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.

Itty-Bitty Review: Practically Ridiculous - The Jimmies

Somebody just go ahead and give Ashley Albert her own TV show already. In fact, she has indeed been looking for a show, and why anyone as talented as Albert (and as willing to send photos of her wearing a fake mustache as her press shot) isn't yet somewhere on live-action TV is a little mystifying to me. But for now Albert -- kindie's Lucille Ball -- is content to rock out with The Jimmies. On the Jimmies' long-in-the-recording second album, the recently-released Practically Ridiculous, Albert continues the formula for success that made their debut CD Make Your Own Someday so winning: channeling one's inner eight-year-old attitude while marshaling top-notch pop-rock music production as backup for said thoughts.

Stylistically, sartorially, and practically (she's the one constant Jimmie at this point and the songs are all hers), Albert is kindie rock's Gwen Stefani, and on Practically Ridiculous, she polishes most songs to a glitzy pop-rock shine. You can practically smell the hairspray through the iPod on some of the songs, like the blitzing "Birthday," whereas songs like "Minivan Hotrod" or "Career Day" sound like the beats and the AutoTune were stolen from another, much less funny track.

And, really, it's bringing the funny that separates the Jimmies from a lot of other kids' acts. It's one thing to be excited about getting a pet ("Gonna Get a Hamster"), it's another thing entirely to really sell the enthusiasm when Albert as the song's narrator finds out that the hamster won't necessarily do everything she thought ("I'M... STILL... gonna get a hamster..."). This is where her years of experience doing voiceover work comes in handy. "The Hook" is a meta-song, the spiritual sequel to "What's That Sound?" from the first album, that explains pop song construction. (And while I'm emphasizing the humor here, the best track is probably the mostly serious "Bonfire," which mixes a little country-rock with a little self-empowerment.)

The album's most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9; you can hear clips of the album wherever it's (electronically) sold. Practically Ridiculous doesn't veer much from the formula from the Jimmies' debut, but why should it when that one worked out so well? This one does, too, TV's (temporary?) loss is kindie's (continued) gain. Definitely recommended.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the album for possible review.

Christmas 2010 Family Music, Part 3

The only thing more amazing to me than the fact that it wasn't enough to have part 1 and part 2 of Christmas music is that I'm already prepping Part 4. Folks, Christmas is less 100 hours away! Anyway, to the music...

First off, free music from The Jimmies. There is never a bad time for free music from the Jimmies, but a holiday-themed EP during the, er, holidays? OK, perhaps the cover of "Chanuka, oh Hanukkah..." is a little late, but the rest is A-OK. The cover of "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" is best described as country-lounge-punk, but I most dig their cover of "Sleigh Ride." Anyway, download, wait for it, Mama Said NOG You Out here.

Rudy Trubitt, one of the Bay Area's Sippy Cups, has a holiday tune for your listening/downloading pleasure. It's his take on "The First Noel," and "boatload of holiday horns, as he describes it, is right. Very nice. Download or stream it here or below:

Rudy Trubitt - The First Noel by rudytrubitt

My first comment when I heard that the The Not-Its recorded their version of WHAM's "Last Christmas" without the "romantic" element, was to wonder whether they left out the element where it stunk, too. (Sorry, that song holds about 2 plays worth of interest for me each year, and I think I hit that before we ever reached December.) But, hey, the Not-Its' version is short, tuneful, and funny. Plus, you can download/listen for free here or below.

Last Christmas by The Not-Its!

Peter Apel is offering a very high energy take on "Jingle Bells," streamed for free or downloaded for the price of an e-mail. He's also got a free Jingle Bells ringtone, which I'm guessing would sound odd in July, but, hey, it takes all kinds. More info here.

Jimmies Chick Nixes Flick-Rockers Split

Or, to put it another way, the rumors of the Jimmies' demise have been greatly exaggerated.

