Review: Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine (self-titled)

What do you get when you cross the Beach Boys with some fuzzed out guitars and synthesizers and mix in a tiny hint of Barney? Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine, who last week released his debut CD on Little Monster Records.

Robbert Bobbert is the brainchild of Robert Schneider, whose main job is as the ringleader for Apples in Stereo, an indie-pop band whose output melds '60s pop sounds with more modern textures. And for the Robbert Bobbert album, Schneider melds '60s pop sounds with more modern textures. Sometimes this works to great effect, such as on the synth-poppy "We R Super Heroes," one of the year's catchiest kids' songs. The raved-up "Hey Little Puppy" seems stolen from a lost Beach Boys kids album, while "Boom Boom" features lots of vocalizations (beat-boxing, "ba-ba-ba-da-da"s to no end) and is perfectly timed for a 2-minute dance break with your littlest ones.

While the music here is for the most part pretty catchy, listeners who are used to lyrics that play to two audiences at once -- the kids and the adults -- will be a little disappointed. In many songs, the lyrics are no more sophisticated than that of, well, Barney. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- what's wrong with a 90-second song tackling one theme in direct terms for a 3-year-old? And for the most part the melodies and arrangements are superior to that of the purple dinosaur's. But the songs where they don't quite ring true (the rapping mouse on "Fee Fi Fo, Fee Fi Fum"; the stomping in "The Mighty, Mighty Elephant") may have the parents hitting fast-forward and wishing for slightly more advanced lyrics as on the mini-science lesson of "Gravity" or the elegant "The Tiny Sheep."

Lyrically, the songs here will be of most interest to kids ages 2 through 5. The 23-minute album comes packaged with some sweet art from Todd Webb (Little Monster is definitely doing the most interesting physical album packaging of any of the labels dealing with kids music). If you want to listen to the album, it's embedded at the bottom of this post (after the jump if you're reading this on the main page).

The Robbert Bobbert character is being developed into a TV show. Based on the evidence from Robbert Bobbert's debut CD, it could hit the sweet spot for a lot a preschoolers and not a few of their parents. The album's got a lot of undeniably catchy tracks, and Schneider's only going to get even better as a songwriter for kids. Recommended.

(Reminder: Embedded song player after the jump.)

Review: Here I Am - Caspar Babypants (Chris Ballew)

One thought I had upon spinning Here I Am!, the upcoming first album from Caspar Babypants, the alter ego of Chris Ballew from the Presidents of the United States of America, was that it shouldn't be this easy for someone who spent a lot of years making music for adults to turn his or her attention to the kids music genre and turn out an album that sounds so good.

And maybe it isn't easy.

But it is good.

Now, there's no such thing as an overnight success, and Caspar Babypants is no different. Ballew put together a compilation of kids songs for a Seattle-based organization way back in 2002 -- he's been doing this for awhile. But over that time he's expanded his repertoire and approach considerably. There are 22 tracks here, almost all of them with something special to recommend them, so I'll just touch on a handful. Ballew has done a good job finding traditional songs -- some, like "Three Blind Mice," are changed enough to keep them listenable after a couple spins ("Mice" gets a 60's London sounds makeover and additional lyrics in the spirit of the original.) Others, like "Billy Pringle," get rescued from obscurity and are given new life.

Amidst the traditional songs, kids and folk, Ballew also mixes in some originals. Among my favorites are "Monkey River," an old song of Ballew's that he's recorded more than a dozen times and, lyrics tweaked slightly, is a hypnotic little family song. "Heard A Bird" is a great pop tune for 3-year-olds that could've been written 100 years ago.

Production-wise, these simple songs get some small amount of ornamentation, but not much. There's a lot of keyboards, some guitar, the occasional tape loop, and a fair amount of "la la las" and "cheep cheeps." I'm a sucker for good "la la las." Ballew gets the occasional vocal assistance from Jen Wood and Fysah Thomas, but for the most part, it's just him and his instruments. If I have any complaint with the disk, it's that at 49 minutes, it feels just a little too long -- it might have been better to trim 6 or 7 tracks from the disk.

This album will hold the most appeal to kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear (and download) several tracks from the album at the Caspar Babypants website.

