Review: The Hipwaders - The Hipwaders

The Bay Area three-man band The Hipwaders released their second (self-titled) album in 2005. On the 42-minute CD they cover a wide range of musical styles, from the jangle-pop of the album opener "Come Along With Us" to the new wave stylings on "Silly Robot Dance" to the vaguely Nirvana-esque stylings of "Stand Up To The Bully," with many more styles as well ('60s psychedlic pop in particular). Generally, it's a guitar-based pop-rock confection.

With the exception of two songs, all songs were written or co-written by the band. Lyrically, they cover the gamut of elementary-school-aged themes -- cleaning up one's room, bugs, and the sheer wonderfulness of jelly beans, just to name a few. The Hipwaders also have a slight science bent, with songs about earthquakes ("It's An Earthquake!") and volcanoes ("Volcano," natch).

With 18 tracks on the CD there are bound to be some favorites and less-than-favorites. I particularly like the "Rock Lobster" echoes on the driving ode-to-antsiness "Twitchy," the funky new-wave "Silly Robot Dance," and the brief, strutting '80s pop "Kelly the Clown." There are a pair of eerie story songs about a Civil War-era ghost/skeleton/thing ("Mr. Wiggly Jiggly Bones") and werewolves ("Howling at the Moon") which I find to be too long, breaking up the overall poppy flow of the album. But I think that's just personal taste (they're not bad songs) and older kids may find them appealing. (At the very least you can enjoy the Cab Calloway reference on "Bones.")

Given the lyrical themes, I think the album is most appropriate for kids age 5 through 9. You can hear 4 of their songs in their entirety at The Hipwaders' MySpace site. You can buy the album at Amazon, CDBaby, and a few other sites linked through The Hipwaders' main website.

In sum, The Hipwaders is a solid album of kids' pop-rock. In its broad appropriation of pop music stylings, it is very reminiscent of Ralph's World albums. They're not at a Ralph's World level of polish and songcraft yet, but give The Hipwaders time. They may just get there. Recommended.

Review: Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes and Friends

[To Dan Zanes and Salon.com readers -- greetings and thanks for stopping by. And check out the main site for tons more music for kids and adults. No, that's not an oxymoron.]

The short review of Catch That Train!, Dan Zanes' 2006 release and his fifth album specifically for kids and families is that it's like his previous family music album, but more so -- more musically diverse, more lyrical, more... everything.

The long review is... well... the thing is, after listening to this album so many times, I didn't want to write the short review, which might otherwise have just said, "It's like every other Dan Zanes CD -- it's great." So I went back to his first family music album, 2000's Rocket Ship Beach, to see if I could notice progression in Zanes' music that is harder to see from just looking at his last album, House Party. And a couple things struck me as I listened to his first and his latest CDs.

The first thing that struck me was how Zanes has gradually broadened his musical horizons since 2000. Six years ago, the debut's most adventurous musical step could very well have been the appearance of Father Goose (Rankin' Don) and his dancehall stylings. On Catch That Train!, Rankin' Don's appearance on "Choo-Choo-Ch-Boogie" almost feels safe compared to the rest of the album. The Blind Boys of Alabama on the gospel "Welcome Table," the Rubi Theater Company on the strutting "Walkin' the Dog," the forward-thinking Kronos Quartet on the retelling of the psycho-pet story "Grey Goose" -- they all come from diverse musical places and yet fit in perfectly on this disk. It's as if Zanes has released his very own Putumayo collection. Which is not to say that the stuff that's been around since Rocket Ship Beach -- Rankin' Don, the duet with Barbara Brousal ("Mariposa Ole," in Spanish, of course), and the duet with a female singer-songwriter (Natalie Merchant on the lovely "Loch Lomond") -- isn't there, and isn't great. Because it is.

The other thing that struck me was that the first CD seemed to me a collection of songs that Zanes really liked. The latest CD does seem to have a thematic cohesiveness to it, and it's not about trains. It's about community. "When we ride / We ride together," Zanes has written on the title track, and there is a strong sense of doing things together that runs through the album. Inclusiveness ("All God's children gonna sit together," from "Welcome Table"), neighborliness ("High and low, people that we know / They say 'Hey there,' and 'How’ve you been?'," from "Wander in the Summer Wind"), and a welcoming neighborhood ("Wherever you’re from / Know that you’re welcome / If you want to bring your family ‘round / To this moonlit town," on the album closer "Moonlit Town.")

Quite possibly my favorite song on the album is Zanes' "While the Music Is Playing," about wanting to linger in the neighborhood into the night, listening to all the different music in the air.

People gather all around the square
People laughing in the evening air
Swirls and mingles with the songs that brought us there
That brought us all there.

If that's not Zanes' ideal world in a nutshell, I'm not sure what is. The midtempo tune mixes a wistful chorus, brass band, and a backup singer count which eventually must reach double-digits to posit a world where community is paramount. (Its placement smack-dab in the middle of the album just before the pro-working-man "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister" can't be just random.) With Zanes entering the fray over a proposed Brooklyn development, these are no longer idle concerns for him.

