Podcast Review: "Shabam!"

Shabam logo

There are lots of really good science-based podcasts for kids, and I'll get to them in the not-too-distant future as I start to review podcasts for kids, but I'll start off with Shabam! because who knows how long before the zombie outbreak takes over?

I should probably explain that Shabam!, produced by a collective known as Foolyboo, differs from a lot of science-themed podcasts in that it folds its non-fiction topics -- pathogens, epidemics, cognitive biases -- in a fictional wrapper, that of a zombie outbreak. I think the mix serves the podcast well -- the fiction does provide sufficient context for the non-fiction components, while the non-fiction parts ground the fiction (which I'll remind you is about a zombie outbreak, so take the phrase "ground the fiction" with a grain of salt). It's possible to tell interesting stories about, say, epidemiology, in a non-fiction setting, of course -- yay, John Snow! -- but this fictional story works well for that subject, too.

I'm going to peg the age-appropriateness of the show at best for kids 8-13. That's based on the science and zombie-ishness thus far, which isn't for younger kids, but definitely lacks Walking Dead-like grossness. The iTunes link for the show is here. Episodes are roughly 25-30 minutes in length, and it's as yet unclear how frequently they'll be released -- I'm guessing monthly from here on out. Aside from a brief statement near the beginning and the end of the show that it's partially sponsored by Google, there are no ads during the show. (Also of note: they do a really good job of editing the closing credits, telling the story in between all the various credits, giving the listener a reason to not hit the fast-forward button.)

The other reason I wanted to lead off my podcast reviews with Shabam! is that in its narrative structure, it's going to be best if you listen from the beginning. Since they're only 3 episodes in, now is a good time to jump in and listen with your kids. You know, before the zombie outbreak hits your town.

Review: Explorer of the World - Frances England

Frances England didn’t plan on becoming a kids musician when she made her first album more than a decade ago. She just wanted to contribute something to her son’s preschool fundraiser, and wrote songs for a homegrown CD while supervising her son’s baths. But that album’s popularity far surpassed the small world of that San Francisco school. Last Friday she officially released her fifth album for families, Explorer of the World.

As the album title suggests, England is concerned with themes of exploration, observation, and investigation. But rather than traveling long distances, she pays close attention to the world literally outside her front door -- walking her dog around her neighborhood, for example, noticing patterns and colors. She’s inspired as much by visual artists like Wendy McNaughton and Keri Smith as by musicians, and like those artists, she encourages her listeners to pay attention to the art around them daily.

England’s music isn’t as shiny and poppy as that of her peers, but this new album is even more experimental than most kids music. Instead of using chord progressions as the jumping-off point for songs, on some tracks she used field recordings she made walking around San Francisco. “City Don’t Sleep,” for example, started with recordings from late-night walks along North Beach.

Co-producers Dean Jones and Dave Winer bring a lot of different perspectives in terms of the musical production, and the result is an album that vibrates as their approaches (Jones: earthy kitchen-sink sound; Winer: try-anything sonic collage and percussion) differ, but resonate with each other and with England.

I was trying to come up with the appropriate age range for the album, and while I'm going to put at ages 5 through 9, like much of England's more recent work, it's probably broader than that. Not for toddlers, perhaps, but also for kids older than 9, if you get them to sit down and really listen. (You can listen to this album -- along with the rest of her music -- here.)

Even though this album celebrates exploring her own backyard, Frances England is more interested in the process of keeping her eyes open to the world around her. In discovering her own neighborhood, she reminds the rest of us that we can do the same with our own streets and sidewalks. Highly recommended.

Review: Why? - They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants have been making clever and subversive pop music for more than 30 years. Late last year, they released their second album of 2015, but this one is for kids of all ages.

In the year 2002, They Might Be Giants did something thought to be a little crazy - they released an album for kids. That record, titled No!, was both a commercial and critical success, and sent the band down an unanticipated path as part-time kids’ music superstars. They then released 3 themed albums through Disney -- one each about letters numbers and science -- while continuing to make music for adults. If you’ve paid any attention to kids music over the past decade, you certainly have run across the band.

