Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World's Bravest Kids - Alastair Moock

Album: Singing Our Way Through: Songs for the World's Bravest Kids

Age Range: 2 through 10

Description: Whew. An album that grew out of the Boston-based singer-songwriter's experience with the leukemia diagnosis of one of his twin 5-year-old daughters, Singing Our Way Through might not be the first album a family thinks of to purchase for their own family, assuming that their family hasn't been struck with a serious disease. And the first couple tracks, "I Am the Light" and "When I Get Bald," deal with cancer head-on. But once you get past that, the songs just deal with tough times and humor in those tough times. (I particularly liked "Have You Ever Been Jealous?," Moock's duet with Rani Arbo, in terms of a clear-eyed perspective from the sibling not given the cancer diagnosis.) Everything else I might say about the album I already said in my NPR review. Stream the album here. Highly recommended for families struggling with a serious disease, and definitely recommended for lots of other families, too.

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

Martykins & Friends - Martykins and Friends

Artist: Martykins and Friends

Album: Martykins & Friends

Age Range: 4 through 8

Description: 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.

It's also about a lumberjack (presumably that's him doing the bump with Grandma from "Grandma's Pantry" on the album cover), which gives you a sense of the free-for-all approach on the album. The bluegrass track "Magic Pick" features some nifty mandolin work from Shawn Cunnane; that track segues into the full-on Hammond B-3-assisted rock track "Ice Cream."

The 29-minute album moves by quickly, nothing earth-shattering, but at points, it's like a somewhat more cartoon-y Okee Dokee Brothers. That's not a half-bad place to be. Recommended.

Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music - Ana Gerhard

Artist/Author: Ana Gerhard (music selection) / Cecilia Varela (illustrator)

Book/Album: Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music

Age Range: 4 through 11

Description: Another book/CD collection from The Secret Mountain , this one uses bird-themed excerpts from classical music to introduce readers to some famous classical melodies and classical terminology. Older readers will get a fair amount out of Gerhard's text (which also includes biographical info); readers of all ages will probably enjoy the charming illustrations of Varela. I was impressed that the music Gerhard selected spans literally 500 years. Be forewarned that the 20 selections from artists such as the London Symphony Orchestra are in many cases just excerpts. So you might have to explore further, which wouldn't be the worst thing, right? Recommended.

Various Artists (Minimusica) - Vol. 3 Els Animals

Artist: Various (Minimusica)

Album: Vol. 3, Els Animals

Age Range: 3 through 7

Description: There have been a lot of Spanish-language albums for kids released over the past few years. Most of them have a relatively plain and/or traditional sound. Even my favorite of these, Moona Luna’s fine album Piñata Party, is mostly a mix of pop and more traditional Mexican instrumentation (e.g., accordion) and melodies.

Minimusica's third album of indie rock for kids has a sound distinct from all these other Spanish-language albums. For one thing, it does have an eclectic indie-rock sound very familiar to fans of groups like Lunch Money, The Board of Education, and the The Pop Ups. (Heck, insert 3 indie-rock bands from the past 20 years, and that sentence might still work.) Another distinction is that it's not just a Spanish-language album, it's actually a Spanish album. Because there is little need to teach 6-year-old kids from Spain how to speak Spanish, this frees up the artists to sing about more the topic -- here, animals -- with a little more subtlety. I particularly liked the 2 tracks from Candela y los Supremos, but Dobie Pletina's "En la ciudad" is also lots of fun. Listen to the 25-minute album on YouTube here. Vol. 3 Els Animals isn't necessarily easy for the native-English speaker to understand, but it's still fun for the native-English speaker to bop to. Recommended.

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

You Are an Astronaut - Human-Tim + Robot-Tim

Artist: Human-Tim + Robot-Tim

Album: You Are an Astronaut

Age Range: 3 through 7

Description: With a name like Human-Tim + Robot-Tim, you would probably forgiven if you were expecting this album to be all techno, a Daft Punk for kids. Instead, this album, the second from the alter ego of Chicago-area musician Tim Knuth, might appeal more to fans of the rootsy Chicagoland label Bloodshot Records. (Should the label ever wish to release a sequel to their classic The Bottle Let Me Down compilation, "Little Bob's Big Day" is a must.) The title track is a nifty little metaphor in song, while "Hey Little Doggie" features some Southern rock riffs and a kid-centric song about pets. With its songs about space, animals, and sharing (and, hilariously and educationally, the "Salivary Gland"), the 46-minute album is targeted right at kindergarteners and kids just on either side of that milestone. Robots might like it, but your 5-year-old will like it more. Recommended.

Sunglasses - The Que Pastas

Artist: The Que Pastas

Album: Sunglasses

Age Range: 3 through 8

Description: The second album from the Que Pastas (and first full-length) tackles a fairly standard set of kid-appropriate topics -- the freedom of summer ("First Day of Summer"), summoning courage ("Gene the Brave"), and pirates ("Pirate from the Past"). Sometimes Gene Davis' vocals can be pretty talky (see "Sunglasses"), but some of the songs from Davis and band partner Simon Flory can legitimately be described as beautiful -- "Love" is a dorky and giddy celebration of the title emotion while album-closer "Hooray for Fall" features a chorus of kids and the most fleshed-out production on the album. (Davis' relocation to Austin from Denver helped no doubt in getting Salim Nourallah and Jim Vollentine (Spoon) to produce and engineer the album, which sounds good, but is mostly lo-fi in approach.) Listen to some tracks from the 27-minute here. Nothing revolutionary, but it's a decent set of songs, with a handful of very good ones making it worth the time to check out. Recommended.

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

Artists: Bill Harley & Keith Munslow

Album: It's Not Fair To Me

Age Range: 5 through 10

Description: Let's see, an album featuring Harley and Munslow -- probably a somber, abstract, mostly instrumental album, right?

Of course not.

The two musicians have helped with each other's albums in the past, but this is the first featuring both of them equally. Most of the ten songs on the 34-minute album go for humor, if not broad (the title track, featuring some very funny banter between the two, "Copycat") then just in attitude ("My Eraser," an ode to, yes, an eraser). Their observations about squabbling siblings resonate because they're true to life generally (not just families. Harley and Munslow know their way through slightly older musical styles, exemplified best by "Give Me Back My Hat," a rollicking 12-bar blues and one of the album's highlights. The duo's enjoyment of the other's company is never more obvious than in the album closer, "Hideous Sweater." Give it to your kids' aunt or uncle -- they'll understand. Recommended.

Chocolalala - Mister G

Artist: Mister G

Album: Chocolalala

Age Range: 4 through 8

Description: After recording a handful of Spanish-language songs on his previous albums, the Massachusetts-based Mister G goes all-in on his 2012 album. The result is an album that gives his energetic folk-pop-rock a 90% Spanish spin. The title track's got a fun sing-along chorus (it's great live), while "Señorita Mariposa" gently sways along. Listen to the whole album here. For families seeking to expand their Spanish-language kids music collection, the album will definitely do so, but even those families who don't care about the album's bilingual basis will probably find a lot of the songs fit well in their daily kindie rotation. Recommended.

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