DVD Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World

An innocent wandering through the world is hardly an original concept for a story. The Who's Tommy, for example, or countless first novels.

To say that Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World borrows the concept, then, is no knock on this "Musical Moving Book," as it's called. The concept may be borrowed, but the execution is quite unique and wonderful.

Gustafer Yellowgold is the brainchild of New York-based songwriter and illustrator Morgan Taylor. Taylor has previously self-released several CDs but here has combined his songwriting talents with his illustrating skills to produce a concert which combines live music from Taylor and a small band of musicians with illustrations projected on large screens. It's the music and illustrations behind this live "moving book" which are captured here on the 24-minute DVD. There isn't much of a plot; it's more of a series of character sketches.

Gustafer is an alien from the sun who tells his story of life on the sun in the opening song "I'm From the Sun." It's an uptempo number which shows exactly how difficult life can be on the sun. ("No snowflakes on the tongue" is one of the complaints.) It's a jangle-pop tune with bongos, giving it a little Guster-like feel. The best song on the DVD is the concluding "New Blue Star," which is about, well, a new blue star, but could just be easily interpreted as a love song -- it's a gentle midtempo rockersworthy of Matthew Sweet in his less guitar-focused work (think Blue Sky on Mars without all the synthesizers). Another one of my favorite tunes is "Pterodactyl Tuxedo," a friend of Gustafer's who may be exasperating at times but is also a true friend ("He's always had the time / To pick up the phone / When you're calling way too late / He's always been the kind / To help you pickin' bones / When your faith begins to fade.") The music is hard to peg, but besides the bands listed already, there are hints of the Beatles (in the slow songs), World Party (yeah, a Beatles tribute band, virtually), and the Flaming Lips.

The lyrics here make it sound rather serious, and there's an undercurrent of sadness in Gustafer's story. His eel Slim ("Your Eel") will leave one day. The "Mint Green Bee" is sad and cries. But that sadness is leavened by the whimsical illustrations. This isn't really animation; particular animations are moved around the screen to give a primitive sense of animation. It might not sound compelling, but it's quite engrossing. It's used to particularly good effect in the surreal, vaguely They Might Be Giants-like "I Jump On Cake" ("I jump on cake from up above / I step on pie so warm and lovely / It's mine to punt, vanilla bundt / All freshly baked, I'm on your cake"). A picture of Gustafer moves (with blinking eyes) from up above onto a tempting cake. Pies explode like fireworks.

I'm always one to find nits to pick, and the only thing I can come up with here is that it's a DVD only. Perhaps in the future they'll consider bundling the DVD with an audio-only CD. Other than that, it's great. The album is probably best for kids age 3 through 8. You can see (and hear) video clips from "I'm From the Sun" and "Your Eel" here. You can purchase the DVD from the Gustafer website. Of note as well is the ability to sing along with the video, karaoke-style -- not sure how popular that will be, but since the videos all have the words on the screen, it's not inconceivable that it'd be used.

Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World is a work of great creativity, visually and musically. It's definitely worth your time to check it out.

Review: We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) - Bruce Springsteen

We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) is Bruce Springsteen's children's music album.

Or, at least, it's as close as we'll ever get.

I have listened to Springsteen's newest album several times since picking it up on Wednesday, inspired by this NPR story. The story led me to believe that the songs, culled from folk musician Pete Seeger's songbook, could be just as appropriate for 4-year-olds as they would be for a 54-year-old.

There are plenty of other reviews of the album which approach it from an adult's perspective. My goal here is to talk about the album's appropriateness for kids.

Springsteen collects a whole host of musicians (17 in addition to himself) to play a wide variety of folk songs and spirituals in styles ranging from bluegrass to Dixieland. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the entire enterprise is the obvious sense of joy Springsteen and the band takes in playing these songs. The idea that people should get together and just sing and play isn't new to children's music (hello, Dan Zanes!), but it certainly gets a forceful endorsement here.

The songs that end up working best, then, are those songs which allow the band to let loose and play. "Old Dan Tucker," even though it's a song about a man who "got drunk and fell / In the fire and kicked up holy hell," is guaranteed to end up in my list of top 10 children's songs in 2006. It's played with bluegrass style and verve and had our entire family dancing. (Well, except for the nine-month-old. It's a great song, but not miraculous.) The Cajun stylings of "Pay Me My Money Down," in a version more umtempo than Zanes' version, give it an extra kick, fun for dancing. It's also the one song where Springsteen allows himself the barest hint of a modern-day reference (if you're using a computer, you'll recognize it). It's a testament to the enthusiasm Springsteen brings to the song that the thought Springsteen is a man who has his "money hauled in, in crates" barely crosses one's mind.

