Review: C'mon - Renee and Jeremy

The first time I heard Renee and Jeremy's It's A Big World more than 2 1/2 years ago, I instantly recognized how unique its sound was (read the review). Even if I thought it was just shy of being a timeless classic, it was definitely (and still is) a very important album in the resurgent genre, a completely modern lullaby album that was so intimate it sounded like it was recorded in the nursery. (Which it was, incidentally.) But if lullaby albums are about the parents, the follow-up albums are about the kids, which brings us to C'mon, the recently-released second album from the duo of Renee Stahl and Jeremy Toback. Whereas the first album was designed to put everyone at ease, C'mon is designed for, well, if not dancing, then at least bobbing of heads. At times, the album is the grooviest thing you're going to hear until Sly and the Family Stone release their family music album, but it also retains just enough of the raw intimacy that gave It's a Big World such a distinctive sound (for example, Toback's "here we go" at the very start of the leadoff track, "Share"). But if you're looking for another hushed rendition of "Three Little Birds," you'll be surprised by the '80s pop and synthesized strings of songs like "Watch Where You're Going." The songs are anchored by Stahl's beautiful voice, but Stahl and Toback duet more on this album than on its predecessor, usually to great effect ("Wishing Well" not only features Stahl and Toback duetting, but also multiple layers of Stahl's vocals). Fans of the first album might prefer the lullaby "Is It Really Any Wonder?." But for me the album's standout track is ELO-meets-the-playground "Mama Papa Love," which neatly turns the line "Mama loves you so much, baby / What you gonna do with that love? / Papa loves you so much, baby / What you gonna do with that love?" into "Baby loves you so much, mama, what you gonna do with that love?" It speaks straight to both parent and child and soars. I'm a bigger fan of the music than the lyrics, which are generally simple, big on repeated choruses, and directed at kids with fairly obvious topics -- sharing ("Share") or delayed gratification ("Right Now"). The album is slightly more than the sum of its parts, as over its 33-minute run it sets up its groovy mood and sticks to it. The songs here are topically most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 6. You can get the physical copy exclusively (for the moment) at Barnes and Noble or digitally here. Families who are fans of the first album should have no problem getting into C'mon after a listen or two. Neither should listeners new to the duo. It's a sweet treat of a disk. Definitely recommended. Disclaimer:Renee & Jeremy provided me with a copy of the album for possible review.

Review: Two Feet Tall - Dan Bern

Dan Bern might not be the first person you'd think to release a kids music album -- a discography filled with socially and politically charged songs (sample: "Bush Must Be Defeated") isn't necessarily the typical precursor to singing songs about binkies. But Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Ella Jenkins didn't exactly hide behind their political convictions, so why shouldn't politically-minded contemporary folk musicians be any less free to sing for the preschool set? Having said that, if you're expecting you're expecting the just-released Two Feet Tall to be your toddler's introduction to progressive politics, you'll be disappointed. Instead, the album features amusing couplets like this in "Hen Party" -- "They'll be playing ball games / They'll be eating applesauce / One thing we know for sure is / They won't be playing an egg toss." The closest Bern really gets to being political is "Labor Day," and that's really just a celebration of walking outside with an infant. Instead, Bern's more interested in turning a simple story of putting on pants ("Trousers") into a digression on how pants became trousers (Jack Trousers, 1751, apparently -- strange how Wikipedia is oddly silent on that issue). Or a manic telling via lyrical couplets of the people behind Listerine or Kleenex or Schwinn bicycles ("Mister Lister"). Or telling a child she's too young to do things she wants to do with lyrics that will thankfully go over the 18-month-old's head ("If you came to me and said / I want to hold a shiny red purse and / Hang on the corner of Hollywood and Vine / I'd say / You're too, too, too young / You're too young for that / Why don't you sit on my lap / And we'll drink cookies and milk..."). And occasionally Bern comes up with classic kid-folk songs, like "Shoes" ("I like that you don't have a mortgage / I like that you don't have a mortgage / That's OK when you're old and gray / But today you can run and play / I like that you don't have a mortgage...") "Only a Mouse" lists all the things only a mouse knows -- the migratory patterns of cats, certain qualities of cheese, and mixing a sloe gin fizz, apparently, among other things. There are plenty of other tracks here, such as "Donkey to Brunch," "Secrets," and "Monkey and the Kangaroo" that could easily have been recorded on a Folkways album of fifty years ago. Bern's clearly in love with his kid, and that tenderness comes through loud and clear. Well, at least clear. Clocking in at 38 songs and about 70 minutes in length, the album could have been trimmed by at least a third, not because any of the songs are bad (OK, I'd be happy never to hear again the vibrating chair in "It Vibrates") but because there's relatively little variation in the arrangements, with whistling or bells occasionally offsetting Bern's sightly nasally voice and guitar (or ukulele) playing. (There's a reason I've been focusing on Bern's wordplay here.) The songs here are most appropriate for kids ages 0 through 4. You can purchase the album at Bern's store or hear samples through iTunes. As if he were the child of Kimya Dawson, Barry Louis Polisar, and Woody Guthrie, Dan Bern's put together a collection of gentle and witty lo-fi songs that wear their hearts on their sleeves and occasionally achieve transcendance. Two Feet Tall isn't for everyone, but if you know a relatively new parent (or are one yourself) and are looking for an album celebrating infant- and toddlerhood with some roughness around the edges, you might just adore this album. For those folks, it's recommended. Disclosure: I purchased this album. Is that a disclosure?

