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Entries in Chuck Cheesman (8)

Wednesday
Dec142011

Best Kids Music 2011: Top 25 Albums

The high point in my list of the best kids music of 2011 is this, my list of my favorite kids music albums of the year.

By "year," again, I mean albums with Nov. 1, 2010 through Oct. 31, 2011 release dates available to the general public. That means albums like Laura Veirs' Tumble Bee, with a Nov. 8, 2011 release date, have to wait another 12 months before appearing in this list. (I would be shocked -- albeit incredibly delighted -- if there were 25 albums better than that particular one in the next year.)

I do use the word "favorite" advisedly. I receive something approaching 300 family music albums every year. I review maybe 20% of those. Last year I picked out 20 albums, and cutting off this list this year at 20 just seemed cruel. But, as it turns out, increasing the number on the list to 25 didn't make things any easier. Albums from folks like Laura Doherty, Chip Taylor, Todd McHatton, and ScribbleMonster -- albums I genuinely liked -- didn't make the list. That's what happens when albums in the top 10% of everything I heard this year can't fit into the number of slots available; I had probably about 40 albums I was seriously considering for this list. So the difference between what goes in this list and what stays off is as much about personal preferences as it is about "objective" quality. (That's why I came up with the idea for Fids and Kamily, thinking that the personal preferences of many folks would be a much better approximation of "best.")

In any case, here are those 25 albums, ranked from most favorite to a little less most favorite, that I (and we) most appreciated this year. (As always, the top 10 reflects my Fids and Kamily ballot.)

SingAlong.jpg1. Caspar Babypants
Sing Along!
[Review]
"I really, really like Sing Along! -- the Caspar Babypants disks have been favorites at our house for a long time, and I see no reason why this new album won't join its predecessors in heavy rotation. If he can keep it up, Chris Ballew might just create a body of work for preschoolers to rival Raffi's."
MindOfMyOwn.JPGOriginalFriend.jpgFLYING Cover 72 dpi.jpg2. (tie) Frances England | Lunch Money | Recess Monkey
Mind of My Own | Original Friend | FLYING!
[Review | Review |
Review]
"One of the key charms of England's first two albums was the lo-fi intimacy England achieved that fit her folky sound. But if on those albums she was willing to make the recordings be akin to a secret shared between friends, on the new album she's a proud 4-year-old, sharing the news with all the world."
"Original Friend is every bit as "open book" as its predecessor Dizzy, but this time around songwriter Molly Ledford's subject is friendship. Friendship temporarily lost and then regained (the strings-assisted 1-minute opener "Friends Again"); friends who are awesome (the title track, and a prototypical Lunch Money indie-pop song); friends willing to imagine with you (the pop-by-way-of-circus-music "Getaway Car")."
"At this point the band writes succinctly
And perhaps a little distinctly
There's almost no fluff
Or extraneous stuff
The melodies simply just hit me."

TheGoldenState.jpgLittleNutTree_lowres.jpg5. (tie) The Hipwaders | Dan Zanes and Friends
Golden State | Little Nut Tree
[Review | [Review]
"Where are the albums for kids too old for Laurie Berkner but not ready for Lady Gaga? This year's best album for that age group is the latest record from the Bay Area band The Hipwaders. It's called The Golden State, and as you might guess from the title, it's a big, sunny power-pop embrace of their homestate..."
"So, it was worth the wait, friends... It's a joyful album meant for listening and dancing and singing along to -- in other words, a classic Dan Zanes album and one of the best kids music albums of the year."

catandabird.jpgOutsideMyDoor.jpg7. (tie) Cat and a Bird | Lori Henriques
Cat and a Bird | Outside My Door
[Review | Review]
"Cat and a Bird is fairly new to the scene -- the band's website isn't even set up as of this writing. But their self-titled debut bristles with an energy and self-assurance that pays dividends. Their sound -- mixing elements of folk, rock, electronic beats, and gypsy violin -- sometimes sounds both 100 years old and from 100 years in the future."
"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."

ThisIsFun.jpgSee.jpg9. (tie) Caspar Babypants | Holly Throsby
This Is Fun! | See!
[Review]
[Review]
"The title suggests that Ballew is finally feeling comfortable in this his new skin of family entertainer. And while you never would've known that he was uncomfortable after listening to his first two tons-of-fun disks, it is a clue that Ballew has begun to figure out his calling. That calling? Focusing on preschool-aged kids and younger." [Note: Yeah, I know. Two spots in the Top 10. I almost thought of limiting CB to just one spot on the list. But that didn't seem fair to this album, which was nearly as good as its successor.]
"One of most captivating family music albums I've heard this year. Recorded at an old church south of Sydney, the album kicks off with the sound of a horn heard off the coast as the intro to "Putt Putt," a gentle tune about going out into the ocean with a small motor boat. From there, the album moves to "Fish and Mice," which starts out with what sounds like a Casio drum keyboard and eventually leads to an infectious sing-along chorus with a bunch of kids singing interjections ("Fish!"... "Bike!"). This looseness in musical production is carried on throughout the album."

