Itty-Bitty Review: Dandelion - Steve Weeks

Freed from his devotion to the alphabet (see: A-H, I-Q, and R-Z), Colorado's Steve Weeks is back with Dandelion, an album lacking an obvious organizational hook.

But what hasn't changed with this new album is Weeks' affinity for tall tales rooted in decency. Songs like the rock-folk "Bartelby Finkleton Will Not Take a Bath," the gentle "My Dog Ate My House," and "The Blizzard of '78" are a blend of Shel Silverstein and Keller Williams. (There is a reason Weeks also a song titled "I Might Be Lying" on this album.) While these songs will sound familiar to fans of Weeks' earlier work, he branches out a bit -- "Birdsong" is a list of well over a hundred different birds over a driving beat, while "Why" features kids asking a bunch of legitimate questions over Weeks' nifty acoustic guitar playing. And the title track is Weeks' finest song yet, a subtly metaphorical look at the usefulness of a dandelion, reminiscent of and as good as Justin Roberts' best work.

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. You can hear samples from the album here. Dandelion is a good album for a sunny day, and for a history-making snowy day, too. There are tall tales here, but some truths, too. Recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: Agreeably Loud!! - Baron von Rumblebuss

It's taken a little while, but the second kids album from North Carolina's Tray Batson, AKA Baron von Rumblebuss, Agreeably Loud, was released this spring and... wait? IS THAT A LOLCAT ON THE ALBUM COVER?

OK, I suppose I could probably simply write that, yes, this is the album that has the wildly popular "Did You See (Where the Cat Threw Up, Cuz the Cat Threw Up Again)?," the best song about cat vomit ever recorded. (Yes, wildly popular -- not many kids' songs get fan videos.) It's three minutes of jangle-pop perfection with a hint (OK, a lot) of juvenile attitude. But you probably want a little more in a review, so I'll comply... While it's the best song on the album, if you like that formula, there are some other tracks that might be up your 6-year-old's alley, particularly the power-poppy "(It Wuzza) Boo Boo." I can do without the skits, but that's just me, your kids may appreciate the dorky humor. As for the album as a whole, there probably isn't a more power-poppy kids album out right now -- fans of Matthew Sweet or Big Star who want to share those types of sounds with their kids will find songs like "Skywriter" or "Ooh La La (Play Me That Song)" very much up their alley.

The album's going to resonate most with kids ages 4 through 8. You can hear a number of songs from the new album at BVR's Reverbnation page. On Agreeably Loud!!, Baron von Rumblebuss is not just agreeable and loud (if you want him to be), but also catchy and funny. That's plenty for a single album. Recommended.

Itty-Bitty Review: The Little House Songs - Caroline Herring

It's not often ignorance can make for a better review, but it just might in this case. Selected ignorance, in any case. I was actually familiar with Caroline Herring's recording of The Little House Songs, an album (or musical, really) based on the 1942 book The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. I also followed the Atlanta-based Herring as she financed the album via a successful Kickstarter campaign. But the book itself? Sorry, it's one of those Caldecott Medal winners I missed. (I had to check Wikipedia for the publication date.)

So while I can't say whether the album adequately reimagines an obviously well-loved book, I can say whether it evokes a well-loved book, and on that score, it succeeds. In brief -- and I say this solely based on listening to the album (though I've now since seen the summary) -- a house is built in the country, an expanding city encroaches upon it, it falls into disrepair, a new owner falls in love with it and moves it into the country once again. Obviously there are themes of wistfulness and the passage of time, and Herring does a great job of conveying those themes musically, such as on the wistful "The City Grew Up Around Her" and "Shabby." But it's not entirely downbeat -- "Building of the Road" is an uptempo folk-rocker propulsively carried along by rhythm guitar and Herring's voice until it just slows down, while I loved the violin's mimicking of wheels on happy "House on Wheels." It's mostly folk, with some songs tending a little more country, all tastefully arranged.

Kids ages 3 through 7 will most appreciate the 25-minute album. You can listen to all of "House on Wheels" here and other clips here and here. The Little House Songs is a simple little album, made with care, much as the book that inspired it was. (It's also made me want to read the book, which is always a good sign of the quality of an interpretation in a different medium.) Herring reportedly is interested in doing more of these albums based on children's books. Based on this first attempt, I am hoping she is true to her word. Recommended.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the album in my registration bag at Kindiefest.

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.]

Review: Outside My Door - Lori Henriques

This review sort of felt like a Krzysztof Kieślowski movie in miniature, with randomness and chance affecting my life (albeit in a small way). I recently received a CD from Portland-based artist Lori Henriques which, while the packaging looked lovely on the outside, had a 2008 copyright date on it. Given my stack of CDs, a 3-year-old CD would not normally be placed at the front of the line. But in a random e-mail, I happened to mention that fact to Henriques, who pointed out that the copyright just applied to the songs themselves, not to the recording, which was, in fact, new.

So: yay for chance! Because it meant I listened to this a lot sooner than I would have otherwise, which means I can tell you about it much sooner than I would have otherwise. Outside My Door: Songs for Children of All Ages is unlike any kids' CD I've heard in a long time. It's a throwback to 1970s piano jazz, nothing but Henriques' voice and nimble piano work. It's inspired by Sesame Street, though the lyrics especially are a bit advanced for the preschoolers who are that show's target audience. (Henriques also cites Dave Frishberg as an influence -- he wrote some songs for Schoolhouse Rock!.) It's a Broadway (or perhaps off-Broadway) musical waiting to be made, or perhaps the subject of the first kids' music-themed episode of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, or a Randy Newman album consisting of pleasant narrators.

On a slightly more kid-music-related tip, the songs are a little reminiscent of David Tobocman and lyrically it reminds me a bit of Molly Ledford's lyrics for Lunch Money, with words like "ennui" (in "Something You Learn"), "plapable" ("It's Hard To Wait for Your Birthday"), and "Odysseus" ("Mean People"). Heck, it features the phrase "T.O.," which Henriques helpfully provides a Wikipedia reference for.

All this eruditeness -- the fact that I'm using "eruditeness" in a review of the disk -- might make it seem very hoity-toity, but it's not. (And not just because she rhymes "goat turd" with "awkward.") The 29 minute album isn't going to cause a lot of dancing; in fact, it's got more melancholy in it than at least 95% of all kids' albums. But kids, if they sit down and really listen, will hear words that do indeed speak to them -- the difficulty of waiting for your birthday ("It's Hard To Wait for Your Birthday") or a secret desire to be a twin ("If I Had a Twin").

The 29-minute album is appropriate for kids ages 4 through 10. You can hear the whole thing here. Also of note: gorgeous packaging courtesy of Henriques' brother Joel Henriques, proprietor of my new favorite website Made By Joel. Another chance discovery.

So there you have it -- an album that I said was unlike any kids' CD I'd heard for a long time is compared to maybe a half-dozen other artists. But Outside My Door is something quite remarkable -- an album of "piano jazz for kids" that isn't limited by any of the words in that phrase. A refreshing sound, and an absolute pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended.