Best Kids Music of 2013: Top 25 Songs

It has been too long since I posted a list of my favorite songs of a year.  2011, to be exact.

Oops.

(I already said how embarrassed I was about that.)

Following up on my list of Top 10 kids music debuts in 2013, here's my list of my 25 favorite (or best, depending on your perspective) kids' songs on albums released over the past year ("year" defined as between November 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013, to match the Fids and Kamily Awards this year).  I should note that some of these songs have been floating around for a few years now (the Trout Fishing and Shine and the Moonbeams songs), but have only now found themselves on a proper release.  One could do much worse than to put all 25 on a mix CD or iTunes/Spotify playlist.

Hey, wait, I've done that!  Here's the link (go here if you're in Spotify).  See the end of this post for the embedded stream.  By the way, songs not on Spotify are marked with an *

In any case, picking these 25 songs was tough, tougher than in most previous years, I think.  I had another 15-20 songs I was seriously considering for this list, and on another day, my mood would have struck me differently and at least a couple of those songs would be on here.  But I'm pressing the "publish" button today.

Top 25 Kids Music Songs of 2013 (listed alphabetically by artist)

"Similes and Metaphors" - The Bazillions (Heads or Tales)

"When Pigs Fly" - Sandra Boynton (performed by Ryan Adams) (Frog Trouble)

"Thingamajig" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (Lishy Lou and Lucky Too) -- I know, I know, the album was released on Oct. 1, 2013 and so technically speaking shouldn't be on here.  But come on, this was song was awesome.  And there was a single, so that's what I'm hanging my hat on...

"Lonely Girl" - Cat Doorman (The Cat Doorman Songbook)

"It's Not Fair To Me" - Bill Harley & Keith Munslow (It's Not Fair To Me)

"Dinosaur" - Lori Henriques (The World Is a Curious Place To Live) *

"Wag More" - Boxtop Jenkins (You're Happier When You're Happy)

"Take You Into My Arms" - Joey No Knows (Color This Album)

"Nine O' Clock Behind the Jack Rabbit" - Josh & Gab (I'm Not a Bully!)

"You Made Me a Sock Monkey" - Billy Kelly (AGAIN!) *

"Have You Ever Been Jealous?" - Alastair Moock with Rani Arbo (Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World's Bravest Kids) *

"Let's Skateboard" - The Not-Its! (KidQuake!)

"High 5 Your Shadow" - Ratboy Jr. (Champions of the Universe)

"The Deep End" - Recess Monkey (Deep Sea Diver)

"Recess" - Justin Roberts (Recess)

"Bully Bully" - Shine and the Moonbeams (Shine and the Moonbeams)

"Home of Song" - Paul Spring (Home of Song)

"Song Without a Rhyme" - SteveSongs (Orangutan Van)

"Duermete" - Heidi Swedberg and Friends (My Cup of Tea)

"The Late, Great Nate McTate" - Trout Fishing in America (Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers)

"Here Comes My Friend" - Underbirds (Underbirds)

"Scavenger Hunt" - The Verve Pipe (Are We There Yet?)

"Stay True" - The Watson Twins (Pioneer Lane)

"Bigga Bagga" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (Please To Meet You)

"Honeybee" - Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell with You Are My Flower (Turn! Turn! Turn!)

Best Kids Music of 2013: Top 10 Debuts

Every year I wonder whether there are going to be any musicians who decide to turn their attention to making music for kids, and every year I am not disappointed.  It's a silly attitude to take on my part, because doing these sorts of follow-up looks back at the year gives me hope and tells me I should stop wondering, that right now somebody I've never heard of -- and who may never have heard of these artists or any of the other artists on this site -- is for the first time recording music for kids and families that's going to be great.

Here are my top 10 debut albums from 2013, with "2013" defined as being "between November 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013," coinciding with the Fids & Kamily 2013 voting year.  Sometimes debuts drop through the cracks thanks to the slow pace of reviewing, so albums like Vered's Good Morning My Love and Helen Austin's Always Be a Unicorn (which were October 2012 releases, and so just miss the November 1, 2012 starting point) somehow didn't make my list of top debuts from from 2012, either.  And of course, there are post-September 30, 2013 albums like Red Yarn's The Deep Woods and Introducing Jelly of the Month Club that I would not be surprised to see on this list next year.

One other caveat -- there some debuts from experienced kindie folks who made music with new friends. Debuts from Underbirds, Todd & Cookie, and more might very well have made this list were it not for the fact that those participants, artists like Todd McHatton, Morgan Taylor, and Mista Cookie Jar, aren't new to the kids music world.