When I posted the first video from the band Tim and the Space Cadets, I didn't expect that most of the chatter in the comments would be about the status of the band the two founders of TATSC left, The Jimmies. I knew that the Jimmies weren't folding or anything of the sort, but pretty soon after I posted the video, I followed up with both chief Jimmie Ashley Albert and chief, er, Space Cadet Tim Kubart to find out the real story...

So why the split (which happened in 2008)?
Both Albert and Kubart agree -- it was because Kubart was ready to try his own hand leading a kids music band. Says Kubart:

I'd decided on family music as my career path before I joined the Jimmies, and I had already been writing my own songs and playing around with ideas for albums and other media forms. After about two years, I think it was becoming obvious to everyone involved I was itching to get started on my own work.

Ashley and I came to the sad conclusion that it was time for me to move on. I was honored and thrilled to be a part of the Jimmies, and I still always have fond memories whenever I sneeze into my wrunkle.

And Albert tells the same story in typically Jimmies-ish manner:

By the Summer of 2008, it became clear that Tim was never gonna be happy just being the bass player for The Jimmies and was really wanting to do his own thing. After a LOT of back and forth, we decided that the best thing to do was set him off into the world before we became so covered in Jimmiesishness that his leaving would no longer be an option without hurting the project. It was an unbelievably tough and scary decision for all of us, but I think that deep down, we knew that it had to be made or Tim would never reach his full rocking-out potential and we would always feel like he had one foot out the door.

Now, for those of you who forget how the Jimmies were founded, it was always Ashley's show -- she put the whole debut album together down in Miami in 2006, then came up to New York to cast the band...

I made the album down in Miami with help from my dad, my best friend Kate and a few amazing studio musicians and then came back to New York and that Fall, found a few super-talented guys to help me perform the songs live and in the videos...

Kubart remembers the soup and playing songs in a cast:

Ashley was actively searching New York for kid-friendly, hip musicians around the same time I dedicated my life to family music. I'd already been playing in classrooms for over a year, doing birthday parties, playing hayrides in the summer, things like that. A mutual friend introduced us, and Ashley and I chatted over some black bean soup in Union Square. The funny thing about our first meeting was that I had my arm in a full cast -- I'd been in a car accident about a month prior -- and I tried to play her a song I had written about an octopus. The rhythm was all over the place because of the cast, but I managed to convince her I was decent at the guitar and even better at the bass. So Ashley asked me to join the band...

But the split is definitely amicable -- "I was with the band for a little over two years after that, and I wouldn't give those years up for anything. I loved being with the Jimmies -- the band, the traveling, the great music, the incredible videos," says Kubart. He also says, "Ashley is a great driving force. She really puts her entire self into that project, and it shows; the results are creative and fantastic." And Ashley returns the compliment: "Tim's got great pop-sensibility, charisma to spare and isn't too hard on the eyes...he's gonna do great. And don't be surprised to see Matt Puckett popping up anywhere there's a guitar that needs playing or a taco that needs eating."

Oh, yeah, Matt Puckett, Jimmies guitarist. Here's the story from Ashley:

In the Spring of 2009, young Matt Puckett graduated from college and, like any 22 year old whose parents stop paying their New York City rent, decided to move back home to Texas. Before Matt left, Tim asked him to lend a few songs and perform on his Space Cadets EP and video. And then, just like that, he was gone. Matt's a true lover of music and a champion for his friends and will pretty much play with anyone for any reason at every opportunity. He's still down in Texas and is involved in all sorts of other projects, including his sister's fantastic pop-chamber music project "Mother Falcon" (which you should totally check out). To that point, The Jimmies are doing a show down in Houston on March 7th and Matt's driving in to play with us.

For his part, Tim says he's "hoping to complete a full album in the coming months, and mostly get on the road as much as I can. My favorite part of the music business is the live performance. So I hope to start touring as soon as possible." He's also starting development on a podcast and creating a book series.

