Yet Another List of Favorite CDs...

Some people get writing (or quoting) gigs they think are cool and let a lot of people know. (I would, uh, fall into that category. Just want to make sure you guys know about this stuff.)

Then there's Warren Truitt, who writes Kids Music That Rocks. I enjoy Warren's reviews for the sheer passion that shines through. He doesn't review a huge number of CDs, but those he does get some lavish praise. (I'd say that even if his tastes weren't reasonably similar to mine.)

What Warren does not do, apparently, is self-promote. Not a smidgen of his glowing language was used to note that his list of "12 Kids' Albums You Can't Live Without" was the cover story in the July School Library Journal. (Seeing as he's a children's librarian for the New York City Public Library's Donnell Central Children's Room, that's, well, appropriate. Not to mention cool.)

Check it out for some familiar names and some less-familiar ones, too.

Not Lullabies, But Close Enough

When I originally talked about my latest piece for Education.com, "Albums To Tame the Savage Beast," with my editor there, she made it clear that she wasn't looking for a list of lullaby albums, because the site focuses on kids aged preschool on up.

So these are five albums designed for quiet time for slightly older kids. Raffi's Quiet Time makes the list, natch, but rest assured that all five CDs will work well for times when everybody needs to take it down a notch.

If you fall asleep on the couch while listening some afternoon and your kids pull all the pots and pans out of the cabinets while you're sleeping, I can't be held responsible.

Contest Winner: The Top 50 Kids Songs of All Time

I know, I know, it took me way too long to figure out the winner of my "Top 50 Kids Songs of All Time Contest." Just waay too much to do...

In any case, the rules specified that the winner had to identify my #1 song, which was... "Twinkle Twinkle/ABC/Baa Baa Black Sheep." Four people correctly pegged that song at #1, which meant I had to go to the next tiebreaker, which was correctly guessing other songs in my Top 5. Seeing as Ellen listed the same melody twice, I didn't think that counted, so the winner is...

Clark, who also included "Miss Mary Mack" in his list.

Congratulations to Clark, who is at the moment selecting his CD prize, and thanks to everyone for participating and reading!

Review Two-Fer: Best of the Land of Nod Music Store, Vol. 1 & 2 - Various Artists

It's a little odd, given the wave of popularity kids' music is riding right now, that there aren't more best-of compilations. They're not unheard of, mind you (and, no, the Rachael Ray compilation doesn't count), but they're certainly not crowding the shelves either, are they? In part, I'm guessing it has something to do with the very independent nature of 99% of the kids' music produced. Sure, there are artists like They Might Be Giants or Ralph's World who are recording for a major label, but the vast majority of albums are self-released.

So perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the Land of Nod's first kids' music compilation, Best of the Land of Nod Store Music, Volume 1, originally released in 2004, is that it actually attempts to provide an overview kids' musicians of the past and present, off labels major and not, fitting the bill like little else on the market. You have the great quartet of Smithsonian Folkways artists -- Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie -- making an appearance alongside current stars Dan Zanes, Justin Roberts, Ralph's World, and They Might Be Giants. With the exception of maybe Roberts' "Yellow Bus" and Zanes' "All Around the Kitchen," there are no absolute must-have tracks here by the artists above, though the tracks chosen are solid, and picking just one track out of the many by each of those artists would be exceedingly difficult. Of the lesser-known artists, Rosie Flores' "Red, Red Robin" (off Bloodshot's Bottle Let Me Down comp) and Peter Himmelman's "Sherm the Worm" shine out most brightly here.

If Vol. 1 is a solid, if safe, collection that you could give to your parents for them to play when they have the grandkids over, Best of the Land of Nod Store Music, Volume 2, released in 2005, makes an attempt to speak to parents who might actually buy the CD for themselves. To some extent, it goes over the same ground as Volume 1 -- Zanes, Roberts, Mitchell, and Himmelman make a repeat appearance, as does Lead Belly. It's the new stuff that skews considerably younger. Cake's funky reworking of "Mahna Mahna" or the Mr. T Experience's rollicking "Unpack Your Adjectives" aren't necessarily seminal kids' music tracks, but they're a heck of a lot of fun. Andy Partridge from XTC provides not one but two excellent tracks of music originally written for Disney's James and the Giant Peach. (It was rejected in favor of music by Randy Newman -- hey, I love Randy Newman, but let somebody else do the Disney movies for a change.) If the first volume had more of an establishment view of the kids' music universe, this volume includes more newer and less conventional music to give a better sense of the possibilities inherent in the genre.

At 38 and 40 minutes long, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are a good mixtape length. You can find them at any major internet retailer as well as the Land of Nod itself, natch.

Regular readers of this website will probably be familiar with many of the artists on the two CDs, and will even have a number of the tracks' original releases in their families' collections. If I had to recommend just one CD, I'd probably go with Vol. 2, just because I think the less-familiar songs are stronger. Having said that, both collections are strong and would be a nice introduction for your doubting neighbor or relative that there isn't some great music being made for kids now (or 50 years ago). Recommended.

Obviously, there are some conflict-of-interest issues here, seeing as my reviews (warts and all) are also used on the Land of Nod website. All I can say is that the collections here were one of the reasons why I decided to sign on with them. I'd be posting the exact same review even if I had no association with them.

Brady Rymer Tours US, Doesn't Make It To (Cough, Cough) Phoenix

I got word that Brady Rymer and The Little Band That Could will be heading off on a 12-city national tour starting in August and on through the fall.

I don't usually comment on single-artist tours unless there's something different about the tour, even for artists I like such as Brady, so why am I mentioning it? Well, this particular tour is going to be under the sponsorship of Children's Dimetapp. I know what you're saying, you're saying, oh, Stefan, you're a tool of the children's cold medicine-makers, but there's something else.

Besides being saddled with the somewhat clunky name of the "Children's Dimetapp Breathe & Boogie Tour," the other noteworthy thing is that the entire tour will be free. (Apparently attendees will even receive a Rymer compilation CD, among other goodies.)

So for the first time as I can tell, a company has figured that it's worth the money to fly a kids' musician (and a sizeable band) around the country to play for free in the hope that the association will pay off for the company. I don't think it'll be the last time.

I'll be curious to hear whether the new songs Rymer has written for the tour have any direct Dimetapp references, a la Ralph Covert's Rice Krispie jingle for his tour. But, of course, I won't know that because once again, despite the fact that the Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country and has a very young population, a major tour is skipping the area.

Tour dates for those of you living in other areas of the country that apparently suffer from more children's colds than I do after the jump...
Chicago - August 26 - 3 P.M. - Brookfield Zoo

Baltimore - September 8 - 12:00 Noon - Maryland Science Center

Philadelphia - September 15 - 11:30 A.M. - World Café Live

Boston - September 22 - 12:00 Noon - South Shore Mall (Braintree)

Washington, D.C. - September 23 - 1:00 P.M. - Glen Echo Park

Rochester, NY - September 29 - Time TBA - Venue TBA

Los Angeles - October 6 - 12:00 Noon - Santa Monica Pier

San Diego - October 7 - 12:00 Noon - Horton Plaza

Atlanta - October 13 - 12:00 Noon - Mall of Georgia

Seattle - October 20 - Time TBA - venue TBA

Houston - November 10 - Time TBA - Houston Children's Museum

Dallas - November 11 - Time TBA - venue TBA (Note: Dallas and Houston may swap dates, depending on time and venue considerations.)