Live from Brooklyn - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

Artist: Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

Album: Live from Brooklyn

Age Range: 3 to 9

Description: Rymer's 2011 album Love Me For Who I Am was an album inspired by and to some extent recorded for students at a school for children with alternative learning styles, but its empathy and Rymer's genial roots-rock sound helped make that album have a wider appeal.  This live EP recorded that spring at Southpaw in Brooklyn draws primarily from that album, but also features Rymer's raved-up version of hit "Jump Up," the tender "I'm In Here," and one funky "Ding Dong."  And, as always, The Little Band That Could, who years ago I said "might just be the best-sounding band in kids music," still sounds pretty darn good.  Recommended, especially if your family has never heard or seen the band live.

[Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this album for possible review.]

Family Values - Charity and the JAMband

Artist: Charity and the JAMband

Album: Family Values

Age Range: 4 to 8

Description: Don't let the peace sign on the album cover fool you.  Sure, the fifth album from San Francisco's Charity Kahn and her bandmates is filled with plenty of peace, love, and understanding -- heck, there's even a song titled "Flower Power."  But if you think that the music inside will be weak, you'd be wrong.  The aforementioned "Flower Power" has a muscular guitar chorus, and it's not the only track that begs to be played loudly out of a speaker (as long as the kids are wearing hearing protection headphones, right?)  Not all the tracks are as loud -- see "Grateful" or "Green Beans Everywhere" (which, full disclosure, I helped bring into existence) -- but Kahn and her bandmates take their JAMband moniker seriously.  You can hear the 48-minute album here (or via the widget below).  Family Values is a musically sprawling album with a compassionate message.  The combination of the two will resonate with a number of families.  Recommended.

[Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.]

PLAY music, Volume 2 - Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists (PLAY music)

Album: PLAY music, Volume 2

Age Range: 1 to 6

Description: When it comes to early childhood music and movement programs, we are (or at least have been) card- (and CD-)carrying members of the Music Together family.  And while I've heard a bunch of CDs from other programs, none have quite matched the quality and scope of those MT disks.  This album is one of the first early childhood music and movement CDs that I would consider adding to our collection.  It's from PLAY music, a Los Angeles-based program.  The 43-minute disk doesn't quite approach the breadth of a MT disk in terms of song selection -- it felt slightly more American folk-based and more less "odd" in places (e.g., not so many songs in non-standard time signatures or keys).  But the quality of the tracks themselves is top-notch -- it's somewhat more organic than the MT disks, thanks to the production of musician Willie Aron (who worked with Peter Himmelman on his kids music) and the presence of kindie musicians Randy Kaplan and Lucky Diaz on a few tracks.  I'm not sure what the market is for music and movement disks outside the context of those classes, but this is a solid collection of folk songs and other songs designed for singing (and dancing and rhythm-sticking) along with your kids.  Recommended.

[Note: I received a copy of the album for possible review.]

What Was That Sound? - Papa Crow

Artist: Papa Crow

Album: What Was That Sound?

Age Range: 3 through 9

Description: There's no better way to make sure old farts like me (see what I did there?) don't get too comfortable with your musical output than to follow up a warm-hearted album for cold days (Things That Roar) with an EP of fart songs for families.  It's still warm-hearted, but the 5 tracks here are silly, too.  Papa Crow (AKA Michigan's Jeff Krebs) even mocks his gentle folk troubadour persona by converting one of the songs on the first album to "All The Things That Fart."  And "Fart Like a Pirate" might just be the best fart song ever.  Songs about flatulence have to be a bit transgressive, but not too much so (for a family audience), and What Was That Sound? deftly negotiates that line.  Some of the songs on the 11-minute album can be heard at Papa Crow's Soundcloud page.  Definitely recommended.  (Glad I got that out of my system.)

The Children's Planet - The Tumble Down Library

Artist: The Tumble Down Library

Album: The Children's Planet

Age Range: 4 through 9

Description: A concept album, I guess.  Twenty-seven songs of alterna-pop with some British Invasion touches, averaging less than a minute in length, one for each letter of the alphabet (plus an introduction), telling the story of 26 kids trapped on a planet.  Really it's just a bunch of character sketches with echoes of They Might Be Giants' early years of brief songs mixed with echoes of They Might Be Giants' later years of quasi-educational albums.  Kids with short attention spans will probably dig the brevity; adults may wish the hook-laden tracks didn't end quite so soon.  Stream the whole thing (and buy it digitally for just $4) here.  Recommended.

