sound like jazz to most people. Or one of the better songs begging for kid-interaction I've heard, "Where's the Music?," a funky jam that breaks down every now and then only to be started up by gleeful kids begging, nay, shouting, "Where's the music?!?"

That's not all. "Pat a Cake," a punky rap featuring a number of kids -- a quick track which, judging by the number of e-mails about it I received after my recent NPR chat, will be heard in a lot of households this spring. John Lurie's spoken-word piece "The Squalb" features gentle musical accompaniment and manages to be mysterious and reassuring all at once -- if you need 3 minutes and 17 seconds of silence via rapt attention in the car, play this track.

I don't mean to give the tracks which do sound more jazzy short shrift, because those are excellent, too. "The Cat Creeps" has a funky, slinky bass line and tinkly piano that absolutely sounds like a cat creeping. "Let's Go" sounds like it could've been recorded 45 years ago in some West Coast studio (except for the kids occasionally shouting "Let's go!" in the background). And for those of you looking for a little deconstruction of classic tunes, "Old Paint" (on which the trio channels the Vince Guaraldi Trio) and a nearly unrecognizable (but fun in its own way) "All Around the Kitchen" will fit the bill.

Out tomorrow, the 40-minute album will appeal mostly to kids ages 4 through 9, but if you're not listening to this and having fun, I don't know what to say. You can listen to four tracks at the album's Myspace page and a couple here.

In the liner notes, both the band and Tim Ingham sound almost surprised at how well the album turned out. The band says "the best part was collaborating, improvising and making new friends. Who this was going to be one of our favorite records." Mine too. That sense of fun and wonder comes through loud and clear on every track. So rather than calling Let's Go Everywhere a good kids' jazz CD, let's call it what it really is -- a great CD. Period. Saying this when the year is barely a week old sounds like damning with faint praise, but it's true -- Let's Go Everywhere is the first great kids' CD of 2008. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

When you release as many albums on a regular basis as Putumayo Kids does, it makes it hard for the reviewer to come up with new things to say about the CDs. Celtic Dreamland, released in November 2007, continues Putumayo's run of artfully-produced disks. It's the third in its "Dreamland" series, and even the 4-year-old in your family could figure out that it's an album designed for sleepy-time. You may want to explain to your kids how Celtic music -- typically music with Irish or Scottish lineage -- is distinguished from other musical styles, but Putumayo's typically descriptive liner notes may help in that regard.

The music is definitely relaxing, although it may be a bit too sunny in parts for it to be a perfect lullaby album. (I actuallly prefer Ellipsis Arts' collections when it comes to pure lullaby CDs.) There are a number of traditional (Celtic) lullabies here, but as is the case with many Putumayo disks, the foreign language (in this case, Gaelic) in which a number of the songs are sung helps mask those cases where the song isn't really a lullaby. If I had to pick a favorite (or most lullaby-ish) song in the collection, it'd be Susan McKeown's rendition of the traditional Irish lullaby "A Phluirin Mhilis," McKeown's voice and acoustic guitar a lovely combination. (The last 3 tracks, led off by McKeown, are probably the best here.)

As a putative lullaby album, I'd put the age range here at ages 0 through 5, though as with most Putumayo Kids disks, there really isn't an age range. You can hear samples of the 32-minute disk at the album's webpage. Putumayo's still working its way toward an excellent album of pure lullabies, but Celtic Dreamland is a good collection that serves its purpose as a mellow-time introduction to the genre of Celtic music. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The weeks of Christmas and New Year's are typically slow, news-wise, but a couple weeks ago, Nick Jr. announced that it was picking up Yo Gabba Gabba! for a second season. Production on 20 more shows starts in spring 2008.

I've been kinda torn about the show. On one hand, the collection of musical acts and guest stars has been pretty diverse. On the other hand, I can't help but think that without those guests and Mark Mothersbaugh's doodles, some people would be slamming the show for being super-obvious stuff for toddlers. I mean, really, "Party in my Tummy?" If it was anybody besides members of the Aquabats singing that, it'd probably be run out of cool town on a rail. Even though it's probably pretty age-appropriate.

So are you happy that, say, Low recorded a song and did a music video for them?

[Note: decent song, but that "Family Tree" is awfully undiverse for the 21st century, no? Doesn't look quite like mine...]

Or do you say, man, the Pointer Sisters recorded a song for Sesame Street 30 years ago and it was way cool.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laurie Berkner might just be the biggest superstar in kids' music. Plenty of artists can claim the hipster cred, a number of artists (or at least characters) certainly have the merchandising going on, but Berkner's the closest thing to a superstar (who's a real person) the genre has.

Which explains why I still feel the need to review a CD of hers that is, oh, 9 years old at this point. Victor Vito, Berkner's third album, was released in 1999, just about the time that the genre really started to come back. For some reason, it never became a staple in our household the way her first two CDs did, and I as I complete my Laurie Berkner review work here (for the time being), I went back to see if I could figure out why.

It's certainly not because there aren't good songs here. The title track is a stone-cold, know-it-from-the-first-spin classic. An earwormy tune, silly (but understandable) rhymes, it's one of those songs that you could retire happy knowing you just wrote that one song. But it's joined by a number of other great originals -- the simply lullaby "Moon Moon Moon," the stomp-encouraging "Boots," the quietly hysterical "The Goldfish," with its classic line, "Wait a minute, we're FISH!" Berkner also focuses somewhat on kids' feelings, as on "The Story of My Feelings" (natch) and "I'm Not Perfect." It's not easy to write songs like that which take a necessarily direct approach for preschoolers and have it not sound incredibly dull to adults, but Berkner succeeds. And Berkner's renditions of traditional songs such as "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" and "Zodiac" -- where the fat man is not from Calgary as Raffi suggested long ago, but from Tennessee -- show off her fine voice and simple but organic musical arrangements. (This may be the album that most closely shows off her debt to Raffi's path -- she is indeed a worthy successor to his mantle.)

If there's a downside to the album, is that it's too long. The album is exactly 60 minutes long, and it seems about twice as long as it needs to be. There are two pretty good 30-minute CDs (or one incredible one and one decent one) to be found here, but at an hour, there just aren't quite enough great songs or musical variety to sustain interest over the entire time. I also don't think it's quite as goofy as her first two CDs, which was one thing I always appreciated about them, but that's probably a personal taste thing.

As with Berkner's other albums, this one is targeted at kids ages 2 through 6. Samples of the tracks are all over the web. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of families have made Victor Vito a common part of their family's musical rotation. And while our family might not be among those, I'd be a fool not to recognize how many excellent songs can be found here. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've said before (though maybe not to any of you) that if you miss hearing the power-pop that saturated the airwaves in the early '90s, then kids' music might just be your best option. There are few better at that particular subgenre than the Jim Dague and the rest of his compatriots in ScribbleMonster.

They've got a new album, Songs With No Character, coming out this spring, and they've just added a couple songs from the album available for downloading and listening on their Myspace page. Both tracks have been floating around for awhile now. "Spare the Rock Spoil the Child" was, as you might expect, originally crafted for the Spare the Rock radio show and rocks mightily. "The Song of LIFE" has been around in a live version since spring 2007, but now is up in full studio glory. It's actually a (comparatively) mellow track, and really as geared toward the parents as the kids, but it's sweet in its own way. It's reminiscent of one of the great masters of power-pop, Fountains of Wayne, in their more country-ish moments (think "Valley Winter Song," for example).

And, hey, even if you're not sure about those songs, go to the Myspace page and listen to "I Wish I Lived in Michigan," "The Fur Trade," and "Chocolate Milk" along with 'em. It's 10 or so minutes of great music.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)