As for Ashley, the Jimmies as a band has evolved slightly:

While I originally had this utopian idea about us eventually congealing into a real-life, hardcore, kindie rock-n-roll band, once Matt decided to move back home, I figured out that it was WAY easier on everybody to just have a solid stable of great guys at the ready... Dan Weiner has always been my main man drummer, but I even have a guy that can cover for him should he get a cold or lose his left shoe or decide to throw it all away and move to Belize.

How does she feel about the new album?

My dad and I produce the albums together at his recording studio (AudioVision) down in Miami, with his partners, my uncle and godfather, poking their heads in every once in a while to lend their 2 cents. Dan played drums for a few of the songs that we've already been performing live (like "Every Day's A Holiday" and "Bonfire"), but I have this one incredible musician, Steve Gordon, who can play just about anything and we just build the tracks as we go with anyone who happens to be hanging around the studio, picking up instruments as they're needed (that's how we ended up with Joel Grey's piano player and Tito Puente, Jr's drummer on "Make Your Own Someday"). It's a really fun, organic way to make an album and I am over-the-moon excited with how it's turning out.

And while Albert says that she hopes that this "assuages anyone's fears that Tim starting a band might make The Jimmies any less...Jimmiesish -- on the contrary, we are more Jimmiesish than ever," she also adds, enigmatically, "But, that said,taken a hard left and am steering The Jimmies into entirely new, unexpected and generally fantastic waters...so changes may be a comin' after all."

DVD Review: Trying Funny Stuff - The Jimmies

As a reviewer, I tend to dislike absolute statements because you never know what you'll hear or read or see afterwards that will cause you to regret your previous absolute. So with that in mind, let me say this with no "possibly"s or "maybe"s to get in the way:

Nobody makes better kids music videos than the Jimmies. Nobody.

Don't get me wrong, They Might Be Giants draw a lot of talent to their videos, Recess Monkey does a lot with a little, and folks like Gustafer Yellowgold and Readeez crank out a lot of great music via their primarily video-based format. And various artists might crank out an excellent video or two. But when it comes to creating those 3-minute videos we used to watch MTV for, the Jimmies consistently are the cream of the crop.

It's no surprise, therefore, that the chief draw of Trying Funny Stuff, the new DVD from the New York band The Jimmies are the six videos on the set. "Do The Elephant," "Spanimals," "Cool To Be Uncool," "Bedhead," and "Taddy" are here (all available on their YouTube channel or here), along with the new-to-you video for "What's That Sound?," which is every bit as eye-popping as the other three (love the cloud dress).

The production values Jimmies mastermind Ashley Albert and director Michael Slavens bring to the videos are pretty stunning -- they impress (and the songs they back up are pretty decent, too). They try lots of stuff, some funny and some just cool. The "behind-the-scenes" documentary starts out goofy, and I thought it was going to be one of those throwaway EPK documentaries, but maybe about five minutes in, you realize, hey, this is interesting, and not in a "interesting-for-the-parents, deathly-dull-for-the-kids" sort of way, but Slavens and Albert actually walk through how they created the effects for the videos and talk to kids rather than the adults. (Oh, and they run through a good dozen chicken-related puns in the span of about a minute, but they're not perfect.)

The rest of the package is gravy. The karaoke setting for the videos, is cool, though I don't expect it'll get much use. And the concert video is fun, with the band rocking out in a New York auditorium, complete with guest banjo artists, gratuitous egg shaker solo, and Soaper the Scaredybot (you just have to see it). If you've seen the band in concert, then you know what to expect from the concert. They play songs both from Make Your Own Someday and the upcoming (at some point) Everyday's a Holiday. The DVD also comes packaged with a CD of the concert -- in other words, there's a lot of video and audio to enjoy.

Kids ages 4 through 8 will most enjoy the DVD, which features nearly 90 minutes of video (besides the karaoke). You can buy the DVD here or at Barnes & Noble.

To watch the Jimmies is to become a fan of the Jimmies. And sometimes you want to watch videos with your kids on something larger than a 3-inch YouTube screen. For those reasons alone, Trying Funny Stuff is worth your time. Definitely recommended.