[Note: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.]

Yes! - Wayne Potash

Artist: Wayne Potash

Album: Yes!

Age Range: 3 through 6

Description: Boston-area musician Potash has always been a little retro in his approach -- no revved-up post-ironic alterna-pop for him, nosiree.  When I reviewed his 2005 album Don't Forget the Donut, I praised his goofy lack of pretense, and time has not changed Potash's approach much.  Get past the lo-fi album cover and song titles like "I Like Trucks," which make it sound like the accompanying songs would be bereft of any creativity or production values, and you'll find some great preschooler tracks.  "I Like Trucks," for example, is a slow-moving country-folk song that is so ear-wormy and familiar that I could've sworn I'd heard it on a previous record.  I hadn't.  It is an instant transportation song classic, and "Allis Chalmers," a love song to a tractor with a great singalong chorus, is almost one as well.  Listen to clips from the 46-minute album here.  Rootsy originals and traditionals with a dash of classic rock, gentle and empathetic, Yes! is a sweet album for the wee ones.  Recommended.

Orangutan Van - SteveSongs

Artist: SteveSongs

Album: Orangutan Van

Age Range: 4 - 8

Description: Taking a bit of a break from his work as Mr. Steve on PBS Kids, Steve Roslonek comes back with all-new album of SteveSongs, er, songs.  Several songs -- "Recess Rocks," "Orangutan Van (and Banana Transit)," "Flat Stanley" -- show off the ability of Roslonek and his songwriting partner (and album producer) Anand Nayak to craft a nifty hook.  I've always found the best SteveSongs to be those that allow Roslonek's humor to shine through.  "'A' Is For Silly," with Silly Vanilli, for example, or the cooperative/competitive duet of Roslonek and Nayak on "Song Without a Rhyme" -- they're distinctive in a way that more earnest songs like "All in This Together (MLK)" or "Our Tune," though perfectly well-crafted, are less so.  But the wide range of approaches means that listeners are likely to find at least a few (if not most or all) songs worthy of repeat spins.  Recommended.

Get Moving with Ella Jenkins - Ella Jenkins

Artist: Ella Jenkins

Album: Get Moving with Ella Jenkins

Age Range: 2 to 7

Description: Whereas her last album A Life of Song found Jenkins surveying her career via a collection of brand new recordings, this new album is a compilation of previously-released recordings from the past few decades by the much-loved Chicago musician.  The title of this collection is deliberate -- all the songs encourage physical movement.  As is typical with most Jenkins albums, Get Moving will be most enjoyed if your kids (and you) actually join in, singing (and moving) along.  If, however, you're a preschool teacher (or a kindie musician), you could hardly do any better than this master class, listening with a view to learning how Ms. Jenkins manages to get her tiny charges to play and sing along with enthusiasm.  As is commonly the case, Smithsonian Folkways' packaging and liner notes for the 46-minute album are excellent.  Fun for kids, essential for those teaching music and movement.  Recommended.

[Note: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.]

How To Listen To Great Music - Robert Greenberg

Author: Robert Greenberg

Book: How To Listen To Great Music: A Guide To Its History, Culture, and Heart

Age Range: 12 and up

Description: This book puts in writing what composer, professor, and historian Robert Greenberg has taught in his popular Teaching Company CD/DVD course.  It's an entertaining survey of what we in the Western world commonly refer to as classical music and which Greenberg prefers to call concert music, focusing on the concert music composed between 1600 and 1900.  He's a biased observer and lets that come through in his writing, which is usually good in that it helps focus the attention on particular artists rather than letting the reader get lost in the weeds of dozens of artists whose music is unknown outside their most devoted aficionados.  (It's sometimes a bit excessive, as when he presents the superiority of concert music over every other style of music as essentially fact, and not just a reasonably argued opinion.)  Some music reading ability is helpful, though I think you can get a fair amount out of it without that knowledge.

Why am I mentioning it here on a kids music site?  I didn't get much theoretical and historical knowledge of classical music of when I was Miss Mary Mack's age and learning the organ and violin, and in retrospect, I wish I had.  So if your kids are starting to take lessons of their own, and exploring the concert repertoire, I think this would be a good book for you and, if they're mature older tweens, for them to read to give a framework to understand the different eras of classical music.  

[Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for possible review.]

Escalator - David Tobocman

Artist: David Tobocman

Album: Escalator

Age Range: 4 to 8

Description: Los Angeles-based Tobocman doesn't rewrite the kindie songbook on Escalator, his third kids music album, but adds at least a couple very good songs to it.  The title track is propulsive and a complete earworm, one of my favorite tracks of 2012.  "The Owie Song" features a goofy sing-along chorus that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Very Helpful Songs -- the song is silly but fun for all.  Several tracks ("Playin' on a Sunday," for example) have a wide-open SoCal feel that might see the parents having Eagles flashbacks, but Tobocman brings in other styles as well; Tobocman's musicianship is, as always, solid.  Listen to clips here.  Recommended.

Science Fair - Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists (Spare the Rock Records)

Album: Science Fair

Age Range: 5 to 10

Description: A kids' album, but one with ambitions.   Designed to raise awareness about the gender gap in science -- something happens between grade school and grad school -- the album succeeds that without forgetting that awareness-raising combined with dull music is pretty much a press release on a shiny disk.  A diverse set of musicians both kindie and kindie-friendly pitch in on a set of constant-surprising tracks.  Songs are both extroverted (the Nields' "Butterfly" and Wunmi's "Rainbow") and introverted (Frances England's "Goldilocks Zone" and Elizabeth Mitchell's recording of a Molly Ledford original, "Phytoplankton"), and typically focus on the questioning mindset of a scientist rather than nuts-and-bolts explanations of How Things Work.  Highly recommended.  (Listen to my NPR review here.)

Because I Said So! - Big Bang Boom

Artist: Big Bang Boom

Album: Because I Said So!

Age Range: Ages 3 through 8

Description: Filling the niche in your family's kindie CD collection for kindie jam-band music you didn't even know you needed filled, Chuck Folds' North Carolina trio successfully translates its energetic live act to disk with a surprisingly heartfelt set of songs.  "Make Me" is a rocking plea from the point of view of a kid who occasionally messes up and wants (gentle) parental guidance; it's one of my favorite tracks of the year.  Is the band making fun of the "Hippie Mom" or is it affecting teasing coming from a place of love?  (I think it's the latter.)  The band's got more of an attitude than a lot of kindie bands ("Are We There Yet" owes its debt to the Beastie Boys in more ways than one), which sometimes doesn't feel quite right on an album that features a counting song, but is right down the alley of older kids.  Listen to almost all of the 28-minute album on the widget below.  (Watch "Make Me" here.)

The band took a big step forward with the album, it's their best yet.  Recommended.

Picasso, That's Who! - Hope Harris

Artist: Hope Harris

Album: Picasso, That's Who!

Age Range: Ages 5 through 8

Description: What makes this album about famous people from the Virginia-based Harris stand out from most albums about famous people?  1) It's much more narrowly constructed, focusing on artists rather than a broader cross-section of people. 2) The participation of Dan Zanes collaborator Rob Friedman, who produced and plays on the album, and who gives Harris' songs a professional polish without stifling the life within.  While the majority of songs take a more straight biographical, I think the strongest and best songs on the album are the ones that capture the art they create more obliquely (such as "Impression, Monet," or "Who Made the Splash?," which raises a bunch of questions I'd definitely encourage kids to ask about David Hockney's iconic painting A Bigger Splash).  This may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it's straightforward praise -- this would fit right in at your local art museum's gift shop.  Families with young art fans should check it out.

Sing Loud! - Melissa Green

Artist: Melissa Green

Album: Sing Loud!

Age Range: Ages 5 through 9

Description: A muscular guitar-pop album from the Los Angeles-based Green.  A lot of the songs ("Baby, I Love You," the title track) could fit on an album not targeted at the elementary school crowd.  Brooke Shields (who knows her way singing around Broadway tunes for adults) makes an appearance on a couple tracks.  In fact, the specifically kid-focused songs ("The Playdate" or "Heyo") are the exception, not the rule.  Even the classic "Free To Be... You and Me" gets a propulsive arrangement that makes the original sound a little... weak.  It's my favorite of Green's albums, and families looking for a kid-friendly album that doesn't necessarily always sound like "kids music" may find this fits the bill.

