Review: All Together Singing in the Kitchen - The Nields

There are many types of kids' music albums, but one genre that's been mostly avoided is the very personal kids' music album. Now, there are a number of musicians who feel compelled to record intensely personal lullabye albums upon the arrival of a child into their family, but those generally end in, if not disaster, at least a goopy mess. Is it possible to make an album that draws upon a particular artist's life but speaks to many families?

All Together Singing in the Kitchen, from the Massachusetts based Nields sisters Nerissa and Katryna, shows one way that can be done. In the Nields' case, they've drawn upon their lives growing up listening to and singing these songs, yes, all together in the kitchen. The album is a collection of primarily folk tunes that the Nields learned singing with their father John Nields along with their mother. John has a clear voice with a bit of a warm warble; it reminds me of Dan Zanes compatriot David Jones. His voice makes a nice contrast with the more distinct voice of the Nields sisters. When they sing together, such as on their soulful rendition of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep," it's a sweet, joyful noise. An even more joyful noise comes when the Nields sing with a local group of kids on three of the tracks -- the way the kids shout back "YES MA'AM!" in the call-and-response of "John, the Rabbit" makes me smile every time I hear it.

To some extent, I couldn't listen to the album without thinking of other versions of particular songs that I liked slightly better -- say, Dan Zanes' and Father Goose's version of "Hi Ho the Rattlin' Bog." And there are times when the personal nature of the album -- three generations singing "All Together Singing in the Kitchen" is more inspiring perhaps than truly compelling upon repeated listenings. But that's as much me bringing my own personal singing experiences to the table -- there's no reason why someone who wasn't as familiar with some of the tracks here wouldn't latch on to these versions. And the Nields do give back a modern folk classic of their own -- "Anna Kick a Hole in the Sky" is a great song about resilience and life.

In true Dan Zanes age-desegregated style, the album is appropriate for all ages, but let's say you've got to be at least 2 to get a lot out of it. The 43-minute album, which has been available regionally since last year, but is getting a national release next week, is available here or here. No samples available yet, but Bill and Ella had them on last week.

Like many hootenannies, All Together Singing in the Kitchen was probably most fun for the people making the record. It is a credit, however, to the Nields family that they've put together an album that is not only inspiring but also lots of fun to listen to. Definitely recommended.

*****

Note: I'm cooking up something related (in part) to this CD which I hope is ready for prime-time by next week. Stay tuned...

Review: Play - Various Artists (DeSoto Records)

My general rule on albums is that one awesome song usually makes an acceptable album; two, pretty good; and three awesome songs makes for an excellent album worth getting excited about.

Play, my friends, has three awesome songs. At least.

The album is the first kids' compilation from DeSoto Records, best known for releasing albums from bands such as Jawbox and the Dismemberment Plan. Five years ago -- two years ago, even -- the idea that an indie/punk record label would release a kids' album would have gotten you laughed out of yor co-op preschool. But it's no longer a joke.

In one sense, the songs collected here from both DC-area and Seattle-area bands meet the typical requirements of a kids' music compilation. Not one, but two movement songs, for example -- Anna Oxygen's slightly down-tempo "Born to Shake" and Mary Timony's "Clap Your Hands" (which is fine, but still no match for They Might Be Giants' song of the same name). Food plays an important role, too (see Mock Orange's "Holiday Dinner Song" and the Young Fresh Fellows' "Picnic"), as do animals (Georgie James' "Grizzly Jive," Sgt. Major's romping "Nellie the Elephant," who also gets hipster eyewear on the front cover).

But it also differs from many kids comps. For example, rather than sticking the slow songs at the end of the album, it puts the two slowest songs right at the front. At the end instead is Visqueen's revved-up remake of John Fogerty's "Centerfield." It's not really a kids' song, but as a baseball fan and the parent of a daughter who whacks the snot out of an oversized plastic baseball, it warms my heart to hear a woman sing those lyrics.

More importantly, there's a sense of energy and fun that sometimes is lacking from other kids' compilations -- rather than making kids' songs, the bands simply recorded songs that are totally kid-accessible. Georgie James' "Grizzly Jive" and the Young Fresh Fellows' "Picnic" are two of the best indie pop songs you'll hear all year anywhere. Soccer Team's "I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again" is an advice song whose sheer defiance and exuberance encourages kids to identify with the narrator and totally overcomes the resistance kids might normally have to that type of song. There are handclaps all over the place -- you can never have too many handclaps. Even the songs that are probably more enjoyable for the adults (Ben Davis & the Jetts' "Bouncin' Party" sounds like a cut from Daydream Nation if that album was actually Sonic Youth's kids' album) don't seem pitched at the adults -- they're adult songs that kids might actually groove to. There's a Mudhoney track here called "I Like to Make Noise and Break Things" whose title (and song) will appeal to the knowing adults, but many 4-year-olds will jump around to it, too.

