Review in Brief: Scat Like That - A Musical Word Odyssey - Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have been nominated for 11 GRAMMY awards (winning two of them) and are talented musicians and songwriters in both kids' and non-kids fields. So how come I didn't adore Scat Like That!, their 2005 GRAMMY-nominated kids' album? There's nothing wrong with the album's execution -- the musicianship and production are strong -- and the concept is intriguing, focusing on all sorts of wordplay. And there are some very good songs amidst the wide-ranging musical styles used here. My favorite is Marxer's midtempo blues number "Dagnabbit!," which matches Marxer's expressive vocals to amusing lyrics about a kid who let the wrong word slip out in a moment of frustration ("I need some words with consonants / To say what I must say / Words with B and D and P / And S and T and K"). I particularly liked the song's 2-minute musical outro. I also find it hard not to like a song titled "I Love Pie" which is set to a Latin meringue melody. (I don't care if it's not a meringue -- though I'm pretty sure it is -- "pie" and "meringue" is too good not to believe.) I think what makes me so blase' about the album is the feeling that the disk's educational thrust (it is an album about wordplay after all) was getting in the way of enjoying it. The best songs -- "Dagnabbit!" or "A Pirate's Song," perhaps -- would fit on any album of good kids' music and the wordplay themes of those songs are just happy byproducts of the songs themselves. In this case, it doesn't reach the manic heights of their excellent 2001 collaboration with Brave Combo, All Wound Up!. The album is best for kids ages 6 through 10, especially if they're into words and all the fun things one can do with them.

Song of the Day: Spaghetti (Twist and Twirl) - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Brave Combo

I heard "Spaghetti (Twist and Twirl)" today and I remembered how much I like the song.

So much so, that I've decided to start a "Song of the Day" series -- we'll see how long it stays "Song of the Day" before it becomes "Song of the Week" or "Song of the Lunar Cycle" -- and inaugurate it with this song.

To call Brave Combo a "polka band" seems to sell them short a bit -- they are a whirlwind of musical energy. Paired up with long-time children's music artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, their 2001 album All Wound Up! is a bundle of enthusiasm and lots of fun. Without a doubt, though, the standout track is the penultimate song, "Spaghetti (Twist and Twirl)." The song is about a chef at an Italian restaurant and his frustration with the kids who want nothing more from his talents than plain old spaghetti. Lyrically, it's amusing to the adults and empowering to the kids, who can sing "Spaghetti!" or "Twist and Twirl!"

But it's musically that this song really gets me. Its energy is infectious -- it's great for dancing foolishly with your kids. And sonically... for most of the song it's the bass line with the melody above it, a different melody each for the verses and the chorus and the bridge, and then near the end they sing the chorus and the bridge simultaneously. To top it all off, at the very end they add a fourth musical line out of nowhere but that fits perfectly.

Really, it reminds me of the New Pornographers' "The Laws Have Changed," one of my favorite songs, in the overlayering of musical themes. A whole album of songs like that would just leave me incapacitated for days afterward. It's best taken in limited doses.

You can hear a snippet of "Spaghetti (Twist and Twirl)" here. Links to audio and video of "The Laws Have Changed" are here.

News: 2005 Grammy Nominations -- Children's Field

In the "better late than never" category (the nominations are, what, a month old now?), here are the nominees for the two categories in the Grammy's children's field:

Category 75 - Best Musical Album For Children
(For albums consisting of predominantly music or song vs. spoken word.)

Be Bop Your Best! - Red Grammer [Red Note Records]
Green Gorilla, Monster & Me - Ralph's World [Mini Fresh/Minty Fresh]
Scat Like That: A Musical Word Odyssey - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer [Rounder Records Corp.]
Some Assembly Required - Tom Chapin [Razor & Tie]
Songs From The Neighborhood - The Music Of Mister Rogers - Various Artists (Dennis Scott, producer) [Memory Lane Syndications, Inc.]

Category 76 - Best Spoken Word Album For Children
(For albums consisting of predominantly spoken word vs. music or song.)

Harry Potter And The Half-blood Prince - Jim Dale [Listening Library]
Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long - Various Artists (Christopher Cerf & Marlo Thomas, producers) [Warner Strategic Marketing]
Pooh's Heffalump - Roy Dotrice [Walt Disney Records]
Raymie, Dickie, And The Bean: Why I Love And Hate My Brothers - Ray Romano [Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers]
A Series Of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning - Various Artists (David Rapkin, producer) [Harper Children's Audio]

An appearance by Ralph's World at the Grammy telecast on February 8, 2006 seems highly unlikely. Perhaps Ricky Skaggs (a performer on the Mister Rogers tribute album) will make an appearance, but that will likely be the extent to which nominees in this category will be seen.

Review: All Wound Up! - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Brave Combo

Parents are familiar with serendipitous combinations -- peanut butter and jelly, Bert and Ernie, diapers and the Diaper Genie.

But some combinations aren't nearly as obvious.

Brave Combo is Texas band that plays polka (among other things) and Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have been making kids music for 20 years. You wouldn't necessarily think that they would be making music together, but in All Wound Up!they have made one energetic album that should get your child dancing. (Warning: The Surgeon General has recommended that you do not play this album right before bedtime.)

The songs are lots of fun and cover a broad range of styles, helpfully listed in the liner notes. Some songs are Fink & Marxer originals -- "I Will Never Clean Up My Room" is an amusing tale of one child whose recalcitrance pays off in interesting ways. Some songs are hearty renditions of public domain and traditional songs (including, yes, "De Colores," which makes this literally the 5th or 6th version on our CD shelf). Ironically, the favorite song of mine and my daughter is the one Brave Combo-penned song, "Spaghetti," and enthusiastic tribute to restaurant pasta that ends with three or four overlapping musical lines. As with any good music, you can play either of these albums for kids of all ages, but kids from 4 to 8 years of age would probably appreciate them best. The record is on the Rounder label, available in the usual online suspects and in the "real world."

News: Children's Grammy Noms Announced

The Grammy nominations were announced yesterday and the nods for the two children's categories are:

Best Musical Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly music or song vs. spoken word.)

> Beethoven's Wig 2: More Sing Along Symphonies - Beethoven's Wig [Rounder Kids]
> cELLAbration! A Tribute To Ella Jenkins - Various Artists, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, producers [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]
> House Party - Dan Zanes And Friends [Festival Five Records]
> Merry Fishes To All - Trout Fishing In America [Trout Records]
> Sharing Cultures With Ella Jenkins - Ella Jenkins [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]

Best Spoken Word Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly spoken word vs. music or song.)

> The Best Halloween Ever - Elaine Stritch [Harper Children's Audio]
> Carnival Of The Animals - John Lithgow [Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers]
> The Emperor's New Clothes - Peter Schickele [Newport Classic]
> Green Eggs And Ham And Other Servings Of Dr. Seuss - Various Artists John McElroy, producer[Listening Library]
> The Story Of Classical Music - Marin Alsop [Naxos Audio Books]
> The Train They Call The City Of New Orleans - Tom Chapin [Live Oak Media]

The Grammys will be televised Feb. 13, 2005, although I would be surprised to see either of these categories awarded during the broadcast.