This week: Baseball, handclaps, mandolins, and parental philosophies. In song! (Dan Zanes only in passing.) Come back and see what I mean.
Also, those Milkshake music videos on PBS Friday? They're now available here. Musically, they sound like typical Milkshake (pop-rock, more pop than rock). Lyrically, they're pretty prescriptive (as one would expect for an Earth-Day-related song). Visually, there's lots of kids and the presence of your favorite (or not) PBS characters. Of the three songs, I think "Washing Machine" is the best...
Song of the Day: Let's Shake - Dan Zanes and Friends
I don't know whether Dan Zanes intended to write a "lead single" for his new album, Catch That Train, but it's got one. "Let's Shake" is infectious, radio- (or at least Noggin-, er, Playhouse Disney-)ready, and not quite like anything else on the CD. Now, that's not a slam on the song, because Zanes' albums invariably sound a little like a Putumayo CD in their wide variety of cultures and musical styles, except that it's all from one artist and his band. But unlike the rest of the album, assiduous in pulling songs from other cultures and times, "Let's Shake" is a little bit of garage rock, sounding very 2006. It sounds similar to "House Party Time" off Zanes' last CD, House Party, except a little faster and even more stripped down. (Or as stripped down as any song with what sounds like a tuba among the instruments can be.)
Lest I be misconstrued, I have nothing against "lead singles." U2's "Vertigo" doesn't sound much like the rest of "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." Doesn't mean that it (or the rest of the CD) isn't a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, the streaming of Catch That Train! at Amazon has stopped, so for the moment you can't hear the whole thing. Go there to hear samples (and note an updated and stepped-up release date of May 9). Go here to see U2's page for the Vertigo single (you'll probably only be able to see/hear snippets).
Review: Giddyup! - Buck Howdy
The Virginia-based Buck Howdy bills himself as "The King of Kids' Cowboy Music." While that might sound like an example of "big fish/small pond," his 2005 album Giddyup! does nothing to make someone doubt that claim and might even gain some fans outside the genre.
Let's start with the best-known song, "Baked Beans." It's a silly story about gastrointestinal distress on the range that would grow old very quick if it weren't so expertly crafted. I mean, between listening to the album and satellite radio, I've heard the song 15-20 times at least -- a song about "cutting the cheese", for goodness' sake -- and it's still tolerable. (Which is a good thing, because I'd imagine 5-year-old boys would want to listen to the song 15-20 times. In a row. Every day. For, like, six months.)
That song is tolerable over repeated playings in large part because the musicianship is top-notch. Howdy's small band plays western swing, bluegrass, and traditional country tunes with precision. Howdy has an appealing voice with just enough twang. The album just sounds great.
The album is split evenly between Howdy originals and covers. If you're worried that the whole album is jokey, don't be. With the exception "Baked Beans" and "My Favorite Kind of Bugs," the originals are straightforward cowboy songs (albeit targeted at 6-year-old cowpokes). Some of the covers work well (Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John"); others, while not bad, left me with a "why bother?" feeling ("Hokey Pokey").
Those of you buying the album for the Trout Fishing in America performances will likely be disappointed, as they don't make much of an impression in their songs ("S'mores," "Giddyup!"). Laurie Berkner's appearance is another matter -- her duet with Howdy on Dale Evans' "Happy Trails" is sweet and makes you wonder where Berkner has been hiding that fabulous voice on her own CDs.
"Happy Trails" is one of my two favorite songs on the album; the other is the last "Bonus Track." To reveal too much about the song would ruin the surprise, so I'll just say that it's a song that will likely amuse the 6-year-olds and possibly make the adults laugh out loud.
Giddyup! is probably best for kids aged 4 through 10. It's available in the usual online and offline suspects. If you want to listen to most of the album (though, sadly, not my two favorite tracks), you can listen to the tracks here. Unless you or your kids have a genetic twang deficiency, you will probably find something to like in the album. Recommended.
You Got Johnny Cash In My Children's Music...
... No, you got children's music in my Johnny Cash!
People, people, people -- compromise is possible in these times of discord and strife. I present to you the Johnny Cash Children's Album.
I hereby admit to being only a casual fan of Mr. Cash's music, but this album intrigues me...
"But I wiped snot on a man in Reno once / Just to watch him cry..."
(No, really, kid, it's a song about trains. You love trains. Let's go watch Thomas.)
We (Also Heart) Cool Moms
Thanks to the ladies at Cool Mom Picks, who along with highlighting Clea and the Lovely Mrs. Davis, recommended this fair blog for children's-related music reviews. Unlike the ladies recommending and being recommended, I am neither cool nor a mom, but nobody's perfect, right? If you're new to the site, welcome. Wander around or start here for a small guide to the site.
(And I never would have known that there are different qualities of glitter. You learn something new every day. Can we get some sort of law mandating the use of higher-quality glitter at birthday parties? Please?)
Song of the Day: Great Big World - Anne Hathaway
(Because "Song-of-the-Whenever-I-Get-Around-To-It" isn't nearly as catchy...)
The Little Red Riding Hood spoof Hoodwinked wasn't a huge hit -- wink-and-you-miss-it, you might say. (In any case, I winked, and I missed it.)
But I've heard "Great Big World" a few times, and it's almost enough to make me want to see the movie. It's the typical "intro" musical song, where a character sets the stage, so to speak, for the events to follow. These seemed to be a lot bigger in the animated Disney musicals of the early 1990s ("Belle" from Beauty and the Beast is the best example, a textbook example really, of how to write one of these tunes.) Lyrically, "Great Big World" talks about just that, an apropos subject for a lead character who I'm assuming is about to walk into the woods. (Without having seen Hoodwinked, I don't know if it sets the stage visually as well as "Belle" does in its movie.)
Sonically, "Great Big World" harkens back to those big bright poppy tunes of the 1960s, with a massive wall of sound, especially on the chorus. But it's Hathaway's delivery that fully sells me on the song. Hathaway has a clear voice that isn't perfect or pitch-corrected to death (at least, it doesn't sound that way to me). And she delivers the lyrics with a slightly sarcastic attitude that makes me smile ("They say that goodies / Make the world / Go round"). The combination of the retro-pop and Hathaway's voice reminds me of the Bangles in their late-80s heyday. Good song all the way 'round.
You can hear a sample of "Great Big World" (and every other track from Hoodwinked's soundtrack here). You can see some Bangles videos, including the sorta "Great Big World"-esque (but not really) "Walk Like an Egyptian" here. (Go on, you know you want to.) And there are hundreds of sites where you can get mp3's from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, but you really ought to just see the movie if you haven't already. It's by far my favorite animated Disney musical (excluding those from the wizards at Pixar, of course.) And now, thanks to my daughter, I'm watching it repeatedly once more.