Six years after that last kids’ record, the band returned in late 2015 with a new kids’ music album. Free of a Disney collection, the new album is a spirited, free-form follow-up to No! appropriately titled Why?.

On the song “Out of a Tree,” everybody thinks it’s a disaster that an 8-year-old has gotten stuck in a tree... everyone, that is, except the adventurous 8-year-old himself. And while the album doesn’t have a specific theme, many songs celebrate kids’ independent streaks. Of course, sometimes that leads to decisions that aren’t the wisest in retrospect.

Despite the frustration the parent of such a kid might experience, a song like “Definition of Good” shows that sometimes moments of random curiosity spark warm family memories.

The freeform nature of the roughly 40-minute album makes it a little more difficult to nail down a specific target age range, but I'd peg it at about ages 4-10.

Many of the people the band sings about or to on this album question authority and explore the world in messy ways, coming up with answers to new questions. That attitude is useful for not only 30-year-old rock bands but also much younger listeners -- it’s what helps give me hope that the world’s problems can be tackled head-on.

Review: Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! - The Amazing Keystone Big Band with David Tennant

The Amazing Keystone Big Band - Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! album cover

I wouldn't say that if there's one classical music piece you've heard, it's "Peter and the Wolf," because orchestral melodies are woven throughout modern life, even if you're only vaguely aware of it. But if there's one classical music piece you've heard because somebody was trying to teach your child (or you, when you were young) the concepts of symphonic orchestral music, it's "Peter and the Wolf."

Composed in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev in Russia, the piece tells the story of the young (and brave) boy Peter, who along with his animal friends, outwits and captures a wolf intent on eating several of them. Prokofiev gives each character a primary instrument (strings, for example, for Peter) and a melody, and mixes and blends them both as different characters interact. There's a narrator providing some basic storytelling guideposts, though Prokofiev tells his musical tale so well, that once the story gets going, the words are, while not unnecessary, not bearing the weight of the story.

The piece is a classic, and there are literally dozens -- if not hundreds -- of versions recorded over the years. We've got at least a couple on our own shelves. And because it's a classic, there's really no need to have more than one or two versions unless you like the particular narrator.

Or unless the musicians have taken an entirely different approach, which is the case on Peter and the Wolf and Jazz!, a brand-new recording from France's The Amazing Keystone Big Band. The big band features 18 younger French jazz musicians, and this new version deftly blends Prokofiev's symphonic story with a big band sensibility. So instead of the string section (violins, violas, etc.), Peter's theme is represented by the band's rhythm section -- piano, bass, and guitar (which are, as the album's liner notes remind us, stringed instruments themselves). The wolf is represented by the trombones and tuba instead of the French horns, and so on -- instruments that are similar in tone, but not necessarily the same ones.

The melodies themselves are unchanged, but the band's arrangement brings in a wide variety of jazz styles -- stride piano, hip-hop, free jazz, blues, cool jazz, and the like. None of the stylistic shifts seem out of place -- rather, they feel appropriate to the story. The triumphant parade march at the end is a swing style which to my ears sounds something like a New Orleans second line band would play in their own parade.

As for the narrator, David Tennant, best known on these shores as one of the Doctor Whos, does a fine job telling the story. The wouldn't necessarily recommend the album just for his narration, but it's more than up to the task. The liner notes are excellent, featuring many pages of the narration and illustrations by Martin Jarrie along with explanations by the band of their arrangement choices. (The 54-minute album is appropriate for kids ages 3 through whatever, but you knew that already.)

Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! isn't the first attempt to rework Prokofiev's tale for a jazz audience, but as best I can tell, it's the first in a half-century. More importantly, it's taken that classic piece and made it sound fresh. As a jazz album, it's wonderful, and as a classical album, well, it's wonderful, too. Highly recommended.

