My Favorite Kids and Family Albums of 2006

I think it's time I revealed my own ballot for the Fids and Kamily awards.

I should begin by noting that one of the main goals I had in coming up with the idea of F&K was to democratize the album reviewing process for this niche. I tend to find individual Top 10 lists of music, movies, etc, somewhat pointless in helping me find new music because taste is idiosyncratic, of course, and what one person finds stirring I might find overwrought. It might be entertaining reading, but usually not too enlightening.

But collect a whole bunch of opinions, and all of a sudden, I think it becomes something useful -- hey, not only did Stefan like that Family Hootenanny CD, other people did, too. Maybe I should check it out. (And, yes, you should.)

So I offer this list by no means intending it to be the last word, but only to be able to express my appreciation for some albums that provided me and my family with enjoyment over the past year.

And there's no way I can limit this list to just 10 albums. I probably heard more than 100 kids and family albums released in the past year, so 20 seems like a reasonable number. I'm still gonna feel bad about excluding #21, whichever that one is (and there are, like, 4 of 'em), but I gotta put a limit somewhere...

Oh, and I'm not great at deciding between things, which will become apparent as you read on. Good thing I'm not this way with cereal otherwise it would take me forever at the grocery store.

Oh, and I'm not a big fan of putting greatest hits CDs on these lists; hence, no Welcome to Ralph's World.

Oh, just get on with it anyway.

1) Meltdown! - Justin Roberts
1) You Are My Little Bird - Elizabeth Mitchell
1) Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes
All 3 albums perfect in their own way. Meltdown! is one of those great pop albums with, like, 8 singles, You Are My Little Bird further refines Mitchell's kid-folk sensibilities with wondrous covers, and Catch That Train! is Zanes' best work, which is saying something.

4) The Family Hootenanny - Various Artists: There is no reason that this album, made up of so many diverse musical styles, should work anywhere near as well as it does. Best compilation of the year.

5) The Great Adventures of Mr. David - Mr. David
5) Fascinating Creatures - Frances England
5) When I Get Little - Dog on Fleas
The Mr. David and Frances England albums were unlike anything else I'd heard this year, and stood out as much for their unique style (Mr. David's soundscapes and England's lo-fi rock stories) as for their enjoyment. Dog on Fleas, on the other hand, took a whole bunch of styles and mixed them together to create something new.

8) Hoodwinked Original Soundtrack - Todd Edwards (Various Artists): Why Ryko let this amazing soundtrack go out of print still mystifies me. Our daughter loves to sing along on "Great Big World," so that didn't hurt its chances.

9) Hey You Kids! - The Jellydots
9) Stomp Yer Feet! - Johnny Bregar
Two albums doing entirely different things -- The Jellydots crafting power-pop gems with kid-friendly topics, Johnny Bregar reinterpreting preschool classics (mostly) with a bit of funk and style -- but both providing lots of enjoyment to listeners of all ages.

11) Every Day Is A Birthday - Brady Rymer
11) Animal Crackers - Wee Hairy Beasties
11) Electric Storyland - The Sippy Cups
Y'know, the difference between these albums and the two at #9 is pretty darn small. All three albums appeared in the top ten at some point, and their presence just outside the top 10 could be as much a result of changes in barometric pressure as anything else. But Rymer's roots-rockin' slices of family life, the Beasties' energetic and fun Americana songs, and the Sippy Cups' set of originals inspired by '60s and '70s rock were outstanding in their own right.

14) We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen
14) Singalongs and Lullabies from Curious George - Jack Johnson and Friends
Neither one of these albums can be found in the children's music charts at Billboard. No matter -- Springsteen's vibrant hootenanny (I always said it was Bruce Springsteen's children's album) and Johnson's laid-back and alternately playful and wistful songs had virtually no distinctions between songs appropriate for adults or those 30 years younger.

16) Rock Your Socks Off - Charity and the JAMband
16) LMNO Music: Pink - Enzo Garcia
These two albums by San Francisco musicians couldn't sound much different. But more than any other album on this list, the JAMband's funky grooves and Garcia's homemade music-making encourage listener participation, either by dancing or singing. Though they're entertaining if you just listen to them, they're that much better if you join in.

