Mr. David Frosty

I'll have more words on Christmas albums old and young later in the month, but for now, a brief note -- Mr. David has a new song up at his Myspace site -- "Frosty the Snowman." Available for download, it's a laid-back, slightly spacy take on the song made famous by Jimmy Durante. Sounds exactly what you'd think "Frosty the Snowman" sung by Mr. David would sound like. (And that's a good thing.)

Review in Brief: Josh Levine for Kids - Josh Levine

When playing toddler standards, simplicity works wonders, but it's also nice to take a slightly different approach from the hundreds of recordings that have preceded you. Josh Levine for Kids, from New York City musician Josh Levine stands out from most by mixing in some Latin songs in with the English-language standards (and sometimes reworking those). For example, Levine turns the "Alphabet Song" and the "Hokey Pokey" into gentle mambos. (I liked the slight but snappy "I Am a Pumpkin," featuring the Venezuelan cuatro, in particular.) On the Latin side, the slinky "Tiburon" ("Shark") showcases Levine's keyboard work and "Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica" has nice percussion work from Levine and Guillermo Cardenas. Levine also lends his alto to his own music accompanying Edith Segal's "A Real Bouquet," a sweet song in praise of diversity.

Though the album encourages movement on the part of the listener, in general it exudes the mellow vibe of a lazy, sun-drenched afternoon. I kept on having "Getz/Gilberto" flashbacks -- I wasn't expecting "The Girl from Ipanema," really, but there's a certain timelessness to the jazzy Latin rhythms that will keep it from aging. I think the 22-minute album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear samples at Josh's music for kids page.

Whether you're looking for some slightly different takes on toddler favorites, to broaden your family's musical palette, or just for a nice, low-key 20-minute timeout, Josh Levine For Kids is a good place to start. Recommended.

Robert Christgau, Kids Music Blogger?

One of the weirder things things about the NPR interview this week was that not only did that story appear higher on NPR's top e-mailed story list than the venerable music critic Robert Christgau's piece on crunk, so did my list of the top 20 kids' music albums of the year. I still don't know if that was a good or a bad thing, but perhaps kids' music -- one of the few genres Christgau hasn't really touched on in his long career -- is a genre he might want to explore.

Well, anyway, news this week that Christgau has moved his "Consumer Guide" record reviews to MSN. It's well worth your time every other month to read his reviews. And, what do you know? One of Christgau's favorite records in his MSN debut? The Gothic Archies' The Tragic Treasury, the Lemony Snicket-inspired CD from Stephin Merritt. Hmmm... I've reviewed that here, too.

Perhaps there's hope for the guy yet...

Wouldn't It Be Great If There Was A Video About Tricycles?

Why, yes, yes it would. Frances England's got herself a spiffied-up website and a video and slideshow to boot. Now if only Lunch Money and the Jellydots would jump in with videos for their awesome three- and two-wheeled songs...

49th Annual Grammy Nominations -- Children's Field

The nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards were released today and, as always, they included two children's-related fields.

Regular readers of the site will have a "one of these things is not like the other" moment.
First off, the lists...

Best Musical Album For Children
(For albums consisting of predominantly music or song vs. spoken word.)

Baby Einstein Meet The Orchestra - Various Artists (Ted Kryczko & Ed Mitchell, producers) [Walt Disney Records]
Beethoven's Wig 3: Many More Sing Along Symphonies - Beethoven's Wig [Rounder] (my review)
Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes And Friends [Festival Five Records] (my review)
My Best Day - Trout Fishing In America [Trout Records] (my review)
The Sunny Side Of The Street - John Lithgow [Razor & Tie] (my review)

Best Spoken Word Album For Children
(For albums consisting of predominantly spoken word vs. music or song.)

Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates & Dogs - Bill Harley [Round River Records/Empyrean Records]
Christmas In The Trenches - John McCutcheon [Peachtree Press]
Disney's Little Einsteins Musical Missions - Various Artists (Ted Kryczko & Ed Mitchell, producers)[Walt Disney Records]
Peter Pan - Jim Dale [Listening Library]
The Witches - Lynn Redgrave [Harper Children's Audio]

Now, the spoken word I can't speak coherently to (though it's always nice to see Bill Harley get recognized).

The musical album category, well, that's something different. Four of the albums I (obviously) recognize and while I have a clear favorite (hint: rhymes with "fan lanes"), I can't say that the Academy would clearly embarrass themselves by selecting any of those four.

Now, as for Baby Einstein... Look, I actually kinda like Baby Einstein music products -- we have a CD or two of theirs around the house, and I don't find it annoying like others do. But its presence here in this category (making clear I have not heard this album) just seems wrong. Like putting a straight-to-video movie in the category for Best Picture. It might be really good, it just seems wrong.

Its presence actually highlights a drawback with the Grammy process, and that's the fact that you typically need strong distribution or familiarity in order to be nominated. Three of the five nominated albums are on actual labels that could probably afford some distribution to a broader set of voters. More importantly, all of the names are familiar ones -- sure, Dan Zanes and Trout Fishing in America are actually self-distributed, but they've both been around the music industry long enough to make enough people check 'em off on their nominating ballots.

If you're looking for another list of the year's best kids and family CDs, check out the Fids & Kamily website...