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I think the world of Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees for many reasons. Some of them are obvious -- catchy tunes, they RAWK -- and some are less so. One of those "less-so" reasons is that the band is so clearly following their muse, writing and playing songs that interest them.

I mean, I can't think of any other kids musician or band who would record a song about, say, Eleanor Roosevelt, as the Dees have done on their latest album American History + Rock 'N' Roll = Deedle Deedle Dees. But there it is, a dreamy song about Eleanor Roosevelt, getting advice about what to do as she was becoming First Lady -- it's a nice character sketch.

"Nice character sketch" is a good description for the Dees' history-based music -- rather than trying to sing about the big, important historical events, they're more apt to sing about the smaller historical moments or non-Presidents -- the saucy, horn-assisted strut of "Bring 'Em In" (a possibly true story about the pitcher Satchel Paige) or the party of "Tres Muralistas" (about the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and David Siqueiros). And when they do hit the people you're more likely to read about in a fifth grade history book, it's more about just trying to give the audience a little hook to remember the person by; in "Tub-Tub-Ma-Ma-Ga-Ga," it's remembering that Harriet Tubman led people by walking, rather than trying to explain (in song) what the Underground Railroad was.

Musically, the album moves from shuffling rock ("Little Red Airplane") to horn-aided Mexican-tinged folk ("Tres Muralistas") to punk ("Put on the Dress," based on a true story of -- and featuring on the record -- Bill Childs). The musicianship is solid throughout and I especially enjoyed some of instrumental flourishes (the guitar on "John Muir" or the piano on "Si Se Puede!")

Though the Dees have songs for younger kids (primarily from chief Dee songwriter Lloyd Miller/Ulysses Dee), this album is entirely history-based. As a result, while younger kids will probably enjoy dancing around to the music, kids ages 7 and up will most appreciate the songs and stories told here. You can hear some samples here and I highly recommend the song notes the band's been posting here.

These are not the catchy, big-picture pop tunes of Schoolhouse Rock; instead, this album is more interested in the nooks and crannies of history. I hope the Dees continue to follow their personal muses -- their music isn't necessarily for every listener, but it's vibrant. The fact that it's an excellent historical survey is just a bonus. Definitely recommended.

[Disclosure notice: The band provided a copy for possible review.]

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We are not "gamers" by any stretch of the imagination -- somehow, being the sole kid without an Atari 2600 on my block growing up did not lead me to overcompensate by buying every single gaming console ever made.

So when I was offered a copy of Lego Rock Band for Wii for possible review (it came out right around Thanksgiving), my first task was to, well, find a Wii. Which probably gives you a pretty good indication of my gaming experience. (Previous total Wii experience = about 1 hour.) But, having secured a Wii and assorted equipment for a couple hours and my friend Larry (along with his kid) to enjoy the game with, I dove right in.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the whole Rock Band concept, in brief it lets players "play" console instruments (e.g., guitar, bass, drums) and/or sing-along karaoke-style along with popular songs in front of animated singers. The more accurate your "playing" (i.e., press the correct colored button at the proper time) is on these fake, simplified instruments (or the closer your vocals are to actual notes), the higher your score. Basically, it's karaoke without the crowds and with points.

And, in this, the latest version of the Rock Band concept, animated Lego characters.

Continue reading "Video Game Review: Lego Rock Band (Wii)" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's so much holiday music in the kids music genre that just listening to it all this year was a daunting task. I've got eight albums that grabbed my attention in one way or another; one of them is bound to please your family (unless you're looking for a solstice, Kwanzaa, or Festivus album).

Let's start out with my 3 favorite albums of this particular season...

The most ambitious kids music holiday album of the year comes courtesy of The Hipwaders, whose A Kindie Christmas isn't so much an album of Christmas music as much as it is a Christmas concept album, covering the emotions and anticipation of the season. It's a collection of all-original tunes, done in the Hipwaders power-pop/rock style. "It's Wintertime" is a great dance tune, and "Santa's Train" sounds like an outtake to a Johnny Cash Christmas album, but my favorite track here, maybe of the season, is "There's Too Much Good," a very affirming sentiment at this time of year.

To say that the collaboration of Danny Adlerman, Kevin Kameraad, and Yosi finally bridges the divide between Christian and Jewish holiday traditions makes ...And a Happy New Year sound a lot duller than it really is. In reality, the three kids rockers mostly take turns in providing songs, alternately deeply sincere ("Starlight" and "Two Sets of Footprints") and goofy (the "12 Days of Christmas" reworking "A Pickle for my Christmas Tree" and a cover of Tom Lehrer's "I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica"). Featuring the season's hardest-rocking tune, the trio's cover of "Frosty the Snowman," it's an interfaith collection worth exploring regardless of whether you light menorah or advent candles.

Robert Burke Warren, AKA Uncle Rock, spent time in London's West End performing a Broadway show but also rocked in far earthier terms. On Express Your Elf, Warren taps into both of those performing personalities. On the one hand, he offers a crooning take on "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and a peaceful "My Favorite Things" (a perfect holiday song, when you think about it). Those tracks share space with the rootsy original long-lost nugget "Santa's Coming in a Whirlybird" and a cover of "Feliz Navidad" that neatly weaves "La Bamba" into the mix. It's a tough (and close) call, but it's my favorite kids music holiday disk of the year.

There are others for your listening pleasure. Read on for more...

Continue reading "A Sleigh-Load of Christmas/Holiday CD Reviews" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Let's stop for a moment to appreciate Dan Zanes' output over the past ten years -- 10 albums, 2 DVDs, a couple books, a ukulele, a Grammy, and the eternal gratitude of tens of thousands of families (not to mention dozens of musicians and reporters, who could always count on him for advice or a good quote). That's right -- in 1999, only a few folks around New York City had heard Zanes' "age-desegregated" music passed around on a home-recorded tape, but ten years later, his music's been heard Australia, the Middle East, off-Broadway, and, no doubt, a number of Starbucks locations.

Well, now with 76 Trombones, his tenth album for families, he's finally made it to Broadway, covering a wide variety of Broadway tunes owned by Sir Paul McCartney's music publishing company. He and his friends (both his regular band and a bunch of Broadway stars such as Carol Channing, Matthew Broderick, and Brian Stokes Mitchell) have given melodies from the Great White Way the house party treatment, sounding less like a formal musical and more like a local parade (a noun that Zanes himself uses to describe the album in the liner notes).

A key to any successful cover album is to find a kernel of truth in the song that the artist can then apply to their own style. Several songs here achieve that success -- the soulful rock of "I Won't Grow Up" from Annie Peter Pan, the parade of the title track (from The Music Man), or the jubilantly defiant "I Am What I Am" from La Cage aux Folles. And at other points, Zanes doesn't mess much with what's worked in the past, such as giving Frank Loesser's beautiful "The Inch Worm" a relatively untouched treatment.

It's all here, the elements from every other fine Dan Zanes album -- the guest stars in abundance, the song in Spanish (Zanes' and Sonia de los Santos' bilingual take on "Tomorrow" from Annie), the skit and duet with Father Goose. And, yet, the album didn't move me like Zanes' other albums have. I've been thinking about why for a long time, and I'm not sure I have a great answer. Some songs don't work great (the duet on "Tomorrow," Peter Pan's "I'm Flying"), and perhaps it's because although Zanes has some great singers with him, and while Zanes has many strengths as a performer, his vocals don't necessarily carry songs which were written to be sung by singers whose voices can be belted across a stage.

The best answer I could come up with relates to Zanes' own career and approach. When he released Sea Music and his Carl Sandburg cover album, those thematically and stylistically focused albums were interspersed between his five more standard "family" albums which culminated in the Grammy-winning Catch That Train!, which has to be on the short list for best kids music album of the decade. His concerts have been giant parties, melding cultures (musical and otherwise) and building communities. But his past three albums have been more narrowly focused -- a Spanish-language disk, a disk of ecunmenical religious tunes, and now this one. None of them have been bad, they're all worth just checking out. But it's been more than 3 1/2 years since the release of Catch That Train!, and I miss that potpourri.

Like with all Zanes disks, the idea of an age range is a little silly, but I think kids ages 5 and up will most appreciate the themes and lyrical sophistication here. You can hear the title track here or samples at all your favorite digital e-tailers.

I don't blame Dan Zanes for recording the album -- if Sir Paul McCartney's people asked me to narrate the phone book for an audiobook, it'd take me about 2 seconds before grabbing for the Yellow Pages. And I'm afraid that the tone of this review is more negative than the album merits, because it's filled with a number of really good songs, few duds, and is still better than 90% of the music being made for families today. I'm just used to Dan Zanes being better than 98% of the music being made for families today. 76 Trombones is recommended, though, and I expect Zanes' second decade recording music for families to be as joyful as the first.

Disclosure: Dan Zanes' Festival Five Records provided me with a copy of the album for possible review.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Is it poetry set to music, or music made of poetry? That's the question posed by these two albums.

The first, Underwater Land, consists of poems set to music written by the well-known poet and occasional songwriter Shel Silverstein. Originally released in 2002 and re-released this fall, the nautically-themed music was recorded in 1997 by Silverstein's friend Pat Dailey, with Silverstein making vocal appearances on a few tracks. The tracks here are a mix of poems that seem to have been written without music particularly in mind, along with some songs that seem to be more like songs. The title track has enough fish-related puns to last a good year, while "Fish Guts" (which at 4 minutes long is about twice as long as it needs to be) tackles the ickier side of eating fish. "Cuttlefish" is a cute little folk song, too. But a lot of the songs are basically spoken-word poems with minimal musical accompaniment.

The album comes with some nice Silverstein illustrations, and the subject matter itself includes the typical Silverstein mixture of comforting jokes and more upfront discussions of danger and mortality than you'd see in a lot of kids material. That's not a bad thing -- it's one of the reasons why I think Silverstein resonates with a lot of kids, for dealing in material that they didn't ordinarily read. (Anyway, it's probably best for kids ages 5 and up.) The 46-minute album is available here, along with sound clips from some of the tracks. The music isn't the big selling point here; I'd recommend the album for families who are fans of Silverstein's work, and poetry fans in general.

The debut album from Twin Cities band Clementown, Polkabats and Octopus Slacks - The Music, takes a slightly different approach to poetry. They used a couple books of poetry from the author/illustrator Calef Brown (the book giving the album its title and its sequel Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers) and crafted 28 distinct songs for its 28 distinct poems. (The somewhat askew viewpoints of the poems' subjects owe a small debt in some way to Silverstein.) These aren't long poems and the band doesn't attempt to craft choruses or extend the text in anyway, so the songs are rarely more than 2 minutes long. As a result, you're forced to move onto the next song -- like "Kansas City Octopus" 1 minute and 39 seconds into the funky groove or the indie-pop-tastic "Gum Bubble Monday" just 83 seconds into the song -- no matter how much you're enjoying it. It's like listening to a poetry-centric version of TMBG's Dial-A-Song service. I also dug the southern rock of "The Bathtub Driver" and the slow, off-kilter sound of "Ed," among other tracks.

What's most impressive about the set of songs is how much attention is paid to painting a picture with the songs. Clementown's Kate Lynch and Chris Beaty work to create distinct worlds for each of the songs -- the funkiness of "Funky Snowman," the slightly seedy sound of "Fleakeepers," the Chris-Isaak-on-kids-music sound of "Desert Surfer" -- and for the most part they succeed in creating those worlds.

The songs will be of most interest to kids ages 4 through 9. You can listen to several tracks from the 46-minute album at the band's Myspace page or watch some videos at its main page (be sure to check out the video page as well). You can also purchase the disk (in mp3 format and listen to more clips at the album's CDBaby page.) I'd also note that while you can enjoy the album without the two books which inspired the band, the books are worth reading both for the text and Brown's vivid drawings. (So, hey, Houghton Mifflin, get a 2-book/CD combo out pronto, OK?) In any case, these, too, are a fun set of poems and a unique set of songs that will entertain quite a few families regardless of their poetry proficiency. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Although the Baltimore band Milkshake has always claimed to have a bit of an edge, I've never really heard it in their music. Maybe their music, shiny guitars and all, retained a bit of alternative rock, but their lyrics have been safe, safe, safe. Which is fine for some families, but I know others would find the band too sentimental for their tastes.

With that context, when I say that on their latest album Great Day the band roughs things up a bit, I mean that as a compliment. Some of the roughing up comes courtesy of the sound. It's still got a gleaming pop sound, but there's more depth this go-round. From the funky piano on "Statue of Me" to Cathy Fink guesting on banjo on "When I'm Old" (Marcy Marxer pops up on "Travel Far") to the "Day in the Life"-aping title track which ends the disk and everywhere in better, there's a bit of scruffiness to the sound and a little more stylistic diversity. Is that the doing of producer Tor Hyams? Who knows, but the band's got six members, and they're beginning to use that to their advantage.

More significantly, I think, the band's now tackling some more difficult territory. The album's best track, "Enemies," one of my favorite kids songs of the year, captures the weird feeling of occasionally getting really mad at your best friend while sounding a bit like a cover of some lost kids song from the Police. "Happy Place" talks about days that are anything but happy. There are still points where I think Milkshake retreats to safety lyrically ("Happy Place" includes the couplet "Reach out and hit somebody / But I can't cause that would be naughty") and your opinion (and that of your kids) will depend on whether you (and they) find comfort in that safety or dismiss it. But I'm glad that Lisa Mathews (who writes or co-writes every song here) is willing to explore emotions and situations that kids who might actually be in double-digits would find familiar.

The 37-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10. You can hear 5 of the songs (including "Happy Place" and "Enemies") here. Great Day has some of the band's strongest songwriting and the band sounds better than ever. While I think some families may still find the band too earnest, I think this album shrinks that population considerably. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've been watching a lot of kids music DVDs lately, and I've found that my appreciation of the individual DVDs is roughly commensurate with my appreciation of the artist. Or, to be all math-like, E(d) = E(a) * PQ. (Enjoyment of DVD equals enjoyment of artist multiplied by the production quality of the DVD.)

So it's probably a safe assumption that I'll enjoy a Dan Zanes DVD, not just because it's, well, Dan Zanes, but also because he has the friends (and, frankly, the resources) to make sure it's a high-quality product. Unsurprisingly, then, I'm here to tell you that I like The Fine Friends Are Here, the brand new DVD from Dan Zanes and Friends.

We can start out with the Dan Zanes portion of the equation. Zanes puts together a fairly eclectic setlist for the live show recorded at Brooklyn's Jalopy Theatre, drawing from all across his decades' worth of family music, playing both popular and more unfamiliar songs. There's a fair number of tunes from CDs released after the All Around the Kitchen DVD was released in 2005, but old chestnuts (but live staples) like "Water for the Elephants" and "Jump Up" get their turn, too.

I will confess to missing Zanes' old band -- I still love hearing Barbara Brousal's and Cynthia Hopkins' voices on record. Father Goose brought a jolt to the stage whenever he went on. But that's a personal thing, I suppose, and there's no doubt his current band provides a much broader sound on stage than the old band did. Violin, harmonica, horns -- Zanes is able to energize old favorites without removing their essential core. (Colin Brooks, the only non-DZ holdover, continues to provide excellent percussive support.) "Cape Cod Girls," horns and all, is just about the rockingest track Zanes has ever recorded for families. "Colas" has even more propulsive energy than on record. (You may even prefer to get the album in mp3 rather than video format -- a possibility at Amazon and iTunes.)

As for the production quality, it, too, is pretty high. Zanes got a couple guest artists (Caridad de la Luz AKA La Bruja, who sings, and David Alan AKA Cyclone, who dances) to join in and the concert features some nifty art design (the world's largest papier mache canary's head, for example). Throw in some costumes for the kids and adults to try on midway through the show, and while I'm not sure I completely felt the party watching at home, it does make for something more intriguing than a standard 3-camera concert video. The choice to mix the videos for "Pollito Chicken," "Wonder Wheel," and (my personal favorite) "Night Owl" in between the concert songs is a wise one, as it further mixes it up.

As for the bonus audio CD, I think it'll be a popular addition for listeners, even though it's essentially Dan Zanes sans Friends. Zanes' duet with his daughter Anna on the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" is sweet, and the rest of the songs ("Hush, Little Baby," "The Bells of Ireland," "Goodnight, Goodnight," or, on an Amazon mp3 exclusive "Summer Wind") are mellow tracks, mostly Zanes unaccompanied. I particularly liked "Hush, Little Baby," which sounds like Zanes channeling John Prine.

As with just about all Dan Zanes albums, this one, too, is essentially all-ages. (OK, 3 on up.) You can listen to samples at the usual places.

Dan Zanes can buy The Fine Friends Are Here assured in the fact that it delivers in conveying not a small amount of the energy of his live show with fine audio and video. In both song performance and presentation, it's a very good document of exactly why Zanes has been winning friends across the country and world with his all ages brand of music for more than a decade. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A small delight.

I've been a big fan of Rhode Island storyteller and songwriter Keith Munslow for awhile now. His last album of songs, Accidentally (on purpose) (review) was a well-crafted collection of children's pop, and his Dressed Up for the Party -- two stories, two songs -- is a popular request in our house. His new album Homemade Fun is even better. As you might expect from a storyteller and improv performer, Munslow spends a lot of time thinking about kids' lives and the importance of imagination in those lives. So on the funky horn-tinged "Every Day Is A Summer Day," he sings about picturing summer in the midst of winter (and sounds like a bit like Stan Ridgway on "Mexican Radio"). The silly "The Leftovers" describes an army of left-too-much-overs marching through the house. And on the '80s pop homage "Watchin' All the Cars Go By," the narrator sees freeway traffic and sings "Every one has a place to be / every one has a story for me / They just keep comin' / and I wonder why..."

The humor in a lot of the songs is definitely not subtle (you neither expect nor receive any subtlety on a song title "Code Id By Doze"), which is fine -- kids'll eat it up. But parents (and kids paying close attention) will probably howl most at the denouement of "Dust Bunny," about a kid who chooses a dust bunny to be his pet. And the near-instrumental surf-rock of "Spork," featuring awesome tenor saxophone work by Gordon Beadle, is the best dance song of the year.

The 34-minute album is most likely going to be appreciated by kids ages 5 through 9. You can read lyrics to the album and hear a few samples here. Homemade Fun is a sweet nugget of an album and what a lot of kids' music should be -- great music well-played and with lyrics that touch upon kids' experiences. Parents will like; kids will love. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Where would kids music be without Belinda Miller and Hova Najarian, the hosts of the Greasy Kid Stuff radio show? Oh, sure, the greater arc of kids music would be unchanged -- Laurie Berkner, Ralph's World, Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes -- those folks would still be popular had Greasy Kid Stuff not aired starting in 1995. Belinda and Hova were never against mainstream "kids music" -- they just didn't have as much interest in it. By not making those artists the focus of their show, what they've done is expand (or re-expand) the notion of what music for kids might mean.

Greasy Kid Stuff 3: Even More Songs From Inside the Radio, just like its predecessor volumes 1 and 2 (review here) successfully mixes the rock with the silly, the (semi-)famous with the obscure, and produces another near-perfect mixtape. Just take the first three songs -- a theme song from fans They Might Be Giants to the incredible (and incredibly wordy) track from the late Logan Whitehurst "Happy Noodle vs. Sad Noodle" to Bubble's slightly off-kilter cover of "Pure Imagination." And so on. I hesitate to recommend specific songs because then you'll just go and download the best ones, and to appreciate what they're doing here you should listen to the whole thing. Really, I never would have thought that a cover (with new lyrics) of Burt Bacharach's theme for The Blob would make a good kids song, and I would've been totally wrong, because Guy Klucevsek's accordion-fueled version is perfect.

Kids ages 4 through 10 (and really, a lot older) will appreciate the songs here. You can listen to samples from the 32-minute album here. If anything has changed in the five years since the last compilation came out it's that a lot more people are making more idiosyncratic kids music. So while you have a repeat appearance from TMBG, you also have Captain Bogg & Salty and Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke making appearances as do John Upchurch and Mark Greenberg, creators of the great John and Mark's Children's Album, albeit in their format guise as members of The Coctails. If Belinda and Hova are playing more "kids music" on their radio show these days, it's in part because kids music has moved in their direction. Greasy Kid Stuff 3 is a small sliver of this vibrant genre with a lot of other fun songs mixed in. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

They Might Be Giants dispense with the pleasantries right away on their fourth full-length album for kids, Here Comes Science. "I like those stories / about angels, unicorns, and elves / Now, I like those stories / As much as anybody else / But when I'm seeking knowledge / Either simple or abstract / The facts are with science / Science is real." That's from the leadoff track "Science Is Real," and once the band has set down its marker down like that, they've clearly made the decision that the album isn't going to feature songs like those about a letter D who likes to watch the sports or a whole bunch of number sevens who crash a birthday party.

Instead, the album is, well, educational in a way that mainstream kids music hasn't seen since Schoolhouse Rock. Luckily for the band, nobody remembers the Science Rock set of songs (except "Interplanet Janet"), so anything they do that's halfway tuneful will be a massive improvement. And that cup is definitely more than half full. "Meet the Elements" has an undeniably catchy chorus and mixes just enough science (all of us are mostly made of four elements) and whimsy (the song takes a detour confusing elements with elephants) that it is impossible to not like the song. "I Am A Paleontologist" is a bouncy rocker featuring Danny Weinkauf's vocals which conveys more the excitement of discovery rather than many dinosaur details, but will make your dinosaur-loving child even more interested in dinosaurs, if that's somehow possible. "My Brother the Ape" attempts to explain evolution to your 8-year-old in 3 minutes of synthesizer-tinged rock and pretty much succeeds. And what could be more scientific than the band re-recording their old cover "Why Does the Sun Shine?," finding out that some of the 50-year-old science about the sun's basic composition in that song had been disproven, and recording a new song, "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?," that puts it context?

If it's not obvious yet, the band has left the preschool set behind with these songs. Preschoolers may grasp a few of the concepts and bounce around a bit, but the world of "Clap Your Hands" is in the rear-view mirror here. I'll admit to missing the goofiness. The songs are good, some excellent, but I think the best songs here are the ones that still have a little goofiness to leaven the learning or don't push too much subject knowledge. "Meet the Elements," "My Brother the Ape," "Put It To The Test" -- these all meet that test quite well. (Some of the songs at the end, like "Computer Assisted Design," don't.) This album is the first TMBG kids' album that feels like they're trying to teach something and while they do it better and more tunefully than just about anyone -- imagine if you'd been able to watch these instead of those Thursday afternoon filmstrips -- you're probably less likely to steal this CD away from your kid to listen on a bright spring day than its predecessors.

Of course, even if you do steal the CD away, they'll still have the DVD to watch. And the DVD is brilliant, my friends. The amount of detail elegantly packed into "Meet the Elements" is absolutely amazing -- 3 minutes and 19 seconds of knowledge wrapped with a neat little bow on top. Put It To The Test" is hands down the funniest video of the year -- even if you don't have fond memories of your Atari 2600, you'll still be amused by the 8-bit graphics. And videos for songs like "How Many Planets?" and "Solid Liquid Gas" (which already conveyed a good sense of their subjects by sound description) neatly complement the audio. The videos as a whole have top-notch video quality all-around, better than Here Come the 123s, which was already pretty darn good.

The songs and videos here will be of most interest to kids ages 5 through 10. Samples of the songs are all over your favorite online retailers, with full versions of "I Am A Paleontologist" and "Electric Car" available through links in this link.

Kids who've grown up with They Might Be Giants dating all the way back to 2002's No! will take a strong interest in Here Comes Science, and if they have any curiosity they'll be completely taken by the songs and videos here. I'd look to one of the band's earlier kids' albums as the entryway to the band if you've got a preschooler, but I'm sure that soon enough they'll want to hear and see these songs, too. And, yeah, the parents will happily watch, too. I realize that taste is subjective, and I can't literally prove that this is another excellent album, but I'm working on it; I'll let you know when the test is complete. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There's this ice cream shop in San Francisco called Humphry Slocombe. I've never been there, but I'm definitely intrigued. “There’s a whole world beyond chocolate, strawberry, vanilla," the owner says. "Why can’t you make peanut butter–curry ice cream?” Indeed, take a look at the flavor list -- OK, they do have chocolate and vanilla, but foie gras? Pistachio-bacon? Strawberry.... candied jalapeno? But even if the flavors sound odd, they seem to be doing excellent business...

Duplex is not for people who, to coin a phrase, are looking for vanilla kids music. It's for the families who'd like to try salt and pepper ice cream. The band is the brainchild of Vancouver musician Veda Hille, who amidst her many other musical projects put together the delightfully askew album Ablum (review) in 2005 with a crew of kids and adults. Four years later, Hille and her gang are back with Worser, which is, well, quite possibly odder than its predecessor.

I don't want to suggest that Duplex makes deliberately obscure and unlistenable music. Because at its heart these are mostly pop songs that are, in fact, quite listenable. "That's How We Make a Sandwich" features horns, sha-la-las, and sings about, well, the various ways people make sandwiches. "Orange Popsicle" (listen here is a sweet cut of Beach Boys-esque pop about friendship.

But much of the album sounds like nothing else you will hear in the kids music genre this year. Worser features not one, but two, science-related songs (take that!, They Might Be Giants) -- the over-the-top rocker "Noble Gases" (about, yes, the seven noble gases) and the gorgeous "Alive," about evolution (listen here). Heck, throw in "September Is My Favourite" and the British-Invasion-aping "Hibernation," and that's four science-related songs. There's also an ode to laziness (or possibly subtle criticism) in the zippy "That Sounds Like Work To Me." And the opening track "Salvador" features one of my favorite lines in kids music for a long time -- "Some people come to the party early / Some people never show up at all / Some stay late and they help clean up the dishes / Salvador stayed all night long" -- I could spend days unpacking all the meaning in those lines.

Not all of it works, of course. Songs about divorce are rare in kids music and songs about divorce between couples who just happen to be the same sex are rarer still. While I appreciate the sentiment in the heartfelt "Daddy and I," the song doesn't have quite the verve of most of the rest of the tracks. And "Dog With A Sweater On" moves from funny to odd to annoying to very annoying to so bad it's good to something approaching head-shaking amazement.

The 30-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 9. For the moment it's available here. You can listen to additional tracks at the band's Myspace page. (The physical copy is silk-screened by band member Annie Wilkinson and is lovely to boot.)

Since it doesn't sound like a lot of kids music, Worser probably isn't for everyone. But just like there are enough people who like pistachio-bacon ice cream, there are enough people who like their kids music a bit off-kilter. And even those folks like me who for whom the more chocolate associated with their ice cream, the better, want to try really good salt and pepper ice cream every once in a while. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I originally reviewed Easy, the debut from Secret Agent 23 Skidoo last spring. As much as I liked it then, I think I still underestimated its ongoing appeal. With its re-mastered rerelease on Happiness Records and the addition of 3 new tracks, I thought I'd update the review...

I know that the kids' music genre is flowering when less popular subgenres such as kids' hip-hop or kids' country are starting to bubble up. I especially know that that's the case when those genres start producing albums that aren't just "kids songs done in a [fill-in-genre-name] style," but fully realized albums on their own.

