Just Go Crazy

Our family celebrates an inordinate number of holidays in June. We have no less than 5 birthdays, plus (at the moment) a couple Father's Days. There are entire countries with fewer holidays than our family. Most celebrations in June overlap partially, if not completely, with somebody else's celebration. I've pretty much reconciled myself to the fact that Father's Day will always play second fiddle to our daughter's birthday. Give me a hand-drawn card (or picture) and an excuse not to do yardwork, and that's enough for me. Our daughter, of course, had other ideas. She wanted a -- and you parents know that I'm not kidding one iota here -- "Love Heart Pony Hello Kitty Care Bear" party. You can't really get a cake like that at Safeway, but that's neither here nor there. For reasons not worth delving into here, said party was very small. Four guests. I gotta tell you, while attending gargantuan parties with more kids than the Polyphonic Spree has band members can be fun, hosting such a party is Not For Us. But we (and by "we," I mean "my wife") put a lot of thought into planning the party, which revolved around a few games. The String Game (follow a string throughout the house) -- hilarity ensued. The Treasure Hunt (The Amazing Race on a much smaller footprint) -- hilarity ensued. And the Freeze Game, which is infinitely better if you can find a song that's actually about the game, such as on "Freeze," by Babaloo, off his "Room For Everyone" disk, rather than having to hit pause on the CD player every few seconds. It's a lot easier to "just go crazy" when the song asks you to. For what it's worth, the CDs in the CD player for the party? They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABCs, The Terrible Twos' If You Ever See An Owl, the Putumayo Caribbean Playground collection, Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack, and, for adult amusement, Paul Simon's Graceland. Remarkably, at the end of the day, we weren't crazy. We'll continue our refusal of Polyphonic Spree parties. It's Spoon parties for us.

Review: Stomp Yer Feet! - Johnny Bregar

cover_small.jpgPity the preschool children's musician. Forced to play the same set of familiar songs at least some of the time, yet Raffi (and before him, Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie) got there first and staked their claim. Few artists have managed to make a career out of playing the songs that the above artists perfected. (And believe me, many have tried. And failed.) Laurie Berkner is perhaps the only modern artist who's completely succeeded, and her fame is as much for her original music as it is for her rendition of traditional classics. In walks Johnny Bregar and his late-2005 kids' music debut Stomp Yer Feet!. Bregar, a Seattle-based musician, played in local folk/rock band Big Spoon and found the selection of kids' music for his preschool-aged son wanting. His debut is a stellar collection of mostly traditional folk and other children's tunes, dusted off and given a fresh coat of paint. The album starts off with "If You're Happy And You Know It," played with soul on an electric Rhodes piano ("just like Ray Charles used to play," Bregar writes in the song notes), and immediately all the characteristics of this winning album are revealed -- real instruments both familiar and rare, new sets of lyrics to traditional songs, and Bregar's rich and ever-so-slightly-raspy voice . The "Alphabet Song?" 12-bar blues. "Polly Wolly Doodle?" A little bit of Dixieland, a lot more bluegrass. "Waltzing Matilda" sounds as if it was recorded 60 years ago (but with much better recording equipment). And the ukelele just rocks. All of which might get tiresome eventually if it weren't for the fact that the few originals on the 42-minute disc are pretty good, too. "Blah de la" might get annoying after listening to it 100 times, but its simplicity also makes it a perfect fit for the album -- even the youngest preschooler could probably get the hang of it and sing along. "Pancakes" is another simple cut, not much more than a chorus, but one that Matthew Sweet would be happy to record. And the one fully-realized original, "Moon," about wanting to touch things a kid probably shouldn't, is the song the Counting Crows will record when they eventually decide to stop recording songs for PG-rated movies and set their sights on G-rated movies. The songs will appeal most to kids age 2 through 6. You can listen to samples here and buy the album either through Bregar's website, Amazon, CDBaby, or Land of Nod. I hate to do this to the guy, because Bregar seems like a nice guy, but Johnny Bregar could be the next Raffi. Like Raffi, he's got the musical chops, the sense of humor, and a great voice. (If he's singing about whales 10 years from now, I can't be held responsible.) If you're looking for a collection of traditional kids' songs, and you either already have Raffi's collections or you can't stand Raffi's collections, you should really check out Stomp Yer Feet! -- Bregar's staking his claim to that niche of kids' music. Highly recommended.

Review in Brief: Kaleidoscope Songs Volumes 1 and 2 - Alex Mitnick and the Kaleidoscope Band

Kaleidoscope Songs Volumes 1 and 2, released in 2004 and 2006 by Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band would seem to have all the elements of a successful children's music album. Lyrics that target kids and their experiences, a large cast of musicians playing an even larger set of real instruments, and a fine, soulful voice in lead singer Alex Mitnick -- what's not to like? Well, despite all those advantages, there wasn't enough that said to me, "you won't mind hearing this repeatedly." This is partially the result of those lyrics targeted right at the 3-year-old audience -- they're not meant to speak to the parent ("I'm so glad to be alive / I like to learn new things / I like to notice all that I can," for example). The music itself is mostly mellow children's pop, and perhaps I was looking for a hook that never came. Only in a few songs did I find a spark -- "So Blue" and "Rock of Ages" both had a pleasant Van Morrison-vibe to them, while "Water Lily" is a gentle and appealing tune with touches of reggae. Those three songs are off Vol. 2 -- if you're interested in learning more about the band, I'd recommend starting there. You can listen to samples of some songs here. Your preschool-aged kids may like the two Kaleidoscope Songs albums, your preschool-aged kids' preschool teachers may find a lot of songs good for inclusion in lessons on the albums, but you, the parent, may not be so enthused by the albums.

Me and Julio Dancing Down By the Schoolyard

Via the New York Times, a story about how many NYC schoolkids celebrate spring by dancing on the playground.
No one is quite sure when New York City children began celebrating spring by dancing in schoolyards, their teachers leading them, often awkwardly, through the steps, their proud parents gathered round, snapping pictures and clapping along. It is a peculiar urban rite — called Dance Festival in most of the city, and May Fete on Staten Island — that has been around, it seems, for as long as the public school system itself.
And they're worried about this tradition failing? How could an enterprising company not have stepped forward already and offered to sponsor this thing citywide? Why hasn't this spread throughout the country? Couldn't you imagine a Pancake Mountain-coordinated day in Washington, DC? Chica-go-go in Chicago? Setting aside the fact that we'd have to dance around the May Pole in March here in the desert Southwest to avoid burning our hands on the May Pole, this would be great here, too. You could play local artists -- OK, perhaps not every Prince or Replacements song would be great for the Twin Cities, but there'd be a few from each. You could play international artists, too. Oldies, new stuff, whatever. If any of you New York readers care to describe in more detail how exactly this works (how long does this take, is this really as cool as it sounds, or is it more pathetic in execution), I'd love to hear it.

This Week: More Thematic Drift

More cool stuff coming up this week -- reviews, interviews, and the like -- but no coherent theme, except perhaps a broadening of the site's scope to look at albums released before, say, seven minutes ago. If you missed my reviews of Keith Munslow's Accidentally (on purpose) and Josephine Cameron's Close Your Eyes, check 'em out. The latter is the first "Review in Brief" here on the site, designed to get to the point with fewer semi-obscure references. And thanks, too, to Fran for linking to my article on things I'd like to see more and less of in kids' music. Thanks as always for reading, e-mailing, submitting, and commenting.