Review: You Are My Sunshine - Elizabeth Mitchell

I've talked before about Elizabeth Mitchell's first CD for kids, You Are My Flower. It's a great little CD. If there were any drawbacks to the CD, it was that it was too short (less than 25 minutes) and perhaps too "folk-y" for some tastes. One her second CD, You Are My Sunshine, Mitchell says, "Hey, you, Mr. Daddy-Guy, I hear ya. I'm gonna make it longer and mix it up for you." Uh, OK, she doesn't really say that. Or, at least, not that I'm aware of. But her new CD is both longer and more diverse. And why wouldn't you want a longer CD when it includes great renditions of kids' songs traditional and un-? The alphabet song done in dub-reggae style. A Bo Diddley blues (sort of). Mitchell ups the young parent hipness quotient by covering both Sesame Street ("Ladybug Picnic") and Schoolhouse Rock ("3 Is The Magic Number"). And the covers of some traditional songs with religious backgrounds -- "So Glad I'm Here" and "Jubilee" -- make me happy every time I hear them. The first half of the CD is fairly varied in tempo; the second half is much more "folk" -- very mellow. The CD is probably best for kids under age 6, but it's truly one of those albums you may find yourself putting on even when your kids aren't around. If you at all liked her first CD, you will like this one. If you've never heard Mitchell, I'd recommend this CD somewhat over the first one. If you hated her first CD, then I just don't know what to do with you. You probably shouldn't continue reading my reviews. The CD is available at the usual online suspects and at her website, You Are My Flower. Highly recommended.

Review: Songs For Wiggleworms - Old Town School of Folk Music

It doesn't take much to turn a tired old chestnut of a kids' song into one worth hearing. Usually a little bit of enthusiasm does the trick. Songs For Wiggleworms, from Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, has 38 mostly classic kids' songs crammed into one 50-minute disc and has enthusiasm in spades. You've probably heard most of these songs ("Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "If You're Happy And You Know It...", etc.) but a few our family didn't know before hearing this CD. Regardless of whether the songs are new or old to you, your child (and you) will enjoy these lively renditions, sung by assorted musicians at the school (even Ralph Covert makes an appearance). The enjoyment of the musicians is evident in the renditions, whose occasionally ragged nature make it sound like you're sitting in an Old Town class. Thankfully, accompanied by little more than a guitar, if that, the musicians also stay away from "Star Search" vocal acrobatics. There are some French-language and Spanish-language folk songs, too, along with a few non-kids songs ("Twist & Shout") to go along with the English-language classics. My favorite song on the album is "You Are My Sunshine," whose lyrics are modified slightly to eliminate the darker overtones of the original. And the songs I don't like? Well, as I said, there are 38 songs on a 50-minute CD -- just wait a minute, there'll be a new song coming up shortly. This CD is targeted at kids from birth to age 4 or 5. The CD was out of print for a while, but is available once more here at CDBaby.com. Trust me, I've heard a number of nursery school song CD collections -- this is one you'll actually enjoy and the only one worth getting.

Review: Buzz Buzz - Laurie Berkner

The simplest kids' songs are sometimes the most effective -- Old McDonald's farm is not all that complex of an environment, yet it's a rare toddler or even pre-schooler who isn't somewhat amused by the song, particularly if it's delivered with gusto. The best songs on Laurie Berkner's Buzz Buzz exemplify that truth. My all-time Berkner favorite, "Pig on Her Head," is about Berkner's family, who has a whole menagerie of animals on their noggins. (Heck, it's the sequel to "Old McDonald Had a Farm!") "I Really Love to Dance" is about a young kid who tries lots of different things but keeps coming back to dancing. Those originals are lots of fun. The covers are also performed with fun arrangements, such as the guitar, bass, piano, and kazoo used to provide a jaunty "I've Been Working on the Railroad." And her version of "There's A Little Wheel A-Turning In My Heart" uses the whole "change-one-thing-in-each-verse" to great effect. Slightly less successful for me were longer songs that I think are more clearly designed for an interactive performance (e.g., "The Pretzel Store," "Lots of Little Pigs"). They're longer, so they're not quite as good if you (and your kids) are listening to the CD in the car. But if you're at home, and can convince your kids to act along, they'd be cute. This is a fun, (mostly) upbeat CD and is recommended for children aged 2 to 6 years. Berkner's CDs are available at her website, Two Tomatoes or all the finer book- and music stores.