Itty-Bitty Review: Music is... Awesome! (Yo Gabba Gabba!) - Various Artists

I am perhaps not the best person to judge a Yo Gabba Gabba compilation, as I've never seen a complete episode aside from the premiere I received on a screener DVD a few years back. (That's what a lack of cable will do.) A soundtrack album -- that's pitched at the true believers, not at the casual fans, right? So, if anything, I started listening expecting not to like it so much. Wrong. Even if you've never watched an episode and don't know your Brobee from your Muno, you and your preschoolers could definitely enjoy their new compilation Music is... Awesome!. For the most part, the disk alternates songs from the series with those from a list of artists with serious street cred; often they're set up as pairs. So a basic YGG song like "I Like to Dance" is followed up by Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark doing a cool "Robo Dancing," an angular dance tune with lots of bleeps and bloops. "Don't Be Afraid" is followed by I'm From Barcelona's swirly pop on "Just Because It's Different Doesn't Mean Its Scary." Generally, the best songs are from the guest artists -- the Roots' incredible "Lovely, Love My Family" or Chromeo's funky ode to handwashing "Nice 'N' Clean" or the sunny "Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play" from The Little Ones (a song which is destined to find its way onto a lot of hipster mix CDs yet is somehow totally appropriate for the 3-year-old in your life). But there are a few decent songs from the YGG folks, even if you're not a fan of the show (the cute "Party in my Tummy," or the shiny pop of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," credited to the Yo Dazzlers, but really just another YGG tune). You can find the 37-minute CD at the usual places, including Amazon and iTunes. Besides your hipster 30-year-old friend with the chunky eyeglass frames, the album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 5. I'd love to say that Music is... Awesome! is awesome. Unfortunately I can't pull the trigger on that obvious pull quote as some of the YGG tunes are just too dry to enjoy apart from the visuals. But a lot of the music is indeed awesome, which makes it the kids music compilation of the year. Definitely recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: Hello Night - Kesang Marstrand

Unlike any other lullaby album you'll hear this year, Hello Night is the creation of New York-based singer-songwriter Kesang Marstrand. It's buoyed by Marstrand's simple songs, spare accompaniment, and her delicate, beautiful voice. Especially her voice, which is clear and just about perfect for an album like this. Many of the songs -- all original -- on the album take inspiration from the natural world, from the opening tracks "Dandelion" and "Carry On Crickets" to songs like "Cocooned In My Blanket," in which the snuggled child thinks of becoming a butterfly. (I also particularly liked the placement of "All the Little Children," about all the adventures the not-yet-sleeping child could have with the singer, at the end of the album.) If you listen to the 37-minute album repeatedly in the light of day (an occupational hazard of reviewing music), you may tire of the relatively narrow range of song styling and guitar accompaniment. (One of the most welcome tracks is "Rest," which unlike the other songs, features Marstrand accompanying herself on kalimba instead of guitar.) But that's not a huge concern with lullaby albums, designed as they are to be listened to in the background (or subconsciously after falling asleep), for which radical changes in style are not to be wished for. The album is obviously most appropriate for kids age 0 through 4 and their weary caregivers. You can listen to samples here and here. Families who have found a spot in their record collection for the mellow music of Frances England and Renee & Jeremy should give Hello Night a spin. It's an album you could spend many nights with. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Somersault Season - Laura Freeman