Case in point: Easy, the debut kids' CD from Asheville, North Carolina's Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. He spends a lot of time rapping and playing with the music collective GFE as Agent 23, but who adopts the cool-kids name Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. From start to finish, the album is totally geared at kids in its subject matter but is not dumbed down one bit in the creativity of its beats and melody. On its strongest tracks (and there are a number of them), Skidoo blends smooth rapping with occasionally eclectic instrumentation ("Luck" features nice banjo work) and an all-positive message.

Sometimes that message is a little more overt -- "Luck" raps about how we make our own luck by knowing what it is we want; "Gotta Be Me" is about how everyone should have their own style, and that's OK. If the message is a bit direct, it's delivered with precision and flowing words. (Even his 5-year-old daughter Saki (AKA MC Fireworks) gets in on the act, very smoothly trading lines with her dad on "Family Tree.")

Perhaps even better are his songs that take a more imaginary bent. "Hot Lava" so completely nails the 7-year-old feeling of pretending on the fly (don't touch the floor! -- it's hot lava! -- jump from couch to couch!) that I'm not sure there is a better kids' song about the power of imagination. Songs about dragons, mermaids, and robots feature in the mix, too. It's very much story-telling with a compelling musical background.

I'm going to peg the messages and stories here as geared primarily for kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear samples of a number of the songs at the album's CDBaby page or "Gotta Be Me" and "Luck" and "The Last Dragon" here.

As for the re-release, it's been remastered with some new beats and tweaked artwork, but the chief reason to get the new album (or at least hit up iTunes) if you already have the original release are the new tracks. "Robots Can't Cry" is about the experience of being human in words that 6-year-olds will understand. "I Like Fruit" is so catchy it renders everyone within earshot incapable of not shouting "I like fruit" along with the chorus. (MC Fireworks and DJ Bootysattva fill in for Egg's Jeff Fuller on this version.) "Boogie Man," about mastering fears, might be my least favorite of the three new tracks, but that just means it's merely good.

The list of really good kids' hip-hop albums is very short. Not only does Easy go to the top of that list, it deserves to find a lot of fans among people who don't consider themselves big hip-hop fans. It's a really good CD, period -- lots of fun and certainly worthy of repeated spins. A year later, the album still holds up, and the new songs just make it that much better. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The kids music resurgence has been relatively brief, and so we haven't necessarily had the time to watch too many bands mature and change their sounds over time. An exception is the Bay Area band The Sippy Cups. They started out doing nothing but covers, primarily of '60s and '70s psychedelic tunes. They then moved to mostly original '60s and '70s-sounding psychedelic tunes. It's only been on their last couple albums that they've developed a fuller sound (and added some skits to the mix).

All of which has been to the good. Their latest album The Time Machine is at times both their most conventional-sounding and also their most adventurous. Although it's not quite a concept album, there a number of songs about about growing up (hence the title). As a result, based on subject matter alone, this definitely their most typical "kids album." Of course, I happen to like some of those songs the best. The power-poppy "My Angry Voice" describes anger in easily accessible phrases ("Breathing fast / My heart is racing / I won't look you in the eyes / What's that sound? / It's someone shouting / That sounds like me / What a surprise") while "Don't Remove the Groove" ameliorates whatever preachiness a song about environmental warming might contain by being, well, groovy and turning it into a "freeze dance" song. "Seven Is The New 14" will likely go over heads of the 14-, er, 7-year-olds the song is targeted at, but its amusing spin on "age is nothing but a number" will draw chuckles from the parents.

For those of you originally drawn to the band for its original more psychedelic sounds won't be disappointed -- the title track and concluding track "Awake" (the latter clocking in at 6 minutes) are definitely could've been recorded 35 or 40 years ago, while "One Day Soon" is an excellent pastiche of Sgt. Pepper's-era Beatles. If there's a downside to the songwriting here it's that at times I felt like they were relying too heavily on the metaphorical imagery to the detriment of more sharply describing the experience of growing up. The worst tracks here are still better than 60% of the songs in the genre, but their excellent songs make the just adequate ones stand out. (As for the skits, I like 'em, and I typically haaaate skits, but I realize that your mileage may vary.)

The 44-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. You can listen to some tracks here or samples at the album's CDBaby page.

The Sippy Cups have developed into one of the most adventurous kids bands on today's scene. With a strong catalog of songs and an energetic live show, they seem set to be around making music for years to come. The Time Machine is, appropriately enough, evidence of their continuing evolution, and shows that growing up is usually a pretty good thing. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's hard to write a review about Field Trip, the recently-released fifth album from Seattle's Recess Monkey. Not because it's bad, mind you, just the opposite -- it's just that the band's run of great albums and songs has been going on for so long now that it's getting more difficult to find new and interesting ways of saying "these guys are really good -- your family should listen to 'em."

From the two-minute simple Beatles-esque "Fort" to the fanciful power-pop of "Marshmallow Farm" to the sweet "Sack Lunch" the album starts off with great pop tunes and doesn't really ever stop. "Sack Lunch" manages the odd trick of not only writing a song from the perspective of a kid's sack lunch but also making it stand as some sort of metaphor for a really powerful love. (It also does so with the Northwest Boychoir singing the phrase "sack lunch" chorally, which makes me smile every time.) On the album goes, through '80s dance of "Haven't Got a Pet Yet" and the funk of "Hot Chocolate."

Recess Monkey has always been willing to approach the "novelty song" line much more than a lot of bands, and I can't say it always pays off -- the spaghetti western of "Ice Pack" is just OK and did the world need a song (no matter how catchy) about lice ("L.I.C.E.")? (The answer is no.) But that song is sandwiched between a tender love song ("Tiny Telephone") and the best kids song Elvis Costello never wrote -- "The Teens," which is ostensibly about difficulties in counting past ten but will get parents nodding about their kids' forthcoming teenaged years. The most exciting thing to the long-term listener of the band is that expansion of world view -- figuring out how to encompass more experiences of older listeners without sacrificing their core audience of young school-aged kids.

The album is still primarily targeted at kids aged 4 through 9. You can listen to samples from the 41-minutes album here.

So, yeah, Field Trip is another excellent string of songs from Recess Monkey. If you're a fan, you'll love it. If you're not a fan, though you'll probably be a bit mystified by the John Vanderslice bit at the very end, this is as good a place to start as any, as it's their best album yet. In the end, all I can say is that these guys are really good -- your family should listen to 'em. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I hesitate to call the DC-area-based duo Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer elder statesmen of the kids music genre because they're neither, you know, elderly nor male. But they've been doing the family music thing for about 25 years now. Which is why it's pretty great that their collaborator on their latest album Banjo to Beatbox is, well, not even 25 years old. Christylez Bacon is a DC-area hip hop artist; here, he adds his beatboxing and rhyming skills to Cathy & Marcy's banjo and folk stylings. On the album's best tracks, like the resetting of the traditional "Soup, Soup," the combination thrills, pointing the way to a 21st century folk music sound. That song, along with with "Hip Hop Humpty Dumpty," takes full advantage of the collaborators' strengths. The other songs here are enjoyable (I also quite like their take on "New River Train"), but those two are the standouts.

You can listen to clips of the album (best probably for kids ages 4 through 9) here. (They're calling it an EP, but at 30 minutes, who knows what "EP" means any more.)

I've always liked Fink and Marxer's wilingness to collaborate outside what somebody else might perceive to be their genre -- their collaboration with Texas polka group Brave Combo All Wound Up! is an excellent album. I don't think Banjo to Beatbox reaches those heights -- it seems a little more stylistically limited to me -- but I hope that Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer continue to make music every now and then with Christylez Bacon because there are parts of this album that are pretty exhilerating. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a sign of how oddball a CD is: when you cover a Talking Heads song on your kids' album, and it might just be the least weird song on there.

Thank You For Joining the Happy Club is an oddball CD, and I mean that as a high form of praise. It's the debut kids' CD from central Pennsylvania's Billy Kelly, and it's totally winning in its goofiness. How goofy? Try this, a snippet of animation for "People Really Like Milk":

And it goes on like that ("People really like drinking / From a really big thing that goes moo"), getting sillier all the while. It is a novelty song, perhaps, but it is a perfectly-constructed and produced one, possibly my favorite song of the year. The rest of the CD follows that pop-rock template, if not quite reaching those giddy heights. The title track invites you to "tell your dog the join the happy club" (with a perfectly timed woof) while having the background singers provide the "doo-doo-doos" after Kelly sings that "there aren't any dues." While the hyper (and genre-jumping) "I Don't Know!" sounds like early They Might Be Giants, most have the tracks have a warmer, usually joyous Barenaked Ladies vibe, particularly on songs like "Springtime: It's My Favorite" and "(Let Me Tell You) What I Like About You." And, yes, there's a Talking Heads chestnut, "Don't Worry About the Government," which in its straightforward reading is OK for kids, if a bit mystifying for them. (Hey, at least it's not "Stay Up Late.") Kelly and his band, the Blah Blah Blahs, make an appealing sound together; I particularly enjoyed the guitar work, which reminded me a bit of Adrian Belew in spots.

Now, there's no good reason to have two self-referential songs about song construction -- one is plenty for a kids' album (one is probably plenty for any album). And Kelly has a tendency to resort to spelling in his lyrics. (I'll admit, though, that the song title "S-N-O-W-M-A-N (Snowman!)" is pretty funny.) You take the good with the overdone good, I suppose.

The album will be most appreciated by kids ages 6 through 10. You can hear several songs from the 32-minute album at Kelly's Myspace page. For now you can purchase the album here.

Thank You for Joining the Happy Club is an album for slightly older kids, those who enjoy snappy wordplay and goofy imagery. I could see younger kids being puzzled by the hullabaloo and it's a bit too cute by half at points, but I think there are going to be some families who absolutely love love love this disk. Join the Happy Club? Sure, I did -- I might even run for president. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

With about 30 years of recording behind them, Trout Fishing in America have a back catalog that is plenty large enough with which to start doing some interesting things. To wit, My Name Is Chicken Joe, the first book collaboration the duo of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet have done with The Secret Mountain publishing company.

The collection is out this week and it essentially is a "best of" collection of some of Trout's wordier, folkier tracks. The "star," so to speak, of the 11-track collection is "Chicken Joe," which gets its lyrics (about animals with non-sensical names like the cat named "Chicken Joe") illustrated over a couple dozen pages. The illustrations by Stephane Jorisch remind me of gonzo illustrator Ralph Steadman with about 90% less gonzo. (There is no other way to describe them than "cute.") Lyrics to the other ten tracks each get a couple pages of illustration as well.

But we're mostly about the music here. The 11 tracks -- all previously-released -- include a number of excellent Trout Fishing tracks, not just the title track, but also "My Best Day," "It's A Puzzle," and "Fill It Up." For the most part, the selections tend toward the folkier (notwithstanding the rocking "I Can Dance" and the klezmer-touched "Boiled Okra and Spinach"). It's a fine collection, but it by no means is a complete Trout Fishing "Best Of." The collection lacks Trout classics such as "18 Wheels on a Big Rig," "Three Little Ducks," and "The Window," but those are songs that depend upon interaction between Grimwood and Idlet and not so much on the lyrics. Written down on paper, those latter songs wouldn't be so interesting -- it's Trout's classic live stage banter that makes those songs favorites to many listeners. The songs here are songs on which the lyrics themselves take center stage.

The songs will be of most interest to kids ages 5 through 9. (The book, maybe a little younger.) You can hear clips of the 33-minute album wherever books/CDs are sold online (or watch this video of the title track). If you're interested, you can also buy the CD just by itself, but with the book barely costing more than the CD, I say go for the book. (I should note that book itself is of high quality -- typically the books in these book/CD arrangements have a pretty cheap feel to them, but not this one.)

Longtime Trout Fishing in America fans will likely appreciate the book My Name Is Chicken Joe because it marries some delightful illustrations to a sweet Trout song, though may be disappointed by the lack of even a single new track. I'd recommend it more to newcomers to the band, who may appreciate the book more for that "best of" quality. Here's hoping, though, it leads to a couple more books (and, by extension, a couple more greatest hits volumes).

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rather than record a full-length follow-up to their fine 2007 collection Educated Kid, the Bay Area band The Hipwaders decided to save a little money and record just an EP, Goodie Bag, released last week. The band packs in quite a bit of music into the 16-minute EP and while there's nothing as completely amazing as the title track to their Educated Kid disk, there's a lot here to enjoy. From the crunchy power-pop snippet "Birthday Ruckus" to the jazzy punk "Field Trip" to the XTC-punk of "Things You Want," the band covers a lot of musical territory and chords you don't hear so much of in the genre. They're not recording "Jazz Odyssey" by any means, but songwriter and guitarist Tito Uquillas likes to write songs celebrating the imagination or creativity -- "My New Camera" or "What's That Noise?," for example -- and the trio's music never fits a cookie-cutter pop mold. Fellow Bay Area musician Gunnar Madsen also makes an appearance on the title track, the goofiest track here.

The album will appeal most to kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear clips at the album's CDBaby page or hear full clips plus lead Hipwader Tito's thoughts on the EP here. As far as goodie bags go, this particular one would be an excellent stuffer at your kids' next party. A tiny but recommended collection of songs.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

However you feel about Dan Zanes' music, it's hard to say that he hasn't managed to follow his muse in his career as family troubadour. Interspersed with excellent albums designed for the whole family, he recorded excellent albums covering songs from Carl Sandburg's American Songbag and sea tunes. And then he recorded an entire album in Spanish.

Really, the fact that Zanes' latest album is a bunch of gospel and gospel-inspired tunes with the slightly ponderous title The Welcome Table: Songs of Inspiration, Mystery, and Good Times should come as no surprise to any long-term listener of Zanes' music. The biggest risk Zanes takes in recording this album is alienating a portion of his audience who will be disinterested in the Christian worldview.

Or, rather, that's how it might appear to someone who hasn't heard the album. Because if there's one constant thread running through all of Zanes' albums it's a sense of tolerance and equality, and this album is no different. Yes, it's an album that mentions big-G God several repeatedly. And just as Nueva York! may not have been as easy for a listener to "get" if they didn't speak Spanish, if a listener doesn't speak the particular language of the gospel songs, they may find this album more difficult to grasp. (I personally had that problem with Nueva but don't really with this album.) But it's also an album that includes a Jewish song, readings of biblical passages in foreign languages, and several songs that don't mention a higher power at all. It is, in short, a Dan Zanes gospel album in every sense of the phrase.

There are, as best I can tell, 5 previously-released songs here including the title track with the Blind Boys of Alabama, leaving 10 new songs for your listening pleasure. Lots of traditional gospel tunes reworked in Zanes' Americana/folk/rock style, with particular highlights being "Jesus on the Mainline," "Up Above My Head," and "Home In That Rock." I also really liked the Spanish hymn "Himno Guadalupano." They're all lots of fun -- mostly "good times" with only a little bit of "mystery" thrown in. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite track here, the album closer "We've Been Down This Road Before," a song about working together through tough times that Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger would be proud to have written.

Once again, a Dan Zanes album makes a mockery of my insistence of putting age ranges on album reviews, but I think kids ages 5 and up will more easily grasp the social justice (or spiritual) messages here. You can listen to the songs at Zanes' page here. I should also note that the album is a benefit for the New Sanctuary Movement, an organization which "protects immigration workers and families from unjust deportation."

Zanes' passion in his music has always been community -- our "common welfare as human beings," as Zanes puts it in his liner notes. The Welcome Table is another solid album in his musical argument in favor of community and equality. Even if you're not sure the album is for you, if you're a Dan Zanes fan, you're going to find it worth your time. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems like kids music is the new "side project" for an increasing number of musicians. What better way to deflate expectations and clear out a little creative room than by deciding to create music for the elementary school set? I don't mean that negatively at all -- in fact, it's that "anything goes" approach that helps to make the genre vibrant.

It's in that spirit that I'm calling Bunny Clogs, the kids music project from the Honeydogs' Adam Levy, a "side project" in the best sense. Now, Levy already has a side project -- the I-never-thought-I'd-be-typing-this-name-in-this-blog band "Hookers $ Blow" -- but Bunny Clogs' first album More! More! More! has been 5 years in the making, recorded with Levy's two daughters and a host of guests (and featuring some pretty cool album art from his son). So it reflects a fair amount of thought and craft.

At its best, the album recalls the family-friendly community-celebrating vibe of Dan Zanes, such as on the midtempo "Midtown Greenway," which extols riding a bike through town and features Semisonic's John Munson on bass. "Song For Powderhorn" celebrates another part of Minneapolis (and benefits the local V.O.I.C.E. Music Saves Lives program doing work in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood). There are a lot of songs about food, with very little in the way of lessons (though there are some snuck in there). Sometimes the album is plain silly -- "Velveeta Girl and Squatsy" is a bunch of (danceable) nonsense while "3 Dogs and a Pancake" is a bunch of (not-entirely-danceable) nonsense. And sometimes the album marries the old (Woody Guthrie's "Car Car") into a new, strutting hand-clappable classic -- "Are We There Yet?," the best song on the album.

Not every track is perfect -- I can't say that I ever need to hear the drum machine-aided "Butter" more than once a year at the most -- but Levy's use of a whole bunch of different styles and instrumentation (check out the middle eastern touches on "Pharaoh Pharouk's Phyrst Phood Phyramid") makes even less compelling songs more fun to listen than most kids songs.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 10. You can hear tracks at Bunny Clogs' Myspace page, or also pick it up at eMusic or Lala.

More! More! More! is clearly a labor of love for Adam Levy. It wasn't recorded to cash in on the kids music scene, it was created for the fun of it. Families who listen to the album with the same sense of joy that went into making it will get a kick out of this. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, there's certainly no flies on New York's Dog on Fleas. Flies on fleas? Huh? What I mean by that is that their last album, When I Get Little, was a fabulous little piece of sun-kissed Dan Zanes-ian roots-pop, and it would have been very easy for the band to turn out another collection of free-range music.

But for whatever reason (including the departure of a couple band members to other things), the band has taken a somewhat different approach on this new CD. There's a lot of experimentation here, even more than you'd expect from a Dog on Fleas disk. Some of it sounds great -- "I Love Your Accent" is little more than the song title sung in falsetto and people reciting where they're from (from around the world), but it's lots of fun and very global in its worldview, obviously. "Unbirthday" is a raucous, occasionally distorted celebration of each person's other 364 days of the year. I was much less enthused by "Star Tonight" and "Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step?," two funky tunes that didn't have that dancing spark Fleas tunes often have. My general feeling is that the second half of the album is less "experimental" and will be more familiar to long-time listeners.

There are a number of guest musicians on the album. Lorette Velvette takes lead vocals on the storytelling "Lima Bean," with Uncle Rock providing backup assistance. Frances England joins with Pia Ruissi-Besates on the gorgeous and mellow album-closer "Babies." (The song would have fit perfectly on the band's Dean Jones' lullaby(-ish) album Napper's Delight.)

As with most Dog on Fleas tunes, the 35-minute album doesn't quite have an age range, but let's say it's most appropriate for ages 3 through 9. You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page.

Beautiful World isn't as fun as their last album, When I Get Little, and if you're new to the band, I'd recommend starting there first. And if you're a huge fan of that CD, it may take a while to get used to the new sounds here. But there are a lot of good songs and the lyrics are filled with love for the world and its inhabitants. There are many worse ways to spend 35 minutes dancing with your kids. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Let's think about the kids music artists who have released three easy-to-recommend CDs in the past five years. Hmmm.... Dan Zanes, Recess Monkey, Justin Roberts, Ralph's World, and... who? I mean, if you expand that time frame out a bit, you could add They Might Be Giants, Elizabeth Mitchell, maybe Laurie Berkner. But to be that consistent over that amount of time says something -- that's an all-star list of kids musicians right there.

So it means something to me when I say that with the release of his third album Dragonfly, I'd add Seattle's Johnny Bregar to that list.

On his first album Stomp Yer Feet!, Bregar was basically a slightly funkier and rootsier Raffi (a compliment in my book), giving old toddler standards a new spin. Bregar is still funky and rootsy, but with his second album Hootenanny and now with Dragonfly he's been gradually moving up in age and away from standards and towards originals. He's now given a song about feelings ("What Do You Do?") a funky spin with an infectious horn and piano line (and even a gratuitous They Might Be Giants reference). "Two Thumbs Up" is a rootsy song about, well, feeling good (and opening a roadside art stand). And sometimes, as on "Shoo Fly Pie" or his cover of the boogie-woogie "Ice Cream Man," he still recalls the traditional standards with which he started his kids' music career.

If there are perhaps a few less-than-perfect tracks -- I can't say I have much love for the reggae tune "Salt and Pepper" -- they're few and far between. Bregar tends toward the sweet (the midtempo "Dragonfly" and the wonderful and tender ukulele-laced "Blue Canoe") and a little towards the gently instructional ("Fireman With a Rocket Ship" or "Honey Bees"), so there's little "edge," if that's your style. But the musical arrangements and melodies are once more top-notch. Kids are used as leavener to the production, lending a slightly ragged (and appealing) chorus to some of the songs (or, on the album closer, "Una Sardina," the sole voice).

The songs here are targeted mostly at kids ages 4 through 9. The album's for sale right now only at Bregar's website, but will be available more broadly starting next week. You can hear samples of the tracks here.

Johnny Bregar hasn't made a bad kids' album yet, and Dragonfly is another fine outing, filled with songs whose lyrics will capture kids and melodies will capture parents. (And possibly vice versa.) Bregar might not be as well-known as those other artists who are turning out a high number of quality albums, but he should be. Here's hoping Dragonfly helps things along in that regard. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is releasing a kids' music album in November like releasing a movie in January? Because December 31st is the deadline for having your movie considered for the upcoming Oscars, it's implied that studios dump all their really bad movies in January. So, if you just miss the October 31st deadline for Fids & Kamily, does that mean it's a bad kids music album?

Well, no, not at all, but curse Chicago's ScribbleMonster for making Fids & Kamily voters struggle over their ballots. Their new album, Songs With No Character, was officially released this week on November 4, but has been available informally since late October. Is it a 2008 album or a 2009 album? And, yes, people have been asking that question, which is one indication of this disk's quality.

I've mentioned in the past my mixed feelings about the cartoon voices that have appeared on past ScribbleMonster albums, and so from my perspective, the (almost-entirely) cartoon-free voices on this disk ("Songs with no character," get it?) already served as a selling point. And, really, a lot of the songs work just as well (though perhaps not necessarily any better) sung in a regular voice. ScribbleMonster and its chief songwriter Jim Dague has always been willing to impart wisdom via song -- the difference between them and a lot of artists who do similar things is that these songs are so insanely catchy that you don't mind the directness of message. I mean, "Doing The Right Thing Isn't Always Easy, Doing The Easy Thing Isn't Always Right" is about as straightforward as the title itself. It's also a groovy song, graced with horns. "It Could Have Been Worse," co-written with Monty Harper, has a silly, breezy tone that will capture both the young and old. And "With A Smile" can make even the most grizzled parent appreciate the value of smiling more.

Which isn't too say it's all sweetness and light and kindergartners only. "I'm A Utility Pole" is a totally dorky (and, therefore, winning) song about a totally dorky dance move. "Spare The Rock, Spoil The Child" is, hands-down, the best theme song for a kids radio show ever, though it rocks harder than your 4-year-old will. There's even a little weary cynicism in "No Good Can Ever Come Of A Sleepover" ("empty promises" isn't a lyrical turn of phrase you often hear in this genre). That's offset, though, by "The Song of LIFE," which, though going over the heads of the kids ("what's this 'LIFE' game?") will appeal sentimentally to their parents who remember the classic board game.

It's really a "family" album, which means that different songs will appeal to different family members, but I think kids ages 4 through 10 will most appreciate the songs here. You can hear some of the tunes at the band's Radio page, Myspace page, or CD Baby album page.

So, yeah, I liked this album. Whether it's the first really good album of 2009, or the last really good album of 2008 isn't really the point. It's a really good album. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You've probably noticed that I don't review a lot of "educational" CDs. There are a couple reasons for that -- first, I don't have much of a clue as to their pedagogical soundness. Second, and perhaps more importantly for the purposes of this site, the music usually just doesn't move me. We are about entertainment and community around here -- if your kids happen to learn something found in a textbook, too, well, that's just a bonus.

So let me describe Musiplication With Kat Vellos this way -- I don't envision myself listening to this on my own or after my kids have mastered the times table. But that doesn't mean it isn't good listening. Kat Vellos is a former teacher as well as a spoken word poet and with her first CD Musiplication has put together a sweet little collection of times tables set to music.

Yeah, you heard me -- "times tables set to music." Vellos breaks through the pedagogical boredom barrier that phrase implies in two ways. One, each times table (especially as you make your way into the higher digits) is presented as a story of sorts -- giving each multiple of 6, for example, a distinct family personality type in "6 Family Reunion" or crazy stories in "7's Tall Tales." You're still hearing the same basic repetition of the tables, but at least it's presented with verve; Vellos' spoken word poetry experience gives the stories shape. Second, Vellos' words are underlaid with some laid-back beats courtesy of the producer Batsauce. Layered with old-school funk and soul, it gives the whole CD a deliciously organic feel.

While younger kids might enjoy the stories here, the target audience is clearly slightly older kids, ages 7 through 10. You can listen to samples at the album's CDBaby page. Because it's trying hard to teach times tables, it doesn't quite reach the "listen anytime" nature of something like TMBG's Here Come the 123s -- if you know the times tables, you probably won't spin this too much. But it does its job with as musically pleasant a background as you'll care to hear. It's about as good an "educational" CD as they come.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the release today of their One Day Soon EP, San Francisco's The Sippy Cups have followed the lead of other, more adult-oriented bands, who consider EPs an integral part of their musical release pattern. The five songs here were recorded as part of the band's sessions for their upcoming 2009 release, and is the first new album from the band since October 2006.

So are the songs worth the wait? Well, mostly yes. "One Day Soon" kicks off the album, a mid-tempo number about growing up (or at least older) that would have fit perfectly on the generally more rocking Electric Storyland. So would have "Ladybug Beat," at least if it had been plugged in (it's acoustic here). I've already talked a little bit about "The Day After Halloween,", which is a bit of departure from the Sippys' normal metaphor-filled and fanciful songwriting. Its melancholy nature is a perfect fit for fall -- it's a Halloween song that isn't just for Halloween, and is my favorite track here. "Listen With Your Eyes" is a sweet lullaby (though there's a bit too much going on for it to be effectively used an actual lullaby). The only false step is "Effervescing Elephant." Ironically for a band which started out primarily playing covers of '60s era psychedelic songs, this Syd Barrett cover falls flat. It's supposedly a live staple of the band, but this off-the-cuff version just doesn't have any oomph.

The album will appeal mostly to kids ages 4 through 10. The album is about 14 minutes long and, perhaps most interestingly, is available only as an iTunes download. At $3.99 for the whole album, it's pretty cheap. It's a small but decent collection of tracks which can only serve to heighten anticipation for their upcoming full-length. Newcomers to the band can probably wait (or go back to Electric Storyland forthwith), but fans will definitely enjoy this, too. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With their latest album, Massachusetts' The Nields joins the company of the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam.

Really.

That's right, because on their new 2-CD family album, Rock All Day, Rock All Night, the Nields sisters join those two alternative rock heavyweights in putting out an album with both an uptempo and a downtempo disk. (Those two albums, in case you're wondering -- the Foo Fighters' In Your Honor and Pearl Jam's best-of rearviewmirror.) Now, I can't say that the Nields rock quite as hard as those bands do, but I'm also not sure there's anything quite as giddy on those disks as on the sisters' banter on the brass-band-accented "Muffin Man." (Did you know there was a whole neighborhood on Drury Lane? Well, you do now.)

