Itty-Bitty Review: The Littlest Star - Meadows

The annoyance some parents feel upon hearing the classics of kids' music isn't due to the melodies themselves. The melodies, in fact, because they've survived for centuries in some cases, are some of the best ever. Parents' anger, rather, is a result of repetition and, sometimes, poor execution. The littlest things, like providing the barest minimum of interesting accompaniment and slightly different (but real) instrumention, can push the date of the inevitable "I can't take this anymore!" way out into the future.

So it is with The Littlest Star, the debut album from Meadows. The band is a side project from musician and composer Keith Kenniff and his wife Hollie (who also perform together in their indie-rock band Mint Julep). Most of the tracks are renditions of standard wiggleworm-y classics like "Shoofly Don't Bother Me," "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O," and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." The arrangements are muted and tasteful, lots of acoustic guitar and piano. Hollie Kenniff gets the majority of vocals here; her relaxed voice induces calm and fits the simple tunes perfectly. Their banjo-assisted take on "You Are My Sunshine" is particularly lovely. The originals (e.g., "Flutter Like a Butterfly," "Three Kangaroos") are pleasant enough, but tend toward the cute end of the spectrum and I found myself preferring the standards to these.

The 33-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 0 through 5. You can hear samples at their homepage, but to listen to fill tracks, check out the Unseen Music YouTube channel. You'll probably find Meadows' sound as reminiscent of Elizabeth Mitchell's (minus the inspired cover song choices). I'd go with Mitchell's CDs over The Littlest Star, but the fact that I'm even bothering to compare the two speaks highly of the Meadows' ability to make childhood classics listenable for a long time. Recommended.

Disclosure: I received a (digital) copy of the album for possible review.

Review: A Trio of Sleepy Disks

Time once again for another stroll -- a long, langurous stroll we might not actually complete because we're so tired -- down lullaby lane. The last couple times I did this, I reviewed seven lullaby albums, but maybe because I'm only doing this a year after my last list, I only have three to add. Let's get started... you're probably tired anyway.

First up is my favorite of the trio, New England singer-songwriter Mark Erelli's Innocent When You Dream, originally released in 2007 and back in print once again. Like many lullaby disks these days, it's not a collection of traditional (or even standard) lullabies; rather, the album includes songs by "some of [Erelli's] favorite writers that have a certain tenderness to them," and even subtitles the album "Lullabies and Love Songs." Which is why you get folks like Tom Waits, Tom Petty, Wilco, and Shawn Colvin getting covered here. (I already said how much I liked Erelli's cover of Wilco's "My Darling"; the song is originally from this album.) They are songs of comfort and reassurance, so, yes, lullabies, if not ones with easy-to-remember lyrics. Sonically, the album is perfectly pitched, as if Erelli were sitting in the corner of your nursery or around the campfire, singing to you and/or your child, accompanying himself on guitar. It avoids the common lullaby album mistake of being so overwrought that it'll keep everyone awake. Listen to a couple tracks from the 30-minute album here. Innocent When You Dream is a lovely little album and will soothe all but the most savage beast.

A couple more albums after the jump.
Nashville singer-songwriter Jane Roman Pitt's 2009 album Midnight Lullaby is another album getting another new push here in 2011. Compared to Erelli's album, Pitt's album definitely has a shinier sound. In fact, 2 or 3 tracks in, I was afraid that it was one of those albums that was "lullaby" in name only and not in execution. But starting with her take on the Dixie Chicks' "Lullaby" and Tom Waits' "Midnight Lullaby," the album calms down considerably to the point where I could envision actually using this at lullaby-time. If you listen to Pitt's version of Wilco's "My Darling" (listen to tracks from the 37-minute album here and compare that to Erelli's version, I think they each give a fair representation of their albums as a whole. Pick the one you like the most. I may prefer Erelli's album, but Midnight Lullaby offers some elegant charms of its own. Recommended.

Finally, Sweet Water Child - Lullabies for Getty is an album of lullabies from Alex and Angela Dezen. Alex Dezen is the singer-songwriter behind The Damnwells, and on this album he's recorded with his wife a series of impassioned lullaby-ish love songs. The urgency is not surprising given that it's a fundraiser the Getty Owl Foundation, named for a young girl called Getty Storm and who is fighting Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a thus-far untreatable and fatal disease. For the most part it's just Alex and his piano, singing songs of love that sound like they come out of a half-remembered dream. It doesn't quite sound like a standard lullaby album -- it sounds more like something you'd play at 2 in the morning after you've spent an hour or two trying to get a sick baby to sleep. That's got to be one of the weirder sentences of praise I've ever written for an album, but it feels right. (It's a feeling that I would guess families fighting SMA have quite a bit.) You can listen to the 25-minute album here or stream it below. Sweet Water Child is an even more untraditional lullaby album than the other two mentioned here, but I think not a few folks will find its slightly-ragged, insistent sound appealing and its cause worthy. Recommended.