The tracks here will appeal primarily to kids ages 3 through 8. The 39-minute album will be released next week (April 17) via mailorder and iTunes. (The iTunes release will include a bonus track, "Snacktime," by ex-Dismemberment Plan co-founder Travis Morrison.) The in-store (and Amazon, etc.) release date is May 22. You can hear a couple tracks (including the awesome "Grizzly Jive") here. And if you're in the DC area, go check out Rock-N-Romp for more details on an April 22 record release party featuring Georgie James and the Cassettes.

You can tell the artists collected here had fun recording their tracks, and that comes through clearly in the end result. It's early, but in all likelihood Play is the kids' music compilation of the year. Highly recommended.

Ralph Covert, Dan Zanes, and the Wiggles Walk Into A Bar...

... and say, hey, we all have an iTunes Essentials list!

That's right, there's now a Ralph's World Essentials list to go along with Zanes' and the Wiggles' lists. Since I, uh, compiled it, let me know which of your favorite RW songs I skipped. Not that it'll change the list at all, but you might feel better.

A Poopy Welcome on My Part

I'm belated in doing this, but welcome to those of you visiting here from The Poop, the San Francisco Chronicle's online parenting website. (Best. Online Parenting Website Name. Ever, by the way.) The KidVid Tournament was a bunch of fun, but noodle around here for more good kids' music.

The Top 50 Kids Songs of All Time: Songs 16-20

Ooooh. Top 20. We're definitely getting into "you should definitely know these" territory.

With this entry, your opportunity to enter my contest has now ended. I know there have been a number of entries submitted, but I haven't really looked at them. Might be interesting now that I know what my Top 5 are.

Songs 16 through 20
Songs 21 through 25
Songs 26 through 30
Songs 31 through 35
Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50

20. "Hokey Pokey" - traditional: This far into the list, the songs here are usually easily adpatable to whatever variations you want to provide, which helps keep the song itself fresh. So if you want to put your patella in, or gluteous maximus in, or if you're a pirate, your pegleg in, go ahead. My own memory of this song is attempting to do this on roller skates. High comedy. (Listen to Dan Zanes -- with an assist from Father Goose -- give his take here.

19. "De Colores" - traditional: There was a point, very early on in our children's music lives, when probably half of our CDs had some version of this traditional Spanish-language folk song somewhere in the track listing. This is probably why my wife strongly dislikes this song. To this day, I can sing (phonetically) "Daaaaay" and not even get to "Colores" before she gives me "the look." Despite this, and the fact that a good English translation just does not exist, it has a beautiful, loping melody that conveys the point even if you don't understand much Spanish. (Go here for a bad English translation and Nana Mouskouri's version of the song.)

18. "Mama Don't Allow" - Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport: I just found out that this song was written by a man who was known by the name "Cow Cow." It was not his given name (mama don't allow no odd names on the birth certificate, apparently), but I kinda like it. The song, which encourages listener insubordination of the best kind (it's as if Mo Willems wrote Don't Let The Pigeon Stomp His Feet!), is a great music and movement song. (Hear a snippet of Fox & Branch's version or Brady Rymer's version.)

17. "Oh Susanna" - Stephen Foster: 160 years old this year, Wikipedia describes the lyrics here as "nonsense verse," which worried me, because the lyrics make perfect sense to me. OK, "It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry," doesn't make perfect sense, but it's songwriter's license. Kids love the "Oh Susanna" part. (Thankfully, Foster's shudderingly racist verse is no longer used.) (I kinda like Brian's energetic if slightly off-key version on the We Are... The Laurie Berkner Band DVD, and YouTube offers a copyright-unclear version here.)

16. "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" - traditional: First printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag (see my review of Dan Zanes' take on the book), the melody is what sells the piece. Oh, and the ad libs artists throw in when they're singing about, say, wool pajamas ("itch, scratch" says Laurie Berkner). And I say we throw the part about killing the rooster back into common usage. Kids gotta know where their dino-nuggets are coming from, though I guess they offer tofu dino-nuggets now, too. (Oh, you can find tons of great versions -- Laurie Berkner, Raffi, and Pete Seeger, to name just three -- but this made my day.)