The first disk is a mixture of folk songs and originals (some old, some new). The sisters have run a HooteNanny program for families with young kids, and many of the songs sound like they are come from that program. Unlike a lot of CD collections from kids and family music programs, however, the collection actually holds together as a decent listening experience even if you've never taken a class with them. It's probably mostly due to the fact that there are some really good songs here. The traditional "Going To Boston" kicks off the disk, and like many of the tracks, there's a life to the recording that encourages you to sing along. The brass band sounds great on "When The Saints Go Marching In," as it does on "Muffin Man" (as noted above). The new tracks are no slouches either, with "Who Are You Not To Shine" -- a shimmery folk-rock song and worthy successor to "Anna Kick A Hole in the Sky" from the last disk -- and "Superhero Soup," actually one of the oldest songs in the Nields' songbook, but re-purposed here. Not all of the tracks are great, but, like I said, as a whole, it holds together well.

The second, slower disk is, unsurprisingly, less focused on singalongs and more focused on great, slower songs. I hesitate to call it a classic lullaby disk as there isn't quite a hush-ness that I associate with lullaby disks. Instead, it's more like a warm nook on a cold day, encouraging you to stay put and contemplate the day and maybe drift off for a tiny nap. (Or, if you're a kid, play with your Legos or read a book.) One of my all-time favorite ballads, "Wild Mountain Thyme," makes an appearance, with the Nields' dad, John Nields singing along (as on the first album, he sings on several tracks). The Nields also engage in some re-purposing here, as "Easy People," one of their most famous songs, gets a simple treatment. I think I like this disk slightly better than the "day" disk, but that's just a personal preference for the more classic songs.

The first disk is probably most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7; the second disk is essentially all-ages. Right now, the disk only available through the Nields themselves (go here to order), though national distribution will start shortly). For samples, you're best off checking out the YouTube clips I've compiled here.

The Nields continue to make vital family folk music with humor and tenderness. Rock All Day, Rock All Night is an all-purpose collection of songs that will serve your family well in times both of play and rest. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Like many people, I first became interested in kids music when I first had kids. Which meant that my first exposure to the genre (as a parent) was to lullaby CDs, or to rendition of classics sung by families for years and years.

It was not to songs about the produce aisle's remarkable similarity to junior high, the inventor of concrete, or elbows.

So I guess what I'm saying is that the first kids album from Central Services and their not-so-mild-mannered alter ego The Board of Education isn't for those parents whose kids are just learning to walk. Heck, it's really not even for those parents whose kids are just learning to read.

But if your family's got one of those kids who've blown past those learning-to-read barrier with flying colors a long time ago, Central Services Presents... The Board of Education might be their new favorite CD.

From the pop bliss of the opening track, "Rise and Shine," the album is pitched right at that 9- to 12-year-old kid who's probably the smartest kid in class. School is the central part of their life, learning something so freakin' cool, even if the rest of the day doesn't quite measure up. (Unsurprisingly, one of the band's main songwriters, Kevin Emerson, used to teach elementary school science, and now has a book series, Oliver Nocturne, for kids ages 9-12.) The second track, "Beverly the Village Misfit," about a young girl who looks up at the skies and realizes the planet is in grave danger even though nobody believes her, includes the lines "Maybe you've had occasion to feel like this / When something you're so sure of / Is dismissed by all your friends / Despite the overwhelming facts you have to prove that / You are very right."

I mean, if that isn't a description of a brainy but perhaps socially awkward tween, I'm not sure what is. And that's not the only song that captures that feeling. "It's awkward in the produce aisle / The salad bags they don't smile / Anymore / The mushroom looks the other way / The cucumber bristles," goes one of the lines in "The Lonely Tomato," which has been one of my favorite songs period for the 18 months I've been listening to it. In telling the story of a tomato, which is unsure of his position in the grocery store -- "Oh, where do I fit in?," as the chorus goes -- the song not only captures perfectly life as a tween, it loads every bit of production into it, with horns, pop hooks, and silly voices (yes, the cucumber has a speaking part).

On it goes, combining great pop hooks (or pop pastiches) with obscure subjects like the invention of pavement ("Know Your Inventors"), punctuation ("The Many Uses, and Dangers, of Commas"), and volcanoes ("Volcanoes and You"). If this all sounds like a modern Schoolhouse Rock, you'd be right. There's even a song called "8 Is A Number." If there's any difference between that classic series and the songs here it's that Schoolhouse Rock would often take a more minimalist approach, while the band piles everything on here. It's unlikely the dripping-with-sarcasm-but-totally-peppy "Ice Ages Are Fun!" would ever make the cut on Schoolhouse Rock. Humor is common in kids entertainment; sarcasm, however, isn't, but if you're 12 years old, yeah, you're OK with it.

Sometimes it's too much, actually, "Volcanoes and You," for example, mixes funk with a faux educational film, and while it sounds kinda cool, it's too baroque to actually to be more than a trifle. And lest you think the band can't show some restraint, the last track (save for the hidden track) is a gorgeous lullaby "August Lullaby" that's lovely and sweet. Another simpler track or two like that interspersed among the wilder, goofier parts would have served it well.

While younger kids might bop along to the hooks, kids are really going to have to be at minimum 7 years old to get into the lyrics. You can hear songs at the band's Myspace page or samples at its CDBaby page. For the moment, it's only available as a digital download (at CDBaby, Amazon and iTunes, but will be released in physical format later this year. Update: Those of you living in the physical world can now enjoy the album...

Long-time readers of this website won't find my enthusiasm for this album too surprising, because I've been talking about a number of these songs for a long time. After settling down with Central Services Presents... The Board of Education for many listens, I can hear why it's not an absolutely perfect album -- there are going to be some families it doesn't move. But for some families, this is gonna be one of those albums they listen to over and over, and, like Beverly the Village Misfit, they'll tell everyone who'll listen about it. That this album rocks. And they'd be right. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Though there are many charms of kids music, subtlety is usually not one of them. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but most kids' music is direct and to the point, especially lyrically.

Which is what makes the music of the Kansas-based band The Terrible Twos not like most kids music. The band, which is the kids' alter ego of the Matt Pryor's band The New Amsterdams, has never been interested in making simple kids music. (Pryor once famously -- for the kids' world, anyway -- branded the music of Barney and the Wiggles as "incredibly annoying crap." There are a legion of kids who would disagree, though the parental vote may be much more evenly split.) For some kids in the age range suggested by Pryor's band's name, the music will fly right over their heads, though they may bop along to the often uptempo melodies.

Older kids (and their parents), however, may find the more indirect lyrical approach of the band pretty appealing. On their second album, Jerzy the Giant, the Terrible Twos tell tales of people and emotions. On a few songs, such as the winning, near-perfectly constructed album opener, "Old Man Miller," the band tells a direct story (this one about the growing friendship between the song's narrator and an elderly neighbor) while using metaphor and simile to embellish ("Old Man Miller was a porcupine," Pryor sings, a line that will cause confusion in the toddler-aged set). Other songs are much more impressionistic in nature, such as the oooohing "Elliott Oooh" or the sweet "Amelia Minor."

The songs here range from the folky end of the pop spectrum (the shuffling "Archibald McAllister," about a particularly stinky boy) to the rocking end (the latter part of "Lily Names Everything Sandy," the title of which is pretty much self-explanatory and describes a very real -- for Pryor, anyway -- parental frustration). "Jerzy the Giant" (the song) is a breezy pop-rocker, while "Olly Olly Oxen Free" has a soaring chorus. The only song that set my ears on end was "Great Big Poop," which I place in the category of songs that break up otherwise outstanding albums -- file it alongside "Fitter, Happier" or "Underneath the Bunker." (Having said that, it's the most direct song on the album, and may be the one that your youngest kids may most relate to here. And, Pryor's daughter Lily, who co-wrote the song, also helped out on "Elliott Oooh," so perhaps she gets a pass.)

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 9. At 29 minutes in length, the 16 songs here zip by, none more than 2 1/2 minutes in length. You can preview the whole album here.

The Terrible Twos continue to write great family-friendly songs. Jerzy the Giant is a fabulous album, thirty-feet-tall with sweet melodies and kid-appropriate lyrics. Even if your kids love the Wiggles, one day they'll outgrow them, and when they do, there are many far worse albums to graduate to than this one. Highly recommended.

[Note: Just to reiterate the possible conflict of interest, I was asked by Vagrant Records, which released the album, to premiere the album stream. I wouldn't have done so if I hadn't wanted to have a lot of people listen to the CD, based on my feelings above. But now you know, in case you hadn't before.]

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

When you receive as much kids music for review as I do, you have to guard against certain biases. Given the glut of material, what tends to get reviewed is either stuff that's in the traditional folk/pop/rock vein, but very good (see: Justin Roberts, Ralph's World, Laurie Berkner, Recess Monkey, etc.); not in that folk/pop/rock vein (see: hip-hop, country, jazz); and stuff that's just so out there that you have to tell someone about it if only to show what risks people are taking these days. (And then you have Dan Zanes, who in the Venn diagram of those 3 categories is the only one who intersects all three.) With the last category especially, there's some risk that the uniqueness of the material is outweighing, you know, the actual interest to the kids.

So let me be clear, The Thin King, the debut CD from the San Francisco band Me 3 falls squarely in that 3 category. I mean, sure, it's got songs that would definitely be considered rock ("I Don't Know," perhaps, or "Apple," which is an appealingly crunchy and lo-fi mid-tempo rocker). But the more familiar-sounding styles are melded with subjects very focused on the natural world (hence "Apple," or "Tulip," and "Cows"), not in an educational way (which would be pretty conventional), but pretty much in an observational manner. (In this case it sounds a lot like Mr. David, or maybe a little bit like if World Party did a kids CD.) There are lots and lots of questions on the album -- "I Don't Know," for example, or "Cows." What is the album title, after all, if not a play on the word "thinking."

Beyond that, you have odd little spoken-word interludes; the goofy trilogy of "Short Song," "Shorter Song," and "Shortest Song" (which, yes, is pretty much what the titles promise); and Pachelbel's Canon borrowed for "When It All Began." Oh, and just as you begin to think that band mastermind Jason Kleinberg is maybe a little self-serious, "Next Song" interrupts some mock serious banter with a request to "play the next song!," which results in Kleinberg mis-hearing and not playing the "necks song." In other words, the goofy 7-year-old humor fits in nicely among the more serious "thinking" songs.

So, yeah, the 41-minute album's geared mostly for kids ages 6 through 10. You can hear some songs both at the band's website and their Myspace page, and samples of all the songs at the album's CDBaby page.

The Thin King is one of the more unusual-sounding kids music albums of the year. It also happens to be a lot of fun. While it's not the most conventional of CDs, with its imagery and musical melding of styles, it'll certainly capture the imagination of some families. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let me start this review by suggesting that, for all its sins real or imagined, Disney Music purveys more original music for kids and families than any other label. It is possible to avoid a fair amount of that if you don't actually watch cable TV on a regular basis, but they put out a lot of music on a regular basis, and for all age ranges. Not to mention a back catalog the envy of just about anybody. How much you actually enjoy it all depends in part on your age, but I've got three recent Disney releases here, and at least one of them is worth your time.

I admit it. I'm old. Not, like, Social Security old, but old enough that if I use the phrase "OMG" I mean it ironically. I am old enough, however, to have a kid who, though she isn't quite out of the "kids music" phase yet, will start listening to music I haven't introduced her to.

So I understand quite clearly that the soundtrack to Camp Rock, the latest Disney Channel original movie, premiering on a gazillion different channels this week, is Not For Me. It is for kids just a little older than my daughter. They'll spend their own allowances on it, or maybe their parents will get it for them. And what they'll get is an attempt to duplicate the High School Musical magic, except this time in a slightly more rock-oriented retelling of Cinderella. The album features some tracks with Joe Jonas solo (he's got a leading role in the movie) as well as a Jonas Brothers track. There are some songs by 16-year-old Demi Lovato, who has the lead female role and seems to be Disney's leading contender for a Miley Cyrus with a less pop and more rock edge.

The songs are fine enough, and most of the songs won't drive you to change the station if you hear them on Radio Disney (OK, maybe "Hasta La Vista," ugh), but you're not going to remember them 15 minutes after they're over. There's nothing as memorable as "Breaking Free" or "Fabulous" or "You Are the Music In Me," all of which are decent pop songs. In the end, it's not really for me, but it never really was.

Continue reading "Review: OMG or LOL? Three Disney Disks" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's not like we weren't prepared for the possibility of a Lisa Loeb kids' music album -- after all, she (relatively) famously joined with her old Brown University singing partner Elizabeth Mitchell to produce Catch the Moon in 2004. But it certainly took Loeb a while to get around to a kids' album of her own, and it's not quite what we might have expected.

Loeb released her new album, Camp Lisa, last week, and it's a considerably different album from Catch the Moon. Whereas that album was definitely targeted to the preschool set (it was packaged with a small picture book, after all), Loeb's album is a concept album that celebrates summer camps.

I mean this in the best possible way -- Camp Lisa is an winningly dorky album. By that I mean it expertly blends earnest and original "camp life" songs with earnestly sung renditions of traditional songs and chants. I mean, the album leads off with the cheeky "Ready For The Summer," the theme from the movie Meatballs. While perhaps there's a small wink and nudge in Loeb's and Letters to Cleo's Kay Hanley's vocals, the group of kids singing along do so with gusto and without any irony. It's summer camp -- the more you through yourself into it, the more fun you'll have.

The original tunes here, including "Best Friend," "When It Rains," and "It's Not Goodbye" (which features a nifty segue into the camp chestnut "Make New Friends"), have an appealingly laid-back, '70s AM-radio vibe whose sounds will appeal to the parents of kids going off to summer camp and whose lyrics, should the kids settle down long enough to pay attention, might actually frame their camp experience. (The whole album is well-sequenced, working from heading off to camp to leaving it.) The traditionals -- "Woodchuck," "Peanut Butter & Jelly," and "Father Abraham" -- wouldn't be strong enough to merit a whole album on their own, but integrated into the other songs, they provide a nice contrast.

Loeb pulls in a whole bunch of help here, from Jill Sobule (on the dreamy "Cookie Jar Song") to Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon on the ukulele-accompanied "Linger." Kudos, too, to Loeb for a) getting Steve Martin to appear on her album, and b) asking him just to play banjo (which he does well on "The Disappointing Pancake").

Given that these are songs about going to camp, I'll put the age range here at ages 7 and up, though certainly a lot of the traditional tunes will appeal to the younger set, too. For the moment, the 39-minute album is only available at Barnes & Noble -- you can hear samples and buy the album here. (I should also note that in conjunction with the album's release, Loeb has also launched the Camp Lisa Foundation, a non-profit that will raise funds to help send underprivileged kids to summer camp.)

Camp Lisa does a very good job of evoking -- both prosaically as well as emotionally -- the summer camp experience, and I think that any family who's gone through that (or is going to go through that) will find this a very worthy album. But even if you're doing the summer camp thing, there are enough good songs here that you'll probably linger a little while with it. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imagine if Kanye West decided his next album would be a bluegrass album. Or if Metallica felt they had a polka album in them. How would their fans react? How would the bluegrass or polka purists react? Most importantly, would the music be any good?

I'm thinking about those questions after having listened to Nueva York!, the latest album from Dan Zanes. The album, released yesterday, is Zanes' eighth "age-desgregated" album, the follow-up to his 2006 Grammy-winning album Catch That Train!. And, after slowly building up his rep as the godfather of family-friendly music for American families, Zanes has chosen to release an album songs from Latin America and Mexico recorded 99% in Spanish.

Zanes has released less obviously kid-oriented albums in the past -- an album of seafaring songs (Sea Songs) and an album of songs from Carl Sandburg's Songbag -- but those were released when Zanes had a little lower profile than he does now. So while Zanes probably couldn't act like Beck did early in his career, and release his higher-profile stuff with Geffen while releasing other, more challenging albums on small labels, he should still get credit of some sort for embracing this new album as the full-fledged follow-up to Catch That Train!

But back to the original question -- is the music any good? Yeah, it's good. The album starts out with insistent drums and the driving "El Pescador," which rocks as hard anything in Zanes' kid-ography, helped out by Marc Ribot on guitar. "Colas" mixes tuba into a a Mexican son joracho recorded with the Villa-Lobos brothers. "Pollito Chicken" is the closest thing to a "kids' song" here, with a kids' chorus helping out the children's rhyme.

On it goes -- through Daphne Rubin-Vega's turn on the beautiful la-la-las of "Alba Mananera," the Villa-Lobos brothers' forceful string playing on "El Pijul," and long-time DZ compatriots Rubi Theatre Company on the multilingual "El Canario." I certainly can't speak with any knowledge of how "authentic" the renditions are, but these mostly traditional songs probably don't sound like this today in their "home" countries, either. These renditions here are vibrant, full of life, with solid musical performances. More so on perhaps his other CDs, Zanes takes a little bit more of a backseat to his fellow musicians -- it's a more collaborative album than any of his previous efforts, which befits the learning and immersive nature of this project.

As good as the music is here, I can't say this is the perfect DZ album. At over an hour in length, it goes on for too long. Kids who have grown up on Zanes' albums may miss the absence of Father Goose and his silliness especially. And it's going to be hard for a lot of English-speaking families to fully "get into" the album when it's virtually entirely in Spanish. None of which the album bad as an entity unto itself, but for those families who stumbled recently onto Zanes via a Playhouse Disney video and haven't been listening for five years, it's likely to be a little bit confusing, at least.

While the album is another all-ages experience, it doesn't have quite the early-years hook some of Zanes' other albums have, so I'm going to put the target age range here at ages 5 and up. You can hear samples of the tracks just about everywhere online, or you can listen to "Colas," "La Piragua," and "El Botellon" right now at Zanes' Myspace page.

With Nueva York!, Zanes has crafted another album of fun, family-friendly community music. Going back to the question I posed earlier -- does it really matter who does a bluegrass album so long as the album is good? While the album is a less-than-perfect introduction to his music, longtime Zanes families will embrace this CD as just another part of his wide-ranging musical explorations. And hopefully it'll introduce Dan Zanes to a whole new set of fans. You'll listen, you'll dance, and -- Zanes hopes -- you just might even sing along. Definitely recommended.

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

It's Memorial Day here in the United States, so I thought this review might be appropriate.

Maine's Josephine Cameron is not an artist that typically would get much coverage on a kids' music website. That's because even though Cameron spends some of her time teaching songwriting to kids, she doesn't spend her time recording songs for kids.

But just as her last album, Close Your Eyes (review) was a mellow CD that could pull double-duty as a lullaby album, so too her latest album, American Songs Vol. 2, could be a good folk song primer for slightly older kids. The album, released in late 2007 and a sequel to the first volume, released in 2002, consists of a number of traditional American folk songs mixed in with a few originals. Cameron puts just enough of her own spin on the more familiar songs to make them fresh without depriving them of the strengths that have made them classics. "Oh Susanna" is dialed-down a notch, emphasizing more of the sadness of the distance between the returning soldier and his love. "This Land Is Your Land" gets all the verses, with Cameron's ebullience at the end showing through.

There is pleasure in the discovery of less-familiar songs, such as the waltz of "Gum Tree Canoe." And on "Evangeline" (co-written by Cameron and co-producer Anthony Walton), Cameron retells Longfellow's tale of Evangeline and Gabriel. I also really liked Cameron's, Walton's and arranger Carter Little's bluesy setting of Sterling A. Brown's poem "Long Track Blues." Cameron's slightly high-pitched voice (think Susanna Hoffs) is set off nicely against the understated guitar and mandolin work.

I would be surprised if young kids enjoy this album much, but older kids, say those 8 and older, might enjoy listening to these songs. You can hear samples and download tracks here or at the 42-minute album's CDBaby page. Also, I highly recommend Cameron's notes on the songs, which are incredibly detailed. It's always nice to hear musicians thinking about how to record traditional folk music in a way that preserves what makes the song a classic but also brings the musician's own sensibilities to the song, thereby making it new once more. With American Songs Vol. 2, Cameron's done that. It's not necessarily a kids' album, but it's a good album.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know that the kids' music genre is flowering when less popular subgenres such as kids' hip-hop or kids' country are starting to bubble up. I especially know that that's the case when those genres start producing albums that aren't just "kids songs done in a [fill-in-genre-name] style," but fully realized albums on their own.

Case in point: Easy, the debut kids' CD from Asheville, North Carolina's Cactus. He spends a lot of time rapping and playing with the music collective GFE as Agent 23, but who adopts the cool-kids name Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.. From start to finish, the album is totally geared at kids in its subject matter but is not dumbed down one bit in the creativity of its beats and melody. On its strongest tracks (and there are a number of them), Cactus blends smooth rapping with occasionally eclectic instrumentation ("Luck" features nice banjo work) and an all-positive message.

Sometimes that message is a little more overt -- "Luck" raps about how we make our own luck by knowing what it is we want; "Gotta Be Me" is about how everyone should have their own style, and that's OK. If the message is a bit direct, it's delivered with precision and flowing words. (Even his 5-year-old daughter Saki gets in on the act, very smoothly trading lines with her dad on "Family Tree.")

Perhaps even better are his songs that take a more imaginary bent. "Hot Lava" so completely nails the 7-year-old feeling of pretending on the fly (don't touch the floor! -- it's hot lava! -- jump from couch to couch!) that I'm not sure there is a better kids' song about the power of imagination. Songs about dragons, mermaids, and robots feature in the mix, too. It's very much story-telling with a compelling musical background.

I'm going to peg the messages and stories here as geared primarily for kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear samples of a number of the songs at the album's CDBaby page.

The list of really good kids' hip-hop albums is very short. Not only does Easy go to the top of that list, it should find a lot of fans among people who don't consider themselves big hip-hop fans. It's a really good CD, period -- lots of fun and certainly worthy of repeated spins. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'd like to think that my offhand comment 7 months ago ("Why has this band not recorded a kids' CD?") was the genesis of Snacktime, the first kids' music album from Canada's Barenaked Ladies. The band, after all, recorded the album in November and December of last year, a good month after my comment. I gotta tell you, if I was somehow responsible in some tiny way for the album, released tomorrow, that would justify a lot of my work here at Zooglobble -- this is one fun set of songs. (Note: I'm not delusionary enough to suggest that I actually am. But it's nice to dream, eh?)

Barenaked Ladies always seemed to me a little bit the yin to They Might Be Giants' yang when it came to geek rock -- while TMBG focused on absurdly catchy melodies, BNL's strength was more lyrical. From the goofiness of "If I Had a $1000000" to the wistfulness of "Brian Wilson" to the, er, I-have-no-idea-iness of "One Week" (which I will proudly admit to still adoring), the band always had a good narrative line and a fascination with words.

A fascination with words is a good thing to have for certain kids' albums, and it pays off well here. From the very first song -- "7 8 9," which takes the old kids' pun of a hungry #8 and #9's sad demise and turns it into a Western stomp that touches on Gordie Howe, Pluto, and canine (teeth) -- lovers of wordplay will rejoice here. There are several wordy classics here. On the soundplay of "Food Party" the band perfectly anthropomorphizes (sonically) tastes such as "sweet," "sour," and "bland." "Crazy ABCs" pretty much writes the final ABC song ever (sample line "G is for gnarly"). "Vegetable Town" is a slow, dreamy song about a place "Where we can ride the zucchini subway / Or watch the carrot planes land on the runway." "I Can Sing," on the other hand, is a zippy bluegrass tune which features lines like "I can dance I can dance I can dance faster / I tried to keep up but it was a disaster. / One more move and I'm gonna be the master! / So crank it up loud on the ghetto blaster."

Not every song works -- the title track, for example, mostly consists of musicians and actors (Geddy Lee, Lyle Lovett, Sarah McLachlan, Jason Priestly) phoning in their favorite snack foods, and after the first listen you're likely to skip forward (and probably once more, past "Popcorn"). But that's what happens when you put 24 tracks on a 54-minute album -- some are bound to be duds. And some songs aren't going to be of much interest to your kindergartner, but just means that songs like the awesomely rocking "Allergies" will make them convulse with laughter 3 years from now and make you hope that Dr. Demento is still recording his radio show, because it deserves to be there. (He is.)

The nice thing with all the silliness is it makes the more serious songs stand out more. "My Big Sister" encapsulates in just under a minute the woes of a younger brother and hand-me-downs. "Bad Day" is an "everything will be better" song that avoids sappiness.

The album will be of most interest to kids ages 5 through 9 and adults who got rid of their copies of Stunt a while back. [Raises hand.] You can hear some songs at their Myspace page or "Crazy ABCs" here.

By the way, you can also order the CD with a book from the band's own website. The book isn't absolutely essential -- it's just the lyrics to the songs with drawings from band member Kevin Hearn interspersed with the text -- but it's a solidly-bound hardcover, and I can't think of too many other kids' CDs where I would be more likely to read along to the lyrics with my kids than this one. It may be worth the extra $4 or $5 to you...

Snacktime is too long by half, kids will be bored by some of the songs, and "Humungous Tree" should probably be written as "Humongous Tree." And even with all that, it's still a great CD. It's not perfect, but the joy and spontaneity in its creation shines through. The Barenaked Ladies have crafted a CDs that will appeal to just about every family member, at least most of the time. It's a classic Barenaked Ladies album, just a little bit... smaller. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New York's Hayes Greenfield is the most vital person in the kids' music jazz subgenre. Through his Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz program, he brings his saxophones and a love of jazz to kids in concert. (And his 1998 CD of the same name which inspired that program is, with the possible exception of the new Medeski Martin & Wood disk, the best kids' jazz album out there, period.)

So clearly Greenfield's latest project, Music For A Green Planet, released yesterday, Earth Day, had the possibility of being another excellent album. Certainly many of the characteristics of his Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz disk appear here -- the never-dumbed down playing of Greenfield and his fellow instrumentalists, the broad range of jazz styles (a New Orleans strut on "This Little World of Ours," the South American jazz of "This Little World of Ours"). And once again, Greenfield brings aboard a bunch of fine vocalists, with Joe Lee Wilson and Melissa Stylianou getting the most lead vocal time. The kids' chorus is fun and never cloying (the hopping "The Sun" is a particular high point.) In sum, the jazz is first-rate.

What keeps this from being an absolutely necessary CD are the lyrics, which are set to familiar kids' tunes (e.g., "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" becomes "We'll Be a PArt of the Solution"). Please don't misunderstand me -- the lyrics are generally witty and it's hard to argue with the need to reduce, reuse, recycle. The difficult part is that it's 53 minutes of the same thing -- it's all a bit too much, frankly. And while there isn't much talking down or straight lecturing, I'm not sure the concept of the carbon footprint is going to make much headway with the target audience. While not dull, the album isn't as fun as it could have been. I think the album would've been served better by a few more instrumental tracks or lyrics that just celebrated nature or being outside rather than stressing the message all the time. Less would have been more in this case.

