Review: Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes and Friends

[To Dan Zanes and Salon.com readers -- greetings and thanks for stopping by. And check out the main site for tons more music for kids and adults. No, that's not an oxymoron.] The short review of Catch That Train!, Dan Zanes' 2006 release and his fifth album specifically for kids and families is that it's like his previous family music album, but more so -- more musically diverse, more lyrical, more... everything. The long review is... well... the thing is, after listening to this album so many times, I didn't want to write the short review, which might otherwise have just said, "It's like every other Dan Zanes CD -- it's great." So I went back to his first family music album, 2000's Rocket Ship Beach, to see if I could notice progression in Zanes' music that is harder to see from just looking at his last album, House Party. And a couple things struck me as I listened to his first and his latest CDs. The first thing that struck me was how Zanes has gradually broadened his musical horizons since 2000. Six years ago, the debut's most adventurous musical step could very well have been the appearance of Father Goose (Rankin' Don) and his dancehall stylings. On Catch That Train!, Rankin' Don's appearance on "Choo-Choo-Ch-Boogie" almost feels safe compared to the rest of the album. The Blind Boys of Alabama on the gospel "Welcome Table," the Rubi Theater Company on the strutting "Walkin' the Dog," the forward-thinking Kronos Quartet on the retelling of the psycho-pet story "Grey Goose" -- they all come from diverse musical places and yet fit in perfectly on this disk. It's as if Zanes has released his very own Putumayo collection. Which is not to say that the stuff that's been around since Rocket Ship Beach -- Rankin' Don, the duet with Barbara Brousal ("Mariposa Ole," in Spanish, of course), and the duet with a female singer-songwriter (Natalie Merchant on the lovely "Loch Lomond") -- isn't there, and isn't great. Because it is. The other thing that struck me was that the first CD seemed to me a collection of songs that Zanes really liked. The latest CD does seem to have a thematic cohesiveness to it, and it's not about trains. It's about community. "When we ride / We ride together," Zanes has written on the title track, and there is a strong sense of doing things together that runs through the album. Inclusiveness ("All God's children gonna sit together," from "Welcome Table"), neighborliness ("High and low, people that we know / They say 'Hey there,' and 'How’ve you been?'," from "Wander in the Summer Wind"), and a welcoming neighborhood ("Wherever you’re from / Know that you’re welcome / If you want to bring your family ‘round / To this moonlit town," on the album closer "Moonlit Town.") Quite possibly my favorite song on the album is Zanes' "While the Music Is Playing," about wanting to linger in the neighborhood into the night, listening to all the different music in the air.
People gather all around the square People laughing in the evening air Swirls and mingles with the songs that brought us there That brought us all there.
If that's not Zanes' ideal world in a nutshell, I'm not sure what is. The midtempo tune mixes a wistful chorus, brass band, and a backup singer count which eventually must reach double-digits to posit a world where community is paramount. (Its placement smack-dab in the middle of the album just before the pro-working-man "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister" can't be just random.) With Zanes entering the fray over a proposed Brooklyn development, these are no longer idle concerns for him. As with all Dan Zanes albums, Catch That Train is for people of every age. But if I had to narrow down the age range, I'd call it ages 5 through 10. You can hear samples, etc., by following the links at Zanes' Catch That Train! page. In the end, if you're at all a fan of Dan Zanes' music, you'll enjoy this album. (And if you're in the minority who don't, this album won't change your mind.) Catch That Train! is Zanes' strongest album to date, a celebration in music of the joys of family, community, and music itself. Highly recommended. [May 19, 2006 Update] Now that I've had the full copy of the CD and packaging for a few days, rather than just an advance promo copy, I wanted to add a few additional comments to the review. 1) The packaging is quite nice -- Zanes has replaced the book format of his previous kids' CDs with more of a foldout design similar to which he employed on Parades and Panoramas. The entire design is thought out quite well (the title, "Catch That Train!," is actually the very end of a sentence that runs through the entire physical package). 2) Lyrics! Chords! The presence of these two things in the liner notes only makes the absence of them in previous albums that much more stark. Again, Zanes had started doing this with Parades and Panoramas and Sea Music, but their presence here is very welcome (especially for an artist so enamored of public singing). And, Zanes' comments in the liner notes are useful, too. (Not to mention finding out little things like Warren Zanes plays guitar on "Mariposa Ole.") 3) The video for "Catch That Train!" is OK, but nothing special. Dan Zanes plays around in his apartment while a tiny little animated train drives around. The scene where Zanes looks at a comb by his sink, then shakes his head as if to say, "naaaah," did make me laugh, though. So, there you have it. And if you don't (have it), why not?

This Week: Coast to Coast to Coast

This week at Zooglobble, we're going from LA to New York (with a review of Dan Zanes' Catch That Train!) and back again. See -- we exhibit both East Coast and West Coast Bias! (I can do the Chicago thing -- Justin Roberts and Ralph's World -- only so often. Though there are more reviews coming from those two, too.) Also, it's been just over a month since the NPR interview that sent many of you here. Thanks again to everyone who's read, commented, e-mailed, or linked here. Also, many thanks to all the artists who have sent me their CD or DVD. I'm still working my way through them all, and while I won't review all of them here, I've got a lot of reviews (and other things) lined up in the weeks ahead. Finally, here are links to a few posts in case you missed 'em the first time around. Frances England's Fascinating Creatures -- review, interview Lunch Money's Silly Reflection -- review Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) -- review Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD -- review Anne Hathaway's "Great Big World", from the Hoodwinked Soundtrack -- review. Goodness, there are lots of people wanting lyrics and mp3s for that song. (Too bad I don't actually have the lyrics or mp3s.) Thanks again for reading.

Please Release Me (May 2006 Edition)

An admittedly selective (or perhaps not) list of upcoming children and family music releases: May 2: Beethoven's Wig 3 (Richard Perlmutter), Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate (Daddy-A-Go-Go) May 9 (or 16): Catch That Train! (Dan Zanes and Friends) May 16 (without a doubt): Johnny Cash Children's Album (Johnny Cash, natch) May 20: Paws, Claws, Scales & Tales (Monty Harper) -- kids' librarians, check out www.ReadingSongs.com for more info May 23: Folk Playground (Putumayo, Various Artists) We'll be reviewing many of these CDs in the weeks ahead. We'll be reviewing a whole bunch of other stuff, too, so if the stuff above doesn't tickle your fancy-bone, maybe something else will. In addition to these releases, we expect new albums from a bunch of Zooglobble favorites, but we'll wait until we hear something more definite before mentioning it. Cautious are we. Talk like Yoda we do sometimes.

V-I-D... E-O-S...

... on the M-O-U-S-E! Dan Zanes' latest (April 25) newsletter informs us that he filmed videos for 4 songs back in January and that those videos -- "Catch That Train!," "Let's Shake," "Malti," and "Down in the Valley," -- will be airing on Playhouse Disney. They apparently will include singing, dancing, and egg-frying. (I'm down with the first two, unsure of the last.) The newsletter also notes that the new Catch That Train! CD will be released on May 16. Somebody better tell Amazon, because they still have a May 9 release date listed... Let me also take this opportunity to note that I'm adding links to Noggin's music videos on the sidebar. Just in case, you know, you need to watch music videos on your tiny computer screen. Playhouse Disney, at this point, is evidently concerned about the long-term effects of squinting on the nation's youth and their parents, as no link is currently available to their videos...

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).