Review in Brief: Dog Train - Sandra Boynton

For those of you who adore Sandra Boynton's comically plaintive drawings of pets and her whimsical sense of humor, but found the Broadway show stylings of Philadelphia Chickens a little too, well, Broadway show-stylish, her 2005 album/book Dog Train really brings the rock. Or, well, as much as any album that features three separate episodes entitled "Cow Planet" can bring said rock. Boynton and her musical collaborator Michael Ford have recruited a... diverse collection of musical performers to perform their (mostly) humorous songs -- Alison Krauss, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Blues Traveler, among others. As is often the case with albums where a collection of performers tackle the work of another artist, the best work is done by the least expected -- the Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan bringing his Tom Waits-esque voice to "Sneakers," or the energetic "Pots and Pans" built up to a percussive crescendo by the Bacon Brothers and Mickey Hart. The best song on the CD may be the most familiar -- the wonderful "I Need A Nap," which pairs "Weird Al" Yankovic with Kate Winslet ("this is Ms. Winslet and Mr. Yankovic's first duet together," the liner notes wryly comment). It takes a Titanic-worthy overwrought ballad and applies it to the overwrought words of a cranky kid. It's very meta, and very funny. Less successful, though, are the fairly straight songs (Alison Krauss sounds wonderful on "Evermore," but she'd sound wonderful singing the "Weekly Clipper") and the "Cow Planet" interludes. The album will probably be most appreciated by kids ages 4 through 8 and people of a certain age remembering the soundtrack to their high school and/or college years. (Hey, I liked the Hooters. And the Spin Doctors CD. And the Hootie CD. I'm just sayin'.) You can hear clips from all of Boynton's CDs here. Oh, and if you don't want the book/CD compilation, the CD by itself is scheduled to be released on August 8. Fans of Boynton's work won't be disappointed by Dog Train; newcomers may be surprised at the breadth of collaborators here and amused by the whimsy.

Review in Brief: The Pet Project - Campfire Kev & Mary Lafleur

The 2006 Cooperative Summer Library Program may be winding down, but here's another pet-themed CD in case librarians reading here are looking for a CD to tide them over these last few days of summer. (I'm guessing throwing up one's hands and feeding the kids animal crackers is an insufficient response.) Kids' music artists Campfire Kev and Mary Lafleur have teamed up to record The Pet Project (2005), an album with more than 20 original songs, all about pets and animals in general. The songs generally fit in the children's pop mold, with a large cast of musicians backing up the two leads, who trade vocals (and songwriting credits). With 20+ songs about the same subject, I gravitated toward the songs that stood out musically and lyrically -- the country-rock on Kev's outstanding "The Cow Who Can't Say 'Moo'", the gentle AM pop of Lafleur's "Teddy's Bear" (weaving a story about Teddy Roosevelt's pets), or the dueling vocals on "Queen of the House," a clever "cat vs. dog" song that would be great in a kids' musical. The disk is best for kids age 4 through 9 and you can hear clips at the CD's CDBaby page. (And if you like Campfire Kev's more rocking songs on this disk, you might want to check out his first CD, The Campfire Kev Show and Other Radio Favorites.) We don't have pets in the house at the moment, so I'm not the first person you should read looking for "oh, they have so described my pet" comments. I can only hear so many songs about how wonderful pets are or the wacky things they do before I go a little crazy. Kinda like reading one too many mommy- or daddy-blogs. But in selective doses, there are some good tracks on The Pet Project.

All Belle and Sebastian, All the Time?

Pitchfork picks up a NME story updating the Belle and Sebastian-curated children's music compilation, Zooglobble goes nuts. (You know, for someone who's a little bit skeptical about this whole endeavor, I'm certainly spending a lot of time talking about it. Maybe I'm talking myself into thinking it might just work.) First, the actual news -- the compilation on Rough Trade Records is now scheduled for release in October, not September as originally announced. Oh, and the Flaming Lips have been added to the bill. Now, for pure silliness, let's guess what the best track will be, purely based on the artist and song name: Four Tet (featuring Princess Watermelon) - "Go Go Ninja Dinosaur" Rasputina - "A Skeleton Bang" Franz Ferdinand - "Jackie Jackson" Snow Patrol - "I Am an Astronaut" The Divine Comedy - "Three Cheers for Pooh, Cottleston Pie, Piglet Ho" The Kooks - "The King & I" Half Man Half Biscuit - "David Wainwright's Feet" The Barcelona Pavilion - "Tidy Up Tidy Up" Jonathan Richman - "Out Dog Is Getting Older Now" Ivor Cutler Trio - "Mud" The Flaming Lips - "The Big Ol' Bug Is the New Baby Now" Belle & Sebastian - "The Monkeys Are Breaking out of the Zoo" Kathryn Williams - "Night Baking" I've got my bets on the Four Tet and Flaming Lips tracks. The Divine Comedy track could either be a disaster or inspired. As a big fan of the Milne books, it's a track I simultaneously view with anticipation and dread.