18) Different - Elizabeth Street
18) Macaroni Boy Eats At Chez Shooby Doo - Ginger Hendrix
From opposite ends of the country, a band and a solo artist sing songs about the day-to-day life of kids and families. One's a little bit country (Ginger Hendrix), one's a little bit rock'n'roll (Elizabeth Street). Elizabeth Street is like the eldest sibling, giving sage advice; Hendrix is the family clown, who tells it like it is.

20) Here Comes the Band - Stephen Cohen: Somebody had to be #20, and it might as well be this one, the most conceptual album on the list -- they wait for the band, the band arrives, the band leaves. My wife couldn't stand it, but I think it's pretty darn good -- not only is it the most conceptual, it has the most consistent atmosphere.

Wow, you're still reading? Thanks... Like I said, there are many others I wish could squeeze on here, but rather than go on for fear of leaving someone out, I'll just stop. (Plus, I think the pit orchestra is starting to play music to rush me off the stage.)

Review: Five Cent Piece - Randy Kaplan

Another week, another bluegrass-inflected album for kids from New York City.

Unlike Astrograss' more esoteric approach, Randy Kaplan folds in more traditional approaches to bluegrass on his first kids' CD, Five Cent Piece, released in November. Which isn't to say there isn't some oddness of other kinds on the album.

Kaplan has released five CDs for adults, but has also taught and played for kids often. His debut CD is a mix of well-chosen (and often reworked) covers and skewed originals. Artists covered include Jonathan Richman (the winsome "I'm A Little Dinosaur"), Arlo Guthrie ("Motorcycle Song"), and Elizabeth Cotton (the timeless "Freight Train") among others. One of the best tracks on the disk is "Grape Juice Hesitation Blues," his reworking of the traditional "Hesitation Blues," which features some great Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus-style interplay between Kaplan and a ragged chorus of kids.

The originals are a little odder, featuring songs about sharks in the bathtub (the spacy "Shampoo Me"), pesky mosquitos (the bluesy "Mosquito Song"), and, well, "Roaches," which features little squeally roachlike-sounds in the background.

For the most part, Kaplan plays it straight and lets the music do the talking -- indeed, one of the best things about the album is the terrific musicianship, especially when they're playing traditional songs such as "Freight Train" or "Over the Rainbow." But Kaplan likes to tell stories, and so a number of songs include spoken word portions including... wait for it... "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Yes, my friends, the Stones cut has been put on a kids and family album, a decision so shocking that my wife, whose interest in music doesn't quite match mine, sputtered, "But, but, that's a classic!" For those who are worried, don't be, Kaplan has crafted a 10-minute story using only the occasional chorus for punctuation.

As adventurous as the album is, it's not perfect. "Mostly Yellow (Big Bird's Song)" is a lovely but sad song about Big Bird's inner life that as amusing as it is for the parents, really doesn't fit on an album that regular (young) viewers of Sesame Street would listen to. And at a length of just under an hour, it's just too long -- the tracks aren't bad, but it's overwhelming when heard in one piece.

"Mostly Yellow" aside, this is a good album for kids ages 3 through 8. You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page.

With his mixture of somewhat different arrangements traditional bluegrass and folk instrumentation, affinity for storytelling, and wide choice of covers, Randy Kaplan comes off as sort of a combination of Enzo Garcia, Bill Harley, and Elizabeth Mitchell. On Five Cent Piece, Kaplan has fashioned one of the more unusual kids and family albums of the year, good for chilly winter afternoons or late summer days. Recommended.

Baby Loves Disco = Kindergartner Loves Hula Hoop

Dennis Miller had a riff many years ago about dancers who take up too much room on the dance floor by acting out song lyrics to, for example, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." The riff ended with the great (though profane) punchline, "Hey, lady, ain't no [------] dance floor wide enough!"

I think our daughter may grow up to be that dancer.

