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.

Best Kids Music 2011: Top 10 Debuts

I'll kick off my review of the best kids music of 2011 with a look at the year's best debuts.

As was the case last year, we didn't know many of these artists a year ago (or if we did, we had no idea they had a kids music album in them). But these albums caught my ear fairly quickly and some of them even made my top albums of the year list.

I should note that, as I did last year, by using the word "debut," I'm assuming that this isn't the last family music album from each of these artists. Albums from Holly Throsby and Chip Taylor, for example, would've been considered for this list, but I've made the assumption that their family albums will be their sole foray into the genre. I would be happy to be proven wrong, next year or at any point in the future.

So here are ten debut kids music albums (listed alphabetically by artist) worth celebrating.

The Alphabeticians
Rock
Leading off this alphabetical list is this Portland, Oregon duo (Eric Levine and Jeff Inlay, AKA Mr. E. and Mr. Hoo) who trade in sharp, hook-filled guitar jangle-pop and slightly absurd lyrics. (Sample song title: "Eric Saw Peter Buck's Girlfriend and Then He Saw Peter Buck".) But then again, isn't looking at life through a child's eyes a little absurd once we've left our adult glasses on too long? Listen here.
Cat and a Bird
Cat and a Bird
Energetic gypsy-jazz from the future. Lyrics about the animal kingdom. They had me at "violin." The duo of Vasiliy Taranov and Emily Chimiak make folk music for people who think they don't like folk music, and on their debut they somehow manage to combine catchy songs with some nuggets of knowledge regarding the animal kingdom that even the parents might not know. They are called "Cat and a Bird," after all.

Lori Henriques
Outside My Door
Let me quote from my original review: "Outside My Door: Songs for Children of All Ages is unlike any kids' CD I've heard in a long time. It's a throwback to 1970s piano jazz, nothing but Henriques' voice and nimble piano work. It's inspired by Sesame Street, though the lyrics especially are a bit advanced for the preschoolers who are that show's target audience." It's also -- more importantly -- really good.

Caroline Herring
The Little House Songs
Why Caroline Herring and not, say, Holly Throsby? Because I'm pretty sure that folksinger Herring wants to continue making these albums based on children's books. Herring got a boost from a Kickstarter campaign to turn her songs chronicling the fade and rebirth of a tiny house into a full-length album. It's simple album, made with care, and, given its subject matter, covers a wider range of emotions than many albums for kids. If it's the only kids' album Herring makes, it's a fine piece of work. (But I'm hoping it's not her last.)

Johnny & Jason
Go,go... go, go, go!
Another sign (beyond the Alphabeticians and Portland-based Henriques) that the Portland kindie music scene is coalescing into one of the country's hot spots. The Portland duo of Johnny Keener and Jason Greene have a homegrown and hook-filled sound that sounds friendly to all ages. You can listen to the album here. This summer, I called it a "definitely a contender for one of the year's best debuts"; now I'll confirm it.

Mr. & Mrs. Muffins
The Adventures of Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Carrot / The Striped Ladybird
The Seattle duo also used a Kickstarter campaign, in this case to press the music from their two books, The Adventures of Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Carrot and The Striped Ladybird, onto vinyl. But you don't need a record player to listen to or enjoy the music -- the books and music are designed for 21st-century mediums like the iPad. Their breezy sounds could have been recorded 50 or 75 years ago, but they're just as lovely as background music for Skype-ing with Grandma.

Meadows
The Littlest Star
Composer Keith Kenniff and his wife Hollie Kenniff are in about a kajillion different musical projects -- for their latest, they give some traditional tunes (and a handful of originals) a spin around the block. Relaxed arrangements and vocals -- nothing is reinvented here, but sometimes you need a collection of classic kids' tunes that sound like they weren't on played on a keyboard in a brightly-colored plastic case.

Papa Crow
Things That Roar
An album from Michigan's Papa Crow, AKA Jeff Krebs, that proves that "hushed" isn't just an adjective that applies to female musicians. Inspired by folks like Elizabeth Mitchell and Dan Zanes, Krebs turns in a quiet -- but not sleepy -- album of originals that sound great at any time of year, but especially with a sweater on, maybe sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

Mike Park
Smile
Mike Park isn't the first person to make punk music for the preschool set, but he probably has the nicest pedigree, being the bassist for Skankin' Pickle and releasing music from bands like the Alkaline Trio on his Asian Man Records label. This album is targeted right at the preschool set, focusing on basic concerns like counting and animals and jumping. (Hey, I think jumping is a useful skill for a future punk. Or just about anybody else.) Again, why include him and not Chip Taylor? Just a feeling that this isn't the last foray into kindie punk from Park.

The Thinkers
Oh Zoooty!
Super-fun, imaginative bouncy pop -- which is either a description of the Boston-NYC-based band's debut album or a fizzy soda from Japan. I'm going with the music. Will your kids laugh? Yes they will. Will they dance? Yes they will. There's been a lot of radio silence from them since their summer tour, but I'm hoping we haven't heard the last of them.

Best Kids Music 2011: An Introduction

Well, it's December, and if you write for, well, just about any website, you are now constitutionally obligated to start putting together lists of the year's best stuff. Last I put together a comprehensive list of kids music worth your time and this year's list is even bigger.

Better? Well, that's up to you, but from my perspective, there is no sign that the creative flowering of the genre shows any signs of slowing down.

As always, my year meets the definition of the Fids and Kamily year -- November 1, 2010 through October 31, 2011. I'll be updating this post with links to the relevant subject posts as they go up.

Top 10 Debuts
Top 10 Album Packages
Top 25 Songs
Top 25 Albums
Big Ideas

Thanks as always for taking time out of your day to read this or anything else on the site. I appreciate it!