Review: OMG or LOL? Three Disney Disks

Let me start this review by suggesting that, for all its sins real or imagined, Disney Music purveys more original music for kids and families than any other label. It is possible to avoid a fair amount of that if you don't actually watch cable TV on a regular basis, but they put out a lot of music on a regular basis, and for all age ranges. Not to mention a back catalog the envy of just about anybody. How much you actually enjoy it all depends in part on your age, but I've got three recent Disney releases here, and at least one of them is worth your time.

I admit it. I'm old. Not, like, Social Security old, but old enough that if I use the phrase "OMG" I mean it ironically. I am old enough, however, to have a kid who, though she isn't quite out of the "kids music" phase yet, will start listening to music I haven't introduced her to. So I understand quite clearly that the soundtrack to Camp Rock, the latest Disney Channel original movie, premiering on a gazillion different channels this week, is Not For Me. It is for kids just a little older than my daughter. They'll spend their own allowances on it, or maybe their parents will get it for them. And what they'll get is an attempt to duplicate the High School Musical magic, except this time in a slightly more rock-oriented retelling of Cinderella. The album features some tracks with Joe Jonas solo (he's got a leading role in the movie) as well as a Jonas Brothers track. There are some songs by 16-year-old Demi Lovato, who has the lead female role and seems to be Disney's leading contender for a Miley Cyrus with a less pop and more rock edge. The songs are fine enough, and most of the songs won't drive you to change the station if you hear them on Radio Disney (OK, maybe "Hasta La Vista," ugh), but you're not going to remember them 15 minutes after they're over. There's nothing as memorable as "Breaking Free" or "Fabulous" or "You Are the Music In Me," all of which are decent pop songs. In the end, it's not really for me, but it never really was.

Disney Music Block Party Tour. Finally.

The Disney Music Block Party Tour took for. freakin'. ever. to get their site up and running. I mean, news of the tour has been floating around for at least a couple months now, and it became almost amusing to see the "Full Site Launches May [insert date here]" change every couple days, but midday today they finally came through on their promise. Dan Zanes, They Might Be Giants, Barenaked Ladies, Imagination Movers, and Choo Choo Soul is a pretty sweet lineup, though they won't all be appearing at each concert. $36 a person is a bit steep, though kids under the age of 3 are free, and some of the other activities (the PLAYSKOOL play areas, NAMM-sponsored areas with musical instruments for the kiddos) look nice. (I'm a little dubious about having a tent with nothing but Playhouse Disney TV -- just stay at home if you're gonna do that -- but, hey, don't tell me that place won't be packed after the kids have been there an hour or two.) No, They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies will not be playing at the same show. Value for money, the last show in the Nassau Coliseum is your best bet. As for you Canadians, the good news is that you get a show. The bad news? The Toronto show gets one less act than everyone else. Aaaand, of course Phoenix (not to mention the entire country west of the Mississippi) doesn't get a single show. Full details (dates, locations, hours) after the jump.