As with all Dan Zanes albums, Catch That Train is for people of every age. But if I had to narrow down the age range, I'd call it ages 5 through 10. You can hear samples, etc., by following the links at Zanes' Catch That Train! page.

In the end, if you're at all a fan of Dan Zanes' music, you'll enjoy this album. (And if you're in the minority who don't, this album won't change your mind.) Catch That Train! is Zanes' strongest album to date, a celebration in music of the joys of family, community, and music itself. Highly recommended.

[May 19, 2006 Update]
Now that I've had the full copy of the CD and packaging for a few days, rather than just an advance promo copy, I wanted to add a few additional comments to the review.
1) The packaging is quite nice -- Zanes has replaced the book format of his previous kids' CDs with more of a foldout design similar to which he employed on Parades and Panoramas. The entire design is thought out quite well (the title, "Catch That Train!," is actually the very end of a sentence that runs through the entire physical package).
2) Lyrics! Chords! The presence of these two things in the liner notes only makes the absence of them in previous albums that much more stark. Again, Zanes had started doing this with Parades and Panoramas and Sea Music, but their presence here is very welcome (especially for an artist so enamored of public singing). And, Zanes' comments in the liner notes are useful, too. (Not to mention finding out little things like Warren Zanes plays guitar on "Mariposa Ole.")
3) The video for "Catch That Train!" is OK, but nothing special. Dan Zanes plays around in his apartment while a tiny little animated train drives around. The scene where Zanes looks at a comb by his sink, then shakes his head as if to say, "naaaah," did make me laugh, though.

So, there you have it. And if you don't (have it), why not?

Review: Beethoven's Wig 3 - Richard Perlmutter

Classical Music Geek Test: I took piano lessons as a child.

I'm sure many of you are thinking, Hey, I took piano lessons as a child. Lots of people take piano lessons. That doesn't make you a classical music geek. Yes, but...

I took piano lessons to strengthen my fingers for my organ lessons.

No kidding.

Between organ, piano, and violin lessons, I had a reasonably musical childhood, primarily focused on classical music. And although I only play the violin now on a semi-regular basis, I still enjoy listening to classical music.

So it's with that background I'm reviewing Beethoven's Wig 3: Many More Sing Along Symphonies, released in May 2006, the 3rd (natch) in the popular Beethoven's Wig series from Richard Perlmutter. The concept of the series? Take famous classical melodies and write (or re-write) lyrics for the melodies. Instead of the lyrics from an answering machine tape ad from many years ago ("No-bo-dy's HOME... no-bo-dy's HOME..."), Perlmutter in his first CD matched the famous notes from the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to the lyrics, "Beethoven's WIG... Is very BIG..."

In his first CDs, Perlmutter's lyrics focused on the composer, matching a composer's famous piece(s) with lyrics tied to the composer. Recognizing that perhaps he'd have to dip back into a particular composer's well once too often or go to composers whose few outside the classical music world would recognize, on Beethoven's Wig 3, Perlmutter ties the lyrics to particular instruments. Sometimes the resulting effect is great -- the unknown (to me) Beethoven work for mandolin is given lyrics suggesting that Beethoven wrote the song for a girl who done him wrong, breaking his heart so much that he never wrote for the instrument again. It's a delightful, sprightful piece with lyrics to match. Handel's Harp Concerto in B-flat and the very beginning of Rossini's "William Tell Overture" (before the "Lone Ranger" part) are two other successful matches. And the paranoid, almost non-sensical lyrics of "They're There," rewritten from Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," though having nothing to do with the bassoon, are amusing.

In other cases, though, the lyrics don't match up as well. And I found the "Short & Suite" -- very short pieces in the middle of the disc -- went by too quickly to make much of an impact. (Even the longer pieces are typically excerpts from movements, not the full movement.)

Musically, it's appropriate for kids of all ages, of course, but the lyrics, given their complexity and speed of enunciation, probably make this most appropriate for kids aged 4 through 9. The disk is actually pretty short (about 33 minutes), and that includes the original instrumental versions for every piece on the album. (I guess you could even sing the Perlmutter lyrics karaoke-style if you wanted to.) The liner notes also have trivia questions and suggested activities. You can hear excerpts of the pieces at the Beethoven's Wig website. The album is available at the usual online and offline suspects.

I'm a believer that if you want your child to develop an appreciation for classical music you should just play the actual pieces of music. But if you don't have a classical music background, this series is a fine starting point. (And even if you do, it's a good starting point.) And while perhaps the first two albums had a slightly higher ratio of familiar-to-unfamiliar pieces, Beethoven's Wig 3 still has a fair number of selections familiar to somone whose exposure to classical music is mainly through movie trailers and television ads. You may find yourself just as interested in the music as your kids.

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.