I think kids ages 5 through 9 will most appreciate the messages here. You can hear samples at the album's CDBaby page or here. I do think Music for a Green Planet will be popular with (and I would recommend it to) any ecologically-minded class or family, plus jazz fans. While I'd recommend Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz over this album for an introduction to Greenfield's work, I do certainly hope it'll be less than 10 years before he makes another album for kids and families.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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)

High Meadow Songs is a collection of tracks from artists in New York's Hudson Valley to benefit High Meadow Arts, a local non-profit providing arts education for children and families.

When getting a bunch of local musicians together for a benefit album, it doesn't hurt if your definition of "local musicians" includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Dog on Fleas, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. And if the CD just consisted of the tracks from those artists or collaborators, you'd have a pretty nifty 9-track album. Dog on Fleas turn in a very Fleas-ian (and local) "Buffalo Gals" and sound a bit like The Band on "Jenny Jenkins." Mitchell covers Jane Siberry's sweet "When Spring Comes," while MMW offer their reworking of "All Around the Kitchen" (accented with kids' voices) from their upcoming Let's Go Everywhere CD.

Luckily there are a number of other tracks worth it for someone who's not from the area -- for example, Rebecca Coupe Franks & Her Groovemobile offer an original jazzy instrumental, "Ella Skye," and Abby Hollander and a whole bunch of High Meadow students perform Mark Morgenstern's story-in-song "Hudson River Girl." The album isn't so much an album of "kids music" as much as it is an album of kid-friendly folk music, "folk" defined rather broadly, as the album also includes a song from a musical comedy based on Beowulf ("True True Friend") and a couple of tracks from drummers Fode Sissoko and Toby Stover. As with any benefit album, especially a 65-minute one such as this one, the quality (or interest) of the tracks is not uniformly high, but the high points outweigh the rest.

You can hear the first three tracks in their entirety here or listen to samples at the album's CDBaby page. It's probably most appropriate for kids ages 5 and up. High Meadow Songs will appeal most to fans of Dog on Fleas and Elizabeth Mitchell, but I think any listener (or family) who's a fan of folk music will find many pleasures here. It's a testament to one particular community's creative vibrancy. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Austin's Biscuit Brothers are best seen on TV or live. There's a definite theatrical sensibility in the episodes you can watch on selected PBS stations or on DVD, and they've been performing live even longer. (The live shows were the inspiration for the TV show, in fact.)

As good as those shows are, though, trying to capture the essential Biscuit nature on CD is a little tougher. Their previous disk, Old MacDonald's EIEI Radio, sounded a little bit like a (long) TV episode, with a little emphasis on the educational component of the TV show. It usually worked OK, but there were points where it seemed like there were some visuals missing and it wasn't as entertaining as watching the show.

Now, with their just-released Family Favorites, they're taking a slightly different approach, essentially forgoing attempts at direct education and an episodic structure, and putting together an album of fun songs, some of which were originally recorded for the TV show, some of which are new for this album. While the result is definitely not like the show in its overall structure, the album does a fine job of capturing the Biscuit Brothers spirit, energy, and humor.

The album starts off with a great version of the "Wabash Cannonball" -- its soaring chorus is a high point of the album -- and proceeds to wander through some time-tested tunes. Irving Berlin ("Alexander's Ragtime Band) and George M. Cohan ("Grand Old Flag" and "Yankee Doodle Scarecrow" -- OK, that last one has been modified a bit from the original) help the 20th century make an appearance, while "Old Dan Tucker" gets a smooth, polished performance from the band. Indeed, one of the pleasures of the CD is listening to the Brothers' fine voices and Allen Robertson's musical arrangements in song after song. And while the Biscuit Brothers' primary musical approach is renditions of folk songs, they're talented enough to make the alphabet song sound a bit like the Fifth Dimension on "Alphabet!"

And, yeah, Tiny Scarecrow, one of my favorite kids' show characters of all time (and one who gets high marks from my kids, too), gets his share of air time -- he's appropriately goofy on the "World's Shortest Dance Break," he negotiates the rapid-fire lyrics on "Tiger Rag" -- so that pleased me. In the let's-make-a-silly-rhyme "Schnitzelbank," he makes a Rene Magritte reference about floating apples -- high and low in the same song.

These songs are really an all-ages setlist, but given a couple of the titles, let's put the target range at kids ages 2 through 9. You can hear clips from the 34-minute album at its CDBaby page.

If you're already a Biscuit Brothers fan, you've probably picked up Family Favorites by now -- and if you haven't, you should. For those of you who aren't sure about the Brothers, I think this is a fun album you can enjoy even if you've never seen the show -- it's the best audio introduction to the Biscuit Brothers. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the comparatively small world of kids music, I'm not sure there's been an album that has shook up the genre recently as much as the Jellydots' debut CD Hey You Kids!. At time it rocked, other times it was gently sweet, but it seemed to resonate with parents who might never have given the genre a second thought.

So how exactly does one follow up such a standout release? You pretty much have two choices -- follow the template exactly, or throw away the mold. For Doug Snyder, chief Jellydot, the answer was more the latter than the former and you can hear the results on Changing Skies, the followup CD currently available in digital formats and available on physical CDs in the not-too-distant future for old fogeys like me.

How is it different? Well, the primary difference is that the subject matter is definitely geared towards older kids. It's not that Hey You Kids! was necessarily a perfect album for a 3-year-old -- it was definitely more for 6-year-olds and older. But songs about dropped cookies and going to camp, and treating each other with respect were definitely for kids. On the new album, though, Snyder often writes songs about 14-year-olds, or even their older siblings. "Remember Me" is a beautiful song which conjures up every memory you never had about a tenth-grade romance with a girl who moved away. "Art School Girl" is a dryly humorous reggae-tinged track about a young woman who moves away from Austin because she thinks life will be more exciting elsewhere and ends up working in Starbucks. Your 3-year-old might bop her head to the tune, but won't really care about the lyrics.

The album isn't totally a missing My So-Called Life soundtrack -- "Big Swingset," for example, is about, well, a swingset and moves briskly in 7/4 time (a meter which, I assure you, is not found on most pop-rock albums), while "Sad Robot" is a slower track about a robot who'd much rather be zooming through space. And for those of you who loved the lullabies at the end of the first CD, Snyder doesn't disappoint here, either -- "When You Were Born" and "Pretty Little Baby" evoke Paul Simon and Elliott Smith in tenderness. So, yeah, there are some songs for the youngsters, but the overall vibe is for kids older than them.

I'm going to peg the primary audience here at ages 9 and up. You can listen to samples and purchase the CD at CDBaby or hear a couple songs at the Jellydots' Myspace page. (Order it at iTunes here.)

In its own way, Changing Skies an experiment in creating a different path for family music, one that attempts to include all family members in the musical journey. Dan Zanes has blazed this trail most successfully, but with this album, deliberately or not, Doug Snyder is seeing whether or not a more rock-based approach might also work. I'm not sure everybody in a family will like all the tracks equally, but I'm pretty sure at least somebody will like each track in turn. And I definitely think the adults who liked Hey You Kids! will like this new one, too. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I have been a fan of Rhode Island-based Keith Munslow since hearing his fun 2005 album Accidentally (on purpose) (review here). But I hadn't heard any of his storytelling until giving his recently-released Dressed Up For the Party a spin.

I should have known his storytelling would be every bit as fun (and funny) as his music. There are just 4 tracks here stretching out over the album's 47-minute runtime, nicely sequenced. The opener, "Five Second Rule," is storytelling with some strutting blues bookending Munslow's observations on the eternal food/floor conundrum. It's an amusing appetizer to the main two stories here. The 18-minute "No Token, No Milk" tells the story of a school-aged Munslow losing the token he needs to get his carton of milk. It's the funniest story here.

It's followed up by "Marfa the Barfa," a more dramatic story (though not without funny points) with no music about a 13-year-old girl whose fondest wish of going out to sea with her fisherman father is thwarted by her throwing up over the side of her father's boat (repeatedly). At nearly 20 minutes long, you might think that it would drag or fail to keep the kids attention, but my kids (especially the 6-year-old) hang on to every word. I could see where both stories were going (or at least the major plot points), but in storytelling it's the details and the execution (listen to the squeak of Martha's brother's tricycle and its use), and Munslow's got those down pat.

The disk wraps up with the title track, an amusing musical number about a kid who doesn't want to, uh, get dressed up for the party. It's a light dessert to the disk. It shows off Munslow's musical chops, along with that of his co-producer, Bill Harley (a talented singer/storyteller in his own right, and a Grammy-winner to boot). With the exception of "Marfa," music is important to the tracks, and even in the comparatively non-musical "No Token," Munslow's use of the African box drum the cajon made my two-year-old dance like crazy.

The stories will be of most interest to kids ages 4 through 10. You can read the liner notes and lyrics at Munslow's page for the album or listen to samples at its CDBaby page.

Dressed Up For the Party is a solid album of storytelling with some sweet musical accompaniment. In pajamas at home, or in school clothes in the car, your kids will enjoy the disk and you will, too. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A hazard in reviewing kids' music is the need to be conversant with a broad range of musical styles. For "adult" music, editors generally wouldn't have the same person reviewing classical music and metal, but in this field, well, anything goes.

So when the press release for It's A Bam Bam Diddly!, the first CD for Rankin' Don aka Wayne Rhoden aka Father Goose on Dan Zanes' Festival Five Records, lists a whole bunch of special guests, they are names that don't mean anything to me. Unless you're an expert in Caribbean or dancehall music, they probably won't mean anything to you, either.

And you know what? You won't care -- you'll think the album's great.

In essence, this album is exactly what a Dan Zanes album might sound like if Zanes made a Caribbean album. Zanes is like the Jon Stewart of the kids music field -- he's helped invigorate the genre and has surrounded himself with a bunch of talented musicians who get his approach. And so just as Stephen Colbert has branched out on his own, Father Goose has created his own world here.

In fact, just like Zanes on his kids' CDs, Father Goose often stays in the background on this disk, content to be the ringleader and letting the other artists shine. Father Goose introduces the winsome "Panama," but it's guests Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste and longtime Zanes artist Barbara Brousal who carry the vocals. Two of my favorite tracks -- "Long Time Gal" and "Nah Eat No Fish," which both sound very much like they could appear on a Zanes CD -- feature Judith Murray and Aggie.

It's not to say he's not around -- Father Goose adds humorous counterpoint to the Dan Zanes / Sheryl Crow duet on "Flying Machine" and has spoken-word interludes on Zanes' rendition of Harry Belafonte's moving "Island in the Sun." But he's content to blend in on songs like the lovely waltz "Jane and Louisa" or "Chi Chi Buddo," with the title phrase getting stuck in your head.

In fact, these aren't really downsides to the CD, but you should be aware that it's definitely not the "Father Goose Show," in case your kids are huge Father Goose fans from the Zanes CDs. Nor is it really as uptempo and high-energy as the role he plays on Zanes' CDs and (especially) in concert. It's really for slightly older kids, and while it's not sleepy-time music, it's not bounce-around music either.

I think the songs here are best for kids ages 4 through 9, though perfectly OK for younger kids, and, frankly, this really is an all-ages album in the best Zanes-ian tradition. You can listen to some samples from the 53-minute album here or elsewhere around the web.

I feel bad about mentioning Dan Zanes' name so much, because It's A Bam Bam Diddly! is a strong album, and Father Goose really deserves credit for being such a great ringleader. I think in part it's because I know a lot of people might be interested in this CD because of their previous enjoyment of Zanes' CDs and to those fans I say, "get this album -- you won't be disappointed." But just as Stephen Colbert has created his own career outside of Jon Stewart, with this CD Father Goose shows he's a force to be reckoned with, too. Great stuff and hopefully the start of a great run of CDs -- definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When the Seattle band Recess Monkey aped (pun somewhat intended) the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover on their 2nd CD, Aminal House, it wasn't a random reference -- they really did sound a bit like the Beatles on that fine CD. So with their Sgt. Pepper's under their belt (and maybe their fun but a little rough-around-the-edges debut Welcome to Monkey Town standing in for Please Please Me), all that's left is to release a double album, right?

Uh, right.

Set to be officially released this weekend, Wonderstuff is the year's most ambitious kids' music album. A double-CD set (a first for the genre as far as I'm aware) telling the story of Everett the Wonderbee, who along with some friends, travel far and face danger as they seek the mysterious Gray which threatens the meadows where Everett and his friends all live. Oh, and the songs and the stories were created (and performed) by the band with the help of a bunch of elementary-school-aged summer campers. (Really. I sat in on the tail-end of one the days of camp as an invited guest of one of the campers.) So, yeah. Ambitious.

Although the band joked this summer that they were making their "Yellow Album," as I listened I thought more of another late '60s double-CD set from another English band -- the Who's Tommy. Though miles away from Pete Townshend's somewhat dark and disturbing storyline, Wonderstuff is, at its heart, also a rock-pop opera. It intersperses its songs with narration and dialogue from the characters which move the story along. These snippets, usually a minute or so in length, are often quite amusing (for both parents and kids, though not always at the same time). The story itself -- a hero quest worthy of Joseph Campbell -- will be of interest to kids. (I must say, though, I actually missed "Mayor Monkey" from the previous CDs, which is one of the first times I've ever actually missed a skit character.)

Of course, the heart of the album are the 20 songs here. There are a fair number of songs that one would describe as Beatlesque ("My Pet Rock" is one such song, featuring the album's best melody), but other styles get their day -- the later Beach Boys sound of "The Pool," the Byrds-ian jangle-pop of "Down Down Down," even the Who get a cut ("Round and Round"). Which isn't to say newer artists get ignored. Some of the tracks on the 2nd CD have to me a more minimalist Spoon vibe, the dour "The Gray" could be a cut from Stephin Merritt's Gothic Archies side project, and the boys give another shout-out to John Vanderslice in the power-pop of "Backpack." Lyrically, the songs are split between those that hew closely to the narrative (e.g., "Magical Meadows") and those whose relationship to the story is tenuous ("Down Down Down" is really about a roller-coaster ride). In other words, take out the overarching story and you'd have a completely different album.

It would also be probably 30 minutes shorter, and when you're talking about 81 minutes worth of entertainment that's currently on the two disks, that's a big difference. In fact, if there's one drawback to the CD, it's the length. It would sound great on a long car ride (the story is interesting enough to keep the attention of the listener), but it may be too long for many listeners.

The album will be most appropriate for listeners ages 5 through 10. You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page. I also think you'll be able to listen at the album's website, but that function doesn't seem to be up and running just yet.

With Wonderstuff, Recess Monkey have recorded another album bursting with energy and good spirits. Even if you're not interested in the rock-pop opera, there are a bunch of fabulous songs at the heart of this album worth your time. Definitely recommended.

Note: The album's release party is this Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Experience Music Project in Seattle Center. If you can make it, go. I think it'll be ten tons of fun.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The "For the Kids" series was kids' music before kids' music was cool. Or at least really cool. Its first two compilations, released in 2002 and 2004, were earnest and enjoyable collections of, for the most part, adult artists tackling kid-friendly tunes. The first disk had a few more heavy hitters (Sarah McLachlan, Tom Waits), while the second had a bit more of an underdog feeling (Robyn Hitchcock, Nada Surf).

How, then, to describe this third installment, which will be released by Nettwerk tomorrow?

Well, let me put it this way -- it's the first kids' music compilation where I almost feel too old. Now, you might be thinking, "Ummm.... it's a CD of music for kids... you're supposed to feel too old." True, but in this case I'm talking about the bands -- some of them aren't in my core demographic.

For example, Of Montreal, who leads off the disk with "I Want To Have Fun," is a darling of the Pitchfork crowd, and while I don't say that pejoratively -- I'm a member of the Pitchfork crowd -- I also realize that the sub-crowd of parents who are members of the Pitchfork crowd is a small crowd indeed. So it matters little that, against my expectations, the song is pretty good, because I'm not sure the people in my child-rearing crowd (a considerably larger one) would care. Same goes for the Format, who turn in a slightly odd and operatic "Does Your Car Have a Mustache?" or Blitzen Trapper, who add the zippy "New Shoes" to the mix. Good bands, not quite in the my demographic.

One of the hallmarks of the series has been its relative lack of interest in musicians who make their living playing for kids, and that holds true even more here. Only one band, the Sippy Cups, get a slot here, and that's with a cover of a non-kids' song, "I'm a Believer." There are a few traditional songs on the CD -- O.A.R. do a brief reggae-tinged "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and while Steve Lee-compatriot Kyle Andrews and the Submariens turn in a peppy "Wheels on the Bus" and trip-hoppy "My Darling Clementine," respectively.

There are some other good tracks here (the awesome "See You on the Moon," from another compilation, by the Great Lake Swimmers; "James Taylor's "Jellyman Kelly," done appealingly raggedly by Mates of States), but there are three tracks here that are key for me. The first two are songs that are decent enough and will probably have everyone talking. Over the Rhine's "The Poopsmith Song" is a song that illustrates, in repeated detail, where one should and should not poop ("Not on your arm / not on your leg / not on your toast / not on the eggs"). The transgressionary nature of the Seussian tale (yes, I just used the phrase "transgressionary nature" in talking about kids music) might be too cute by half if I didn't hear kids (probably the bands' own kids) singing -- it probably was a song written to help them use the toilet. MC Lars' "The Lint Song" is another one of those "too cute by half" songs that's probably more amusing to the parents than the kids, but there will probably be some 8-year-old older siblings who find the rap about, well, lint the funniest thing ever.

And then, finally, there's the Barenaked Ladies. A band which, if I'm any indication, has probably almost fallen off the radar screens of many of the purchasers of this CD. Cassettes of Gordon lost, the CDs of Stunt simply disappeared as the band pursued other, more serious songs. After a listen to their previously-released (though new to me) rendition of the traditional "The Other Day I Met a Bear," I wondered aloud, "Why has this band not recorded a kids' CD?" The track is my favorite on the CD, which is saying something, considering "See You on the Moon" is on here, too. The tune (originally released on a Simple Life-branded collection, for goodness' sake!) is energetic and with the band sounding like they're having a ton of fun -- listen to them chant "Ten Feet!" with ever-increasing loudness. It may no longer be cool to listen or like the Barenaked Ladies, but this track is just too much fun to let those silly notions carry.

The songs here are most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 9. The 56-minute album, like its predecessors, will serve as a benefit in the US for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. (In Canada it'll benefit the Sarah McLachlan Outreach Project.) You can check out the tracks at various internet retailers, and Blitzen Trapper's "New Shoes" here.

For the Kids Three! is a solid collection of songs for kids, songs for parents, and, well, songs for those somewhere in between. It doesn't always hit all the sweet spots at the same time, but everyone will find something to like here, especially given the collection's broad range of indie-rock styles. And for those of you who loved the first two compilations, but are wondering just who these bands are scattered amongst Moby and the Barenaked Ladies, I encourage you to take the plunge -- your kids might find a new favorite song, while you might find a new favorite band. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Spend 2 minutes and 16 seconds, listening to "Educated Kid," the title track and leadoff single from the Bay Area trio The Hipwaders' latest CD, Educated Kid, and try not to move or sing along in some way. Go ahead, try.

See, can't do it.

It's a great example of a pure power-pop song retrofitted just enough to allow the kids to groove to it, even get something out of it lyrically ("pursue your passion / do what you love / perservere / you'll rise above"), while retaining enough musical flourishes (the "uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh" of the chorus, the handclaps) to make the older power-pop fan smile broadly.

While the rest of the disk doesn't quite reach the sugary heights of the title track, there are a number of other good songs on the CD, which was released this week. "Little Baby Brother" has a snappy "ba-ba-bas," "whooooos" and a dead-on kids-eye view of a child's response to a little brother ("Please don't break my toys / And I'll love you forever"). "Aidan's Train" is a sweet Beatle-esque melody. A lot of the tracks have a very XTC vibe -- "The History of Declan Rae" sounds like something from XTC's later period while the angluar "Art Car" and "Speed of Love" have early XTC influences -- in other words, it sounds like a Futureheads kids CD. Guitarist and songwriter Tito Uquillas continues his fascination with sharing educational facts in some songs. It could drag the disk down but it usually doesn't -- the facts typically come off as "hey, here's this really cool fact!" rather than overly didactic and some songs ("History of Declan Rae," in particular) pull it off rather well.

Kids ages 5 through 10 will most likely appreciate the songs and subject matter on the 39-minute CD. You can hear (and download) four of the tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples of all tracks at the album's CDBaby page.

Educated Kid marks a big step forward for the band. In reviewing their previous, self-titled CD, I said "they're not at a Ralph's World level of polish and songcraft yet, but give The Hipwaders time. They may just get there. " Folks, they're getting pretty close. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mary Had A Little Amp was originally released waaaaaaay back in, er, October 2004. OK, it really wasn't that long ago in the cosmic scheme of things. But if it's not quite the paleozoic era to the current mesozoic era, it does seem like it comes from a different time.

The big thing about the current wave of kid-comps (kids' music compilations) is that the CDs tend to be composed of songs recorded specifically for the CD. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, mind you, and some of the songs on those CDs aren't specifically "kids music," but, more often than not, when the artist or band went into the studio, they had a pretty good idea of who their audience was going to be. Or, at the very least, the track listing makes some sense.

Not so with Mary Had A Little Amp. The songs here seem to have been compiled as much by the artists' affinity for for the album's benefactors (proceeds go to support preschool education projects) as by the appropriateness of the songs. "We Walk," for example, is a perfectly kid-safe song from R.E.M. (or at least as far one can tell in Michael Stipe's earlier, mumblier phase), but its appropriateness for a kids-music album is somewhat remote. You can count Moby's "Anchovie" and "Sing Along" (the Blue Man Group along with Dave Matthews) as songs whose lyrics are reasonably kid-safe, but probably not of much interest to kids.

Which isn't to say there aren't some stellar tracks on here, they just tend to be the ones that are more suitable for a kids-comp. The Dixie Chicks' cover of "The Rainbow Connection" is almost worth the price of the CD by itself -- sweet, with sufficient banjo to make fans remember the original. Jack Johnson turns in an early, laid-back version of "The 3 R's," revved up later on the Curious George soundtrack. Madonna's "Little Star" is surprisingly good and Rosanne Cash's "How To Be Strong" is by far the best original.

The album is probably best-suited for kids ages 3 through 9, though I doubt any kid will really get into the whole CD, there's such diversity in age-range here. You can hear snippets all over the internet and here.

With an overall mellow mood and a collection of slightly older stars, this collection might make a good gift for your older sibling who had a child of their own a little after you did. While it's a decent lineup of artists, compared to some of the more kid-centered (and rockin') compliations that followed it, Mary Had A Little Amp is, well, a little unplugged.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Despite the fact that everybody and their drummer is recording kids music these days, it still takes a certain amount of courage for an artist to release a kids' CD as their very first album.

So kudos to Nashville-based Steve Lee, who chose the "release the kids' CD" page in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" book of his life and ended up producing something quite worthwhile. What Did You Do Today, Stephen Scott Lee?, released at the tail-end of 2006, weaves together some top-notch songwriting and playing around a story of an eventful day in Steve Lee's childhood.

The 61-minute starts with a New Age-y "Good Morning," with Lee's voice gently urging the listener to wake up over some gentle piano. From there, Lee alternates between skits in which he plays a young Stephen Scott Lee and songs which provide some moral commentary on the action. Lee gets bullied around, rides the bus to the zoo, gets knocked out, goes to the doctor, watches a movie, and gets ready for bed. I don't think anybody would listen to the CD for the skits (except for those hooked into the Nashville music scene as some of the skits feature cameos by local artists), but they do provide a context for the songs.

Make no mistake, it's the songs that make this CD so worthwhile. The dozen or so music tracks are solid. Some of the tracks ("Wake Up," "Sharing is Caring") sound a little bit like early Wilco. Lee's voice will remind you of one of the singers from Barenaked Ladies and the music does somewhat, too. Many of the tracks give off a very Polyphonic Spree vibe. My favorite track -- definitely on the album, and quite possibly of the year -- is "Grab A Balloon." It takes a minute or so for the track to pick up speed, but when it does, it's accompanied by a heart so big ("Life is your book, it's being written as we speak / But you should know no matter where you go, your heart is your home") that it's impossible to listen without smiling.

Many of the songs have a definite lesson-teaching component -- share stuff ("Sharing is Caring"), be responsible ("Responsibility Song"), take a breath when you're mad ("Count 2 10"). Normally I tend to discount songs that take that sort of approach, but in this case, Lee and his fellow musicians (a whole bunch of Nashville-area artists) are having so much fun with the infectious melodies that my reservations were wiped out. (Besides, Lee isn't above having a little fun undercutting the moral tone, telling people in one of the zoo-related tracks to "watch out for the doo-doo.")

Kids ages 5 through 9 will be most receptive to the lyrics here. You can listen to the entire album at Lee's Virb page. (You're gonna have to go to his Myspace page to buy the album, though.)

With What Did You Do Today, Stephen Scott Lee?, Steve Lee has captured the highs and lows of being a kid, not only from the child's perspective, but also with some adult 20/20 hindsight. All that, and a tasty musical package, too. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can sequels upstage the original?

The Chicago institution Old Town School of Folk Music released its Songbook Volume 1 last year (review), and the title implied that more was on its way. But could what followed surpass that solid collection?

Yes.

Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook Volume 2 & 3, released last week by Bloodshot Records, is its predecessor's equal in every way, and betters it. Over the 2 hours and 20 minutes on the 2-CD set, the School's instructors and friends breathe fresh life into 42 mostly traditional folk songs. These aren't really kids' songs -- they're folk songs (of many sources, from gospel to sailing to bluegrass), written for general audiences. But with few exceptions they're totally OK for kids and families.

In many cases, the artists take a mostly traditional approach, with a healthy dose of banjo, fiddle, and and/or guitar instrumentation. But others take some risks -- the Zincs turn in a spare, quasi-electronica version of the traditional Shaker tune "Simple Gifts," while Scott Besaw engages in some multi-tracking to make his solo recording of "Nine Pound Hammer" sound very full. As sung by Mary Peterson, "Sportin' Life" could easily be a long-lost track from Patsy Cline.

And some of the tracks are just luminous. Laura Doherty's rendition of Donovan Leitch's "Colours" is simple and sweet. "Lonesome Road," as performed by Back Off the Hammer, would fit right in on a Gillian Welch/David Rawlings disk. Cat Edgerton's "Water is Wide" should find its way onto many a lullaby mixtape. If I had to pick a single track from the bounty here, though, it'd be Jacob Sweet's take on Stephen Foster's "Hard Times." The timeless melody and lyrics, combined with Sweet's voice and the harmonies, are enough to give the listener goosebumps. There are a few tracks I'll skip over because I don't like the vocal style, but those are definitely the exception, not the rule.

Even more so than the original, this collection is appropriate for kids, with very little in the way of subject material parents might object to. Call it appropriate for kids ages 4 on up. You can download Nora O'Connor's excellent recording of "Home on the Range" here, and listen to samples elsewhere on this fabulous thing called the Internet, about which you won't hear a single song here. I'd also note that you can get this album for less than $15 in most places. It's a great deal.

Songbook Vol. 2 & 3 is chock-full of renditions of classic songs that are part of the American song DNA that will please many an ear. If this is how good the sequel is, then Volumes 4 & 5 had darn well better be in the works. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In reviewing this CD, let me be clear from the start that ours is not, for the most part, a television-watching household. It's not really a principled stand as much as it is a reflection of our busy lives. We just don't have much time to watch TV if we want to do other things like, you know, bathe and eat.