Review: An Elephant Never Forgets - Owen Duggan

I would call Owen Duggan the "next Raffi," but the problem is, I already did that with someone else. And even if I no longer believed it (which I do), it would look pretty foolish of me to recant scant weeks later. So let me put it this way -- Owen Duggan is Raffi. Or, to put it another way, Duggan's late 2005 debut album An Elephant Never Forgets is the album that Raffi could've recorded after The Corner Grocery Store, had he decided to continue mining the vein of classic kids' songs, folk songs, and other musical traditions instead of becoming increasingly concerned with ecology and children -- all Good Things, no doubt, but far from where Raffi started. But Duggan has the sweet voice (here's a man who needs to record "Puff the Magic Dragon") and talented backing musicians that makes Raffi's work so pleasant to listen to. Duggan, a San Antonio-based music teacher, has put together a wonderful group of musicians to back up this collection of Duggan originals and classic tunes. The gentle humor of the album is evident in one of my favorite tracks, the zippy "The Ants," better known as "The Ants Go Marching." Duggan and his band gives the song an increasingly manic energy, which is released in a jazzy musical outro. I especially liked the brass work of Ron Wilkins throughout the album, but the whole set of jazz and folk musicians who back him up are top-notch. The music switches between gentle kids folk music (the Duggan original "The Elephant Song" and "I Got the Baby Blues"), covers of classics (Tom Paxton's oft-recorded "The Marvelous Toy"), authentic folk music (the energetic fiddle tune "The Green Meadow"), and jazz (the Ellington/Strayhorn "Happy Go Lucky Local"). Duggan closes out the album with a couple lovely lullabies, which seems to be the standard for kids' albums nowadays. (Almost makes me nostalgic for the Raffi albums, which sometimes ended up on an uptempo note.) This album is targeted right at kids ages 2 through 6. You can hear samples here and order the disk at Duggan's website or the standard Amazon/CDBaby/iTunes trio. If Raffi makes your eyelid twitch erratically, I really can't recommend the disk to you. But if you have an appreciation for Raffi's work, and are looking for something else besides to play, An Elephant Never Forgets is a nice collection, a little jazzier, a little poppier than Raffi, and every bit as well done. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Children are the Sunshine

Trinidad-born and Bay Area-based, Asheba released his third kids music album, Children Are the Sunshine (2006), earlier this month. Asheba's music draws on his Caribbean heritage, employing reggae and calypso styles on kids' standards and his originals. The strong points of the CD? There are some tracks I enjoyed -- the reggae-fied version of "All Around the Kitchen," for example, or an original version of an alphabet song ("ABC (Alphabet Story)"). But his CD fails to draw enough attention to Asheba's reported strengths as an improvisational artist or storyteller. There isn't always enough musical variety within a song to merit the 4- to 5-minute track lengths of many song, and sweet story songs like "Picoplat Calypso" were more the exception than the rule. And I was disappointed that the album didn't include a single song with steel drum, which Asheba can play. Asheba is reputedly very popular in the Bay Area, and is working on a Putumayo Kids recording. I hope that that next album, especially with the backing of Putumayo, allows Asheba to use a broader array of instruments and larger number of musicians, thereby drawing out more of the qualities fans see in his live shows. Children Are the Sunshine isn't a bad album, it just doesn't do enough to showcase Asheba.

Huge In Australia

Before I get to the Purple Stripes, a quick story: Shortly after the NPR interview, I got an e-mail from an Australian comic who was looking for a review I'd done of his CD here on the website. He'd apparently sold some of his albums at CDBaby from people who were referred there from here. Here's the thing: I'd never even heard of him or the CD, let alone reviewed it. I told him that if he got me a copy of the CD (which did sound like it'd be fairly amusing and even somewhat apropos for the site), I'd review it here, and then at least it would all make sense. Haven't heard a reply to the offer, though. I bring this up as a way of saying I must be huge in Australia, because Karl Richter, with the new Australian label Bing!Bang!Bong!, is the first person to ask me to post a kids' music artist's mp3 here on Zooglobble. And since the song is from the new Australian kids' music duo The Purple Stripes, I said I'd be happy to oblige: The Purple Stripes - The Circle Song (Too late!) While my favorite song from their 2006 EP is "Bing! Bang! Bong!" (available at their Myspace page), I think "The Circle Song" is more indicative of their EP as a whole -- sweet female harmonizing in a folk-pop way, with just guitar and the bare minimum of percussion for accompaniment. Those looking for a kids' music equivalent of The White Stripes will be disappointed -- it's a little more of a blend of Laurie Berkner and Lunch Money. Good stuff and a promising debut. Their EP will be on the iTunes Music Store soon.