Itty-Bitty Review: Hello My Baby - Vered

A good part of Vered's second album, Hello My Baby (subtitled Songs to Bond You and Your Baby) doesn't sound much different from its predecessor, her debut album Good Morning My Love. The folk-pop songs are very tightly arranged, with Vered's lyrics often requiring her to sing, or almost rap, them quickly (see, for example, "Gotta Go"). And like its predecessor, the subjects and lyrics for most of the songs are designed to, well, bond parent and baby, so the song helps explain the child's perspective to the parent, and/or gently remind the parent the consequences of actions like being on the phone too much ("Phone").

If there's a big change from the first album, it's in the songs that speak much more directly to the parents. "More of a Baby" is a duet with the Okee Dokee Brothers' Justin Lansing that recognizes the value of a baby's attitude toward the world. "Something Other Than a Mom" reflects the voice of a mother trying to take back some of that personal identity she had before becoming a mom. With a cello helping to underscore the frustration and sadness that can be mixed into life as a parent, it's rawness one doesn't hear often in kids music; rawness about parenting just isn't heard much in music, period. And if that track is wistful, the album closer "All I Want" features the year's most memorable kindie chorus, with a handful of kindie musicians (album producer Dean Jones, Joanie Leeds, Rachel Loshak, Jon Samson, and more) singing "All I Want / is to sleep / seven hours straight / all I want / is to sleep." Compared to most of the other tracks, this song is loose, letting all the emotion flow and spill out.

The album is most appropriate, as you might expect, for kids ages 1 through 5 and their new parents, natch. (You can listen to samples of the 43-minute album -- soon -- here.) To the extent that Vered sought to create an emotional dialogue between parents and their infants and toddlers, Hello My Baby succeeds. For those parents, it's definitely recommended.

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

Itty-Bitty Review: Calling All the Kids to the Yard - Cat Doorman

A little more than a couple years ago, Portland, Oregon artist and musician Julianna Bright gave the world her Cat Doorman alter ego and a fantabulous debut album.

Now she's back with Calling All the Kids to the Yard, the first of 4 digital-only EPs Bright plans on releasing in 2015. And based on the 12-plus minutes on these first 4 tracks, we're in for a treat.

All the hallmarks of that debut -- the tumbledown organic folk-rock sound, the fully-felt emotions, Bright's enthusiastic vocals -- reappear here. If the first album's theme was of individual expression, the songs here focus more on the world outside. "Loving Cup" starts out with a slow acapella chorus, then moves into a rocking meditation ("I'm ready as I've never been / To slow my breath and to take in / All the world's wonders, all its kin / I start to see you."). "Wake Up" features funky organ, crunchy guitar, hand claps, and an encouragement for the listener to "reach out" and pay attention to the world. After the title track, the album closes with the least-lullaby-ish verson of "All the Pretty Horses" I've ever heard.

You can stream (and download) the album, most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 9, here. Fans of the debut album will definitely find more music here to their family's liking, but this should appeal to a broad range of Zooglobble readers and kindie fans. If possible, I like this even more than the debut. Definitely recommended.

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

My Annual Post (Again) About "Felt Around the World"

Three years ago, on April 1, 2012, I published one of my favorite all-time posts here on the site, the world premiere of "Felt Around the World," which was "We Are the World" for a new (puppet) generation.

Last year I reported that the world's greatest song performed by Fabricated Americans has generated more than $2,200 for St. Jude's. Contributions keep trickling in, and you can still purchase the track at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon. Thanks to Recess Monkey, who coordinated the video and the musical contributions from our puppet friends, and folks who purchased the track and played it on radio both terrestrial and satellite.

This still makes me smile - hope it does for you, too.

Hand Aid - "Felt Around the World" [YouTube]

Kindie's Ten Best One-Hit Wonders

Kids music has its fair share of workhorses -- artists like Recess Monkey and Joanie Leeds and Dean Jones who consistently release albums. And of course there are artists like Raffi and Bill Harley and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer whose careers have spanned decades and who are still releasing music relevant to an entirely new generation of families.

And then there are the one-hit wonders -- the musicians and bands who released albums for families… and were never heard from ever again.

