Chris Ballew, AKA Caspar Babypants is drinking from the same water his Seattle compatriots Recess Monkey do -- this fall he'll be releasing his third album in only about 24 months. Due out November 2, it's called This Is Fun! and he's recruited an intriguing set of musicians to join him on a few tracks. He's not quite in Frank Sinatra/Santana territory in terms of number of duets, but still...

Elizabeth Mitchell (who is an increasingly popular presence on other family musicians' albums) sings with Ballew on a song by him and his son called "Dark of Night." Charlie Hope sings with him on one of my favorite traditional kids' songs, "Mister Rabbit." And while This Is Fun! won't be the first kids album to feature a rendition of the Nirvana song "Sliver" ("Grandma take me home... grandma take me home...), it will be the first to feature a member of, well, Nirvana. Yes, Krist Novoselic will be playing bass on the track.

So, whoo! (And while you're at it, check out the new track "Happy Heart" at the Caspar Babypants website. Continued good stuff.)