Having said that, I do wish we had a little more time, because if we did, we might find time to watch Class of 3000, a Cartoon Network show co-created by, executive produced by, and starring Andre 3000 of the hip-hop duo Outkast as musician/teacher Sunny Bridges. Even if the animation was lousy, we'd still have the music to enjoy.

Released earlier this month, Class of 3000: Music Volume 1 features one song from each of the first season's thirteen episodes, plus the show's theme song. That theme song by itself is more adventurous than most kids' music, going from funk to jazz and even picking up a nursery rhyme along the way. (You can download a copy here, courtesy of Sony, or listen to a Windows stream here or a RealPlayer stream here.)

Luckily the rest of the CD is just as creative and funky. "Throwdown" could be a hip-hop hit. "Cool Kitty" sounds like it was written 40 or 50 years ago, with a snappy surfer/girl-group vibe. "Oh Peanut" is a slower track that shows off some more classical instrumental grooves (listen to a Windows stream here and a RealPlayer stream here.) "Life Without Music" is one of the better "educational songs" of recent years. And, hey, how often on a major-label kids' music release do you get the pure instrumental bebop jazz of "My Mentor?" Rarely, oh so rarely.

If there's a drawback to the album as an album, it's that some songs are clearly tied to the visuals. In some cases it's not much of a drawback -- while I might like to see the visuals associated with "Fight the Blob," the drumline march of the tune is so strong, it works fine a song told in music. In other cases, such as "UFO Ninja," I'm clearly missing something. I'm not saying you need to have seen the series, just that I think those who have might enjoy it (and understand the story-driven songs) slightly more. For those of you don't like cartoony voices, well, I'm usually right in that camp, but the vocal characterizations here are pretty strong, and I think you'll enjoy 'em. (I did.)

The songs are probably most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10, though with the exception perhaps of the darker "We Want Your Soul," everything here is A-OK for youngsters, too. You can hear samples at your standard internet retailers, but I'd also recommend checking out the videos from the show, available at the show's website. You can hear many of the album's tracks there.

In the end, what I find so wonderful about Class of 3000: Music Volume 1 is that a major label gave an exceedingly talented musician the freedom to create an album that takes so many risks. In the jazz interlude of the theme song, one character says, "But, Sunny, radio doesn't play songs without words anymore," and Sunny says wearily, "I know..." It'd be a shame if the public doesn't hear these tunes, be it by radio or some other way. The album is a smartly crafted collection of kid-friendly funk, hip-hop and jazz. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Would I be here on the web without Greasy Kid Stuff? Yeah, probably. Would anybody care? Well, I'm not so sure.

Way back in 1995, when Belinda Miller and Hova Najarian started their weekly Saturday-morning "Greasy Kid Stuff" broadcast on WFMU in the New York area, there may have been a number of kids' music shows on the radio, but none were doing what Belinda and Hova did. Sure, they played "kids' music" (cartoon theme songs, the Chipmunks, and a Sesame Street song made their appearance on a randomly-selected playlist from November 1997). But they also re-appropriated kids' songs played byadult artists (Elvis Presley, the Mr. T Experience and Tanya Donnelly/Juliana Hatfield on that same broadcast) and, even more subversively, artists and songs that had never been anywhere near a kids' show. It wasn't just Jonathan Richman -- it was the Phantom Surfers, the Go-Nuts, and Yo La Tengo.

In 2002, Belinda and Hova compiled their first Greasy Kid Stuff collection, filled with their broadcast's most popular songs from 7 years of Saturday-morning radio shows. This collection has a very goofy vibe to it that owes as much of its energy to Dr. Demento as it does 120 Minutes. Finding out from the liner notes that the very odd "There's a New Sound (The Sound of Worms)" was "without a doubt the most-requested song" on the show in the mid-'90s is a bracing tonic in thinking about what kids actually like to hear. Although I think the silly outweighs the rock, even the silly has a lot of rock to it (check out the surf "Ants in My Pants"), and the rock -- exemplified by the Mr. T Experience's cover of "Up and Down" from Schoolhouse Rock and the by-now-immortal "Jockey Monkey" from James Kochalka Superstar.

The sequel, released a couple years later, is more at the 120 Minutes-end of the GKS spectrum. With tracks from Cub, Supernova, and They Might Be Giants, the album has much more of an indie-rock feel. "Dictionary" is another great indie-rock track, done by Muckafurgason (two-thirds of which would later become the kids' band The Quiet Two. But the less-familiar names also turn in enjoyable tracks, most notably the surprisingly sweet (with pointed commentary near the end) "The Dinosaur Song," from Drew Farmer.

Both albums are appropriate for kids of all ages (unless you think kids shouldn't hear the "Mission: Impossible" theme as performed by chickens, then stay away from the original). But I think kids ages 4 through 10 will probably get the most out of the CDs. Samples are available at many fine internet superstores.

It's hard to choose between the two CDs (if, indeed, you have to choose between them), but I think my rough stereotyping above -- Dr. Demento or 120 Minutes is a reasonably fair one. There are some awesome tracks on both CDs and your family will like both, if for perhaps slightly different reasons. With news that a third collection is in the works, Belinda and Hova will get to share their many discoveries with a music world that's, well, finally, sort of, caught up with them. Recommended.

Obligatory conflict-of-interest note, which I forgot to include when originally posting this last night: Belinda and Hova have just started a new Greasy Kid Stuff blog at Offsprung, which is where I post, too. I could've written this review many months ago, long before they even joined the fold, but thought you should know.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two is better than one. Or, in this particular case, fifty-one is better than two.

Fifty-one is, as best as I can tell, the total number of people singing or playing on Campfire Sing-Along, the recently-released fourth album by the Bay Area duo Orange Sherbet. You might be thinking, last time I checked, "duo" meant, well, two people. And, yes, Jill Pierce and Tamsen Fynn are indeed a duo. But they've pulled in a whole host of family and friends to sing a collection of campfire sing-along favorites. Sometimes the friends are older (such as Charity Kahn from Charity and the JAMband, who makes an appearance on "Sippin' Cider"), sometimes they're younger (the chorus of kids who appear on old chestnuts like "Make New Friends" or "Down by the Bay"). Most are fun, or at least an excellent reminder of songs you can sing at your own campfire.

What turns this album into more than a very enjoyable version of a "Wee Sing" CD is the presence of the Northern California roots/bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum, who join forces with Orange Sherbet and, occasionally, the rest of the 51 for great versions of traditional sing-alongs -- "Down By the Riverside," "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain," "Frog Went A Courtin'," among others. Making the CD stand out, however, are the originals, contributed by members of both bands -- "Bit By Bit" is an awesome song about how little things make a difference, while "Marshmallow" is a fun sing-along that could've been written 70 years ago. It's in the originals most especially that the combination sounds very much like a West Coast version of Dog on Fleas. It's a wholly winning sound.

(Oh, and I almost forgot. All this plus Dan Zanes. Yep -- Zanes makes an appearance on an original called "One Man Band," revealing a heretofore unknown skill in humorous spoken-word poetry. It's hardly a Zanes-ian essential, but it's amusing listening.)

The 48-minute album is appropriate for all ages, though kids able to sing along, ages 3 through 9, are probably more likely to enjoy the CD. You can listen to samples or at the album's CDBaby page (at which you can hear some of "Bit By Bit").

The best parts of Campfire Sing-Along are where Orange Sherbet and Hot Buttered Rum combine to make timeless songs sound fresh and new songs sound like they've been part of the canon forever. (Who would've thought orange sherbet and hot buttered rum would taste so good together?) There are enough such moments here to make this recommended, even if you don't plan to get any closer to the great outdoors than your local park.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In reviewing music here, I've tried not only to cover the latest releases from musicians familiar and not, but also filling in gaps from albums released - gasp! - more than a couple years ago, especially from significant artists. Consider this the missing pieces of my Peter Himmelman coverage, the other two albums for families I've not yet reviewed here.

My Best Friend is a Salamander, released in 1997, was Himmelman's first album for kids and families, and the first thing you might be struck by in listening to it is how it could have been released this year. Ten years later, and Himmelman's still taking socially exciting trips. What is different is just how... odd those first songs were. While on his excellent 2007 release My Green Kite he's singing about kites or feet --fairly recognizable subjects treated in mostly recognizable ways -- early on he had a much more skewed, Shel Silverstein-esque approach. He sings about his best friend... who's a salamander. In "Larry's a Sunflower Now," a dreamy adult-sounding pop tune, the narrator (who poured water all around the subject to help him grow) tells Larry's worried mom," Look at the bright side / There's nothing you can do / Larry's gettin' lots of fresh air / The sun is on his faces and / Birds are in his hair today." Himmelman's fascination with rhyming wordplay -- which continues today -- is most evident here on the gentle "An Ant Named Jane," though a number of other songs have the touch of spoken-word.

Seven years later and one album in the meantime...

Continue reading "Review Two-Fer: My Best Friend is a Salamander / My Lemonade Stand - Peter Himmelman" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Let's get the negative out of the way right from the get-go: "Turn Off the TV" might just be the worst kids' song you'll hear this year. Not only is it very "you should do this," it's also done in a faux-rap style. The combination may just make your kids want to turn off the CD player and turn on the TV for several hours watching Spike TV or something.

OK. I've gotten that out of my system. It's not really the worst kids' song you'll hear this year -- certainly not the worst one I've heard this year. But it sticks out like a big ol' sore thumb on what is otherwise a pretty strong collection of kids' pop from Tennessee-based Roger Day on his third and just-released CD, Dream Big!.

Day can craft decent kid-friendly pop tunes, and there are a number worth enjoying here. "I Like Yaks!" is a goofy little ditty which uses the percussive stylings of master percussionist Billy Jonas. Day also does a good job with character studies or studies. One of the best tracks is "Happy Hippos Hopping," a lilting mid-tempo story song about hippos playing (while the parents watch out for crocodiles). "Zachary Hated Bumblebees" is a simple tune of sorts relating the tale of poor Zachary which uses a string quartet to good effect.

On one song after another, Day puts together well-sung lyrics and catchy melodies. For those of you looking for grit in your CDs, Day is not your man -- the lyrics are uplifting through and through (save for the snotty -- literally -- bonus track). The title track is almost too vague in its exhortation to "dream big!," but there are certainly way more vapid things to shout along in a catchy chorus. Day generally avoids the saccharine pits that musicians making overtly positive music sometimes fall into. Even though Day is very good at what he does, as with artists and bands like Joe McDermott and Milkshake, what he does won't resonate with every family, while others find him an essential component of their library.

The music here will be most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page as well as at Day's music page.

So, "Turn Off the TV" aside, Dream Big! is a nice collection of kid-friendly pop tunes with positive messages. Unless that description makes you run away with your fingers in your ears, then you'll want to give the CD a spin. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm already tired of PTA fundraisers, and our daughter has just cleared kindergarten.

I'd be less tired, perhaps, if our PTA helped put together something like The Cougar of Haycock Woods, the 2007 debut CD from the DC-area trio The Harley String Band.

Cougar Woods is a nature-based learning curriculum for Haycock Elementary in McLean, Virginia. The album was conceived as a fundraiser for the PTA, but it also took its inspiration from the curriculum itself, as the songs all have a strong nature and ecological focus. A number of the songs, like the leadoff track "Running in the Poison Ivy," take a mostly jocular approach ("Point your finger and wag your tongue / Bossin' me around till the bell is rung / Well don’t go getting all high and mighty /Look, you’s standing in poison ivy"). Others take a more serious approach, as in the title track, which sings about a centuries of human-cougar interaction -- from the cougar's perspective.

Not all the songs are quite so ecologically direct. "Cloud Shape Animals" packs its message punch not from emphasizing the fragility of animals on the planet but instead from emphasizing the difficulty of imagination as one ages. And the best track on the CD, "Drifting Away," a gorgeous tune with gentle string accompaniment, has no obvious natural connection except for the title metaphor. Over the 50-minute runtime, there are a few songs that aren't as compelling as the rest (I could do without the silliness of "Ode to Milkweed," for example), but for a narrowly-focused thematic album, it maintains its general interest remarkably well.

Musically, this is straight-up folk and Americana, with a little bit of pop thrown in. The instrumentals are well-done, with what must be a good dozen folk instruments (cittern, banjo, pennywhistle, and jaw harp among them) employed. Vocally, I prefered the sweeter voice of Jim Johnson and Jim Clark to the somewhat nasally voice of Steve Coffee (who wrote and sings the majority of the tracks here), but as I always say, that's a personal thing. Kids from Haycock Elementary make a few appearances, too. The whole sound has a ragged feeling, though in a good way.

Kids ages 4 through 9 will most appreciate the album. You can hear a few tracks and read lyrics to the album here or at the band's CD Baby page.

In the annals of kids' CDs born out of school fundraisers, Frances England's Fascinating Creatures might be the gold standard. But The Cougar of Haycock Woods is a solid collection of nature-based songs, a highly recommended choice for a nature-based curriculum in schools or Earth Day. But it's got enough charm that it's worth a spin at other times and in other places. And maybe it'll even inspire a few more PTAs to give up their chocolate bar sales for something more fulfilling. Recommended.

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

I will be upfront and say that although pirate mania seems to be taking over the world, I, thus far, have been immune. No eyepatches, no using pirate lingo, and only on the rarest of occasions do I drop an "Aaarrrrrrgggghhh." (Though that does give me tremendous satisfaction.)

I do, however, make an exception for the charms -- yes, charms -- of Captain Bogg & Salty, which for nearly 10 years has been performing kids and families in their home port of Portland, Oregon and in other parts of the world. They are a pirate band, though I think it's probably more truthful to call them a pop/rock/theatrical band with a very piratical attitude.

This is definitely noticeable on their third album Prelude to Mutiny, which was released in 2006. The album starts out with a more traditional vibe, led off by a rousing version of "Drunken Sailor." The next track, "Bosun Whistle," has a traditional sound, but also sounds a little bit like trip-hop -- call it "ship-hop." And its unsettled lyrics about an uneasy sky lead nicely into the third track, "Mutiny of the Hispaniola," which, as you might expect from the title, is an elaborate story song about a pirate mutiny. Captain Feathersword, this ain't.

The rest of the album, while not totally happy and cheerful, backs off from the darker side explored in those first three tracks. "The Loneliest Sailor" is a love song, believe it or not. "Doldrums," while exploring the not-so-happy occurrence of being trapped in idle waters, is married to a straight-ahead rock melody. "Dead Men Tell No Tales" is the best song AC/DC never wrote. And the good captain's deranged take on "Part of Your World," from Disney's The Little Mermaid is in its own special category of "must-be-heard-to-be-believed."

Darker in tone than its predecessor, the album lyrically is appropriate for a slightly older audience, perhaps kids ages 6 through 10+. Which isn't to say that younger kids wouldn't appreciate some of the tracks here, just that if you've got a three-year-old, I'd probably start out with Pegleg Tango perhaps rather than this. You can hear samples here.

If you hate pirates, then I wouldn't recommend this. (Though I'd ask you, why'd you make it this far in the first place?) If you or someone in your family loves pirates, or even if, like me, they're just fans of well-crafted rock/pop songs and stories in song, then Prelude to Mutiny is worth your time. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There was a time where not every kids’ musician had a Myspace page or was prepping a music video.

I’m talking, of course, about the late 1990s.

In the late 1990s, the only record company that seemed to anticipate the forthcoming resurgence of kids music was Smithsonian Folkways, which in 1998 issued the Smithsonian Folkways Children’s Music Collection, a 26-track CD culled from the venerable institution’s massive collection of children’s music recordings.

How venerable is the collection? Well, you need look no further than the four artists leading off the set -- Woody Guthrie, Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly, who represent the most important kids’ musicians of the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the 1927 Yankees of kids’ music. Their tracks here are representative of the artists’ work -- Jenkins’ take on “Mary Mack,” a song she made her own, includes enthusiastic children’s participation, and while Seeger lends his sweet, clear voice to “All Around the Kitchen.”

There are other tracks here from Guthrie, Jenkins, and Seeger, but there are some other great tracks here from artists you’ve probably never heard, or even heard of. Lord Invader with the Calypso Orchestra turns in a rendition of “Merrily We Roll Along” guaranteed to get your family dancing around (or at least bobbing their heads). The Canadian folksinger Alan Mills has a gentle Animal Alphabet Song from the early 1970s. And “Hey, Coal Miner,” co-written by troubadour Larry Long and a 6th grade class in Alabama, combines both social history and fun chorus (“Hey… coal miner!”) into one infectious mix. While releases from the 1950s predominate, the album covers releases from the ‘60s all the way into the ‘90s.

There are a mix of age ranges here, some songs appropriate for kids as young as 2, with the upper range easily heading into double digits. As is always the case with Smithsonian Folkways releases, the liner notes to the album are an essential component of the release. You can hear samples at many online stores or you can also visit this page and the "Children's Music" program (#16) for another audio introduction to the overall collection.

This isn’t a perfect album to listen to straight through -- it’s more of an anthology than a mix tape, something you’d dip into occasionally, or to find some artist or song you want to explore further. Still, there is relatively little of the sense that you're listening to something "good for you" -- it's much more a sense of "fun for you." And there’s no better overview of 20th century children’s music than this album. Highly recommended.

Readers who find that the number of songs that they and their family enjoy off that album is fairly high may find themselves interested in another release of kids and family music which predates even the music on the Smithsonian Folkways collection. Yazoo Records’ The Story That The Crow Told Me, Vol 1, released in 2000, is a collection of rural American children’s songs recorded in the 1920s and ‘30s. Richard Nevins took 23 recordings from the original 78s and remastered them for the collection.

There are some definite gems collected on the CD. One has to believe that Dan Zanes had listened to Chubby Parker’s version of “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-me-o” before recording his own take -- Parker’s version has its own swing. Fisher Hendley & His Aristocratic Pigs (yes, that was their name and isn’t it awesome?) do a fun western-style “Hop Along Peter.” And Lew Childre’s “Horsie Keep Your Tail Up” has its own bluesy charms.

To me, the disk as a whole suffers somewhat from a certain sameness in musical approaches -- one song begins to blend into the next over its 67-minute runtime. I think the segment of fans who like the genre of music will really like this disk, maybe even more so than the Smithsonian disk, but it’s not going to be for everyone. I would note that the remastering is every bit Smithsonian's equal, but the liner notes are lacking, with only a few lyrical excerpts.

The album’s appropriate for all ages, but kids ages 3 through 7 will probably appreciate it more than others. You can hear samples here.

As you might gather from what’s already been written, if you’re just dipping your toes into kids music that was recorded, well, to be honest, before you were born, you’re better off starting out with the Smithsonian disk. But for its particular narrow genre, The Story That The Crow Told Me holds its own against the Smithsonian disk. The total audience may much less broad for this CD, but it's got its own charms. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are singers, and there are entertainers. In the former camp, I'd put artists like Elizabeth Mitchell, whose interpreter of songs is rivaled by few in the kids music genre and who have glorious voices.

In the latter camp, I'd like to introduce Ashley Albert, lead singer, songwriter, and mastermind behind the New York-based The Jimmies.

Don't get me wrong, Albert has a nice voice and could be a very adept interpreter of standards, kids-oriented or not. But on her band's recently-released debut album Make Your Own Someday (Silly Songs for the Shorter Set), Albert's strengths are in thinking like a goofy 7-year-old and performing for said kid. (It's not for nothing that Albert's done voice work for cartoons and commercials.)

Watch this completely infectious (pun mostly unintended) for "Do the Elephant," one of the catchiest songs on the album, and tell me that the Nickolodeon/Nick Jr. corporate behemoth shouldn't find some show to feature Albert and the whole band on a regular basis. It did wonders for Laurie Berkner -- it could do the same here.

Kinda like a cross between Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang and AudraRox, except skewed at a slightly higher age bracket.

The songs themselves sound bright and tackle common kid-themes like clothes (the swinging "What's On Your Shirt" or the rocking "Cool To Be Uncool") and pets (the unusually-sweet-for-the-album "Taddy") with a variety of musical styles. Albert gets the double-word-score for combining a foreign-language song with a song about pets (in "Spanimals," on which I kept expecting Rob Thomas to make an appearance on the Santana-lite melody). And the album's opener, "What's That Sound?," isn't quite a classic name-the-instrument musical piece like "Mama Don't Allow" and "Peter and the Wolf," but it's pretty darn close. The rest of the band -- who, like Albert, have day jobs that indicate serious musical talent -- backs Albert with aplomb. (Whatever "aplomb" is.)

The album's not perfect -- Albert sometimes has a tendency to cram too many words into the lyrics (making them hard to understand) and some songs are just sort of "eh" -- but it's not for lack of talent or imagination. The silliness here will be most appreciated by kids ages 5 through 10, particularly if they have a "Weird Al" Yankovic album in their collection. You can listen to 4 full tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples from the whole album at the album's CD Baby page.

You may as well get Make Your Own Someday now, because eventually these songs are going to end up on some TV show somewhere. Then your kids are going to beg to you play The Jimmies over and over again in the care and rather than investing in some dubious technology that rips audio from a DVD video, you may as well just get the CD and save yourself the hassle. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

New Jersey-based Danny Adlerman is part of the kids' music equivalent of the Rat Pack (or the Brat Pack, or the Frat Pack, depending on your generation) -- along with Kevin Kammeraad and Jim Dague of ScribbleMonster, they seem to be responsible for about 10% of the kids' music released every year, and they all seem to be on each other's albums.

Adlerman's latest contribution to the genre is the recently-released Listen UP!, and while Dague isn't here, Kevin Kammeraad and a whole host of others join in. One benefit of having such a large extended musical family is a sense of familiarity blended with a diverse set of approaches. Although the songs are typically squarely in the rock tradition (the Who-inflected "Veggie Song," for example, or the big guitar-pop of "Crooked"), the musicians also tackle a few less straightforward songs such as the call-and-response game of "Flea Fly." In either case, the band sounds great together, especially on my favorite track, the goofy wordplay of "The Dozsins."

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention Jim Babjak from the Smithereens, who plays on the album and co-wrote 5 of the album's songs. A couple of the tracks -- "In the Future" and "Somewhere I Wonder" sound like they could have fit into a Smithereens album without much rewriting. Lyrically, those songs don't have an obvious "kids' music" stamp too them. Other songs, feature topics like eating pizza ("Too Much Pizza Blues") and the hundredth day of school (the old-timey "Hundred's Day," natch). Overall, the album is nice blend of songs targeted right at the kids and songs less age-specific.

I think the album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. You can hear samples from the 37-minute album at its CDBaby page. I hope Danny Adlerman keeps hanging out with his friends, because he's got a good thing going on musically. With a gentle sense of humor and playfulness, Listen UP! will be popular with many families looking for an album of kid-appropriate rock-n-roll. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You know, it's a shame that the ice cream truck industry seems to have withered away. (At least it has in our neighborhood.) Who can resist ice-cream-on-demand? Well, perhaps the industry's demise can be traced to the lack of variety in ice cream songs, with parents and kids rushing indoors at the slightest hint of another overly familiar ice cream truck song.

Friends, Michael Hearst is here to do what he can for the industry with his recently-released Songs for Ice Cream Trucks. Yes, it's 31 minutes (could that have been intentional?) of all-new ice cream music, which sounds just like those ice cream songs of old, only better. Hearst uses a variety of vintage instruments -- glockenspiel, thermin, and a Casiotone -- to create his musical soundscapes, and they sound just like the trucks you know and love.

I preferred the slightly peppier pieces, like the opener "Ice Cream!" or "Tones for Cones," though possibly my favorite flavor, er, song was the slow and oom-pah filled "What's Your Favorite Flavor?" The title scans so well to the opening melody of that song that I wonder if there aren't lyrics to all these songs here. (As it is only the closer, "Before I Drive Away," has vocal accompaniment.) The downside of the album is that the songs begin to melt together -- it's better at creating a mood of happiness and occasional wistfulness than at being a great musical album.

Virtually instrumental in nature, this is truly one of those "all-ages" albums. You can listen to tracks at the album's Myspace page or samples at the album's page. (Order the album here.)

I love ice cream, but even I have a limit, and I think that will be many people's reaction here -- Michael Hearst's songs have an undeniable allure, but taken in one sitting the album will probably be too much for many fans. Still, Songs for Ice Cream Trucks achieves its own little piece of perfection and in small amounts (ie. mix tapes or shuffle play) is quite refreshing.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are many types of kids' music albums, but one genre that's been mostly avoided is the very personal kids' music album. Now, there are a number of musicians who feel compelled to record intensely personal lullabye albums upon the arrival of a child into their family, but those generally end in, if not disaster, at least a goopy mess. Is it possible to make an album that draws upon a particular artist's life but speaks to many families?

All Together Singing in the Kitchen, from the Massachusetts based Nields sisters Nerissa and Katryna, shows one way that can be done. In the Nields' case, they've drawn upon their lives growing up listening to and singing these songs, yes, all together in the kitchen. The album is a collection of primarily folk tunes that the Nields learned singing with their father John Nields along with their mother. John has a clear voice with a bit of a warm warble; it reminds me of Dan Zanes compatriot David Jones. His voice makes a nice contrast with the more distinct voice of the Nields sisters. When they sing together, such as on their soulful rendition of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep," it's a sweet, joyful noise. An even more joyful noise comes when the Nields sing with a local group of kids on three of the tracks -- the way the kids shout back "YES MA'AM!" in the call-and-response of "John, the Rabbit" makes me smile every time I hear it.

To some extent, I couldn't listen to the album without thinking of other versions of particular songs that I liked slightly better -- say, Dan Zanes' and Father Goose's version of "Hi Ho the Rattlin' Bog." And there are times when the personal nature of the album -- three generations singing "All Together Singing in the Kitchen" is more inspiring perhaps than truly compelling upon repeated listenings. But that's as much me bringing my own personal singing experiences to the table -- there's no reason why someone who wasn't as familiar with some of the tracks here wouldn't latch on to these versions. And the Nields do give back a modern folk classic of their own -- "Anna Kick a Hole in the Sky" is a great song about resilience and life.

In true Dan Zanes age-desegregated style, the album is appropriate for all ages, but let's say you've got to be at least 2 to get a lot out of it. The 43-minute album, which has been available regionally since last year, but is getting a national release next week, is available here or here. No samples available yet, but Bill and Ella had them on last week.

Like many hootenannies, All Together Singing in the Kitchen was probably most fun for the people making the record. It is a credit, however, to the Nields family that they've put together an album that is not only inspiring but also lots of fun to listen to. Definitely recommended.

*****

Note: I'm cooking up something related (in part) to this CD which I hope is ready for prime-time by next week. Stay tuned...

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Once upon a time there lived a man with a kids' music website. The website was well-regarded, but even that had its downsides -- he received so many albums and artists worth discussing that to fully discuss them all would far exceed the time the man had available to him for his reviews.

One day his wife, a wise and gracious woman, suggested that he might combine fairly brief reviews of albums with some merit into a small grouping, or "bundle," thereby accomplishing his desire of writing about the albums without overly taxing his time.

And so the man was presented with three albums, all dealing with stories in and with songs.