[Disclosure: I received copies of Mark Erelli's and Jane Roman Pitt's albums for possible review.]

Itty-Bitty Review: Acoustic Dreamland (Putumayo) - Various Artists

The sight of Nicola Heindl's illustration immediately brands it as a Putumayo disk. But take off the animated cover of Acoustic Dreamland, the latest collection from Putumayo Kids, replace it with some tastefully sepia-tinged photograph of, I don't know, a moon rising over a barn, and you could totally sell this collection at Pottery Barn, perhaps.

Which is to say that this isn't so much a kids music album as it is just a kid-friendly album. But oh what a nicely curated album it is. I never would have pegged Wilco as a source for lullabies, but Mark Erelli's version of "My Darling" outshines the original, methinks. Ditto for Elizabeth Mitchell's cover of the Allman Brothers' "Blue Sky." Kids musicians aren't totally shut out here -- Frances England records a new song, "Here With Me," for the collection, and Kesang Marstrand lends a song from her excellent lullaby collection as well. As with many Putumayo disks, however, the value in the collection isn't so much the individual songs as much as it is the fact that someone has spent the time finding the tracks and saving the listener the effort.

The album is appropriate for all ages, though the lullaby nature of means that you're more likely to spin it with kids ages 5 and less. You can sample some of the tracks here. I can totally see Acoustic Dreamland being used at nap time or quiet time or during a nighttime feeding. And, buried on a hard drive and stripped of its album art, long past your kids nap, eat at night, or are ever quiet, listened by you and you alone. Recommended.

Seven Sleepy Lullaby Albums (The Sequel)

A couple years ago, I put together a review of seven lullaby albums. It's time to do another review of lullaby albums that have crossed my desk in the past six to nine months and, what do you know?, there are seven more. Must be a lucky number.

The most striking lullaby album in this collection is Until the Light of Morning, the recently released album from New Yorker (via London) Essie Jain. As Jain notes in her liner notes, the 35-minute album is "designed to unwind itself as it goes along, as the music becomes softer and more relaxed, eventually becoming as instrumental as the heart beat." It's definitely the best-constructed lullaby album here, perfected for moving from evening play time to sleep time. The music and lovely packaging make it a good choice for gifting to the new parent... or maybe even your own family. (Listen to a couple songs here and 3 more from a live Daytrotter session.) Definitely recommended.

Sing Me To Sleep from American Laundromat Records is the latest in the time-honored tradition of getting indie rock artists to record music for kids. The For the Kids series can cross "lullaby disk" off their to-do list, because this fits the bill. The indie artists here such as Stars, Dean & Britta, and Tanya Donelly cover others' songs for the album. As you might expect given the compilation nature of the disk, the definition of "lullaby" gets stretched considerably. I love The Leisure Society's take on "Inchworm," but it gets far too peppy to be a lullaby, and I'm not sure "Little Boxes" is really a lullaby in any sense of the word. (Also, can we please put a five-year moratorium on covers of "Pure Imagination" and "Rainbow Connection," both covered here and a billion other kid-related comps?) Far better are Dala's take on "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and Telekinesis' version of "Can't Get It Out of My Head," along with a number of other tracks.

There's a limited edition with tracks from Julie Peel and the Coctails, and more -- the tracks from those artists in particular definitely aren't throwaway tracks and are probably worth the extra cash, along with a gorgeous instrumental version of "The Sound of Silence" from the Abbasi Brothers. Peter Broderick's "You Are My Sunshine" may induce nightmares, though, and count me among those wondering why Say Hi covered the Violent Femmes track "Kiss Off" (it does make for interesting listening, though, I'll give it that much). Proceeds from the album will go to The Valerie Fund, which provides support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. (Listen to songs from the album here.) It might not be a perfect album, but you can certainly find a good 30 minutes of excellent lullabies. Recommended.

