Please Release Me (May 2006 Edition)

An admittedly selective (or perhaps not) list of upcoming children and family music releases:

May 2: Beethoven's Wig 3 (Richard Perlmutter), Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate (Daddy-A-Go-Go)
May 9 (or 16): Catch That Train! (Dan Zanes and Friends)
May 16 (without a doubt): Johnny Cash Children's Album (Johnny Cash, natch)
May 20: Paws, Claws, Scales & Tales (Monty Harper) -- kids' librarians, check out www.ReadingSongs.com for more info
May 23: Folk Playground (Putumayo, Various Artists)

We'll be reviewing many of these CDs in the weeks ahead. We'll be reviewing a whole bunch of other stuff, too, so if the stuff above doesn't tickle your fancy-bone, maybe something else will.

In addition to these releases, we expect new albums from a bunch of Zooglobble favorites, but we'll wait until we hear something more definite before mentioning it. Cautious are we. Talk like Yoda we do sometimes.

Review: The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD - Monty Harper

"Don't judge a book by its cover," goes an adage I tend to ignore when it comes to CDs. The aura of competence regarding album covers and inserts is often an indication of the competence of the music and production itself, particularly in children's music.

So this CD, with its cover picture a giant mouth that brings nothing to mind more than, "Let There Be Lips!" (that's a Rocky Horror Picture Show reference there, folks), worried me.

Thankfully, in this case, the old adage is actually true. Monty Harper's 2005 album, The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD, is a fun and occasionally funny album. (It certainly exceeded my cover-based expectations.) For his fourth CD, the Oklahoma-based Harper recorded three concerts with his "Thrice Upon a Time Band" in front audiences of kids and parents. The concept brings a couple strengths to the CD: 1) the full band (guitars, bass, drums) sounds really good, and 2) the audience participation songs have an audience to participate. Both make the CD very lively.

Harper writes straight-ahead rock (think "classic rock") tunes with a sense of humor and an occasional tendency toward "educational" lyrics. My favorite songs on the CD are the two songs leading off the album, "Loose Tooth," a cute pop-rocker about, er, a loose tooth, and "The Great Green Squishy Mean Bibliovore," with crunchy guitars (and lead character). While I tend to prefer his more story-based songs (like the two above), his "educational" songs aren't bad either -- young kids will probably eat up (pun mostly intended) "You're a Dinosaur," which introduces a whole bunch of dinosaurs in song. (It's one of 5 reptile/dinosaur songs on the CD, so if that's your child's thing, definitely check it out. I'm pretty sure it's the only album in the world with two songs about horned toads.)

The CD also comes with some CD-ROM bonuses -- I did like the two healthy-eating-based songs, "I Go Bananas," and "Gimme Vegetables," the latter of which had a very '80s synth-pop texture wholly unlike the concert itself. (Both are fun -- if Harper ever releases a B-sides/rarities disk, these seem like perfect candidates. Because I don't think I'm ever actually going to listen to the CD at the computer....)

I'd recommend the CD for kids aged 4 through 9. You can find it through the usual suspects (artist's website, CDBaby, Amazon, with samples available at the latter two). If you're looking for a CD of rockin' kids songs, check it out.

News: Other Releases, Releases-To-Be

I hear you saying, "You and your "news." You're all Justin Roberts Meltdown this, and Laurie Berkner Starbucks that! How 'bout mixing it up for a change?"

And you're right, I have neglected other artist news recently. My bad. So here you go, three (mostly) fresh tidbits of info for ya...

1. Brady Rymer's 4th album has been out for a month now. Every Day Is A Birthday was released on February 10, 2006 and in addition to the regular songs, the album also includes what is intriguingly referred to as a "collection of brain-teasing, creative musical activities at the end of the album." Sounds like it'd be not-so-hot shuffled on an iPod, but kinda cool with the kids. (Also, Rymer's website is really cool.)

2. Eric Herman is preparing his 3rd album Snow Day for a late spring/early summer 2006 release. Go to the link above for info on pre-orders. His site also has some computer games, which I hear are all the rage these days.

3. Finally, Monty Harper also has an album coming out this summer -- Paws, Claws, Scales & Tales will have songs revolving "around the themes of pets and reading." Though lyrics are available, I think I'd rather be surprised to see how many songs deal with reading pets.

So there you go.