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.)

1. 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."
2. (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."

5. (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."

7. (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."

9. (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."

9 (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.

12. 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.

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

14. 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.

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

16. (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.

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

19. 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.

20. (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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

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

25. 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.

Great Kids Music: 2011 Fids and Kamily Awards Announced

It's November, which in my mind is the month featuring two great things worth celebrating: 1) bountiful harvests and gratitude (tip o' the cap to my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving), and 2) kids music.

This was the sixth year for the Fids and Kamily Awards, and this weekend the list of the top kids and family music of the year was announced, led by Recess Monkey's win for FLYING!.

Every year it's hard for judges to pick out their individual ten favorite albums of the year, but I heard that complaint more so this year than ever. It's one of the reasons I came up with the idea for F&K -- ask me tomorrow what my ten favorite albums of the year were, and you're liable to get a different answer than what I gave in my F&K vote. But crowdsourcing the thing helps even out those ups and downs and personal idiosyncratic preferences. F&K's 29 judges this year (the largest judge pool in our history) listen to a lot of music and the list that resulted is a great list to share with friends who aren't yet completely clued in to this kids music resurgence.

Thanks as always to my fellow F&K coordinators Bill Childs and Gwyneth Butera and of course to all the judges. Thanks, too, to Jeff Bogle for updating the F&K logo. It was fun -- let's vote next year, OK?

Complete list of winners after the jump.

1. Recess Monkey - FLYING!
2. Dan Zanes and Friends - Little Nut Tree
3. Frances England - Mind of My Own
4. Caspar Babypants - Sing Along!
5. Lunch Money - Original Friend
6. Brady Rymer - Love Me for Who I Am
7. The Deedle Deedle Dees - Strange Dees, Indeed
8. The Jimmies - Practically Ridiculous
9. Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - Oh Lucky Day!
10. Gustafer Yellowgold - Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock

Honorable Mentions (unranked next ten):

Cat and a Bird - Cat and a Bird
The Hipwaders - The Golden State
Charlie Hope - Let's Go Play!
Ella Jenkins - A Life of Song
Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights - What a Zoo!
Todd McHatton - Galactic Champions of Joy
Alastair Moock - These Are My Friends
The Not-Its - Tag, You're It!
Papa Crow - Things That Roar
Chip Taylor and the Grandkids - Golden Kids Rules

Fids & Kamily Awards To Be Announced This Weekend!

It's not often that I use exclamation points in blog post titles, but I do think this is a big deal. This Saturday, we'll be announcing the winners of the 2010 edition of the Fids and Kamily Awards, the fifth annual (really, I checked) roundup of the year's best family music from all sorts of folks who spend an insane amount of time listening to kids music. We compile the results and you, dear readers, are the winners.

You can listen to Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child this Saturday, Nov. 20th from 8 AM to 10 AM East Coast time to hear the albums revealed, or just head over to the Fids and Kamily website where we'll be revealing them relatively simultaneously (we hope). It's been a great year for kids music, family music, kindie music, or whatever you call it. The list of winners is proof...

The Fids and Kamily Awards Are Here! The Fids and Kamily Awards Are Here!

OK, they were here yesterday, but it's been a busy weekend, and I'm just now getting around to spreading the word a little bit wider. That's right, the Fids and Kamily Awards for 2009 were announced yesterday, highlighting the best music of the year for kids and families as voted on by about 2 dozen folks who listen to more kids music than, well, just about anybody. Anyway, you can go see the full list of 11 winners and 12 honorable mentions or the other 42 albums also receiving votes.

The Top 11 albums are listed after the jump. Many thanks to the judges and especially Gwyneth and Bill who along with me coordinated this year's poll...
The Top 11 Albums of 2009 are (in order):

1. They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science
2. Lunch Money - Dizzy
3. Recess Monkey - Field Trip
4 (tie). Peter Himmelman - My Trampoline
4 (tie). Ziggy Marley - Family Time
6. Milkshake - Great Day
7. Gustafer Yellowgold - Mellow Fever
8. Billy Jonas - Happy Accidents
9. Captain Bogg & Salty - Emphatical Piratical
10. Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family - Go Waggaloo
11. The Not-Its - We Are The Not-Its

This Was My Saturday

Wake up.

Eat breakfast, make sure the posts for the 2008 Fids and Kamily Awards are posting.

They're not, curse time zone issues, get those straightened out.

And congratulations to Justin Roberts, who took top prize (for the second time in three years) for the fabulous Pop Fly!. Congratulations, too, to the rest of the Top 10, the 10 honorable mentions, and all the nominated albums. (And thanks to Bill and Amy and all the judges for their help.)

Then it was off to soccer...
Sorry, I have no music-related soccer reference -- or at least, none worth tracking down. (If only Soccer Team had made a video for their awesome "I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again.")

After soccer, off to another Sing-Along Saturday at Stinkweeds. Playing once more was Dario and his compadres. We brought the kids' guitar and about halfway through the performance Little Boy Blue strode up to where they were playing, turned around and faced the audience. He was totally milking it.

From there (well, I should really note that we made brief stops at home between each item as our home was sort of the center of the wheel) it was time for another Music Together class with Little Boy Blue. Can't say that "Bongos" is my favorite of the MT sessions, but their version of "Little Liza Jane" isn't half bad. Not as good as Elizabeth Mitchell's or this guy's, but good enough...

Then it was off to the symphony for one of the Phoenix Symphony's Family Concerts. Miss Mary Mack and I went, and, among other things, got to sing a very abbreviated version of the Beethoven's 9th Singalong. It went better than this at least:

Finally, there was a hayride and, yes, even there we did some singing... but by that point we were pretty darn tired...

So there was a reason you didn't read much about music here this weekend -- we were spending too much time listening to and making it. A fair trade, I think.