So here they are, in alphabetical order. It was hard picking the list this year -- there were a couple albums that I thought would make it but somehow got squeezed out by all the other wonderful talent here.  Which must mean that there are a lot of musicians who think that trying their hand at making great music for kids is a worthwhile endeavor.

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Cat Doorman

The Cat Doorman Songbook

Review - "reminds families of the worlds and possibilities that lie outside our door, if only we're willing to see them and create them ourselves"

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Crosspulse Percussion Ensemble

I Like Everything About You Yes I Do!

Review (Coming Soon!) - Old-school rhythm, with soul to spare.  It doesn't sound a lot like most of the other albums on this list, and that's one of its strengths.

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Chris Doud, Willy Tea Taylor, and More

Color This Album

Review - "It's a romp through a world of animals and imagination, and the long-awaited (spiritual) sequel to the classic Bloodshot Records album The Bottle Let Me Down."

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Lesley and the Flying Foxes

A Day in the Life of a Boogaleeboo

Review - "It's got a sense of wide-eyed wonder at, and celebration of, the human experience."

Boxtop Jenkins

You're Happier When You're Happier

Review - I"f you're going to title your album "You're Happier When You're Happy," you darn well better deliver an album that makes listener happy (or happier).  And on his debut, floppy-eared Boxtop Jenkins, the creation of singer-songwriter Franklin Bunn and producer Glenn Matullo, do indeed."

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Martykins & Friends

Martykins & Friends

Review - "I suppose any album gutsy enough to feature a song called "The Funky Lumberjack" had better be willing to follow through and, you know, be kinda funky.  Surprisingly enough, that song, off the debut album from bassist Martin McSweeney is, well, kinda funky."

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Pointed Man Band

Swordfish Tango

Review - "A combination of Tom Waits and Shel Silverstein, the Beatles and Parisian cafes, the music smells of hardwood floors and flannel and wood construction blocks."

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Shine and the Moonbeams

Shine and the Moonbeams

Review - "While it's not really the first R&B and soul album in kids music, it's the first that got the sometimes insular "kids music world" excited."

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Paul Spring

Home of Song

Review - "Home of Song is an ode to books and stories, and to the families who nurture them."

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The Watson Twins

Pioneer Lane

Review - "a tiny jewel of an album that will give the listener a warm, fuzzy glow…"

Weekly Summary (9/16/13 - 9/22/13)

Radio Playlist: New Music September 2013

It's been four weeks since my August new music playlist, so time to post another Spotify update for new music (see the August playlist here).  As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here or go right here if you're in Spotify.

**** New Music September 2013 (September 2013 Kindie Playlist) ****

Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell – Hot Weather Music
Kathy Kallick Band – Use a Napkin (Not Your Mom)
Kath Bee – Ygfoyf
Zannie – The Rain Kid
Hey Buster – I'm a Boy
Heidi Swedberg and the Sukey Jump Band – Al Tambor
Caspar Babypants – Here Comes the Sun
Trout Fishing in America – The Late, Great, Nate McTate
The Digits – Measuring Angles (Parody)

Mr. Palindrome – My Ability (The Pencil & Eraser Song)

The Watson Twins - Hello Hello

Itty-Bitty Review: Pioneer Lane - The Watson Twins

I love being surprised by new music I hadn't expected.  It doesn't happen as much as it used to -- the kindie scene has matured -- but it still happens.

I hadn't heard that the Watson Twins were recording an album of family-friendly folk-pop until Pioneer Lane was released this week.  I still remember one of their sets at SXSW a few years back as being fun, and, in the dimmed lights of a church sanctuary, somewhat mysterious.  On the basis of that set, I thought that the prospect of a kids music album from them could be promising.

This new album moves their folk/rock/alt-country sound out of the sanctuary and into a barn somewhere for a late-afternoon picnic that stretches into a moonlight night.  The whole effect is mesmerizing, the sisters' harmonies reverberating on both the slow and uptempo tracks.  The songs stay away from narratives that would restrict themselves to kids -- these are love songs, if in language more geared toward the kindergartener in your life.  Highlights include the uplifting "Stay True," the sun-drenched pop of "Hello Hello," the hypnotic "Sun Drips on Leaves," and the paddycake-based album closer "My Family."

The album is brief, clocking in at just over 22 minutes.  It's most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7, but this is definitely one of those albums that the parents will mix into their own playlists.  Pioneer Lane  is a tiny jewel of an album that will give the listener a warm, fuzzy glow, proof that kids music can still surprise and delight. Definitely recommended.