Review: For The Kids Three! - Various Artists

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.

Review: Napper's Delight - Dean Jones

Though this is the best kids music album title (or at least most amusing to parents) since the Sippy Cups' "Electric Storyland," people who expect Dean Jones' Napper's Delight to be a traditional lullaby album or a goofy riff on a traditional lullaby album will be disappointed. Surprise and, not infrequently, delight are more likely feelings here. Jones is one of the ringleaders of the fabulous New York band Dog on Fleas. While it sells both this album and the band short, to call Napper's Delight a Dog on Fleas lullaby album is a good place to start in describing the CD. One of the chief attributes of a Dog on Fleas CD is its spirit of adventurousness, of lack of calculation in song selection and instrumentation. Such is the case here as well. There probably aren't many CDs that include both drum machines and traditional African instruments such as mbiras or the balafon, but they all appear here and neither of them really sound out of place. I think it takes a few tracks to get into the CD -- the drum machine on the third track "Wheelin' and Dealin'" might not be everyone's cup of tea -- but by the time fellow New York musician Elizabeth Mitchell takes over the vocals on the fifth track, "Grow Little Flower," the CD has really started to establish a relaxed but not sleepy mood. The next track, "Bygones," struck me as a long-lost Vince Guaraldi Trio track, while the reworked 18th century folk song "Turtle Dove" gets a nice assist from fellow Dog on Fleas bandmate Debbie Lan and a couple fiddlers. By the time you get to "Hush Little Baby," which sounds like it's got a tiny calliope helping to provide musical accompaniment, you're sold. (I also adore "Filly and Dilly," a duet with Amy Poux which is a reworking of the traditional "Lavender's Blue.") The overall effect is definitely not one of a lullaby album, if only because many of the songs don't deal with unconditional love as many lullabies do. Rather, the CD creates a mellow mood that will work well as the soundtrack to many a lazy afternoon reading with the kids. The 42-minute CD is fine for all ages, of course, but I think kids ages 2 through 8 will respond to it more. You can hear samples at the album's CDBaby page. Napper's Delight isn't a traditional lullaby album -- it sounds nothing like it. Although it has echoes of Dog on Fleas, Elizabeth Mitchell, and the Innocence Mission, it doesn't really sound much like those, either. It is, as I said above, filled with surprises and delights. I'm not sure kids will necessarily run to pull this off the shelves. But I think a lot of parents (especially those who are regular readers here) will find this a soothing balm for family listening and, given five or six spins, will find this working its way into their brain. It did mine. Definitely recommended.

Review: Jump in the Jumpy House - Mr. David

How to describe Jump in the Jumpy House, the recently-released third CD for kids from San Jose, California-based artist Mr. David?.... How about... "this album sounds like nothing else you've heard all year." Well, yes, but that's what I said about his last album, The Great Adventures of Mr. David, so perhaps I need to find different words, because it doesn't sound like that CD, either. Whereas the previous album had a strong folk and folk-rock influence, the new album has more diversity of sound -- the garage rock of the title track, aided by the propulsive guitar work of Greg Lisher from Camper Van Beethoven; the gentle Spanish guitar on "Miss Pila"; the early New Wave sounds of "Hey! It's Lunchtime!" Mr. David (real name: David Alexandrou) does a passable Johnny Cash impression on "Them Devils," or at least is obviously inspired by him there. I also love the brief "Ragtime Honey," a sweet little ragtime instrumental that's a nice palate-cleansing (or aural-cleansing) at the center of this 31-minute album before plunging into the second side. In an interview here last year, Mr. David said he was proud of "putting out a kind of children’s music that really is different." There's no doubt he's doing that. There are times on this CD when I wonder if it really isn't a little too different. "Cabin Blues" is pretty abstract for a kids' song, about passing the days in a (vacation) cabin. The leadoff "Crocodiles Are Hungry" is almost stream-of-consciousness, barely touching on crocodiles and ending with a tribute to "John, Paul, George, and Ringo." (Favorite line: "People always ask me, 'How can you spend so much time up in your hammock?' / I say, 'Because man, I got pink lemonade!'") I think this is one of those albums that will probably divide listeners. Some families will absolutely adore this album for its adventurousness while others might think that "Jump in the Jumpy House" rocks and "Little Girl" is a sweet little song and the rest is just a little too weird. The album is probably most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 8. You can hear (and download) "Hey! It's Lunchtime" and "Jump in the Jumpy House" at Mr. David's Myspace page or hear samples of all the tracks here. Jump in the Jumpy House is another wildly imaginative album from Mr. David. It's got some fun beats and lyrical pictures. Even if the album isn't quite your family's cup of lemonade, though, you have to hand it to Mr. David for indeed stretching the boundaries of what kids music can be. Recommended.

Review: Educated Kid - The Hipwaders

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.

Review: Mary Had A Little Amp - Various Artists

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.

Review: What Did You Do Today, Stephen Scott Lee? - Steve Lee

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.