Where kids might not like the album as much is in its slower songs such as "Shenandoah" (in which our daughter during the extended intro, said, "Go back to the one with words.") As much as it pains me to say it, the version of "We Shall Overcome" on the album (recorded and released about eight years ago) is not much fun to listen to. And the extended instrumental soloing, even in the uptempo numbers, may or may not interest the kids.

Taken as a whole, however, this is a pretty amazing album from a man who is one of the few popular musicians even attempting modern folk music. ("The River" is one of the finest folk songs written in the second half of the twentieth century and The Rising, while not perfect, is still the best musical attempt to talk about the events of 9/11.) Parents will be able to use the songs to talk about a whole host of social issues -- economic justice, war, civil rights. And they may even, like I am now, be inspired to track down the original Seeger recordings. (Or just go to this website.)

I think kids age 5 and older may be best positioned to enjoy the lyrics and ideas raised by the songs. (Though, as I said, "Old Dan Tucker" is a stone-cold classic for all ages.) The album is available just about everywhere, of course. (You can listen to samples at Springsteen's site.) The album comes in the DualDisc format which has problems playing in some computer and car CD players (somebody needs to write a protest song about that); the documentary on the DVD side is just OK, but the two bonus tracks on the DVD side, "Buffalo Gals" and "How Can I Keep From Singing," are well worth the time to listen to.

Final thoughts: This is a great album. As an album of "old-time" music, it's much more cohesive than the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. (Along those lines, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the album that finally gets Springsteen his Best Album Grammy next year.) Your kids' enthusiasm for the album may flag during its 60-minute runtime, but they're likely to enjoy most of it as well.

Review: Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate - Daddy A Go Go

The list of stand-up comedians who tried their hand at becoming musicians is long -- Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and Bill Cosby, for starters. The list in the other direction -- musicians becoming stand-up comedians -- is much shorter, if it exists at all. There is, after all, a fine line between stupid and clever.

John Boydston, who will release his fifth Daddy-A-Go-Go album, Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate on May 2, 2006, may not be appearing at the Improv next week, but he does have stand-up tendencies. Ad libs, puns, humorous vignettes -- all make an appearance on the album.

Boydston's singing approach is somewhere on the tunefulness spectrum between Lou Reed and Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, in which he talks as much as sings. I didn't mind so much, because the it's not too out of sync with the music itself, which is straight-ahead, well-played guitar rock. (Your mileage on his vocal stylings may vary.) Perhaps "For Those About to Walk, We Salute You" doesn't sound quite enough like AC/DC to merit its title, but it's a fun little ditty that encourages walking without any sappiness. "Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate," is a bluesy rocker that isn't much more than a listing of vegetables with ad-libbed jokes ("Okra! I love her show!") liberally sprinkled throughout.

The best tracks are those in which the humor is curbed a bit -- the aforementioned songs, the reworked cover of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (on which Boydston's 14- and 11-year-old sons play bass and drums), the two instrumentals. Less successful for me were "Hang Up and Drive," in which frustrations with drivers who talk on their cellphone will completely go over most kids' heads, and "Pink Floyd Saves Hugh Manatee," in which the guest singer sounds just like Boydston and the song sounds nothing like Pink Floyd. And I found the earnest cover of "Listen To The Flower People" from the classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap to be completely unnecessary, but maybe that's because I've got 20 years of associations with that song. Your child probably won't recognize the "Stonehenge" references you make afterwards, but that's your (or at least my) problem.

The album is probably best for kids age 5 through 10. You can hear samples and read lyrics (without Boydston's many ad libs) here. The album is available at the Daddy A Go Go website and at online retailers, and possibly at some retail locations.

In sum, maybe the best way to determine whether or not you'd like the album is for you to decide whether you like Jimmy Buffett. Don't misunderstand me, the album doesn't sound anything like Buffett, but it does have a very Buffett-like vibe. If you think Buffett is a joke and can't stand any of his songs, you won't like this. But if you understand where Buffett is coming from and don't mind the occasional Buffett song or album, you and your kids will enjoy listening to this.