Laura Freeman's Somersault Season arrives a couple years after its demos were completed and a full four years after its excellent predecessor, Color Wheel Cartwheel (review), an album which I still play around the house, no small feat given the constant influx of material. Like Cartwheel, Season is a concept album, except instead of colors, it's about the passing of the seasons. (TMBG can now cross Here Comes Seasons off their future sequels list.) Each season gets its own foreign-language introduction (a la the colors on Cartwheel) and three season-appropriate songs. As opposed to its predecessor, the songs here are more interactive, meaning that your kids (and you) will enjoy it more if you move. Stomp along with "My Brother's a Monster," shake along to "Can You Shake It?," or dance along with the western swing of "1, 2, 3, 4." Generally, the music takes a folk/bluegrass approach, aided especially by producer Mike West's mandolin and banjo work. Freeman's sly sense of humor is more prevalent live, but occasionally breaks through here on songs like the droll "Look in a Book." The songs here are targeted very much at the kindergarten-and-under crowd (ages 2-5). You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page. I'd also recommend Freeman's notes on the lyrics and activities. Clearly my appreciation of Somersault Season is hampered somewhat by my affinity for Color Wheel Cartwheel, and while I'd recommend Cartwheel for an introduction to Laura Freeman over this new album (particularly as a pure listening experience), I like Somersault Season quite a bit, too. It's an especially good music-and-movement CD, heads and shoulders above most in that particular subgenre. Recommended.

Review: John and Mark's Children's Record - John Upchurch and Mark Greenberg

At the risk of over-simplification, I think there are five kinds of kids music albums: 1. Explicitly educational music (for the most part, left undiscussed here), 2. Renditions of traditional kids songs (e.g., Raffi, early Laurie Berkner), 3. Rock/pop/folk songs with kid-focused lyrics (Ralph's World, Justin Roberts, later Laurie Berkner, tons more), 4. Music geared at the whole family simultaneously (Dan Zanes, Elizabeth Mitchell). 5.... Well, the fifth type looks a bit askew at the kids music genre. If it doesn't quite subvert the genre, it doesn't quite buy into it, either. They Might Be Giants, who could easily fit into the rock/pop/folk category above, fit here, as do albums from folks like Duplex and the Quiet Two. You can also lump in every album that attempts to fit the kids song peg into an adult hole (traditional kids songs... done in electronica!) or the adult peg into the kids music hole (ahem, I'm looking at you, Rockabye Baby). I wouldn't want a kids music library consisting of nothing but albums from this category, but their quirkiness is a welcome change, even from nothing but excellent albums in the other categories. For those of you looking for an album in that fifth category, I can't commend John and Mark's Children's Record to you highly enough. The album is the creation of John Upchurch and Mark Greenberg, who played together in the Coctails many years ago and now find themselves each father to three kids. The album was inspired, of course, by life with their kids, but the result sounds like little else you will hear this year. "The Lawnmower" kicks off the album with a kid's lament that he might be trapped inside the house all summer long since the grass has grown so high before chugging into a country-folk tune which will have you humming "the lawnmower goes off / and the lawnmower goes on" and the killer couplet "I can rest well assured / of a lawn well-manicured." It's the kids music album equivalent of "you had me at 'hello'." From there the album moves into "A Counting Error," which beyond its lyrical subversion (to tell you more would ruin the surprise) has funky "Mahna Mahna"-style vocalizing, whistling, and sax interspersed. I can't think of a more striking kids song all year. "Pat, the Alligator Lady" is an odd little song about a lady who, Greenberg says, ran a rescue shelter for odd animals in an 80-year-old Victorian house. "The Elephant Leads the Way" is a poppy banjo-accented number followed up by "People Have Good Reasons," which sounds like it lost its way from another album made just for adults -- the spoken-word carousel tune is amusing, but it's the album's one false step as kids'll probably be mystified ("It is very VERY important / So precautions that they've taken are all warranted / And accepted / as a rule of law"). And on it goes. I have no idea what the titular shoes are of "Honey Boots," and the lyrics consist primarily of "I've got my honey boots on," but that's one of the joys of this collection -- not everything is spelled out. "Colors" is about, yes, colors, but it's as if Shel Silverstein wrote a poem about colors and asked Sufjan Stevens to write song to along with it. The album mellows as it draws to a close, ending with a lullaby ("Until the Dawn") and a slow instrumental ("In My Blue House"). The album is about 35 minutes long and most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7; you can download a couple tracks -- including the sublime "A Counting Error" -- here. You can download the entire album from iTunes or eMusic. But I should mention the album packaging (designed by former Coctail member Archer Prewitt) is beautiful and well worth the additional shipping cost (the album costs the same in physical format as through iTunes). As you can tell by now, I think this album is fabulous. It is a bit odd perhaps, but I've figured out over time that what separates the great "odd" albums from the annoying ones is love -- that people love the genre and the kids in their lives and they're making music borne out of their own musical and personal experiences. John and Mark's Children's Record reflects that love in spades. It's one of my favorite albums of the year. Highly recommended.