Review: Ralph's World - Ralph's World

Ralph Covert is a classic example of a musician who along the way to a career as a musician making music for adults stumbled into becoming a kids' musician and found he had a gift for that type of music. These conversions are not so surprising; coming home at 3 AM after playing clubs (then sleeping 'til noon) is perhaps not the best way for an artist to be a part of their kids' lives. So now he records as Ralph's World. On Ralph's World's first kids' CD Ralph's World, the band showcases a broad range of musical styles, though it’s considerably tamer that one might expect from a band that includes a former member of the Smashing Pumpkins. Up-tempo, down-tempo, western swing, disco, whatever. There are lots of songs about animals (“Freddy Bear the Teddy Bear”, “Animal Friends”, “Tickle a Tiger”). And Covert isn't afraid to write songs that put his heart on his sleeve ("All My Colors," "Bedtime Girl"). But there are just enough sly adult references to keep the parents happy; “Take a Little Nap (The Disco Song)” reworks a classic disco tune. Covert’s daughter and friends make appearances singing backup (don’t worry, it’s kept in check). The album is targeted at kids aged 2 to 6. Recommended.

DVD Review: Here Come The ABCs - They Might Be Giants

In my younger days, I went to clubs to hear Rawk Bands. And in my much younger days, I watched Sesame Street. It is no knock on this new DVD -- it's high praise, in fact -- that I could see clips from the DVD played at clubs and on Sesame Street. My review from last week on the CD version of this album was interpreted in the comments section by a snarky friend as being a negative review. As a long-time They Might Be Giants fan, I prefer to think of my less-than-5-star CD review as a reflection of them just failing to meet the high standards I've set for them. And part of that was a result of some songs that sound like they were designed for the DVD that were less than compelling without visuals. So, then, the questions is, "how are the visuals?" And the answer is, fantabulous. Really. The video for "Pictures of Pandas Painting," while not a favorite song of mine, has a hypnotic, psychedelic feel. The art in "C is for Conifers" is nothing less than, well, art. "Q U" is a quirky live-action bit with Q and U (I love the shot of them walking through Central Park, with the crowd completely ignoring them). The puppetry in songs like "Who Put the Alphabet (In Alphabetical Order)" is lots of fun and a little surreal (e.g., the guitar windmills of a nearly-punk-rockin' pink poodle). And with visuals, songs such as "Letter Shapes" are much more enjoyable. (One note: if you're interested in the DVD because you want to see the actual band, you'll be mostly disappointed as the "thumb puppet" Johns get almost as much screen time as the "real" Johns -- i.e., not much.) Taken in one 50-minute sitting, it's almost too much, but these visuals would fit in perfectly as interstitials (between-segment shorts) in Sesame Street. They would also make perfect oblique sense played on TVs in a rock club between sets. One other minor complaint -- the DVD menu doesn't have scenes by chapters. If you're trying to limit a child's viewing time, trying to get to a particular song (and then play it from there for, say, 15 minutes) takes more work than it should. But these are minor complaints. Excellent DVD.

Review: Here Come the ABCs - They Might Be Giants

As a follow-up to their popular and critically-acclaimed children's CD No!, Here Come the ABCs is a bit of a let-down only in comparison to such a strong disc. Part of this is probably due to the deliberate narrowing of subject matter of the new disc. How many different ways can you sing songs about the alphabet, a subject whose signature song was written by Mozart? But the relatively abstract nature of the lyrics allow TMBG to run amuck across the musical spectrum: jaunty ("E Eats Everything"), prog-rockish ("Pictures of Pandas Painting"), sometimes within the same song (the ballad/British Invasion/"Leader-of-the-Pack"-ish "D & W"). Since this CD was created with a companion DVD in mind, some of the songs ("Can You Find It?," "Letter/Not A Letter," "Letter Shapes") seem deficient without any accompanying visuals (I'll address whether or not that's actually the case in an upcoming review of the DVD). And unlike No!, which used a few songs from TMBG's "adult" career, the songs on ABCs are definitely more targeted at kids (thereby increasing the likelihood of odd stares from co-workers should you take the CD to work). But that's not to say there aren't some standout tracks. "Alphabet Lost and Found" is a electronica-lite song about well, lost and found letters. "I C U" has some great wordplay (or, rather, letter-play). "C Is For Conifers" is a fine entry in the long TMBG tradition of educational songs and covers ("Mammal," "Meet John Ensor," "The Sun Is A Mass (Of Incandescent Gas)"). And "Q U" is just cute (or "qute," I guess). Can I envision sneaking this off to work like I did with No!? Probably not -- it's not as strong an album in total. But if you (or your children) liked No!, there's no reason to believe you (or they) won't find Here Come the ABCs enjoyable as well.