Review: Pleased to Meet You - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

My appreciation for Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke is long-standing and deep.  My review of Rise and Shine, their first album from early 2010, felt to me less like a review than a summary of everything ​the duo had done in the couple years or so leading up to the album.

And to some extent I feel a bit the same way about their brand-new second album, Pleased To Meet You​.  It's been more than 3 years in the making, obviously, but beyond that, some of this music ("Animal Alphabet", for example, or "Raised By Trolls" and "Chuckers") has made its way into the world during that time.  So when I say that this album feels familiar, I can't always tell if that's because it actually is​ familiar or because KWMC have tapped into some timeless country-punk attitude.

In that review of their debut, I called the band (they're a quartet now, with a handful of guest artists, including producer Dean Jones, joining in) a "mix of Johnny Cash, Johnny Rotten, and Johnny Appleseed."  Sometimes, as on the opening title track (whose structure as a counting song is disguised by the propulsive shuffling beat and the British born-Clarke's slight sneer of a voice), they mix them up on the same song.  "Raised By Trolls" has a killer surf-rock guitar line, but the next track, "Wander Round the World" is a sweet and earnest bluegrass ode to travel.

If anything, Wilde and Clarke's songwriting has become even weirder.  "Lazy Raisins" is a ska tune about some raisins doing nothing but lying in the sun (which makes sense, when you think about it).  "King of the Town" is a rocker about a kid who bemoans his inexplicable election as head of the city until he makes some very sensible rules.  That's followed by "Conversation," a mini-operatic rocker in the vein of the Who about a kid confused by the adult chatter at a party which features the line, "Please excuse me / I have to step outside / My bike is double-parked."  And as mystifying that song is, I have no idea what "Bigga Bagga" is about other than silly wordplay and shouting "Oi!" a lot (as a result, I think it'll be a big hit with Little Boy Blue).

Which isn't to say that they can't be tender and linear -- "Take Ten" is a roots-rocker with layered harmonies that happens to be about frustration and taking a break.  But kids will relate because it's willing to sound how kids (and, occasionally, adults)​ honestly feel -- "This is the stupidest planet in the entire universe / It's so dumb / It's not fair / I've had enough / And I just don't care / Count to ten / Start all over again."

The 45-minute album will be most appreciated by kids ages 3 through 8.  You can listen to the entire album here.​  And of course the physical product includes illustrator Wilde's character-filled illustrations of assorted animals and people.  (Visit the KWMC website for stories behind some of the surprising appearances on the album cover.)

If you've read this far, it shouldn't be any great surprise that I think Pleased To Meet You​ is fabulous, an energetic blend of Americana and punk, of empathy and third-grade snark.  Fans of Rise and Shine​ should snap this up immediately, and the rest of you shouldn't delay much, either.  Highly recommended.

Review: A Day in the Life of a Boogaleeboo - Lesley and the Flying Foxes

In early April I stumbled across Lesley Kernochan, a Colorado-based musician who around New Year's released her first album for families, A Day in the Life of a Boogaleeboo​.  I'd listened most of the songs on her website, and wanted to hear the whole thing through.  Like is often the case with artists who record for adults and then decide to make music for kids, I had this feeling -- mixed with fear, perhaps -- that she'd recorded this album without enough thought of how to get the album out to the kindie world at large and that it might land like the proverbial tree in the forest without a sound.

So let me start by saying that I'm utterly and unequivocally charmed by this ​album.  It's got a sense of wide-eyed wonder at and celebration of the human experience.  The album kicks off with a jazzy Broadway strut, "What Is The Purpose of My Eyebrows" (which she describes as "like two islands stranded in the middle of the sea which is my face"), complete with bassoon, flute, and bassoon.  "What's Gonna Happen Today?" is a gentle chamber pop tune featuring vibraphone that even gets a bit meta ("I didn't know / That I was gonna sing this song with you.").  And if that's all too lovey-dovey for you, the next song explains "The Cycle of Poo," which, yes, celebrates that even gross things "deserve a hearty toast."

So the album proceeds, with Kernochan tearing fearlessly through musical styles such as the gentle lullaby ("Good Morning Everything," which features some lovely vocalizing), '40s and '50s big-band ("Me"), and even beatboxing /hair-metal combo ("I Love To...").  And she's recruited an able set of guest musicians (the "Flying Foxes") to give her songs (even more) wings.  It's like a cabaret show for kids -- seriously, this needs to happen -- and the comparisons to artists like Regina Spektor and Nellie McKay in their wide-ranging musical approach are apropos.  (The closest kindie equivalent would probably be Lori Henriques.)  But I don't want you to get the impression it's showy all the time -- some of the best tracks here are the gentlest, like "Hugs Are Awesome" and "Thank You for Singing with Me," which employees a small chorus of kids to good effect.  