I think these two albums are the cream of this particular crop of disks, but there are 5 more after the jump -- you're bound to find at least one of these that appeal to you...
Australia's Mudcakes weigh in with Songs For Little Sleepyheads, the album most likely to sound like the album you or I might make. OK, you probably wouldn't have simple accompaniment on ukulele or lap steel guitar. (Definitely not the lap steel guitar.) But the songs -- "I See the Moon," "Twinkle Twinkle," or "Froggy Goodnight" (a reworking of "Goodnight Irene") -- are the type you might have in your repertoire. There are some originals worked into the mix as well, and there's a nice winding down effect. (Listen to songs from the 38-minute album here.) Recommended.

New York-based trio Tres Leches are a one-man, er, three-woman Putumayo crew on their debut 2009 disk Songs, Chants & Lullabies for All Our Relations. The opener African song "Samina" is bright uptempo, but the rest is mostly cooldown music, with harmonies the focus. High points include a sweet and indirect "Itsy Bitsy Spider," the traditional Afro-Yoruban song "Yemaya," and the original "Coo Coo." By the end of the 31-minute album, it's mostly a capella, so it's a good thing the voices and harmonies sound so lovely. (Listen to the album at the band's website above.) Recommended.

Blue Sky Lullaby is from New York's Hammond Sisters, who, being Amy Koza and Davita Robinson, are neither named "Hammond" nor are sisters. It's a collection of original '30s-inspired folk ballads written by the duo that are more quiet-time songs than lullabies. Which isn't to say some of them aren't gorgeous, just that you may find that the songs work better near the front of your personally-crafted lullaby mix CD rather than the sleep end. The 43-minute album is a benefit for Mapendo International, which protects and cares for at-risk refugees in Africa. Fans of Hem I think will particularly enjoy this album, as will folks looking for something to listen to a cold winter afternoon. (Listen to a couple tracks, including the lovely "Baby Mine," here.) Recommended.

Jazz singer Maci Miller's Butterfly Moon is the album for those who like their lullaby albums to have a bit of shine to them. It's partially a benefit for The Mercy Centre, a Bangkok organization working with kids and families. Save for the title track, these are all covers, some of popular songs ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "It's a Small World,"), some more traditional (Brahms' "Lullaby," "Down In The Valley"). It's a bit too slickly produced for my own lullaby tastes, a little too "tinkly." But it's a lot less schmaltzy and restrained than other stuff in the same vein and mostly remembers the notionally lullaby nature of the disk, which sometimes trained singers forget. I don't think fans of Sing Me To Sleep or Essie Jain will necessarily like this, but if for some reason those albums don't speak to you or your kids, this one might. (Listen to 3 tracks here or clips here.)

Finally, Bedtime with the Beatles, recorded by pop-rocker Jason Falkner and released in 2001 on the Sony Wonder. Long before Rockabye Baby came along was this album, in which Falkner goes all Mantovani on us and creates smooth (and synthesized) orchestral versions of 11 Beatles classics. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about these versions, either in concept or compared to the originals, but they're not too tinkly and would be a pleasant diversion while trying to soothe a baby at 2 AM. Just don't expect it to replace your actual Beatles albums.

[With the exception of the Jason Falkner album, I received copies of all albums discussed here for possible review.]

Itty-Bitty Review: Little Boots - Brendan Taaffe

I sometimes get asked for baby shower gift suggestions from folks who don't have kids themselves but who know my gig. Because it'll be a little while before the kids are ready for the more raucous and diverse music targeted at the preschool crowd, I limit my suggestions to a handful of lullaby albums. I think I'm going to add Little Boots from Vermont's Brendan Taaffe to the list.

Conceived as a gift of sorts to Taaffe's nephew, it's a quiet collection of traditional folk songs, Irish tunes, and originals that blend instrumentation both traditional (guitar) and not so from a North American sense (mbira, used to particularly good effect on the leadoff track, Pete Seeger's "Well May the World Go"). Seeger is a big influence here -- he endorses Taaffe's effort and gets not only the leadoff track but the album closer, too. It's a little reminiscent of Dean Jones' Napper Delight disk in its instrumentation and that it's not afraid to step lively occasionally. If A Prairie Home Companion did a kids show, this would be the music they'd play throughout.

As a lullaby album (for the most part), it's clearly targeted at kids ages 0 through 3, but even more so at their parents, who could use a calming moment or two. You can hear (and download) four of the album's tracks here and sample the rest of the album here. (One other note in favor of its suitability for gifting -- the album's cover art was done by Dan Zanes' partner in artistic crime Donald Saaf.) Little Boots is a sweet little disk your family may find itself listening long after you've packed up the crib. Recommended.