We went to the latest Baby Loves Disco party in Scottsdale this weekend, my daughter and I. Despite the catchy name, we left our younger one -- the one who is actually in diapers -- at home.

When we got there, we saw they weren't kidding about bringing the nightclub experience to a whole new crowd -- yes, folks, there was a line at the door and a bouncer. Never too early to teach exclusion! Thankfully it was only because the ticket counter was just inside the door and they could only let a couple families in at a time to pay or get their names checked off the pre-paid list.

Once inside, we were greeted with quite possibly the most fabulous sight possible for my daughter -- huge bowls of pretzels and chips ready for the snacking. She was so overwhelmed that she completely missed the large pile of juice boxes, which probably would have pushed her over the edge had she seen them just then.

As we moved to the dancefloor, it was interesting to note the, well, relative lack of dancing going on. I mean, there were a number of people, old and young, on the floor, but my expectations of high levels of groove-thang-shaking were not met. I guess I just figured the kids would be dancing all over the place, but they weren't, really.

They were, however, amusing themselves with egg shakers, scarves, a few feather boas, and, joy of joys, hula hoops.

My daughter spent most of her time on the dancefloor hula-hooping, usually on the hips, sometimes on the neck. She is very good at this. But no matter how good you are, hula-hooping requires a... wide berth on the part of others. And let me tell you, the dancefloor wasn't some Billy Bob's mega-floor. It's amazing that some kid didn't get donked in the head with a spinning hoop. (Or, at least, didn't whine about it if he did.)

But she had a blast -- heck, she won a prize for best dancer ages 3 and up for her seriously devoted hula-hooping.

In the end, I think BLD's advertising ("Saturday afternoon is the new Saturday night") implies that parents can retain a level of sophistication that they probably can't. (I'd guess that 90% of the adult attendees' attire would be unacceptable at the club later that night.) Having said that, the whole experience was sorta like one of the best playdates ever. Chillout areas with books and toys, cookies and snacks wherever you turn, and a funky house. The music? The icing, not the cake.

Review in Brief: We Wanna Rock! - Thaddeus Rex

A former participant on the PBS show The Kids Zone, Illinois-based Thaddeus Rex now performs over 200 concerts each year, many of them for schools. On his second album for kids, We Wanna Rock!, released earlier this month, Thaddeus Rex tackles subjects of concern to elementary school students -- fear of moving, spending time with family, or getting dog poop stuck on the shoe (admittedly, probably not the most common concern of most people). The best songs speak straight to kids -- the palpable fear of moving to a new place in the pop-rock "I Don't Want to Go," or trying not to think about not going to sleep in "The Moon Is Rising."

Unfortunately, there are relatively few compelling musical backgrounds to the lyrics. Occasionally some interesting musical motifs occur -- the sinewy melody and bass line on the folk-rocker "Slimy Green & Kind of Funny" (with words from fifth-grader Lauren Walton) -- but they're the exception, not the rule. Thaddeus has a slightly odd singing voice that makes me think he's trapped between a rocker's voice and a Broadway voice, and whatever the case, I don't think the songs showcase his voice well.

The album's most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 8, and you can hear samples at Thaddeus Rex's website (click on "T-Rex's Jukebox").

There are lots of lesson plans available for T-Rex songs, and so your kids may find themselves enjoying the songs, should he perform in an assembly. But you, the parent, will probably take a pass on repeated spins.

Wave Goodbye to Wiggle Greg?

I'm not sure what sort of world this is in which I get news about the Wiggles from Idolator, but they've alerted readers to this article in this morning's Melbourne's The Age newspaper, which reports that lead singer Greg Page (the one in yellow, natch) will be leaving the group due to increasing -- and unexplained -- bouts of fainting and lethargy.

I'm sure I could make a bad joke if I wanted to, but I really don't like to joke about unexplained medical problems.

So I'll just content myself to be amused with the headline in The Age: Wiggle tipped to ditch yellow skivvy.

Headline writing is a lost art, my friends.

(And get well soon, Greg.)