Kids ages 3 through ​8 will probably most enjoy the album.  You can listen to album tracks at Lesley's music page.

So in late April I was at Kindiefest and ​who should I meet while I was there but Kernochan herself.  I hadn't known she was going to attend when I reached out to her earlier in the month, but I was very happy to see her there because it was more proof she's taking the long view on making music for families and that A Day in the Life of a Boogaleeboo​ won't be the last we hear from her.  Welcome to the fold, Lesley.  It's a lovely and joyous debut, one I expect to be on my Top 10 album list for 2013.  Highly recommended.

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

Review: Got a Minute? - Milkshake

If it's true that behind (or under) many a kids' musician is a child who encouraged (passively or actively) that musician to start making music for families, what happens when those kids grow up?

It's a question we haven't really answered in the 21st century.  ​The Baltimore-area band Milkshake may be one of the first artists of Kindie New Wave to deal.  As the kids of Milkshake's duo Lisa Mathews and Mikel Gehl reach tweenage and even teenage status, the band has suggested that their fifth album, Got a Minute?​, will be their last.

Eleven years after the release of their debut Happy Songs​, the band's changed quite a bit.  Mathews and Gehl are still at the helm, of course, but the band's six people strong at this point and on the new album they bring in a bunch of guest artists, including fellow Marylanders Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer.  That first album had preschool-friendly songs like "Fingers & Toes," but now Milkshake's recording songs like "Girls Wanna Dance" (about middle school dances) and "Workin' Kid Blues" (about doing errands and earning money at age 12).

In some ways, the band hasn't changed -- it's still on the eager side of the kindie spectrum, even if, just as kids do as they mature, some of the song subjects look to the world outside the narrator (see "Baltimore" and "More Than Me").​  They've expanded their stylistic range over time (see on this album, for example, the hip-hop of "More Than Me" or the country of "Lookin Out the Window," the thoroughly sea chanty "We Just Wanna Have Fun," or even the instrumental "Seabreeze"), but for the most part they stick to making pop songs for growing kids.

If there is a weak link with the album it's that the inspiration for the "Got a Minute?" theme, their work for PBS Kids that comprises the final third or so of the album, sits uneasily with the rest of the album.  There's nothing horribly wrong with the songs, it's just that the 18-minute block of more simplistic 1-minute songs targeted at 4-year-olds feels tacked on at the end of a more ambitious (in many ways) 36-minute album that precedes it.

The first two-thirds of the album are most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 11; the last third for kids ages 5 and below.  You can hear several tracks at the band's music page.​

After I listened to Got a Minute? once, on future spins I tended to skip past the opening track, a kinda-barely funny skit where Lisa and Mikel try to get their band into the studio to record a song only to find out that each bandmate is busy.  Upon reflection, though, I think I figured out what Mathews and Gehl were doing with that track -- it was their take on how our kids, who once followed us everywhere, eventually move on to their own things -- and we parents need to move on too, in some way.  If Milkshake is indeed moving on to other things, they've left their kindie fans with one last album that will no doubt please them.  Recommended.

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

Review: Vamos, Let's Go! - Moona Luna

Musically digging into the crates of records from her past, Moona Luna bandleader Sandra Velasquez finds the sound of 50 years ago on the second Moona Luna album, Let's Go!.

It's not so surprising that "Do You Remember? (¿Te Acuerdas?)" has a girl-group sound given that song title, but Velasquez also turns lots of other basic preschooler and early-elementary school topics -- writing letters, telling time, the seasons -- into tightly-written songs that mimic the distinctive keyboards, rhythms, and vocal harmonies of post-Bill Haley rock-n-roll.  (If you're like me, you'll probably spend not a small amount of time playing "spot the musical reference.")

Of course, this is Moona Luna, so this is all done with a Latin spin.  The songs are strictly bilingual, giving English and Spanish lyrics equal weight, and I think Velasquez is getting better at integrating the two in her songs.  ​Songs like "What Time Is It? (¿Que Hora Es?)" and "One of Those Days (Uno De Esos Dias)" have a distinct Latin sound thanks to the use of the accordion, and of course you can't reference rock and roll from the late 1950s without sounding a bit like Ritchie Valens.

​The 26-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 6.  You can stream the whole album here.

​Despite the surge in interest in bilingual music for wee ones, Moona Luna is one of the few bands making music your family might conceivably listen to for pure enjoyment's sake.  And, if mixed in amongst your Recess Monkeys and Laurie Berkners these songs pop up and happen to give your family an appreciation for a different musical sound and language, so much the better.  Definitely recommended.

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

Review: Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well - Jennifer Gasoi

I'm glad Canada is back.