Big Don's Brand New Beat - Big Don

Artist: Big Don

Album: Big Don's Brand New Beat

Age Range: Ages 3 through 7

Description: The Austin-based hip-hop Don Robinson comes back with a second album of kid hip-hop targeted at older pre-schoolers and younger elementary school listeners.  The beats are OK, but compared to, say, KBC Kids, Big Don's vocals are much more the focus.  He's more of a storyteller ("The Tortoise and the Hare") and as a result the songs are a shade slower, so your kids might do less bouncing on their feet and more bouncing on their couch cushions.

Milk Money - KBC Kids

Artist: KBC Kids

Album: Milk Money

Age Range: Ages 3 through 7

Description: There have been more than a handful attempts at hip-hop for kids, but, oddly enough, few relatively successful ones.  Not sure exactly why that is, because getting kids to dance while playing with words should be a natural.  Lyrically, the 24-minute Milk Money is pretty bland ("Kids Mean the World" is about as prosaic as the title), but the beats and loops are definitely a step up from most kid-hop and some of the tracks like "I Like Summer" and "Good Time" are very catchy.  Stream the entire album below.

Learning to Play Piano for the Very Young - Marty Gold & Debbie Cavalier

Author: Marty Gold and Debbie Cavalier

Book: Learning to Play Piano for the Very Young

Age Range: Ages 4 through 7

Description: Regular readers are probably more familiar with Cavalier's kids music side project, Debbie and Friends, but she's also an administrator at the Berklee College of Music, with more than 100 music method books and arrangements to her credit.  Marty Gold arranged and produced many artists and dozens of records (and is Cavalier's grandfather).  So this slim instruction book is very much down their alley.

The 24-page book will not turn your child into the next Mozart.  Rather, it's a good introduction to the piano (or full-sized keyboard) that can be useful to gauge your child's interest in and readiness for actual piano lessons.  (Or patience -- Little Boy Blue, six years old at the time we received the book -- probably isn't ready for the attention required of piano lessons.)  The use of little pictures (an elephant to represent the note of "E," for example) is cute, and pretty useful.  There are seven songs (with chord notations, though I suspect that anyone adept enough at reading chord notations won't actually need them for these simple songs).  It's a fun little book and so long as you have the properly-scaled expectations for what's inside, you'll probably like it.

[Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for possible review.]

It's Love - Ellen & Matt

Artist: Ellen & Matt

Album: It's Love

Age Range: 4 through 8

Description: The late-'60s/early-to-mid '70s references start with the cover art and continue on into the long-awaited second CD itself from the Los Angeles band.  Ellen and Matt Kennedy must have listened to more than a few Jefferson Airplane albums in their day, and Ellen's powerful voice carries rockers like the title track and "Playground."  This is not exactly a serious album -- the funky "Drive Thru" features the lyrics "Open the window / get ready to order ... / They take our order / they take our order / and then they take some time / to get us what we need."  And the biggest love song album is dedicated to the "Capybara."  But it's well done and for those families seeking a retro-sounding album of music of kindergarten-friendly themes, It's Love will be just, er, groovy.  Recommended.

Augie to Zebra (An Alphabet Book): Kate Endle & Caspar Babypants

Artist: Kate Endle & Caspar Babypants

Book: Augie to Zebra (An Alphabet Book!)

Age Range: 3 through 6

Description: The title of the third book from wife-and-husband team of Kate Endle and Chris Ballew pretty much says it all.  Alliterative activities featuring kids playing with animals, highlighted by Endle's delightful collage-work (among my favorites, the feline jug band featured in "Josie jams with jaguars.").  And, as you may surmise from that example, besides the repeating letters, 4-through-6-year-olds will have fun finding other items in each illustration that also start with the relevant letter.  The accompanying free mp3 for the book (available here) is nice, but tied as it is to the non-story (but literal) text, isn't particularly exciting.  In any case, fans of the previous two books from the duo will likely be pleased with this new entry.

All on a Sunday Afternoon - Sugar Free Allstars

Artist: Sugar Free Allstars

Album: All on a Sunday Afternoon

Age Range: 3 through 7

Description: "There's no secret formula to the success of rising kindie stars Sugar Free Allstars -- the Oklahoma band's high-energy live shows get kids dancing and tire them out... With their third album All on a Sunday Afternoon... the duo of Chris Wiser and Rob "Dr. Rock" Martin gets a lot closer to putting on disk (or bits) what gets kids hopping around." / Full review / Listen