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

Itty-Bitty Review: Put Our Heads Together - Hot Peas 'N Butter

Hot Peas 'N Butter - Put Our Heads Together album cover

For about a decade now, the New York-based group Hot Peas 'N Butter have turned out a half-dozen albums of original music most distinctively characterized by a blend of sounds that I'd describe as global in nature.

Their latest album, Put Our Heads Together -- their seventh -- continues in that vein, lending a sound to kids music that is still somewhat unique. While many other artists tackle a range of styles on a single album, and a handful like Dan Zanes or Mista Cookie Jar or Secret Agent 23 Skidoo will sometimes mix disparate styles on a single song, Danny Lapidus and his band really do blend Latin rhythm, bilingual lyrics, and modern global pop sounds together to create a bright sound.

This new album features uplifting, feel-good lyrics to go along with those bright sounds. Tracks like album opener "Amistad," a duet with Dan Zanes, feature lyrics in Spanish and English that neatly illustrate the theme of friendship (which is what "Amistad" means in Spanish). "Magic Elevator" weaves in an elevator "door-opening" sound into its story of a globe-trotting elevator. "Colores" is another winning pop song. And it's one of the better kids' albums at incorporating a kids' chorus with out getting too Kidz Bop-py. I didn't think the album worked as well, though, when the lyrics were too on the nose -- "No Bullies" is too didactic for my tastes, and "Fresh Spokes" jams bike safety tips into a perfectly good song about the diversity of experience.

The 41-minute album will be most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10. Lapidus and crew write an effective pop song with a distinctive sound that's still somewhat rare in the kindie scene. Put Our Heads Together isn't perfect, but there are enough tracks with a fresh, positive sound -- the majority of them, really -- to merit a spin. Recommended.

Note: I received a copy of this album for possible review.

Review: Meshugana - Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights

Joanie Leeds and the NIghtlights Meshugana album cover

With Christianity still the majority religion in the United States, most of those with a different or no religion still probably get a pretty good idea of the basic contours of the Christian rituals, at least Christmas and Easter, even if only through music. But what about those other religions? Where are the songs that might share those rituals with a wider audience?

There are a number of artists who've recorded albums that present Jewish culture and traditions for a kid-centered audience, so Joanie Leeds is hardly the first. In fact, her latest album, Meshugana, isn't even her first attempt at an album celebrating those Jewish rituals (though it is her first with her band The Nightlights).

It is, however, one of the most successful I've heard as a non-Jewish listener at conveying that culture both 1) with a modern sound, and 2) in a way that might bring those Gentiles like me a little bit closer. About half of the songs are tied to specific Jewish holidays, but the rest are more applicable year-round. The album's strongest track, the tender "Hello, Goodbye, Shalom," neatly weaves together the Hebrew word "Shalom" (meaning "hello," "goodbye," and "peace") into a gentle Beatles tribute that succeeds on every level. "PJ Party" celebrates reading with a soaring sing-along chorus and just a handful of Hebrew words mixed in. And the title track is about as revved up and mixed-up as you might expect a song about a "crazy person" (the meaning of "meshugana") might be.

As a non-Jewish listener, the songs that are more tied to specific holidays were not as compelling to me, but Leeds definitely tried to keep them accessible -- "Honey and Apples," tied to a ritual for Rosh Hashana, was my favorite of these. As with the rest of Leeds' work, the songs (all original -- even "Wade in the Water" gets a Passover reworking) are mostly funny, occasionally tender, and feature a range of rock styles from folk-rock to indie-pop, even a hint of country.

The 35-minute album will be most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 9. You can stream the album here. For those of you wanting lyrics, yes, the physical copy includes those in the liner notes.

We're not Jewish, so I can't see our family breaking out this CD often, but I could certainly envision spinning selected songs in playlists throughout the year. And for those families (or classrooms) who want to share a little more about the Jewish culture and faith -- or for those families who want to celebrate their faith with some 21st-century pop sounds -- Meshugana will make for a nice addition to their collections. Recommended.

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