Not that they ever left, mind you -- they've always been our cozy yet expansive neighbor to the north -- but in a kids music sense, there's been a resurgence of new artists from the Land of Raffi.  Yes, Sharon, Lois & Bram may have a new iOS app, but I'm talking about a generation of musicians who may have grown up listening to them and Raffi, folks like Charlie Hope, Bobs and LoLo, and Splash 'n' Boots, not to mention some even more independent-minded artists like Duplex.

In onse sense, I'm not sure whether to add Jennifer Gasoi to that list, because she started making kids music before any of those newcomers started recording.  Her debut album Songs For You came out way back in early 2004.  But it took her more than 8 years to release the follow-up, Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well.  That might hold the record for the largest delay in the modern kindie era.

Well, eight years is an awfully long time to wait, but... it's a pretty fun album.  In an era when a lot of kindie music is more rock (and alterna-rock) than pop, Throw a Penny... is a throwback, a pop album in the old sense of the word.  The album shows off Gasoi's singing chops, a crystal-clear voice with just enough warmth to be inviting.  From the very start, with songs like "Little Blue Car," "Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well," and "I'm a Bubble," Gasoi writes happy songs for happy kids.  In her orchestration and target audience, she's like a jazzier Laurie Berkner (though without the pure hook-writing genius Berkner possesses).  Sometimes it all comes off a little too happy -- I would have liked a few more tracks like the atmospheric album closer "Red Balloon" -- but your tastes in that regard may vary.

Gasoi produced the album herself, and despite the presence of more than 20 musicians (including kids), the music is all done with a very light touch -- I would describe it as brushed, not polished, nickel.  It's a lot like what I might expect to hear how Dean Jones would produce such an album (that's a compliment).  Which isn't to say that it's simple production -- I can't imagine how many musical tracks and loops were in the song "Purple Man," about some dance lessons (don't ask) -- but it never sounds labored.

The 46-minute album will be most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7.  You can hear 3 songs from the album here.

Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well is about as happy and sunny as you'd expect from the title.   Unless your family strongly prefers their music with more of a rock edge, you'll probably find a lot to enjoy here.  (Fans of Laurie Berkner, Charlie Hope, and Laura Doherty, should especially take note.)  The album reflects well on Gasoi's efforts in putting the album together, to the extent that I strongly hope we're not waiting 'til Fall 2021 for her next album.  Definitely recommended.

Review: Middle of Nowhere - Elska

Straight from the island of Elska, it's, er... Elska!

OK, that's merely the fanciful conceit of New York musician Shelley Wollert, who created the persona of Elska, a "modern pioneer who discovered a newly formed volcanic island off the coast of Iceland."

On her debut album Middle of Nowhere, Elska creates a sound which can be described as many things, but near the top of the list is "unique."  Not necessarily when looked at music from all genres targeted at all ages, but certainly in the kindiesphere.  It's a collection of tiny beats, samples, that, thanks to the purported Icelandic background, means that I am contractually required to say that it sounds a bit like Bjork.

In a kids music scene that very often starts and ends with guitars, the near if not total absence of those on the album by itself can be a bresh of fresh air.  The beats are unique (is that a drill on "Arctic Fox"?), though generally they're employed in the service of modern pop songs whose structure will be familiar to most.  There are some delightfully odd detours, like "Hiddi Hiddi," which, though I think has words, is essentially vocal beat-making.  Elska has a handful of different vocal approaches (e.g., clear, whispery) that provide variety in that regard.  So, sonically, the music from Wollert and producer Allen Farmelo is very solid.

Where Elska may not be for every family depends on the family's tolerance for anything that smacks of preciousness.  According to her website, Elska's catchphrase is "Totally Amazing!," and she carries through that committed attitude on her videos, in concert, and on the album.  She commits to that persona in a way that may be just a little too... much for some parents.  (I think kids will generally respond more favorably than their parents.)

But since I'm the one writing this review, I'll say that I am generally though not virulently anti-preciousness and I think the songs land way more often on the safe side of that dividing line.  "Frozen in Time," for example, is a beautiful song about some things changing and some things being permanent.  It's not terribly complicated or even profound, but there's a sure touch with it.  And unlike some things that have some preciousness attached to them, it's not a stuffy album (see "Hiddi Hiddi," or the fact that on "Don't Make Fun of the Goobler," she calls the Goobler, her "home slice").

On the other hand, I could see some folks rolling their eyes at "The Land of Lost Socks," which is, well, I think you can figure out what it's about.  And as an overarching conceit, the "story" of Elska's island isn't really developed much; the songs just offer the briefest of sketches of characters and locations.  The brief (27-minute) album will have greatest appeal to kids ages 3 through 7.

Middle of Nowhere will, for a variety of reasons, not resonate with every family.  But I think a lot of modern pop families will be charmed in some way by Elska's debut disk.  As she explores it further and refines her singular voice, I think she's going to be an artist to follow.  Definitely recommended.