The first album, Truly Hairy Fairy Tales, from New York musician Doug Waterman, most closely resembled the music the man typically reviewed. With a voice reminiscent of Jim Gill and a folky style and humor much like Jamie Barnett, Waterman retells familiar fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk and the Ugly Duckling. Most of the retellings are conventional and not very hairy at all, though some, like the amusing "Snow White and the Seven Dorks," earn the moniker. Sometimes Waterman puts a full band together with usually appealing results (the leadoff track "Big Bad Wolf" is a lot of fun, especially with its brass touches). Most likely to appeal to kids ages 5 through 10, you can hear some clips from the 51-minute album here. It's a bit long for listening in one sitting, but taken in limited doses (especially in teaching situations), there are some good songs here.

The second album the man had was Music Tales, the debut CD from Florida-based Musicians Out of the Box. This CD generally combines familiar stories (Goldilocks, the Arabian Nights) with mostly-familiar classical music arranged for string quartet, which serve as musical counterpoint to the words. The musical selections are mostly appropriate ("Carmen" for "Ferdinand the Bull," "Scheherazade" for "The Arabian Nights") and are well-integrated with the expert story-telling. The world premiere of "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" based on a Chris Van Allsburg is pretty good, but I was lost without additional text (at least some pictures are provided in the liner notes. Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" isn't well-served by a selection from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but the album closer, "Goodnight Moon," set to "Claire de Lune," is well-nigh perfect. The stories are appropriate for kids ages 3 through 9 (and stories for kids older than that. You can hear samples from the 66-minute album here. The album is an excellent mixture of classical music and storytelling.

Finally, the most traditional story-telling album is Tell Me A Story, a collection of folk tales from around the world, collected by Amy Friedman with musical accompaniment written by Laura Hall. For the most part, the music on this 71-minute CD remains in the background, opening and closing pieces and typically serving as transitional interludes. It's good, but the focus is on the actors' voices who are performing the stories in monologue. Some stories contain a moral of sorts ("A Sense of Theft"), some are more silly ("Anansis and Turtle's Feast"), and some of a hint of sadness ("The Selkie Bride," which will be familiar to anyone who has seen John Sayles' classic movie The Secret of Roan Inish). The performances are compelling enough to have kept my daughter's attention. The stories are appropriate for kids ages 6 and up. You can hear samples here. The album will satisfy listeners looking for a high-quality storytelling experience.

And with that, dear readers, the man ended his review, satisfied that he had conveyed to you the key points of these three albums. If forced to choose between the three albums, he might have had a slight preference for the Music Tales CD, but that is a story for another time and another place.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I posted my review of If You Ever See An Owl from The Terrible Twos nearly a year ago. I've had a long time to think about the record, and given that time, I haven't changed my opinion one bit -- it's a fabulous record, a hoot (pun intended) for kids and adults alike. It's getting its long-awaited national release on Vagrant/Poquito Records next week so I thought this was a good time to reprint (and update) my review.

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The Terrible Twos are a side project once removed. Singer-songwriter Matt Pryor, of the emo band the Get Up Kids, formed the New Amsterdams as a side project with a more alt-country sound. With The Terrible Twos (the New Amsterdams to a man), Pryor has shifted his subject matter back maybe 15 years, targeting the young nieces and nephews of the New Amsterdams fans.

And with If You Ever See An Owl, Pryor and his band have crafted an album that will entertain those nieces and nephews along with their parents and aunts and uncles. Melodically, it's reminiscent of alt-country/Americana-pop artists like the Old 97s, Rhett Miller, and early Ryan Adams, with some Death Cab for Cutie and hints of Wilco thrown in for good measure. (Obviously, it's most like the New Amsterdams themselves.) Acoustic rock of tempos both fast and slow, melodies wrapping their way around your brain. The uptempo "When I Get To Eleven," about a boy's acceptance of growing older, makes counting to 11 a lot more fun than it has any right to be. The love song to a little girl named "Vivian" is worthy of lovesick Miller or Adams. And "A Rake, A Broom, A Mop, A Shovel," just like They Might Be Giants' "Violin" turns a very angular song into something enjoyable.

Lyrically, the 32-minute album covers ground familiar to many kindergarteners -- math, burping and being polite, the problems of a birthday too close to Christmas ("Caroline, don't worry about birthday time / Don't think that on 22 / There's none for you / It's just not true" on the shiny "Caroline"). It's unclear if Barney was the inspiration for "We Can All Get Along With Dinosaurs," but a purple dinosaur stars in a treacle-free song about tolerance. Elsewhere the lyrics target the parents as much as the kids (the disappearing baby of "The Little Houdini," the kid in the driving "Pizza and Chocolate Milk" who says "Don't try to force me to eat vegetables I hate / You may think I'm kidding / That I won't win / If I keep screaming you'll cave in.") But throughout the album there runs a feeling of love and affection for the subject matter (and kids who serve as the inspiration) that distinguishes the album from many others.

Kids aged 4 through 10 are most likely to enjoy the subject matter and the occasionally slow-paced song. The Terrible Twos' e-card lets you listen to "Ladybug," "When I Get To Eleven," and "We Can All Get Along With Dinosaurs," while their Myspace page has "Ladybug" and three more songs. (Oh, and you can listen to samples of all the songs here.)

Due to unspecified release issues, the album was for a long time only available at New Amsterdams shows. I can only think of Wilco's troubles in getting their terrific album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot released after getting dropped by their own label. It took a great deal of effort before the album saw the light of day and attracted great praise, perhaps more than it otherwise would have. If You Ever See An Owl deserves not only a release but lots of fanfare to accompany that release, because this is an album that's going to make lots of kids and parents very happy. Now that it has the national release it richly deserves, let the happiness commence. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't know if the New York-based band The Deedle Deedle Dees are the most erudite kids' musicians currently recording, but they certainly wear their erudition on their sleeves more proudly than anyone else. One listen to their 2nd album, the recently-released Freedom In A Box (2007), will make that abundantly clear. Here is a random sample of topics covered and phrases used on the album: sampan ("Is that a boat? It's a Chinese boat!"), aphids, the Niebelungenlied, Teddy Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill, and the short arms of a tyrannosaurus rex.

And that's just scratching the surface.

Led by Lloyd Miller and some fellow NYC-area music teachers, the Deedle Deedle Dees are, as you might suspect from the short list above, a little obsessed with history, and it's the history tracks that initially grab your attention, telling the story of Nellie Bly's trip around the world ("Nellie Bly") and of Teddy Roosevelt's transformation ("Teddy Days"). And if you're not familiar with the band, I know what you're thinking -- that sounds really dry. But you'd be wrong, because what makes these songs different from most kids' history songs is the rollicking and earthy musical approach. The could-be-a-hundred-years-old "Nellie Bly" starts out with a "doodley-doo-wah" singalong that instantly lodges in your head while "Henry Box Brown" tells the compelling story of Brown, who mailed himself to freedom in a box, with "This Side Up!" printed on the side (the "This Side Up!" being another great singalong). "Henry Box Brown" is probably the best of the history songs here. Some listeners may find the lyrics overly precious at points, and the other songs succeed to varying degrees depending on how much they're telling stories (I think the country-rock "Aaron Burr," which retells the story of the Burr-Hamilton duel, is pretty awesome, but "Teddy Days" just tries to cram too much in, lyrically). Some listeners may find the lyrics overly precious at points,

Now, the band isn't just obsessed with history, and only about half of the 13 tracks on the 39-minute album are history songs. There are nature songs, for example, including the midtempo folk-poppy "Vegetarian Tyrannosaurus Rex" and "Obedience School," which is just about the most punk kids' song you'll hear all year. There are simpler music/movement songs, too (the very simple "Play Your Hand" or "Drum!"). While the band may mix all the songs together in concert, on the album it doesn't blend perfectly -- it just seems to lurch back and forth. Your thoughts may vary, but I'd've probably ordered the tracks differently.

Musically, however, it's all good, with the band taking a mostly Americana/rock approach, throwing in a few curves along the way (the Beck stylings on "Baldy," for example). The band sounds great together and along with their guests the album has an appealing raggedness. (Except on the completely awesome "Major Deegan," a beautiful, slow paean to New York City's traffic -- that fever dream of a song is not like the rest of the CD, but it's a perfect final song.)

Given the range of topics here, the album is appropriate for kids ages 2 through 12 (parts of some of the history songs will go over the heads of the youngest listeners, but are boogieable enough and with musical hooks enough for those youngsters to enjoy). You can listen to four full tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples of all the tracks at the album's CDBaby page. When you order the CD, you'll also get a coloring book with lyrics. That book, along with the information found at the band's Blogspot page for the album, serve as a great resource not only for teachers using the CDs, but interested families, too.

So here's the deal: if you teach American history in the K-12 system, you need this album. If you're interested in history, you need this album. But if history isn't quite your thing, you still probably need this album, too. Even the songs that don't work out are energetic and fun. It's one of the most ambitious and diverse -- not to mention fun -- kids' CDs of the year. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are two kinds of critic-proof kids' music albums.

The first kind are albums from, say, Barney or the Wiggles or Baby Einstein. Setting aside whatever you (or, more importantly, I) think of the artistic merits of their music (and it's not necessarily what you think), clearly critical opinion won't move the sales meter one iota, up or down. (Note: I'd love to see what Oprah would do with kids' music, though.)

The second kind is an album such as this one, Road Trip, the second album from the Boston-area group Girl Authority, released earlier this week.

Now, seeing as their first album has reportedly sold more than 100,000 albums -- if not High School Musical-type sales, certainly more than enough to hold their own with the Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkners of the world -- there's something of the first kind of critic-proof-ness in here. But the bigger reason this album is critic-proof is this:

Your kids can -- and do -- buy this album.

Listen, if every parent who claims to be sick of the Wiggles just stopped buying their CDs, their sales would drop dramatically. Why? Because 3-year-olds aren't walking into their local Target, plunking down their credit card, and buying the latest CD.

This album, however, isn't targeted at you (or me). It's targeted at your 9-year-old daughter. Who, while she probably doesn't have a credit card (unless you've got a waaay different approach to parenting than I have), does probably have an allowance and could pick this up at the mall or ask you to get it the next time you order something online. And, let's face it, you're probably not going to listen to the CD very much as she'll listen to it in her room or with headphones on.

Still, you (or some well-meaning relative) might be interested in knowing, well, is it any good?

Continue reading "Review: Road Trip - Girl Authority" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Lost amid all the talk of hootenannies lately is this crucial point:

They're not always all that interesting for the audience.

Sure, it can be a blast playing music with friends, challenging one another, exploring new music. Sometimes magic happens for musician and listener alike. But sometimes all you're left with is "Jazz Odyssey," of little interest to the people listening.

Tabletop People Vol. 1 & 2 (2005) is an album that grew out of a hootenanny and became a CD that many readers and families out there will absolutely love.

The core of Session Americana consists of six Boston-area musicians with many other gigs; the band itself is known for their roots-rock jams in increasingly large local venues. They recorded the album in the same way they play their shows -- gathered in a circle, with guests joining in. The band's long experience playing live shines through on the CD -- the music is accomplished but with a looseness that makes the joy (and, occasionally, sadness) stand out.

The album starts off with with an invigorating bluegrass take on "Boats Up the River," so propulsive that one of the band members shouts "Don't stop now!" midway through. And they don't, from a rootsy take on Jonathan Richman's "Party in the Woods" (led by former Richman bandmate Asa Brebner) to a gently swinging "Merzidotes" to the best version of "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" on record (emphasizing the "uh-HUH" part gives it a great singalong feel).

And that's just the first CD.

Yes, in the spirit of Wilco's great Being There album, this 59-minute album is split into two CDs. The second CD is listed as more introspective, a distinction that is somewhat hard to hear (there are introspective tracks on the first CD, too), but the split does make it easier to take just a 30-minute CD break. The second CD includes the languid indie-pop "Floppy Tulips," a rockin' alt-country' "Mr. Rabbit" (which, well, would have fit perfectly on Being There or A.M., musically at least), and the final two songs "Point of No Return" and "Trouble Wheel." These last two are not kids' songs by any stretch of the imagination -- they're the songs you hear at the end of the night when the kids, exhausted from dancing and playing around, are asleep in your lap just before you head home.

The album's appropriate for listeners age 2 and up, although there are going to be certain songs that the youngsters won't get -- not inappropriate, just not really geared for 'em. You can hear samples of all the tracks at the album's CD Baby page, but I'd recommend going to both their Myspace page as well as their own album page. Each have the same three (full tracks), but the former also includes "Mr. Rabbit" and the latter also includes "Boats in the River."

Fans of Dan Zanes, Dog on Fleas, and Elizabeth Mitchell will especially hold this album dear, but so will a bunch of other listeners. Sometimes hootenannies leave the listener a little flat, but at times they can be graced by magic. Tabletop People Vol. 1 & 2 falls in the latter category. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It is probably accurate, though way too simple, to characterize Peter Himmelman as a "singer-songwriter." Meaning, I've always thought of "person with a guitar singing very personal songs" when I think of "singer-songwriter," and while Himmelman does sing some very personal songs, "person with a guitar" is not at all a fair description of what Himmelman does musically.

One listen to My Green Kite, Himmelman's fourth album for kids and families, and his first for Rounder Records, will make that abundantly clear. The album, released tomorrow, continues Himmelman's wildly creative approach to both music and lyrics. But unlike, say, My Fabulous Plum, which had some strong songs, but was so all over the map that it was hard to get into the album, on Kite Himmelman has dialed back that anything-goes approach just enough to create an album of slightly-more-accessible songs. The result is fabulous.

More so than most kids' lyricists, Himmelman has a gift for putting a new frame on an old picture. On the opening track "Feet", for example, Himmelman creates a Sgt. Pepper's-like ode to, well, feet, encouraging the listener to consider their own feet. (In the liner notes, Himmelman says, "Sometimes people forget about their feet. They are so used to thinking about their eyes, or their ears, or their hair.") Himmelman asks the '80s-synth-pop question "Have You Every Really Looked At An Egg?" and, well, I probably haven't. (So thank you, Peter.)

Himmelman also tells fantastical and imaginative stories, such as on the great pop-rocker title track, about a kite that just keeps flying higher and higher. "Another Bite of Hay" is the best kids' song about that didn't make it on to Bruce Springsteen's early albums. (That it happens to feature a bull, a cow, and a mule seems incidental in nature.) But Himmelman doesn't ignore realistic lyrics either, nailing parental indecisiveness on the Van Morrison-like "Maybe Is A Bad Word" and penning a sweet tribute to his father on "My Father's An Accountant." (And the slow rap "Nothin' To Say" is just fun wordplay.)

I think kids ages 5-9 are most likely to respond to the song subjects and lyrics here. You can hear samples at any major internet retailer (it's good to have Rounder's distribution network!)

This is a fantastic album, chock-full of great tunes and production, with lyrics that sometimes speak directly to kids' daily lives and other times fire their imaginations. It'll make you smile and make you think. I know it's early in the year, but with My Green Kite Peter Himmelman has recorded an album on my short list of favorite albums for 2007. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Longtime fixtures of the Austin music scene (with fans in the U.S. and abroad), the Asylum Street Spankers would probably rank low on the list of bands you'd expect to see turning out a kids' album. Any band that counts EPs entitled Dirty Ditties and Nasty Novelties as part of their discography clearly hasn't made their name by recording albums suitable for use in your kid's preschool.

So it's not unreasonable to ask -- is Mommy Says No!, their first family-friendly kids album, really family-friendly or for kids?

The answer is yes, sort of, mostly. The band, who have made their name playing a broad range of musical genres using acoustic instrumentation, apply that same formula to a more benign set of song topics. Learning to ride a bicycle ("Training Wheel Rag"), wondering about being an adult ("When I Grow Up"), or being afraid of the dark ("Don't Turn Out the Light") -- these are all standard subject matter for kids music. But rather than setting those topics to pop fare, they turn them into a swinging rag (with some killer fiddle), funky New Orleans brass-band strut, and a sweet pop tune interrupted by some "Thriller"-like vocals. Whatever the style, throughout the album, the band sounds great.

What distinguishes the album from most in the genre is its winking sense of humor, which at times ignores the kids and aims straight at the parents and at times may give parents pause. More benignly is Christina Marrs' "Be Like You," a sweet little ditty with toy piano and a background chorus of the guys in the band sounding like SNL's old "Unfrozen Cavemen Lawyers." Wammo's "You Only Love Me For My Lunchbox" may have some of the more nervous parents in the crowd skipping for the next track as Wammo leads the rest of the band through a set of tongue-twisters that ends with one more apropos for the over-21 crowd. The band's bluegrass cover of Nirvana's "Sliver" is downright awesome, though lyrically ("Mom and dad went to a show / they dropped me off at Grandpa Joe's / I kicked and screamed, said please no / Grandma take me home") is hardly the paean to childhood a lot of parents want. (Whether kids appreciate the familiarity of the situation is another matter.)

With all due respect to Trout Fishing in America's "Alien in My Nose," I shouldn't let this review go on without noting the best song about snot ever written, the wildly amusing "Boogers" -- it strikes the perfect balance between juvenile humor for the kids and sly references (Quiet Riot -- haven't thought about them for years) for the adults.

So, I'm pegging the age range at between 4 and 9 years of age, though a couple of the songs on the 46-minute album do seem pegged somewhat above the 4-year-old mark. The album's been available at the Spankers' website since August 2006, but is getting a proper release next week. You can hear a medley of songs there or go to major internet retailers to hear snippets.

In the end, sometimes the band is referred to as, simply, "The Spankers." Whether you think that's a particularly good or bad name for a band recording an album for kids will go a long way toward determining whether you like the album. Some mommies will say "no" to Mommy Says No!. A sizeable minority of families won't like it all. But I think most people who are reading this review here will find it a hoot, energetic enough and tuned into kids' lives for the kids, while entertaining for their elders. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I lived in Minnesota for a portion of my "tween" years (though they didn't call them that then), and not only do I still have the Minnesota-shaped cutting board from my seventh-grade woodworking class to prove it, I still remember spending a portion of fifth grade learning all about Minnesota.

Now, I don't know if in these testing-crazed times states still spend time learning about their own states' geography and history, but in case the schoolchildren of Michigan no longer get class time to do so for their state, might I recommend A Curious Glimpse of Michigan? (See also here.)

Based on the book by Kevin and Stephanie Kammeraad and Ryan Hipp, the album features 49 tracks from a lots of musicians including Hipp, the Kammeraads, ScribbleMonster, and Danny Adlerman. As you might suspect with so many tracks and so many musicians, the music here is all over the map stylistically and enjoyably. In spirit, it reminded me a little bit of They Might Be Giants albums, especially Apollo 18, which included a series of brief song snippets which could be played together as "Fingertips" or played randomly throughout the CD.

Truth be told, the album might almost be worth the price just for ScribbleMonster's "I Wish I Lived In Michigan," 2 1/2 minutes of family-friendly power pop that, six months after I first heard it, I still haven't tired of. Almost makes me wish I lived in Michigan, just so I could say I lived in a state that inspired that song. (Wow, that song and Sufjan Stevens. Not bad, Michigan, not bad at all.) But beyond that, there are some other sweet tracks -- the funky "Over 635 Cities" channels Mike Doughty from Soul Coughing while Dany Adlerman & Friends' contribution "Cousin Jacks" sounds simultaneously early 20th and early 21st century. As for ScribbleMonster's "The Fur Trade?," they answer their own question ("Fur! Fur! Fur!"). And I liked the Schoolhouse Rock! blatant ripoff loving homage of "Capital City, Capitol Building."

At over 61 minutes in length, the album is a bit too much to absorb in one sitting. Not that any of it's bad, it's just... long. But it (like the book itself) is a fun thing to dip into here and there.

I think kids ages 4 through 10 will most enjoy the album. You can here samples of each and every 49 tracks at the album's CDBaby page or 4 complete tracks (including "I Wish I Lived In Michigan" and "The Fur Trade?") at ScribbleMonster's Myspace page.

A Curious Glimpse of Michigan is a hoot to listen to, and -- dare I say it -- a little educational. It's fun regardless whether you live in Michigan, wish you lived there, or have only had a brief layover in Detroit. Recommended.

(Note: Bill at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child may still have a copy or two to give away.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you weren't convinced by the cover that Aminal House (yes, that's spelled correctly) had some Beatles influences, the liner notes, which thank, among others, Billy Shears, would seal the deal.

So what about the album itself -- is it worthy of such blatant Beatles homages?

Well, yes.

Aminal House (late 2006) is the second album from Seattle-based band Recess Monkey and whereas The Sippy Cups sort of tap the psychedelic part of '60s and '70s rock for their sound, Recess Monkey sticks more closely to the Beatles for their sound and inspiration. Which isn't to say that they sound like the Beatles -- they often sound more like Beatles-inspired bands such as Crowded House. At they very least, they, like the Beatles, are willing to explore a wide range of rock sounds, from the funk of the opening, title track to the singalong chorus of "Aquarium" to the Elton John-like piano ballad "Grey Zebra." (They're fine with more direct homages, too, pulling out a very "Blackbird"-like acoustic guitar figure for "Butterfly," for example.) One of my favorite tracks is "Cookie," a '60s rocker with a hint of Motown about a very nervous pointer dog ("Cookie don't crumble now / Cookie don't fall apart"). Musically, the group is tight; singer Drew Holloway uses the occasional falsetto to good effect, too.

Thematically, the songs are all animal-related, treating animals as characters with personality. The album also has a few sketches which are mostly amusing and very reminiscent in spirit (and somewhat in vocal characterizations) of SteveSongs' Marevlous Day! album. (And, hey, it's not every day you listen to a kids' album that makes a John Vanderslice reference, and a funny one at that.) At 54 minutes in length, it runs on a bit too long, but at least they're experimenting to the end.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9, which isn't surprising since the album includes kids voices on some tracks and their ideas from a summer camp led by the band in summer 2006. You can hear the album's first five tracks here and purchase the album here.

Aminal House is an album that must have been a blast to make, chock-full of creativity. The album is never less than interesting, and always a melodious spin. Definitely recommended.

(More details on the process of recording the album can be found here.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Colorado-based musician Steve Weeks takes a decidedly different approach on his third kids' album, Rabbit Run, as he retells the classic 1960 novel by John Updike... for kids!

Uh, no.

Released earlier this month, Alphabet Songs Vol. 3 (Rabbit Run) is actually the final in Weeks' series of CDs drawing inspiration from the alphabet as its lyrical source. With 9 songs, one each for letters R through Z, Weeks adheres to the theme to varying degrees. The opening title track features Weeks' nifty bluegrass playing accompanying a story of how water flows from the smallest of tributaries (the "Rabbit Run") all the way to the ocean. The theme of interconnectedness is one that Weeks comes back to on other songs on the disk, such as Barenaked Ladies-styled-rap on "Someday" or the sweet mid-tempo folker "Yellowjacket," which had darn well better be on the next Putumayo Folk Playground collection, should one be in the works. (I also need to mention "Up!," another favorite of mind, a very positive slice of kids' folk-pop.)

Not every song works well. At 6 1/2 minutes long, "Take the Tinkertown Trolley" goes on too long, which wouldn't be bad if the musical accompaniment didn't sound a little cheesy. (Weeks plays every instrument by himself on the disk -- this song shows the potential limitations of such an approach. I tended to prefer his slightly simpler, more bluegrass-y tunes.) And while I give Weeks credit for going whole hog on "Xavier Xerxes Xenophane X," and certainly setting a record for most words starting with the "x" sound on a single song, it doesn't really hold up to repeated listenings. It's as if he decided that was it for the alphabet theme, as "Yellowjacket" and the African-accented "Zed and Zoey" have very few "Y's" and "Z's" in them.

The length and story-telling nature of many of the songs (what better way to get words starting with a desired letter than to create names?) makes the 42-minute CD most appropriate for kids ages 6 through 10. You can samples at the album's CD Baby page.

With a few less-than-perfect tracks, I don't think this will be quite the classic Rabbit, Run was as a novel. Still, there are enough strong tracks on Alphabet Songs Vol. 3 to make it a CD worth your investigation. And now that Weeks has completed his alpha-odyssey, he's hopefully figured what works best for him and is free to go wherever his muse leads. As the narrator sings at the end of "Zed and Zoey," "this is not the end." I hope not. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is not your father's bluegrass.

I mean, I don't know whether or not your father listened to bluegrass -- mine didn't -- but I know for sure that this wasn't it.

On its Astrograss For Kids EP (2006), the New York-based band Astrograss takes bluegrass as a jumping-off point for jazz-like improvisation. (It's safe to say that were they to record "Wabash Cannonball" it wouldn't sound like many versions committed to record.) Add to that the fact that they've decided to set their tunes to the lyrics of Shel Silverstein, and the EP is one of the more unusual kids' CDs released this year.

I think the adventurous nature of the songs fits Silverstein's slightly skewed sensibilities, with poems about "Hungry Mungry," who's so hungry he ends up eating the entire universe, or "The Dirtiest Man in the World," about, well, you can figure it out. Probably the easiest song for kids to grasp is "Hurk," with a motley (in the best way) kids' chorus shouting lines such as "I'd rather play tennis than go to the dentist" -- it's a simple melody, with not-so-complex improvisation. I actually thought "Hungry Mungry" might be too long or too complex, but I can see the band live possibly keeping kids' attention throughout the entire story song. "The Generals" is gorgeously arranged, though perhaps a bit too slow to keep the kiddos' attention. (Again, live, it might be a different story.)

I think Silverstein's poetry is targeted mostly at kids ages 5 and up, so that's what I'll peg the age range of the music. You can listen to "Hungry Mungry," which I should note might actually be my least favorite track, as well as their sprightly version of "Jump Up!" with Dan Zanes here.

Astrograss For Kids is probably not the first album you'd think of to start a kids' music collection -- it's not quite as accessible, perhaps, as other albums. But if you're looking for something different for your family's collection, for acoustic music with a definite modern sensibility, this album may be up your alley.

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

Let's get the song out of the way -- was there a better song this year that spoke to how kids and parents really interact than "Nerves?" The answer, in case you hadn't guessed, is no. And even though the hard-charging chorus is supposed to be the voice of the child narrator, most parents would probably admit they've felt that their children were getting on their nerves at some point during the week. (And the rest are lying.)

While "Nerves" is the song that stands out the most on Celebrate the Difference, the first kids album from Texas-based singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix, there are definitely other songs worth hearing. One of my favorites is the sweet, Tejano-styled "Lluvia de Estrellas," sung in English and Spanish (natch). But as shown by "Nerves," the angular techno-pop of "Invisible Friend," or the brass-band-accompanied "Yeah Yeah Yeah," Hendrix is willing to try out all sorts of song styles. (Sometimes the array of styles is almost dizzying.) Well-known Texas musician Lloyd Maines (who co-wrote many of the songs) accompanies her throughout, along with a number of other musicians making occasional appearances.

Lyrically, Hendrix's preaching of self-confidence in songs such as "Get Your Goat On," "First Place," and others tackles a subject that has been oddly left mostly untouched in kids' music. And as shown by "Nerves" and "I Want to be Your Friend" (a song about a new kid in the neighborhood), Hendrix can remember how kids think and feel.

While appropriate for all ages, I think kids ages 5 through 10 will be most receptive to the lyrics. You can listen to sound clips here.

