Let All the Children Boogie: A Tribute To David Bowie - Various Artists

Let All the Children Boogie cover

Artists: Various Artists

Album: Let All the Children Boogie: A Tribute to David Bowie

Age Range: 4 to 9

Description:  There’s nothing about this album that is particularly kids music, but it’s a stellar example of how recontextualizing music can help hear it with new ears.  The album, a benefit for the It Gets Better Foundation, and released by friend-of-the-site Spare The Rock Records, collects twenty of David Bowie’s songs.  The big hits are here of course -- I particularly liked Gustafer Yellowgold and the Pop Ups’ spacy take on Major Tom’s predicament in “Space Oddity” and Elizabeth Mitchell and friends’ take on “Changes” -- but at twenty tracks, some will likely be unfamiliar.  All are kid-friendly, of course, though you and your kids may have different favorite tracks.  (Ted Leo’s “Heroes” and Rhett Miller’s “Ziggy Stardust” will be big hits with the adults, while I think Red Yarn’s “Magic Dance” and Justin Roberts’ “Kooks” will probably have more kid appeal.)  All in all, it’s an album that succeeds musically, lets us all hear anew the childlike play in Bowie’s lyrics, and directs proceeds to a worthy cause.  Recommended.

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

Follow Me - Little Miss Ann

Artist:  Little Miss Ann

Album:  Follow Me

Age Range: 3 through 7

Description:  For her fourth kids' music album, Chicago-based Ann Torralba casts an even wider net for guest artists -- lots of musicians make appearances here, most notably Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton on the stark-yet-tender "I Got a Light."  The entire album is filled with a quiet confidence, and a unique sound I've been searching for the right words to describe.  Part of what's thrown me is that the covers of familiar kid-folk standards -- "I Love the Mountains" and "Bushel and a Peck" -- are energetic, full-on folk-rockers, while many of the original tunes like "I Got a Light" and "Jolly Ole Soul" have a far less modern sound.  I don't think Torralba is doing anything weird, but the cumulative effect of the songs is to make one of the more distinctive-sounding albums of the year -- a little timeless, a little timely, and a little out of time altogether.

You can stream the 29-minute album here.  Follow Me furthers Little Miss Ann's evolution as a songwriter and performer for kids.  It's an album that fans of folk and slightly ethereal music such as those performed by Elizabeth Mitchell would probably find a lot to enjoy.  Recommended.

Science Fair - Various Artists

Artist: Various Artists (Spare the Rock Records)

Album: Science Fair

Age Range: 5 to 10

Description: A kids' album, but one with ambitions.   Designed to raise awareness about the gender gap in science -- something happens between grade school and grad school -- the album succeeds that without forgetting that awareness-raising combined with dull music is pretty much a press release on a shiny disk.  A diverse set of musicians both kindie and kindie-friendly pitch in on a set of constant-surprising tracks.  Songs are both extroverted (the Nields' "Butterfly" and Wunmi's "Rainbow") and introverted (Frances England's "Goldilocks Zone" and Elizabeth Mitchell's recording of a Molly Ledford original, "Phytoplankton"), and typically focus on the questioning mindset of a scientist rather than nuts-and-bolts explanations of How Things Work.  Highly recommended.  (Listen to my NPR review here.)