Now, I don't usually review albums ahead of their scheduled release date, and Here I Am! won't actually be available until February 14. But I think this album deserves an exception to that rule. It's just simple, organic kid-folk and pop. With his Caspar Babypants project, Chris Ballew might make a whole bunch of great CDs for the family -- this is the first of them. Highly recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: Rocknoceros - Rocknoceros

While Virginia trio Rocknoceros finishes up their third album, they've remastered and re-released their self-titled debut CD. I've always thought of the band as the East Coast Recess Monkey -- or maybe they're the West Coast Rocknoceros -- and here's yet another similarity. This debut album is not as good as what follows, but contains glimmers of the talent shown to much fuller extent on Dark Side of the Moon Bounce (review). The songs here are much more direct -- counting songs, songs about hygeine and sharing. But there's subtleties and off-kilteredness, too -- the sadness and acceptance of the stone-cold classic "Big Head," the sparse "Zen Garden," and the too-meta-for-preschoolers "Trying to Write a Song."

The 33-minute album features mostly pop and rock stylings, but with some blues and other rootsier music thrown in for color (literally, on "Blue"). It's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 6. You can hear samples here or some full track at the band's homepage.

The debut isn't where I'd direct newcomers to Rocknoceros; for that I'd go to the second CD. But if you like Dark Side..., then you and your kids (especially the preschoolers) will also dig this disk. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Long John - Johnny Keener

I suppose Portland, Oregon-based Johnny Keener could do worse than taking the path Elizabeth Mitchell has blazed before him -- one part covers of old tunes, one part covers of new tunes, add a pinch of original stuff, stir gently. With a mix of rockabilly, blues, and modern pop, Keener further refines the gentle formula above, originally outlined on his debut Elephants Over the Fence (review).

What's new is the presence of a kids chorus on several tracks. At its best, the chorus enlivens old tunes, even giving Apples in Stereo's already-awesome "Energy" a tweaking that makes it a great kids' song. Keener's call-and-response with the kids on the title track shows off the chops he's honed at the Portland Children's Museum -- Ella Jenkins would be proud. (I also like the kids on Keener's original "Run Around.") The sound is perhaps a little fuller than the first CD, but there's nothing particularly fancy.

Which gets back to how things haven't changed. There's still some nifty guitar work (check out Keener's bluesy take on "The Cat Came Back") and covers that seem odd but make perfect sense (Cat Stevens' "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out.") The album isn't perfect -- Keener's cover of John Fogerty's "Down on the Corner" doesn't add much to the CCR original, and I'd like to officially put a moratorium on covers of "Three Little Birds" -- but it gets the job done. Oh, and the album packaging is one of the niftiest of the year, a simple yet elegant cardboard envelope.

Kids aged 2 through 6 will most appreciate the 25-minute disk, from which you can hear samples at its CDBaby page. Long John shows an artist maturing in his kids music vision, and it's a well-done collection of Americana-influenced tracks young and old. Recommended.

Review in Brief: Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGG and Other Favorites - Tom Glazer

Smithsonian Folkways is best known in kids music for releasing classic albums more than a half-century old from Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and others. Aside from the still-recording legend Ella Jenkins and Elizabeth Mitchell, most of their kids music lineup features musicians who don't have webpages of their own, and must rely on, say, Wikipedia pages. Tom Glazer is no exception.

But just because there's no Facebook fan page doesn't mean that a musician's recorded output isn't worth keeping in print. Last week's release of Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGG and Other Favorites, consisting of live tracks from three previously released and out-of-print albums, makes the case for Glazer to be considered alongside his more famous Folkways counterparts as a key early figure in the kids music genre.

Which makes it sound like a dry historical recording, which it isn't. From the very first track, "Come Down the Aisle," on which Glazer makes up verses as families arrive at the concert that's just started, Glazer is constantly inventive in his interpretations of familiar classics. "The Bus Song," better known now as "Wheels on the Bus," features the money on the bus going "clink, clink, clink, dunk - dollar bill." Glazer's introduction to "Jennie Jenkins," which features some especially silly banter, keeps the kids in stitches.

Really, you can hear how much Glazer has the kids' attention throughout the entire disk. Listen to the kids sing along -- shout, really -- on "Haul Away Joe" (they shout "JOE!"), and tell me there isn't one child in that audience who isn't having a great time. As much as the album is for kids (and it's really more of an album for kids than one which will constantly engage the adults), kids musicians ignore this album at their peril -- it's almost a master class on how to play to kids. And Glazer's voice is in fine form, too -- it's no surprise that he was asked to sing on some famous "Singing Science" albums.

This album will be most appealing to kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear samples and download the typically awesome Folkways liner notes (written by Glazer's children) here.

Tom Glazer might be best known for writing "On Top of Spaghetti" (yes, that's here, too), but on this album, he runs through a series of kids tunes with consummate child professionalism and enthusiasm. This'll probably be the only Tom Glazer album your family will ever need, but it's a good 'un. Maybe there'll be a Facebook fan page for him yet. Recommended.