Celebrate the Difference is at times almost too wide-ranging in its musical attack, so that as an album it's not as unified as others. But there are a number of great songs on here and the enthusiasm Hendrix brings to the material helps to underscore her messages of self-confidence. For that alone, the album is recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Although it has signed very 21st century artists such as Gustafer Yellowgold and Robbert Bobbert (Robert Schneider), Little Monster Records, the new kids' music imprint from V2/Artemis Records has chosen to look back 40 years for its first release, All Together Now: Beatles Stuff For Kids of All Ages. If this first release is any indication, Little Monster releases will be designed to encourage parent-youth interaction.

The release comes packaged with a storybook illustrated with kids' drawings, poems that are meant complement the lyrics, and Beatles facts which are probably familiar to the adults but won't be, of course, for the young'uns.

And what exactly will you be sharing with those young'uns, musically? Thirty minutes of covers of well-chosen if familiar Beatles songs. Producer/guitarist Kevin Salem has assembled a talented backup band for the versions, which are sung by New York Doll Steve Conte along with some guest stars, including Marshall Crenshaw, Jason Lytle (ex-Grandaddy), and the Bangles (with Matthew Sweet joining Susanna Hoffs once more on a fun "Good Day Sunshine"). The songs also feature a chorus of kids who, refreshingly, are neither Broadway-trained nor pitch-corrected. They sound like, well, your elementary school or church choir, in a good way (see the simple "Love Me Do"). If you're going to put kids on record, this is the way to do it.

As well-done as the whole package is, there's really nothing new here. The versions hew very closely to the originals. I realize that the idea behind the CD -- introducing the Beatles to another generation -- doesn't lend itself to massive reinterpretations of classic recordings, but there's little reason why your copies of the original Beatles CDs won't do just fine.

Given the ages of kids singing (they sound like they might be in 2nd or 3rd grade, generally), I'm going to peg the age range here at ages 4 through 9, though obviously Beatles music is OK for just about any age. Three of the tracks are available here. For the moment, the CD is available only at Barnes & Noble, though that will end at some point next year.

All Together Now is a nicely-assembled collection of Beatles tunes, attractively packaged and with nice thought put into it. As good as it is, I don't see it as being of great interest to people who already have some Beatles tunes in their collection. But I can't wait to see and hear what the team behind this album has up their sleeves when they turn their attention to some original songs.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Based in Portland, Oregon Stephen Cohen has been making art of one sort or another for nearly 30 years. Creating music, musical instruments, and visual art, Cohen integrates these three into his performing career.

This is exactly the kind of person that should be making kids' music.

On his recently-released Here Comes The Band, Cohen gives reason to be optimistic for the future of music for families. A heady collection of multi-instrumental folk music, Cohen weaves together an album that flows seamlessly from start to finish. The opening title track serves as the prelude to the whole album, with a melody that pops up at least a couple more times later on in the album. It segues almost imperceptibly into "Give Me That Toy!," which, thankfully, doesn't tell the young listener to ask politely -- it's written from the child's perspective. And from there into the traditional children's rhyme "Mr. Knickerbocker," in which Cohen's distinctive voice (ever-so-slightly nasally and slightly-less-slightly raspy) repeats the phrase "bobbity, bobbity, bobbity-boo" until it gets lodged in your brain. Another favorite song of mine is "The Planetarium," which although is written from the point of the parent taking his son to the planetarium is written with the words of a child ("Then a baby cried and had to go outside / While we watched the lights / Stretch across the black dome sky.")

To talk about the lyrics is to miss the album's chief allure, which is its music. As noted above, some of the musical transitions are seamless. Which isn't to say this is an entirely low-key album. "There Goes the Band" lists 13 people playing or singing on the track. "The Elephant Walk" sounds not a little bit like Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." The lullabies at the end of the album are sweet as well.

I can't review this album without noting the album packaging, which is one of the best I've seen this year. Lyrics, gorgeous illustrations by Christopher Shotola-Hardt, activities are in the liner notes, along with an explanation of what various people on the album (producer, engineer, visual artist) actually do.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 9, though it may create fans of parents who are 39. You can hear samples of 5 songs at the album's CD Baby page and hear "Baseball, Baseball" here.

Stephen Cohen's album is a little bit like what might happen if Mr. David and Randy Newman decided to record a kids' album live on Prairie Home Companion. Here Comes the Band establishes a mood and a world that will draw in you and your kids. It may not be the album your family listens to every day for a month, but it will be one you listen to occasionally for many years. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I can't say that my initial expectations for Colours Are Brighter, the kids' music compilation put together by Belle & Sebastian trumpeter/bassist Mick Cooke, were very high. Franz Ferdinand doing kids' music, along with a whole bunch of other bands, only a few of which were familiar to these American ears? The whole thing sounded nothing more than a quickie album thrown together to cash in on the sudden popularity of music for kids. (OK, a quickie album designed to raise money for Save The Children's "Rewrite the Future" campaign, but still.)

Fear and misinformation are poor bases for making decisions on many things, and kids and family music albums are no different, my friends.

To begin with, Cooke has been putting together the compilation for a couple years, so it's not like Cooke read the Billboard charts in March and thought, hey, I can do that. More importantly, the music's pretty good.

Franz Ferdinand might just do the best job on the entire disk of putting together a kids' song that's in the spirit of the adult band. With its tinkling piano and scuffling drums, "Jackie Jackson" has enough of the more muscular sound of their music for adults, but the song's chief attribute is singer Alex Kapranos' spirited vocal turn on the story of greedy boy who likes to eat too many cakes. (The boy meets an unsavory, Roald Dahl-like ending.) Another band familiar to some are Snow Patrol, who resurrect an old song, "I Am An Astronaut," which seems like a picture book come to life (or sound), using swirly Snow Patrol sounds. (And, yes, "The Monkeys Are Breaking Out the Zoo" returns Belle and Sebastian to their more twee-pop sounds.)

The less-familiar artists sound good here, too -- Rasputina sounds a bit like Bjork on the funky, angular "A Skeleton Bang" while The Barcelona Pavilion (who hail from Canada, I believe) turn in a post-punk "Tidy Up Tidy Up" that sounds They Might Be Giants-ian echoes. My favorite tracks? Four Tet (featuring Princess Watermelon) doing the dance-track "Go Go Ninja Dinosaur" and the Ivor Cutler Trio singing "Mud," a track that sounds like it was recorded 80 years ago, but was in fact recorded only 40 years ago.

Not everything works great -- The Kooks' "The King and I" would sound good on their recent debut album, but if there was something that distinguished the song here from the rest of their work, I couldn't hear it. And the Flaming Lips' track, "The Big Ol' Bug Is The New Baby Now" is a half-sung, half-spoken word track on which, unfortunately the spoken words are too difficult to understand.

There's nothing age-inappropriate here, but I'm guessing kids ages 3 through 9 are more likely to appreciate the music. If you want to hear the tracks, visit either the album's website or its Myspace page. The album is available as an import here Stateside, or you may want to go directly to Amazon.co.uk or CD-Wow.

Colours Are Brighter is subtitled "Songs for children and grown ups too," which isn't a bad description. The songs stretch across the spectrum from being targeted right at the younguns to being pretty much "starter songs" for the bands' adult work. It's not a perfect compilation and there's not much of a unifying theme, but there are enough decent songs that it's worth exploring, particularly if you're interested in hearing a cross-section of mostly British, mostly current, pop-rockers. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I begin here by noting my tremendous affinity for Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, or at the very least, for the Wiggleworms CDs they've released -- longtime readers will know I'm a big fan. That doesn't even get to the School itself, which for fifty years has provided countless hours of musical instruction and performance for Chicago-area residents, old and young alike. Jealous? Me? Living hundreds of miles away? Just a little. (OK, a lot.)

So with great enthusiasm that I gave their Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook Volume One, released by Bloodshot Records (another Chicago institution, though not quite as old), a spin and held my breath -- could it somehow meet my expectations? And the answer is, well, yes. Over the course of 23 songs in 77 minutes, the album puts together songs well-known and not, from artists well-known and not. There's so much here to listen to that singling out a few songs seems unfair to the album, but life's not fair, which is itself a lesson that's heard on a few songs here. So then, three songs:

"Take This Hammer" -- Jon Langford gives an exuberant reading of this folksong, first collected in 1915, his raspy voice accompanied by his guitar and Rick Sherry's jug and percussion. It's an old song, but it sounds tailor-made for the 21st century.

"Drunken Sailor" -- Dan Zanes shows up with his band in full "Sea Music" mode, giving a idiosyncratic mid-tempo version of the song. It's not the full-tempo, punk-pirate version one commonly hears, but the band's musicianship and their voices -- I love that band's set of pipes -- actually help you hear the lyrics and appreciate them.

"Salty Dog Blues" -- If "Drunken Sailor" is the song you're not sure you should be playing for your 5-year-old but you do anyway, Rick Sherry's rendition of "Salty Dog Blues" is not safe for the younguns, lest you be asked to explain what it means to be someone's "salty dog." (I, on the other hand, as a fully-capable adult, think the cut is great.)

There are some songs that seemed too reverent for my tastes, but that's a personal thing, and all the tracks are well-done. People more familiar with the folk canon may have different views, but I also think the album really begins to pick up speed in the second half where the songs are more familiar -- "St. James Infirmary," "Down in the Valley," an excellent "Wayfaring Stranger" from John Stirratt.

Even setting aside "Salty Dog Blues," there's little here lyrically that would engage younger kids, so I think it's probably most appropriate for kids ages 8 and up. (Not saying that there aren't tracks appropriate for younger kids, such as Erin Flynn's reading of "Amazing Grace," just that this probably isn't your first choice.) You can download a couple tracks from the CD at Bloodshot's page for the album. (And here's my own suggestion, free of charge, for the School -- a bound, printed version of the Songbook, with chords and lyrics, would rock.)

Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook Volume 1 is a solid collection of folksong recordings that reflect not only the strength of America's musical heritage but also of the School itself. Families with older kids should definitely check it out. The name "Volume 1" implies that more are on the way, and for that, I can't wait. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The first thing you need to know about Elizabeth Street is that it's a band, not a person, consisting of two people: Connecticut-based singer-songwriter Susan Kolbenheyer and guitarist Gregory Pearce. The next thing you need to know is that their debut album Different (2006) is pretty good.

In kids' and family music, there are many albums with decent music but with lyrics that are just too... obvious. It is possible, however, to write lyrics that are direct enough for kids that aren't so obvious as to make the parental eyes roll, and it's that fine line that Kolbenheyer walks on the album.

Take, for example, the power-poppy "Fair," with a chorus of "Life isn't always fair / Sometimes things don't work out like you plan / But we make the best with what we can / and hey it may be grand." If the whole song was as obvious as the chorus, it would get tiring very quickly. Luckily, the stories in the verses (for example, how the narrator's dad ate the "Chubby Hubby" ice cream she thought she'd hidden in the back of the freezer) are laced with humor and the song ends with a bunch of nonsensical wordplay. Kolbenheyer says she's trying to open up an avenue of dialogue between parents and kids with the songs, and even includes the gentle and bluesy "You Can Tell Me" to expressly encourage dialogue, though even here the verses aren't always direct ("Did you disagree with your imaginary friend? / You can tell me, you can tell me / Did he hurt your feelings even though he is pretend? / You can tell me anything")

If there's a dominant musical approach, it's gentle folk-guitar-pop, but there's definitely enough variety musically to keep things interesting. "Really Gross" is the best song about nose-picking that Jack Johnson never wrote, while "Dragon For Dinner" and "The Eyeball People" are punk tunes. "We're All Friends Here" is a catchy power-pop tune. Kolbenheyer has an appealing voice and Pearce's instrumental work is strong, though sometimes the productions seems to leave the vocals less clear than I'd like on kids' CDs. (Besides the music itself, I'd also commend the lovely album art of Pamela Zagarenski.)

Given the topics of the songs, the album would be most appropriate for kids 5 through 9. You can hear long-ish samples of several tracks at the album's CDBaby page.

Elizabeth Street sounds a bit to me like a more-amplified Frances England, or maybe a less-lyrically-direct Milkshake. But like most good albums, Different stands on its own terms, in this case melding a skewed-enough approach to kids-related topics with parent-accessible music. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Detroit is not afraid of you and will beat your... OK, this is a family website, but it's true. The Detroit Tigers are back in the World Series and if The Family Hootenanny is any indication, they can turn out kid-rock with the best of 'em. (Well, they can turn out Kid Rock, too, but that's for another set of music blogs altogether.)

Released earlier this year, the album is inspired by years of occasional Family Hootenanny concerts in which Detroit rockers let their hair down (or, as the promo materials put it, "pulled it from their faces") for family-oriented shows. While the word "hootenanny" implies a folk-centric approach, the CD collects artists from across the musical spectrum, from the punk of all-mom bands The Mydols ("Run Crazy Baby") and CandyBand (the previously released but totally awesome "Get Up Already") to the faithful cover of Schoolhouse Rock's "Interjections" by the Katzenjammer Kids.

I wouldn't have expected it, but the crazy melding of styles works, mostly because the songs are each great in their own way. The Go! (Jack White's old band) puts together the closest thing to a lead single with "Knock Knock Banana," which sounds like an incredibly skewed Saturday morning theme song from 1975. That song is followed by "Stuck in the Playpen (Again)" by Old Man Miller (Dan John Miller of Blanche), a country-blues with the lines "I wonder if my momma even loves me / In the pen you don't get nothin' to eat / Just some plastic blocks / Some dirty old socks / A bunch of books that I'm too young to read." (As Homer Simpson would say, it's funny 'cause it's true.) The two songs have no business being on the same disk except they're both fabulous songs.

And so on through punk, country, pop, Americana. For the most part, the songs are originals, but even the traditional songs are given vigorous new readings. Loretta Lucas (and the Larkspurs) turn in some great harmonies on "Down By the Bay" while the Saltminers' uptempo (and whoo-whoo-enhanced) "Freight Train" is energetic and, well, fun.

Kids between the ages of 3 and 9 will most appreciate the album. (Heck, Chloe Crawford -- age 5 -- sings on "A Peacock Day" with her two younger sisters.) You can hear 4 full tracks at the compilation's Myspace page or samples of every track at CDBaby.

Most of the tracks here will engage the kids (and on a few tracks, if not the kids, their parents). If you particularly liked the Bloodshot classic The Bottle Let Me Down, you will certainly like this. But I think the album's appeal is broad and will reach many families. The Family Hootenanny is the kids and family music compilation of the year. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sad about the closure of CBGB's? Have no fear, The Sippy Cups are here with Electric Storyland.

On their first album, 2005's Kids Rock For Peas, the San Francisco-based band took a bunch of '60s and '70s-era tunes (some famous, some less so), tweaked them as necessary to make them kid-friendly, and played them live in front of an appreciative audience of preschoolers, grade-schoolers, and their parents. Making the album and band more than just a one-off joke ("I Wanna Be Elated," get it? Ha!) was the band's energy, enthusiasm, and sense of humor (pitched at both kids and adults). What could have become very old very quickly was given fresh life.

Electric Storyland takes a slightly different approach, eschewing cover songs for a set of 14 original songs. But the album has every bit of the debut's energy, enthusiasm, and humor, with songs that draw inspiration from the '60s and '70s, but are definitely original. Take "Use Your Words," one of very few tracks that have anything remotely resembling a "message," about how articulating feelings rather than simply acting on them is a preferred way of dealing with frustration ("The world will be greater / If you use your words"). It's a fun, uptempo song that has the faintest echoes of, say, Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride." But most songs are content to paint pictures, such as the Jimi Hendrix-esque sounds of "Drinking From the Sky" or what I'm assuming is an early Floyd tribute (as indicated by the "Money"-esque clinking of change at song's start) in "How To Build A Dog." And lest you think the Cups are stuck in the music of 30 years ago, a couple songs (the excellent "Springtime Fantastic" and "Flower Tower") have hints of the Replacements and the Gin Blossoms and guitar power-pop less than 30 years old.

I can't think of too many downsides. The album did feel a bit long at 51 minutes, but that's a minor quibble -- the songs are all pretty good. I'm one of those people who doesn't like skits with my music, but the characters here (familiar to those who've heard the band's first two CDs, plus a new one, "Major Minor") are amusing and their skits brief.

The album is pitched at a slightly older crowd perhaps than the first CD, think ages 4 through 10. You can listen to sound clips and buy the album at its CDBaby page or at its iTunes page.

Electric Storyland is a strong step forward for The Sippy Cups -- it's a winning album retaining the spirit of music from 30 years ago or more but giving it its own youthful energy. Instead of bemoaning CBGB's demise, listen to the Sippy Cups. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's safe to say that the fine folks at Putumayo Kids aren't putting together a collection called, say, "Phoenix Playground," or even "Chicago Playground." Phoenix has a decent musical history for a city so young, and Chicago's musical history is tremendous, but New Orleans is probably the only American city with a musical background robust enough to provide so many songs to choose from while offering a distinct-enough sound to make the mix-tape at which Putumayo excels sound good.

While touching on many strains in New Orleans music, New Orleans Playground (to be released on Tuesday) relies most heavily on the side of rhythm and blues. With a number of classic songs on the collection (most notably Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya" and Fats Domino's "Whole Lotta Lovin'"), the adults may be forgiven for thinking that they've accidentally turned on the radio and "KOOL 97, Classic Oldies!" (See also Dr. John's bouncy-yet-mellow "Row Row Row Your Boat" and Buckwheat Zydeco's massive reworking of "Skip To My Lou" into "Skip To My Blues" for familiar voices.) But there are enough much less familiar artists and songs to make the collection not feel stale. I particularly liked Charmaine Neville's "Second Line," a fun tribute about New Orleans' brass band tradition. Credit goes to Putumayo for not always picking an obvious artist -- it was nice not to hear a more-famous Neville brother on the collection, and they chose the unknown-to-me Hack Bartholomew for a rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In." It's too bad, however, that the collection mostly ignores New Orleans' strong jazz tradition -- while it's hinted at on some of the more brassy tracks, this collection needed a jazz track from the birthplace of jazz.

If you didn't have the familiar Putumayo illustrations, you wouldn't necessarily know that this collection was targeted at kids (only one or two tracks are really kid-focused), but let's say that kids ages 3 through 9 are most likely to enjoy it. You can hear some samples at Putumayo's album page.

This collection is a gentle if incomplete introduction to New Orleans music. Expertly compiled and arranged, both parents and kids will enjoy it. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've received a lot more kids' music this year than I have time to review here on the site. There are many reasons why I don't review something -- it's absolutely awful, it's too far past its expiration date, it's not really kids' music -- all reasons that I'm willing to throw out the window at any time, I should note. But what about those albums that I'm, well, only lukewarm about?

Case in point: this album.

New York-based Mr. "S" (aka Ed Stankewick) recorded for several indie rock labels before becoming a schoolteacher and, eventually, releasing Songs For Family, Friends & Frogs, his 2006 kids' music debut.

I really wanted to like the CD, but being a hopeful person I really want to like just about every CD I listen to. And there are components of the album that I did like, especially the solid musicianship of Stankewick and his Burnt Bottom Cookie Band. When they grab ahold of a good song, like the "everybody's a hero" pop-rocker "Superhero," the resulting energy is fun to listen to, as it is also in the gently insistent "Frankie the French Fry." The bluesy cuts ("Itchy Little Toe," for example) tend to be the strongest songs.

But for the most part the songs just weren't that memorable to me. Some went on too long ("Take Your Medicine"), some were just a little too cheesy ("My Dog Sings the ABC Song"), and some... It's not that the songs were bad -- believe me, I've heard plenty of bad kids' songs, and these weren't it -- but they just left little impression on me, no compelling desire to go back and hear it again (even though I did so several times for the purpose of this review).

The songs have a slightly goofy lyrical sense that would be most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. You can hear several cuts at the Mr. "S" website. Which I recommend doing, because maybe I just ate something bad, or I haven't been getting enough sleep, or something. And that's why I will sometimes review albums that just don't speak to me, especially if there's something worthwhile in there that could serve as the core for someone else's serious enjoyment. Whatever the case, while I could appreciate the musicianship on Songs For Family, Friends & Frogs and look forward to hearing what else Mr. "S" comes up with in the future, this album didn't speak to me.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

There are albums (in all genres) that you can drop in and out of, where your attention can wander without ruining the overall effect. And then there are albums whose enjoyment depend upon a sustained mood, whose parts are greater than the whole.

Peter Himmelman's 2004 album My Fabulous Plum is the latter.

Heard in bits and pieces in the car -- the minivan is the parental 9:30 Club, dontcha know -- the album doesn't come off that great. Elaborately produced rock songs with a hint of Broadway stylings, with vastly different song palettes from track to track, it's hard to pin down. Not that the songs are bad -- "Sherm the Worm" is a fun, driving rock track with horns, but it's squeezed between the mid-tempo Shel Silverstein-esque fable "A World Where You Only Eat Candy" and the Caribbean-tinged self-empowerment ode "Ain't Nothing To It."

But Himmelman, who's been creating music for adults for more than 20 years, is an excellent songrwriter, and it's only once you've listened to the album in full that you appreciate the world Himmelman's created. Your kids will enjoy the silliness in songs like "Herman the Big Oily Moose" and "Cindy and the Octopus," and they might even hear the message in "Ain't Nothing To It," and "I Don't Like To Share." You might even come to enjoy the pure weirdness that is "Waffles," a spoken-word track. In no case does Himmelman ever talk down to his audience.

I think kids ages 4 through 9 will most appreciate the 36-minute album, which is the second of Himmelman's three kids' albums. You can check out samples at Himmelman's website for the album.

My Fabulous Plum has some strong songs, but it will probably take a few spins before you'll get the cumulative effect of the album -- a book of musical short stories and poems for kids. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a parent of five- and one-year-old kids, I'm not quite in the Lemony Snicket core demographic -- my kids are too young to really be reading the books, and I'm way too busy to add another kids' book series to my plate. (I'm sorry, Harry Potter got there first.)

I am considerably closer, however, to the Stephin Merritt demographic and it's he, in the guise of his "Gothic rock-bubblegum pop" band The Gothic Archies, who has composed a song to accompany the audiobooks for each of the Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events books. With the release of the thirteenth and final book in the series The End on, appropriately enough, this Friday the 13th, Nonesuch Records is releasing The Tragic Treasury: Songs From A Series of Unfortunate Events tomorrow, collecting tracks from all thirteen audiobooks for the first time on one disc. (How did this partnership occur? Well, Snicket's alter ego, author Daniel Handler, and Merritt go way back -- Handler played accordion on Merritt's breakthrough with the Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs.)

As you might expect given the source material, this is not exactly "Up With People." More like "Down With People." The opening track, from the first book in the series, has a pleasant enough melody, but with lyrics such as "You might be thinking what a romp this is / But wait 'til you meet his accomplices" and a chorus that goes "Scream and run away / run / run run run run run run run / or die / die die die die die die die," there's a lyrical darkness that you don't really get on a lot of kids' albums. OK, on virtually no kids' albums.

But having read the first book in the series to prepare for this review, I can assure you that the song totally matches the tone of the book with witty and intricate lyrics that are the equal of Snicket's words. Musically, Merritt singing style recalls one of the pioneers of Goth music, the late Ian Curtis of Joy Division. And the songs themselves, which peppy ("Freakshow") or moodily atmospheric ("Crows"), serve the lyrics, which typically don't tell stories (a la the intricate narratives of the Decemberists) as much as they serve as musical illustrations for the book. They're complementary, in the best way. It's almost a shock, then, to hear the "bonus tracks," the sunny (or at least only partly cloudy) "Walking My Gargoyle" and the almost snappy "We Are the Gothic Archies." The tone still matches that of the books, and "Gargoyle" is an especially fun track, but they do feel a little out of place.

The recommended reading age for the books seems to be about 9 though 12, so I'm guessing that kids 8 and up will enjoy the songs the most. You can hear three excellent tracks at Nonesuch's site for the album or the band's Myspace page.

I don't think families will want to listen to The Tragic Treasury on a regular basis if they have no familiarity with Lemony Snicket or Stephin Merritt. These are excellent songs, but they're for a certain time and place, and you may not be at that time and place yet with your family. If, however, you've got Stephin Merritt or Lemony Snicket fans in your household (be it you or a younger member), this CD is an excellent and darkly humorous romp through the world of Lemony Snicket and is highly recommended for you. (And it might even get you turned on to another great series in kids' literature. After all, I only need to get through one more Harry Potter book, and then I'll be looking for something else...)

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Paul Westerberg's place in the rock canon is safe, thanks to the his work in the 1980s with the Minneapolis band The Replacements. If you had placed a bet back then that he'd eventually score an animated movie replete with a bunny rabbit, chances are you'd received pretty good odds. But here we are in 2006, children's music is all the rage, and Paul Westerberg has scored an animated movie replete with a bunny rabbit -- Open Season, whose Original Soundtrack is being released today.

Setting the improbability aside, is it any good? It's a hard question to answer, because you're inevitably judging the album against Westerberg's previous work, much of which was recorded long before you were even thinking about parenthood. In any case, it's a mixed bag. Westerberg, who crafted a great soundtrack cut for the movie Singles ("Dyslexic Heart"), has another great song here in "Meet Me in the Meadow," a gorgeous pop tune with a soaring string-accompanied chorus, the sense of hope very reminiscent of Replacements' themes. It's definitely one of my favorite kids' music tracks of the year.

"Love You in the Fall," the lead single, sounds most like an actual Replacements song, and is a decent song to boot. "Right To Arm Bears" is a bit of silliness obviously crafted for a particular bit in the movie and shows off Westerberg's wordplay, as does "Any Better Than This" includes the amusing turn of phrase "knight in shining armchair."

Where I think the soundtrack fails, at least for kids, is the slower songs. "I Belong" and "Whisper Me Luck" move too slowly to grab most kids' attention (at least without a visual accompaniment), and I'm not sure the kids are going to respond to the lyrical concerns. In the context of the movie, they may be perfect, but as a set of standalone tracks, they bring the soundtrack to a halt.

There are four tracks not performed by Westerberg. Pete Yorn covers "I Belong" and he, too, doesn't make it particularly compelling. Sacramento's Deathray (including members from Cake) cover Westerberg's "Wild As I Wanna Be" and have a fun, poppy original, "I Wanna Lose Control." And the Talking Heads, whose place in the rock canon may be even more safe than Westerberg, contribute "Wild Wild Life," a song whose existence will continue long after the apocalypse happens and cockroaches roam the earth. Needless to say, I'd've rather heard another Westerberg track than that recycled cut.

I'm gonna peg the soundtrack as most appropriate for ages 6 and up. I mean, there's nothing inappropriate about the album -- I just don't think 3-year-olds will care much. Listen to four tracks at the soundtrack's Myspace page.

The Open Season soundtrack is a good Paul Westerberg album, with probably more good songs than a lot of his recent work. Whether you or your kids will listen to it in the long run probably depends more, however, on whether you (or your kids) care about what Westerberg and his bandmates recorded 20 years ago.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

How to describe New York-based Dog On Fleas? Hmmmm... The band itself has used the phrase "Brigitte Bardot will serve you from John Cage's hat" to help describe the Dog on Fleas "recipe." It's a not inaccurate description of the band's attitude, but doesn't really give you any indication of what they sound like. So that's where I'll give it a shot.