Well, not in any existential sense, just in the kindie world. The reasons for recording a single album for kids and families, then deciding to abandon that particular creative vein are, no doubt, as complicated -- or simple -- as they are for any choices made by people. Perhaps they hated doing it, it didn't fill them creatively, it didn't make enough money, they didn't have enough time -- these are the complications of life, generally. (As is the work of keeping up a website -- in a few cases, the sites have lapsed, a clear sign that the artists aren't returning to the kindie fold.)

But it doesn't mean that we can't be disappointed that they never came back. So here's a list of my ten favorite single-shot kindie albums. I would love to have to take these off the list for technical reasons, i.e., they come back with a second album.

A couple definitional points:

1. I chose not to include albums from "adult" artists who released one album for families -- think of folks like Harry Nilsson or Carole King or Barenaked Ladies (though I keep hearing rumors that they're working on kindie album #2) as their family recordings were neither their first nor last recordings. This is a loose restriction -- it's painful not being able to put the Barenaked Ladies or Medeski Martin & Wood's albums on this list -- but if I didn't impose it this list would be long and useless. (Perhaps what I really need is another list that reflects those artists.)

2. I gave at least a couple year window -- meaning, if someone's released just one album, but that was within the past couple years, then they were ineligible. Unless you're Recess Monkey, churning out an album every two years is a normal timeframe.

Here, then, in alphabetical order, is my list:

Listen To This: "Spring Day" - Karen K and the Jitterbugs

Karen K and the Jitterbugs' "Spring Day"

As a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, I am careful not to talk about how wonderful the weather is on social media because I don't want to seem like I'm taunting my friends in more northern climes in the winter months. (Really! I actually prefer the weather in northern climes!)

I say all that as a way of introducing "Spring Day," a brand new song from Karen K and the Jitterbugs. From its opening guitar riff aping Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" to the abundance of "la la las," it's a pure pop confection celebrating the arrival (please!) of spring days. But as I look at weather forecasts of highs in the mid-90s this weekend, forgive me if I'm already dreaming of songs celebrating fall. Stream the song below and pay what you'd like for the track.

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "Spring Day" [Bandcamp]

<a href="http://karenkjitterbugs.bandcamp.com/track/spring-day">Spring Day by Karen K &amp; the Jitterbugs</a>

Review: The Peculiar Tales of the S.S. Bungalow - Big World Audio Theatre

Let's give a hearty "Ahoy, mateys!" for the crew of Big World Audio Theatre, whose debut story and music collection The Peculiar Tales of the S.S. Bungalow set sail earlier this year.

(Let me also promise you that the rest of this review will be free of sailing-related puns.)

Based in Portland, Oregon and headed up by Laki Karavias and Jason Reuter, the Theatre (really, a loose collective of area musicians and artists) turned to Kickstarter to raise monies for the production and release of the album. The result is a lovingly crafted album and physical product that tells the story of Captain Gregory and the S.S. Bungalow's trek across the Atlantic Ocean to find the Lullaby Islands and the treasure found there.

Voice actor Kevin Barbare narrates the story, which is filled with enough dramatic plot turns, gentle good humor, atmospheric sound effects, and occasional Princess Bride-style meta-commentary to keep the target audience hooked and any adults tuned in amused. The chamber pop-folk, featuring the occasional stringed instrument, horns, and pedal steel, runs the gamut from peppy to slow as befitting the story's twists and turns (sometimes in the same song, as in "Life Is Good." "Follow the Albatross" sounds like it could have been culled from an Uncle Tupelo album. One song, "Aquinas," commemorating a long-loved pet, is particularly sweet and moving in a way few kindie songs are. While the songs are meant to serve a story, speaking as someone who primarily listened to the songs alone, they stand up well on their own.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. The story version of the album is nearly 75 minutes long; a second disk featuring only the song tracks clocks in at about 32 minutes. (You can listen to the whole thing here.) The physical version, featuring Ward Jenkins' illustrations, is solidly packaged -- for multiple reasons, the CD would make a lovely gift. (I have no doubt that if they ever chose to go the vinyl route, that would look - and sound - splendid as well.)

The Peculiar Tales of the S.S. Bungalow was clearly a labor of love, with a fine attention to detail. I would love to see one of those multinational entertainment conglomerates figure out how to spread this far and wide, though I know that's unlikely. Instead, we'll just have to hope that Big World enjoyed this labor of love enough to make them want to attempt another. Definitely recommended.

Note: I was given a copy for possible review.