Review: Silly Reflection - Lunch Money

I think the best way to introduce this review is by talking about how much stuff our daughter has. I'm not talking about massive amounts of overblown toys and games. I'm just talking about her stuffed animals, which almost crowd her out of her bed. Or her My Little Ponies, which she decorates with her ponytail holders. Kids' lives are defined as much by objects and things as they are by people -- favorite books, favorite clothes, favorite foods.

Children's music tends to focus on feelings (I'm happy! I'm sad!) or concepts (numbers, letters). But Silly Reflection, the late-2004 debut album from the South Carolina-based trio Lunch Money, draws its inspiration from kids' stuff. Trains ("Caboose"), roller coasters ("Roller Coaster," natch), umbrellas ("Umbrella") -- these are the things that fascinate kids because they've never seen such things before. Singer/songwriter Molly Ledford likes to use similes to describe these things in ways concrete ("I'd like to introduce the caboose / Last in line, red like a stop sign") and a little more abstract ("Umbrella, you're quite the little magic trick / You start off looking like a stick / But with a little rain / You bloom like a flower"). And here is a sampling of the words used on the album: "vamoose," "esprit," "ukulele," "amphibians," and the phrase "thick as thieves." These are not typical kids' music words.

But it's the music that I really dig -- it's very Kill The Moonlight-era Spoon with some Yo La Tengo and Shins mixed in. Wonderful melodies with the barest of instrumentation which make the small musical flourishes -- trumpet and double bass and fingersnaps and handclaps -- stand out that much more. It's hard for me to pick out a favorite song, but I love the way the wistful melody and harmonizing in "I Want A Dog" mixes with the longing lyrics of a child wanting a dog before getting too old (and constantly changing her mind as to the dog's name). All that, and it's wryly amusing, too. ("I look at the paper, but it's really not up to me / I'll just have to hope and look longingly.")

At 22 minutes long, Silly Reflection is short but sweet -- there isn't a bad song on the album. Lyrically, it will hit home most for kids age 3 through 7. But it really is one of those children's music albums you will find yourself playing when the kids aren't around. You can listen to three songs off the album here -- they're fairly representative of the CD, so if you like those, you'll like the rest of the album. You can buy the CD from Lunch Money direct or from the usual online suspects. Highly recommended.

Review: Giddyup! - Buck Howdy

The Virginia-based Buck Howdy bills himself as "The King of Kids' Cowboy Music." While that might sound like an example of "big fish/small pond," his 2005 album Giddyup! does nothing to make someone doubt that claim and might even gain some fans outside the genre.

Let's start with the best-known song, "Baked Beans." It's a silly story about gastrointestinal distress on the range that would grow old very quick if it weren't so expertly crafted. I mean, between listening to the album and satellite radio, I've heard the song 15-20 times at least -- a song about "cutting the cheese", for goodness' sake -- and it's still tolerable. (Which is a good thing, because I'd imagine 5-year-old boys would want to listen to the song 15-20 times. In a row. Every day. For, like, six months.)

That song is tolerable over repeated playings in large part because the musicianship is top-notch. Howdy's small band plays western swing, bluegrass, and traditional country tunes with precision. Howdy has an appealing voice with just enough twang. The album just sounds great.

The album is split evenly between Howdy originals and covers. If you're worried that the whole album is jokey, don't be. With the exception "Baked Beans" and "My Favorite Kind of Bugs," the originals are straightforward cowboy songs (albeit targeted at 6-year-old cowpokes). Some of the covers work well (Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John"); others, while not bad, left me with a "why bother?" feeling ("Hokey Pokey").

Those of you buying the album for the Trout Fishing in America performances will likely be disappointed, as they don't make much of an impression in their songs ("S'mores," "Giddyup!"). Laurie Berkner's appearance is another matter -- her duet with Howdy on Dale Evans' "Happy Trails" is sweet and makes you wonder where Berkner has been hiding that fabulous voice on her own CDs.

"Happy Trails" is one of my two favorite songs on the album; the other is the last "Bonus Track." To reveal too much about the song would ruin the surprise, so I'll just say that it's a song that will likely amuse the 6-year-olds and possibly make the adults laugh out loud.

Giddyup! is probably best for kids aged 4 through 10. It's available in the usual online and offline suspects. If you want to listen to most of the album (though, sadly, not my two favorite tracks), you can listen to the tracks here. Unless you or your kids have a genetic twang deficiency, you will probably find something to like in the album. Recommended.