On their 2006 release When I Get Little, their fourth album, Dog on Fleas play blues, country, jazz, folk, and zydeco -- among other styles -- with a loose feel reminiscent of Dan Zanes, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Woody Guthrie. The five-member band are a talented group of musicians, but the resulting sound on the album is not overproduced, giving it room to breathe and sway. They come at songs from odd angles and most of those angles work. "Come On Down" has a loping New Orleans jazz feel and sounds very much like it could have been recorded strolling down a New Orleans street. "Green Grass of Summer" is a sweet retro-sounding folk-pop tune that would've sounded great on AM radio 35 years ago. (Heck, it would sound great on AM radio today.) And "Big Black Snake" is an instant folk classic that's remiscent of Woody Guthrie songs given a Billy Bragg/Wilco "Mermaid Avenue" treatment, except instead of Bragg's raggedy voice we get the clear voice of Debbie Lan.

Thirteen of the fifteen tracks on the 42-minute album are originals (most written by member Dean Jones) and none of them are traditional kids' songs. They're definitely in the traditional of family folk, and even songs about more kid-centric topics are given a twist -- the Cajun stylings and French lyrics for a song about French toast ("Mon Pain Perdu"), for example. The low-key feeling of peace and goodwill throughout the album is helped in no small part by the lyrical components on songs such as "Peace Will Come" and the ska-inflected "What's Behind the Wall." By no means are the messages of peace hammered home, but they're definitely there.

As with the best family folk albums, the music is appropriate for all ages, but kids ages 3 through 9 will probably appreciate it the most -- they'll be the ones most willing to dance along, too. Listen to samples here.

So how would I describe Dog on Fleas and When I Get Little? How about simply as "good and fun music for listeners of any age." Fans of Dan Zanes' music should especially check out this album, but unless you require your music pitch-corrected to within an inch of its life, you'll find it a vibrant and joyous experience. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are two basic approaches to putting together a genre-specific compilation of music, approaches which for brevity's and wit's sake, I call Putumayo vs. Rough Guides. The former approach may not necessarily be an exhaustive look at a genre, but it sure results in a pleasant thirty-to-sixty-minute mix of music to someone unfamiliar with the genre. The latter approach is as much history lesson as mixtape and while you might not listen to it often, unless your expertise is such that you might have been asked to compile one of these yourself, you're bound to find something new and something really fabulous.

Bright Spaces 2 is Dan Zanes' Rough Guide to Family Folk Music.

Zanes compiled this 2006 collection, released last week, on behalf of the Bright Horizons Foundation. The Foundation sponsors the "Bright Spaces" program, which puts playrooms in shelters for children in crisis situations. He calls this collection a "musical scrapbook," and like many a scrapbook, it's a collection of snapshots (in this case, songs) that have significance to Zanes. His scrapbook might not be your scrapbook, but he's certainly taken a lot of pictures of family folk music.

Zanes pulls from artists young and old, famous and not. And unless your collection of family folk music is, oh, a thousand albums full, many of the tracks are likely to be new to you. Boston's Session Americana turns in a fabulously languid version of "Merzidotes," which is followed by "L'cha Dodi," a 16th century Jewish tune recorded by Craig Taubman. The Deighton Family, a real "family band" for whom Zanes has had many a good word, leads off the album with a happy "When You're Smilin'." And Zanes re-records his hit "Jump Up" with New York band Astrograss, putting a more muscular bluegrassy accompaniment to his tune -- I wouldn't buy the album just for that version, but it's good in its own right and different than the original. There are probably few tunes you already have in your collection -- Elizabeth Mitchell's version of "Little Sack of Sugar" and the Garcia/Grisman rendition of "Hopalong Peter" are the two most likely. If there's any downside to the collection is that it lacks some of the musical diversity that makes Zanes' own albums such adventures to listen to. The songs here fit more in the folk music mold, and if that's not your bag, you may be underwhelmed.

As an album of family folk music, it's really appropriate for all ages, though the tiniest ones may not be too interested. Call it ages 2 through 10. You can purchase the album at Amazon as well as on this page. You can hear the Astrograss/Dan Zanes track here.

In calling this the "Rough Guide to Family Folk Music," I've probably understated the mixtape qualities of Bright Spaces 2. There are good and excellent tracks collected here, and, if you have any affinity for Zanes' music-making, will without a doubt send you spinning off in at least one new direction you've not gone before. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chicago's Bloodshot Records is known for for their insurgent country, or some other name for music that sounds like country but sounds nothing like Nashville. With their 2002 compilation The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs for Bumpy Wagon Rides, Bloodshot could easily have staked their claim to "insurgent kids music." (Or, even more marbly-mouthed, "y'all-kid-ternative.")

With a broad range of "adult" artists (from Alejandro Escovedo to Freakwater to Nora O'Connor and Steve Frisbie -- partner in Frisbie with Justin Roberts accomplice Liam Davis) and a collection of both kids' classics and originals, it's hard to summarize the 26-track, 63-minute album. But the one word that keeps coming back to me as I think of the CD is fun. On many kids' albums from "adult" artists, you get the feeling that the musicians are deigning to play this "kids' music," and it shows in a song that, well, isn't much fun to listen to. Not here -- the musicians are having fun playing these funds, and it shows. The Waco Brothers' spirited take on the folk classic, "The Fox," and the Asylum Street Spankers' punked-up bluegrass version of "I Am My Own Grandpa" shows no signs of "well, let's make a track for the kiddies." They're making tracks that any music fan would appreciate, kids not excluded. The Cornell Hurd Band's original "Don't Wipe Your Face On Your Shirt," is an amusing plea for respectability most parents will relate to, while Escovedo's live version of his "Sad & Dreamy (The Big 1-0)" (with the chorus of "I'm the big 1-0 / Candy just doesn't taste as sweet anymore") will ring bells with the tween set.

Like you would expect from an album produced by an "insurgent country" record label, many of the tracks are not sanitized. Carolyn Mark's fun retelling of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" doesn't sand off the rough edges of the story, for example, and Devil in a Woodpile's swampy cover of Mississippi John Hurd's "Funky Butt," is just what you might expect from the song title. And while most tracks stay safely on the parental side of appropriateness, Robbie Fulks' "Godfrey" (about an sickly, unemployed magician) and Freakwater's inneuendo-filled "Little Red Riding Hood" are probably way on that other side. The parents themselves will probably like those songs while thinking repeatedly, "Should I fast-forward? I should probably fast-forward. Right? Tell me I'm right."

Some of the tracks are appropriate for kids as young as three, though the album is appropriate for kids who are as old as 10 as well. You can hear samples at any major online retailer.

In the end, this is a solid album with no weak tracks. Your kids won't even know that they're being exposed to a great collection of bands and songs, they'll just love these energetic renditions. And so will you. It's probably the best compilation of adult-musicians-doing-kids-music out there; its status as a minor classic (or even a major one) is deserved. Highly recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You don't see too many kids' music acts with a live album. Trout Fishing In America has, with the release of My Best Day (2006) today, two. That fact speaks to Trout's longevity (30 years as a duo and 7 family recordings in addition to other recordings for adults) and their popularity as a live act.

My Best Day is a Greatest Hits collection to an extent. Long-time favorites such as the calypso-styled "My Hair Had a Party Last Night" mingle with new favorites such as "Alien In My Nose" (an absolutely disgusting track -- your 7-year-olds will love it). While those songs (and others) show off Ezra Idlet's and Keith Grimwood's sillier side, slightly straighter songs such as the sweet "Fill It Up" and "Alberta Postcard" fit more squarely in a folk-pop tradition that would sound great at any folk festival, kids-associated or not. The two new songs, "I've Got A Friend (and He Won't Be Quiet)" and "My Pants Fell Down," are pretty good additions to the Trout canon -- I particularly liked "My Pants Fell Down" (the title says it all, and, yes, your 7-year-olds will love it). Both the new songs (and "Alien" and the title track) were written in songwriting workshops with kids.

Having said all that, the banter and interaction that would be lots of fun if you were actually at the concert gets to be a bit repetitive if you're listening to the CD. "Simon Says" gets tiresome; the jokes, amusing on first or second hearing, are no longer funny the fifth or sixth time around. Perhaps the upcoming DVD of the concert (recorded in Febrary 2006) will make you feel more like you're at the concert (and, therefore, not so weary of the between-song stuff).

Kids ages 5 through 10 will most appreciate the album. You can listen to Trout's music by going here and clicking on "Launch Trout Radio" or going to the usual online suspects to hear clips from the new CD.

If you're a Trout fan, you'll enjoy this CD (unless of course they left off your favorite track). If you're not a Trout fan, you won't enjoy this CD -- there's nothing to convert you. If you're not sure about Trout, this is a decent place to start as it does pick tracks from throughout their family music career. My Best Day is, for better and occasionally worse, a good representation of a Trout Fishing in America concert.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It is possible to be impressed by an album, but not have it move you. Such was the case for me with Snowdance (2006), the second album from New York-based duo Erin Lee & Marci. The duo, with a background in children's musical theatre, have crafted an album of 12 songs, one for each month of the year.

As a whole, the album fits together well -- the opening track "This Year" makes a lot of references to the songs to follow and the songs for each month make sense. The snow-day-wishing of track 2 "Snowdance" has a pleasant wintry, jangly beat. The forced "September March" acutely highlights the feelings of dread and uncertainty heading into the new school year. There are some interesting stories here.

But although the folk-pop melodies and their playing aren't bad, there isn't a single cut that begs repeated hearings. Part of that may have been the voices of Erin Lee & Marci, which for me, were... how should I say this?... not my cup of tea. They were a little too Broadway for me, not enough pop or folk. Or perhaps they weren't enough Broadway for me -- this was an album of stories, some of them good -- maybe they should have dropped any attempt to sing in a standard pop manner, and brought in additional singers to fill out the "cast," so to speak.

With its focus on the tribulations and joys of growing up for elementary students, the 48-minute album will be of most interest to kids ages 6 through 10. You can hear samples at the album's CDBaby page.

It's possible to admire what Erin Lee & Marci were shooting for with Snowdance and appreciate the structure of the album and the songs within. But it doesn't mean your family will want to listen to it repeatedly.

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When did I know how seriously I'd started to take this whole "kids and family music" thing? When I spent $25 for an out-of-print kids' music CD -- to be specific, the Hoodwinked Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Now normally I'd just chalk it up to the semi-obsessional nature of being a niche expert, but I'm used to hearing -- and reviewing -- albums that with print runs of just 1,000 copies. What in the name of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack is going on, then, when a soundtrack of a movie produced by the Weinstein Company goes out of print six months after its release?

Especially when it's as good as this one.

There are three songs on here which are in my top ten kids' songs of the year, two of them in my top ten songs of the year, period. And they're all completely different. "Great Big World," which I've raved about before, has a fantastic '60s-esque sound with a Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" production and crystal clear vocals from Anne Hathaway. "Bounce" is an old school rap whose lyrics sound pretty nonsensical (if albeit pleasing to the ear) until you see the movie, after which they make sense (the song rolls over the closing credits). And "Red is Blue" is a stunning ballad which works both within the movie, representing character Red's interior monologue, and outside of it. Listening to the song in the movie, I thought, they have Ben Folds down cold. And then in the closing credits, I noticed that Ben Folds sang the freakin' song! Though he didn't write it, he did add the piano hook -- it's definitely the best Ben Folds soundtrack song of 2006.

The rest of the songs cover most of the past 30 years sonically -- "Critters Have Feeling" could've been on the Cars' Heartbeat City, "The Real G" has a Limp Bizkit rock-rap sound (in a good way), "Glow" has a bit of an Elton John feel, and "Eva Deanna" is a very fine Pixies rip-off. Most of the credit for the awesomeness of the soundtrack has to go to co-director and songwriter Todd Edwards, who wrote 9 songs here. The rock tracks here have a very Pretty Woman soundtrack feel, where you know that some of the songs' interest will fade over time, but it's still a fine collection of songs.

Now the question remains, is this a good album to recommend for listening with kids? Well, yes and no. Yes, because there are so many good songs here. No, because I'm not sure the kids will necessarily connect to the songs (aside from the "hey, I remember that song in the movie!" effect, which may be enough). In addition, while there's nothing wrong with the score, its placement scattered throughout the disk may be more distracting than enlightening.

I'd peg the age-appropriateness of the album at ages 5 through 10. You can see music videos for three of the songs (including the catchy "Critters Have Feelings") at the movie's website. I'd also note that the album also includes song notes from Edwards and complete lyrics. So all you people searching the website for the lyrics, just buy the album! (And if you need to know where to get the CD at a reasonable (i.e., not $50) price, drop me a line.)

You don't need to have enjoyed the movie -- or even to have seen the movie -- to enjoy the Hoowinked soundtrack (though it'll add a little bit to your enjoyment). I definitely recommend this album, but it's not so much for your kids as it is for yourself. Your kids are likely to get tired of it long before you do.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Let me begin by saying that I had heard "Marvelous Day!" the song long before I heard Marvelous Day! the album. And the song... well, it just sounded like one of those pull-out-all-the-stops attempts at a hit that just, well, didn't work. Too forcibly goofy, too many kids in the chorus, too much or too little of something -- whatever the case, I didn't like it. So I approached the SteveSongs' album, their fifth, originally released in 2005 and rereleased this week by Rounder Records, with trepidation. Which is another way of saying I skipped the opening (title) track and held my breath.

Well, I needn't have been so worried. For the most part, the album will have broad appeal to families. SteveSongs' namesake, New England-based Steve Roslonek, and his bandmates, primarily Anand Nayak, have crafted some fabulous pop melodies here. "Elephant Hide and Seek" is an uptempo ska-inflected tune while "Sprytle the Turtle" is one of many solid kids' pop songs here. My favorite track on the album is a song called "Ducks Hatching," which Roslonek and Nayak co-wrote with "Mrs. Grimsley's 3rd grade class." OK, they're not exactly George Harrison to Roslonek and Nayak's Lennon/McCartney, but the resulting song, about a classroom waiting for some duck eggs to hatch, has got a killer chorus and great usage of a kids' chorus to build out the sound. (It is, by far, the best song you will ever hear with the word "incubator" in it.)

Lyrically, the songs target the kids fairly directly. Rather than writing songs that might fully engage the adults listening, Roslonek and his partners prefer to throw in funny asides and puns to tickle the adults' funny bone. "Fast Monkey," a silly song about contrasts, has a cartoony-voiced something-or-other called (I think) "Silly Minilli" who would drive me nuts if it weren't for the fact that his asides are quite amusing, almost echoing the thoughts of the adults listening. (He appears briefly on a couple other songs, too.) The lyrics are well-done and large-hearted, but they're definitely of much greater interest to your kids than to the adults.

The band has a nice sound for the pop melodies, but Danger, Will Robinson! there are lots of (talented) kids' voices on this disk, sometimes taking leading roles. Your kids may enjoy this but you may grow weary of them. (The voices, not your kids, silly.)

Kids ages 5 through 9 will most appreciate the songs (and lyrics) on the album. You can listen to samples from the 52-minute album here.

Marvelous Day! is filled with strong melodies and fun, uplifting lyrics. There are enough moments of adult interest to sustain multiple listenings, which is good, because your kids will probably want to listen to this a lot. Recommended, if only for your kids' sake.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not usually one to be swayed by the cause behind an album, but when the first sentence of an album's press release includes a statement that "kids need to know they can be creators and not just consumers," that can exert a strong pull on me. With his Kid Pan Alley program, Musician Paul Reisler has gone into schools around the country to create songs with more than 10,000 schoolchildren. The album in question, Kid Pan Alley (originally released in 2004 and rereleased next Tuesday on Compass Records) and was the result of collaboration between Nashville schoolkids and the city's songwriting community. Nashville is arguably the most vibrant songwriting community in the country (where is its Brill Building, one wonders), and so there were some exciting possibilities from combining that talent and experience with the viewpoint of youth.

Produced in combination with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, the album is a rich collection of styles, from R&B to power-pop to bluegrass to, yes, country. The strongest tracks are those where the artist was well-known enough to allow the songwriters to craft it in the artist's particular style. Kix Brooks' "Cartoons" is a great song in the slick country-pop vein while the strutting "Freaky Friday" is given a fun rendition by Delbert McClinton (it's a great kids' Halloween song out there, one that begs a "Thriller"-style video). "Whispering in Spanish" is given a '60s string-laden ballad treatment, one that Raul Malo is familiar with. And there are less familiar artists (to me, at least) who turn in some performances -- the power-pop "No Fair" performed by Will Hoge will probably ring true to a lot of 6-year-olds. Other tracks ("Little Drop of Water," for example) take a much less direct lyrical approach, showing the influence of the professional songwriters.

There are other good songs, but the sheer diversity of musical styles works against the album as an album. I understand the desire to get as many of the tracks recorded and onto the CD, but at 18 tracks and 58 minutes in length, there are some tracks that could probably have been cut. ("Extra Hand," for example, while a nice little bluegrass tune, sounds out of place amongst the poppy and often orchestrally-enhanced pieces.)

The album will probably be of most interest to kids ages 5 through 10. You can listen to clips at Amazon or at the original release's CDBaby page.

This is not the most cohesive of albums. But as a collection of always intriguing and sometimes amazing songs, with the knowledge that kids helped make this album, Kid Pan Alley commands the listener's attention. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes it's easy to review kids' music -- a little of bit of this, sounds like that, there are songs about food. Then an album like The Great Adventures of Mr. David (2006) comes along, making the task much more difficult. Whatever it is (and it's many things, sometimes all at once), this is not a typical kids' album.

The second album for kids from San Jose-based musician David Alexandrou, who performs as Mr. David, The Great Adventures has, as you'd expect from the title, a number of songs about adventures and travels. But these aren't typical adventures. The very first line of the album, on the winding Bob Dylan-esque track "Sea Song," is "Golden brown peanut butter fell from the sky." And then it gets odder. (Yes, the narrator quickly gets to the sea. The sea serves as the location for other songs -- "Surf's Up All Around the World," "In the Storm Fighting the Octopus," and the Beatlesque "I'm A Fish." There's a sense of wonder and absurdity in the lyrics that sets it apart from the concrete lyrics of many other artists. Not that one is necessarily better than the other, but this is definitely the road less-traveled lyrically.

The lyrics would just make the album slightly unusual if it weren't paired with a fabulous musical approach. Instrumentally, the album employs, among other things, horns, dulcimer, washboard, and ukelele. It's very Dan Zanes-ian in that regard. Mr. David also has a rough voice reminiscent of Zanes, but is also willing to use voice almost as an instrument, as at the end of the terrific "Surf's Up All Around the World," which sounds like the Beach Boys-meet-Laurie Anderson, or the instrumentals "Dream Away; Sail Away" or "Dancing with Peter Pan," which have a touch of Peter Gabriel in them. There's also the Jane's Addiction-goes-mariachi of "La Cucaracha" or the blues-rock of "Rock 'N' Roll." Even when something doesn't work (the medley of nursery rhymes), at least it's different.

The album probably would interest kids ages 3 through 9, though different songs would interest different kids. You can hear "I'm A Fish" here or samples of all the songs at the album's CDBaby page.

Even though I've made a lot of comparisons here, as a whole this album sounds like nothing else you've heard all year. It's got a sense of wonder and playfulness that will interest kids (and their adults) for a long time. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dan Zanes' 2004 album Parades and Panoramas: 25 Songs Collected by Carl Sandburg is not, strictly speaking, a "kids music" album. This collection of songs from The American Songbag, compiled and published by the poet Carl Sandburg in 1927 does not always have the friendly vibe found on Zanes' five kids-related CDs. But it is a "family music" album in the best way -- it encourages families to listen, and occasionally sing, together.

Recorded with the same large and talented cast of characters Zanes has recorded his last few albums with, the album takes the Sandburg's collected songs and gives them new life. Musically, this isn't the rave-up (mostly) of Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Session album, nor is it quite as modern as the two Billy Bragg-Wilco Mermaid Avenue collections, but there are a few songs given a modern touch, such as "All Night Long," on which Rankin' Don recites the words of French painter Millet, or the midtempo rocker "The Midnight Train," about which Zanes notes, "I couldn't believe that it wasn't being played by every rock and roll band in New York."

The songs themselves are a history lesson. "Titanic," which tells the story of that fateful ship, is given a sprightly reading. Zanes and his brother-in-law Donald Saaf have a nice duet on "The E-ri-e," which tells a story about a different fateful ship. The California Gold Rush is given a nice banjo accompaniment on "California." All of which wouldn't be much more than a nice historical collection if it weren't for the sheer fun of some of these arrangements. The recurring tuba, fiddle, and many other fabulous instruments make the album a joy to listen to. At 65 minutes in length, the album is sometimes a bit much for one sitting, and the liner notes, while fabulously detailed, are sometimes rendered in fonts that make it harder than necessary to read. But those are really minor quibbles.

Like with all of Zanes' CDs, this one is appropriate for many ages. However, given the storytelling nature of many of these songs, I think kids ages 5 and up would probably get the most out of the album. You can hear samples, read lyrics and chords here.

I find Parades and Panoramas best exemplified by the rollicking "The Son of a Gambolier," a drinking song sung by a kid (with accompaniment reaching double-digits). It speaks both to the rough start of this country and to the sheer fun of communal singing. You're bound to find some song that strikes you similarly and you may, like me, be inspired to track down the Songbag that inspired Zanes to see what other delights the other 255 songs hold. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have been nominated for 11 GRAMMY awards (winning two of them) and are talented musicians and songwriters in both kids' and non-kids fields. So how come I didn't adore Scat Like That!, their 2005 GRAMMY-nominated kids' album? There's nothing wrong with the album's execution -- the musicianship and production are strong -- and the concept is intriguing, focusing on all sorts of wordplay. And there are some very good songs amidst the wide-ranging musical styles used here. My favorite is Marxer's midtempo blues number "Dagnabbit!," which matches Marxer's expressive vocals to amusing lyrics about a kid who let the wrong word slip out in a moment of frustration ("I need some words with consonants / To say what I must say / Words with B and D and P / And S and T and K"). I particularly liked the song's 2-minute musical outro. I also find it hard not to like a song titled "I Love Pie" which is set to a Latin meringue melody. (I don't care if it's not a meringue -- though I'm pretty sure it is -- "pie" and "meringue" is too good not to believe.) I think what makes me so blase' about the album is the feeling that the disk's educational thrust (it is an album about wordplay after all) was getting in the way of enjoying it. The best songs -- "Dagnabbit!" or "A Pirate's Song," perhaps -- would fit on any album of good kids' music and the wordplay themes of those songs are just happy byproducts of the songs themselves. In this case, it doesn't reach the manic heights of their excellent 2001 collaboration with Brave Combo, All Wound Up!. The album is best for kids ages 6 through 10, especially if they're into words and all the fun things one can do with them.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 2006 Cooperative Summer Library Program may be winding down, but here's another pet-themed CD in case librarians reading here are looking for a CD to tide them over these last few days of summer. (I'm guessing throwing up one's hands and feeding the kids animal crackers is an insufficient response.) Kids' music artists Campfire Kev and Mary Lafleur have teamed up to record The Pet Project (2005), an album with more than 20 original songs, all about pets and animals in general. The songs generally fit in the children's pop mold, with a large cast of musicians backing up the two leads, who trade vocals (and songwriting credits). With 20+ songs about the same subject, I gravitated toward the songs that stood out musically and lyrically -- the country-rock on Kev's outstanding "The Cow Who Can't Say 'Moo'", the gentle AM pop of Lafleur's "Teddy's Bear" (weaving a story about Teddy Roosevelt's pets), or the dueling vocals on "Queen of the House," a clever "cat vs. dog" song that would be great in a kids' musical. The disk is best for kids age 4 through 9 and you can hear clips at the CD's CDBaby page. (And if you like Campfire Kev's more rocking songs on this disk, you might want to check out his first CD, The Campfire Kev Show and Other Radio Favorites.)

We don't have pets in the house at the moment, so I'm not the first person you should read looking for "oh, they have so described my pet" comments. I can only hear so many songs about how wonderful pets are or the wacky things they do before I go a little crazy. Kinda like reading one too many mommy- or daddy-blogs. But in selective doses, there are some good tracks on The Pet Project.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unfortunately for New York band The Quiet Two (formerly the Quiet Ones), their 2005 debut Make Some Noise didn't, er, make some noise, or at least not as much as it should have. And while I can't answer the question of how in the name of They Might Be Giants did this album fly under the radar, I can do my best to explain why it shouldn't have.

The Quiet Two are Chrstopher Anderson and Andrew Ure, 2/3rds of the band Muckafurgason, which toured with They Might Be Giants and whose final album was produced by John Flansburgh of the band. The They Might Be Giants reference is appropriate here, because the album is filled with lyrical flights of fancy that would not sound out of place on a TMBG album. Take, for example, "Polar Bear," a country-ish tune which starts out with the line "Straight to the point / I wanna be a polar bear," then comes back to the concept later on in the tune with the line "Back to the point of being a polar bear," a meta reference that is likely to amuse the parents within a very kid-friendly song about, well, being a polar bear. Or "Invisible Trousers," in which the narrator talks about how he "Wore them to the dentist & to the pet store / And everyone was pointing / Because they’d never seen invisible trousers before," which is a punchline that will reward the older kids and parents listening. For adults tired of listening to kids' albums with too many lessons, the lessons here are few and far between, with the band typically content to tell stories with subjects of interest to kids, like running ("How Fast Can You Run") and superheroes ("Ultrafoot").

Sonically, the album has a very British vibe, with some songs sound more like British Invasion bands ("Make Some Noise"), some like XTC outtakes (the amusing "My Keyboard"), and some like the Beatles (the lovely "I Remember Purple"). And, gosh, I've somehow managed to not mention my two favorite songs, the power-poppy "You Can't Hide Your Bike" (which is about exactly what the title implies), and the narratively exuberant album closer "Fizzy Milk."

Well, kids ages 4 through 9 -- especially slightly silly ones -- will enjoy this album the most. You can hear samples of some songs here or all songs at the album's page at Amazon. You can also see the lyrics and hear karaoke versions of most songs here.

Can you tell I liked the album? There are no bad songs here, just songs you'll like more or less than others. At just over the 30-minute mark, the album is short but very sweet. Fans of power pop or XTC or They Might Be Giants should check out the album post haste. Like, yesterday. As for the rest of you, the appealing goofiness and catchy melodies make Make Some Noise also worth your time. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We really have Meg Ryan and the diner scene to thank for this. Jazz musician and erstwhile Broadway star Harry Connick, Jr. got his big break when he was asked to record the soundtrack to the movie When Harry Met Sally. The soundtrack was good, but the massive success of the movie was what pushed Connick into the national consciousness. More than ten years later, Connick repaid the favor -- sort of -- with his 2001 album Songs I Heard, on which he reworked Broadway and film showtunes. It's not a traditional kids' album, but when said tunes come from beloved sources such as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, there's clearly a kids' music theme to the album. The best tracks are those where Connick lets loose his band and really swings. The opening cut, "Supercalifragilisticexpiadlidocious," is well, that word, on which Connick, Jr., backed by a New Orleans brass band, almost makes us forget Dick Van Dyke. (Connick's voice is smooth as always.) Other uptempo tracks such as "The Lonely Goatherd" and Dixieland stylings on "Spoonful of Sugar" also benefit from Connick's big band and his traditional jazz arrangements. They're definitely a new, jazzier version of the original,