StrangeDeesIndeed.jpg9 (tie, continued). The Deedle Deedle Dees
Strange Dees, Indeed
[Review]
From here on out I'm just going to post links to reviews -- if you want to read more about the fine albums on the rest of the list, the links are there for your enjoyment and edification. But I do want to single out the new album from the Dees.

Every year, the hardest part of drawing up my Fids & Kamily list is not picking out my favorite. Oddly enough, that's been pretty easy over the years. No, it's picking out #10 in the list. Because there is inevitably at least one album (if not more) that gets excluded that you're wondering exactly how it didn't make the list. This year that album is the Dees' Strange Dees, Indeed. If you'd asked me on another day, I might have preferred it to Caspar or See! (or decided there should only be one CB album in that list). So even though it didn't make my F&K ballot, it's tied with those two albums above in my mind. It's woolly and weird, just like the Dees themselves, and I mean that in the best way.

HeyPepito.jpg12. Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke
Hey Pepito! EP
[Review]
If this had been 12 songs long instead of 6, it probably would be at #6 instead of #12.

OhZooty_lowres.jpg13. The Thinkers
Oh Zoooty!
[Review]
Goofy, playful, and imaginative indie-pop.

TheFamilyGarden.jpg14. Billy Kelly
Family Garden
[Review]
Best known for his utterly silly songs, Kelly plays it relatively straight on his latest album... and I still like it.

BeethovensWigSingAlongPiano.jpg15. Beethoven's Wig
Sing Along Piano Classics
[Review]
The long-running series applying humorous lyrics to classical music, er, classics is reinvigorated.

ThingsThatRoar.jpgDancingWithNoShoesOn.jpg16. (tie) Papa Crow | Chuck Cheesman
Things That Roar | Dancing with No Shoes On
[review]
I reviewed these two folk albums together, and while I like them both for different reasons, I like them both a lot.

PracticallyRidiculous.jpg18. The Jimmies
Practically Ridiculous
[Review]
I'll say it again -- why does Ashley Albert not have a TV show of her own yet?

GY_InfinitySock.jpg19. Gustafer Yellowgold
Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock
[Review]
This ranking is just for the music itself, which for several years now has been consistently good. This could go on for many more years.

LifeOfSong.jpgGetUpandGo.jpg20. (tie) Ellia Jenkins | Biscuit Brothers
A Life of Song | Get Up and Go!
[Review | Review]
Ella Jenkins is a living legend, while Austin's Biscuit Brothers are merely well-loved by a number of folks. But both do a great job in helping kids develop a lifelong love for music.

ILoveTomTHall.jpg22. Various Artists
I Love: Tom T. Hall's Songs of Fox Hollow
[Review]
There are some gorgeous (and fun) songs on this song-for-song remake of a kids' country album classic.

LoveMeForWhoIAm.jpg23. Brady Rymer
Love Me for Who I Am
[Review]
The rare album targeted at (or inspired by) a small group (in this case, kids with alternative learning styles who have autism, Asperger's, etc.) that completely transcends that to speak to all listeners.

TagYoureIt.jpg24. The Not-Its!
Tag, You're It!
[Review]
Another blast of pop-punk from the best-dressed band in kids' music.

TheseAreMyFriends.gif25. Alastair Moock
These Are My Friends
[Review]
One sign of how vibrant the kids' music scene is right now is that this album, squeaking in on this list at #25, could very well have made my Top 10 list from 2006.

Tuesday
Nov012011

Concert Recap: Chuck Cheesman (Phoenix, October 2011)

IMG_6356_2.jpgSo, yeah, we had fun last weekend with Chuck Cheesman as part of the series at the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

Chuck's had years of experience playing younguns at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music and around Arizona, so he's really good at getting the preschoolers and young elementary-aged kids up and moving around. The CMOP was no exception.

Here he is playing the title track from his new album Dancing With No Shoes On...

Chuck Cheesman - "Dancing With No Shoes On" (Live) [YouTube]


IMG_6387.jpg

Chuck's hoping to tour a little bit more for this new album and I'm hopeful he'll be able to charm a few more kids in a few more states in the months to come.

Here he is playing an abbreviated version of "The Seafood Song," which went a little bit over the heads of the young audience...

Chuck Cheesman - "The Seafood Song" (Live) [YouTube]

Friday
Oct282011

Even More Halloween Songs and Videos

Like all good (or is it bad) scary movies, my original Halloween music post for 2011 spawned not just one sequel, but has, with this post, become a full-on trilogy.

Chuck Cheesman has offered up his Halloween song "Halloween Freak Out!" from his latest album Dancing With No Shoes On as a free download for the next few days (and, really, who would want to listen to it on, say, Nov. 2nd?). Note: actual freaking out during the song is minimal. The download is available at the the top of this page.

ScareMeScareYou.jpgBaze and His Silly Friends are offering up a free download of their 2009 song "Scare Me, Scare You."

Number of times "scary" is in the title = 2. Actual level of scariness = 0.1 (but that's OK!)

Download the track here or via the widget below.


DidiPop has a jazzy take on the season. Number of jazzy Halloween albums = 0? Number of jazzy Christmas albums = approaching infinity. And now, you can download the tune for free.

DidiPop - "Goblins" [YouTube]

Finally, Gooney Bird Kids and the Sounds Sweet Show both have big Halloween playlists/podcasts up. You can check out Gwyneth's 52-song stream here and David's podcast here.

Tuesday
Oct182011

Review Two-Fer: Papa Crow / Chuck Cheesman

ThingsThatRoar.jpgI don't think that Jeff Krebs and Chuck Cheesman are the same person. Having said that, I've never seen the two bearded guitarists in the same place at the same time, and some of the similarities on their new albums leave the question open in my eyes.

The kindie world is very focused on rock and pop and sometimes other genres at the moment, which leaves the folk music that for many years was the backbone of the genre somehat pushed to the background. As a result, these two albums stand out more than they might have ten or twenty years ago.

DancingWithNoShoesOn.jpgI've long been a fan of Chuck Cheesman, a former Old Town School of Folk Music Wiggleworms teacher who now lives in the pines of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. His first album for families, A Family Handbook, was a solid record of mostly traditional tunes, and his just-released second kids' album Dancing With No Shoes On is just as solid.

It's an occasionally goofy, occasionally heartfelt, always warm collection of songs. It's folk music that draws no small amount of inspiration from Woody Guthrie (see "Seafood Song" or "A Big Dog Ate My Homework," perhaps). Given his longtime experience playing for kids, he's got a good sense of what kids will respond to, songs like the banjo-aided "Chocolate-Covered Brussels Sprouts" and the bluesy (natch) "Milkstache Blues." It's a mostly upbeat, sunny approach -- something to play in the summer, or maybe a warm Northern Arizona fall. The 35-minute album (which includes 4 songs heard on his first album) is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7; you can hear song clips here.

If Dancing with No Shoes On is a sunny, almost summer-y folk album, Things That Roar, Jeff Krebs' (aka Papa Crow) first album for families is a little more hushed, a Michigan winter to Cheesman's Arizona mountain summer.

Nothing is being reinvented here (OK, maybe the beat loops on "High Up on a String" are a little new), but the 14 originals are put together with care. It's not just a guy and a guitar -- it features (among other things) accordion, banjo, sleigh bells, and a couple nice duet turns by Kerry Yost. Krebs has an appealing voice himself and shows off some nifty guitar and ukulele work on songs like "Polar Bear in a Snowstorm" and "Ukulele." And if "Chicken Lips" doesn't become a minor radio hit, I'll be sorely disappointed. Kids ages 2 through 7 will most appreciate the songs here. You can hear some songs from the 32-minute album at the Papa Crow ReverbNation page.

When I mentioned this as one of my favorite new albums of the fall, I deliberately included Crow along with Dan Zanes, one of his inspirations. Things That Roar is a gentle breath of fresh air, and maybe my desire for cooler weather caused me to prefer that to Dancing With No Shoes On, but they're both fine albums. Chuck Cheesman is one of those artists who, if they were in a larger market, would be much better known; Dancing With No Shoes On is just an excellent collection of new and folk music. And while Papa Crow's got a ways to go to reach the heights of Zanes or Elizabeth Mitchell or Frances England, artists who've inspired him, but Things That Roar is a small delight and fans of those artists will probably find in Papa Crow someone they want to hear more of as well. Both albums are definitely recommended.

Tuesday
Sep152009

Concert Recap: Chuck Cheesman (Phoenix, September 2009)

ChuckCheesmanCMOPSept09.jpgAnother fun set of shows at the Children's Museum of Phoenix this past weekend, this time featuring Flagstaff's Chuck Cheesman. The set we saw was a nice mix of originals, familiar tunes (Woody Guthrie, the Beatles, Joel Frankel), and movement stuff appropriate for preschoolers. To avoid copyright concerns, Chuck and I decided not to post covers. Unfortunately, that's usually when I happened to push "record" on my Flip. Little Boy Blue deleted another video, leaving me with this. It's not that I don't like this particular song (the last time we saw Chuck, we said "Ahoooooooy, mateys. Arrrrrgh!" for, like, a month). It's just that it doesn't quite show off his wonderful voice to best effect. Anyway, those of you in preschool (OK, and those that mind them) will appreciate this.

For Arizona-area folks, Chuck's playing (as is Laura Freeman) at the Pickin' in the Pines festival up in Flagstaff this weekend. Weather should be awesome.

Chuck Cheesman - "The Pirate Song" [YouTube]