Review: The Rhyming Circus - Ralph's World

Ralph Covert has few peers when it comes to kids' music songwriting -- Justin Roberts?, the guys from Recess Monkey?, Molly Ledford from Lunch Money? -- the list is short. Over the course of six original albums in his guise as Ralph's World, the Chicago-based Covert created a body of work that holds up against any other kids' musician, work that helped convince Disney to sign Covert to its label. The Rhyming Circus, Covert's first collection of new material since signing to Disney, does not give any indication that his skill in putting together of kid-friendly pop tunes has waned at all. The leadoff title track is filled with a nifty little series of rhymes, of course ("Bats in hats wearing suits and spats / And cats on mats what do you think of that / Fats the rat juggling some gnats / They’re all stars in the Rhyming Circus"). "Gotta Be Good" is a sunny pop-rocker, "Edward the Tap-Dancing Elephant" has a 21st century Tin Pan Alley feel, and so on down the line. Beatles references are woven throughout ("Happy Not My Birthday," "Abby's Alphabet Soup" and the funky "Do The Math" among them, the latter closing with an emphatic final "Day in the Life" piano chord). Oddly enough, "Folsom Daycare Blues," with Covert reworking the Johnny Cash classic, is the weakest track on the album; it's sort of a cheap joke that the kids won't get at all. For those of you more familiar with the Ralph's World oeuvre, I'd say The Rhyming Circus more in the Peggy's Pie Parlor camp than his two subsequent albums, which had a more rocking feel. I consider Green Gorilla, Monster & Me to be in the vicinity of the top 10 kids' albums of the past 10 years, so if I'm not as enthusiastic about this new album, it's not a reflection of the album's quality as much as it is a reflection of my personal musical taste. (And I know that there's a strong segment of Ralph's fanbase that adores Peggy's Pie Parlor, which I like, just not as much as the two albums that followed.) One other comment, this directed at Disney. I know they know what they're doing, but there are few kids' artists that create as fanciful a story through song as Covert (especially on this album -- just listen to "Rodeo Peg" or "King of the Alphabet" for two examples). Why, then, do the videos for the new album (the title track is available as a bonus on the disk, and the first two can be seen here) just feature Covert in a live setting with bouncing kids? It's mostly forgettable, or at least undistinguishable from countless other kids' videos, albeit with higher production values. Disney is missing a major opportunity to create something memorable by not recruiting former Covert cover illustrator Giselle Potter to design a few videos. The CD will be of most interest to kids ages 4 through 8. You can hear samples across the internet, while Covert's Myspace page has a few tracks available for streaming. The Rhyming Circus is another collection of top-quality (in every way) kids' pop-rock. Ralph's World fans will not be disappointed with the release, and those who aren't fans already should certainly give Covert a shot in the stereo. Recommended.

Can Your Kid Read Cursive?

Or, if they didn't literally see their favorite music star autograph something, would they know who it came from? Well, those of you with varying levels of disposable income can find out, thanks to a couple auctions currently going on. First up is an auction benefitting the Reading Reptile, a Kansas City (Missouri) children's bookstore which, if it's half as fun as their website, is probably about three times as fun as your regular life. They're having a Debt Reduction Day auction, which includes such Ralph's World items as an autographed Ralph Covert guitar and autographed copies of his new album The Rhyming Circus and his new book. Or, if you don't like that, have Bill Harley write you a song. (Or, if you don't like music, just go ahead and get that Kevin Henkes "Lilly" sketch.) You have 'til May 24 to find enough loose change in your couch. And for those of you with more disposable income than I currently have and a tween girl, might I suggest the autographed Miley Cyrus guitar as part of the XM Kids Traveling Roadshow benefiting the Children's Miracle Network? Ralph's guitar is a lot cheaper right now, but Miley's guitar is a lot cooler...

New Ralph's World Album -- The Rhyming Circus -- Due May 20th

Well, we've known about the title of the first Ralph's World album of all-new material for Disney Sound -- The Rhyming Circus -- for awhile now. But now we have a date -- May 20th -- which, given that Dan Zanes is also releasing his new album on that date, makes it like the kids' music equivalent of Kanye and 50 Cent. Except I hope neither of them stops recording. (And I was just reminded that Frances England's new album drops that day, too. ) Anyway, the album will feature "rhymes such as wooly mammoth and sandwich, or squish and Lillian Gish." I also like a line mentioned from "Do The Math" -- “a new girl in class/Polly Hedron, a non-Euclidean lass”). Tracklist after the jump.

CD Titles for Ralph's World and Eric Herman Albums Announced

At one point more than a year Eric Herman interviewed Ralph Covert (listen here). It is solely on the basis on this connection that I'm combining these two bits of news. First, Covert has announced that the title of his upcoming Disney Sound Ralph's World CD will be called The Rhyming Circus. Hmmm... wonder what rhymes with "elephant"... And speaking of elephants, this is a little old, but Herman's announced that the name of his 2008 release (due out in the fall) will be What A Ride. If waiting, oh, 10 months or so is a bit too much for you, feel free to check out his latest video, for "Dance Like an Animal." Rudimentary, perhaps, but can your five-year-old animate a video like Eric's did? (Or, more to the point perhaps, can you?)