News: Belle & Sebastian Compile the Cutest Children's Music Album EVER!

Hey, I kid because I love.

The snarky friends at Pitchfork report that Belle & Sebastian indeed have "curated" a children's music album to be released on Sept. 11, 2006 and to benefit Save The Children. Now, it's not (as of this writing) confirmed on the band's website, their label's website, Rough Trade's website, or Save the Children's website, but it's on the web, so it must be true, right?

With contributions from "Franz Ferdinand, Four Tet, Snow Patrol, the Flaming Lips, the Fiery Furnaces, Kathryn Williams, the Divine Comedy, Travis, Jonathan Richman (aren't all of his songs children's songs?), and Rasputina," it's not a lineup that screams "kids music!" to me (well, OK, save Jonathan Richman), but that doesn't mean I won't be very interested in hearing it.

(Previous "reportage" here. Really, I do kinda like Belle & Sebastian, just not sure how this is going to turn out.)

This Week: Nothing But Fescue

OK, not really. But so many people have found their way here looking for the revised lyrics to Ben Folds' "Rockin the Suburbs" from the Over The Hedge soundtrack that I thought I'd find out what fescue is. (It's mentioned in the song, and I had no idea what it was.)

Fescue is a "deep rooted, cool season perennial grass." And who says you can't learn anything from children's music!

Besides this mini-educational lesson, I'll have another interview this week, along with more reviews. I just haven't figured out which ones yet.

Review: The Hipwaders - The Hipwaders

The Bay Area three-man band The Hipwaders released their second (self-titled) album in 2005. On the 42-minute CD they cover a wide range of musical styles, from the jangle-pop of the album opener "Come Along With Us" to the new wave stylings on "Silly Robot Dance" to the vaguely Nirvana-esque stylings of "Stand Up To The Bully," with many more styles as well ('60s psychedlic pop in particular). Generally, it's a guitar-based pop-rock confection.

With the exception of two songs, all songs were written or co-written by the band. Lyrically, they cover the gamut of elementary-school-aged themes -- cleaning up one's room, bugs, and the sheer wonderfulness of jelly beans, just to name a few. The Hipwaders also have a slight science bent, with songs about earthquakes ("It's An Earthquake!") and volcanoes ("Volcano," natch).

With 18 tracks on the CD there are bound to be some favorites and less-than-favorites. I particularly like the "Rock Lobster" echoes on the driving ode-to-antsiness "Twitchy," the funky new-wave "Silly Robot Dance," and the brief, strutting '80s pop "Kelly the Clown." There are a pair of eerie story songs about a Civil War-era ghost/skeleton/thing ("Mr. Wiggly Jiggly Bones") and werewolves ("Howling at the Moon") which I find to be too long, breaking up the overall poppy flow of the album. But I think that's just personal taste (they're not bad songs) and older kids may find them appealing. (At the very least you can enjoy the Cab Calloway reference on "Bones.")

Given the lyrical themes, I think the album is most appropriate for kids age 5 through 9. You can hear 4 of their songs in their entirety at The Hipwaders' MySpace site. You can buy the album at Amazon, CDBaby, and a few other sites linked through The Hipwaders' main website.

In sum, The Hipwaders is a solid album of kids' pop-rock. In its broad appropriation of pop music stylings, it is very reminiscent of Ralph's World albums. They're not at a Ralph's World level of polish and songcraft yet, but give The Hipwaders time. They may just get there. Recommended.

Nothing's So Good You Can't Post It Twice

Sometimes you can't help but revisit prior posts...

I've had the full copy of Dan Zanes and Friends' Catch That Train! for a few days now and I've expanded my review from last week just a bit to talk about the physical copy (scroll down to the end). As an aside, Zanes has covered (and written) enough material at this point to publish a family songbook of his own if he wanted to. Nicely illustrated with quality liner notes, I'd get a copy.

I continue to update my Album Recommendations by Age for each additional review I post, so if you've got a birthday coming up... I also continue to update my Baseball Songs and Train Songs lists as people comment or I stumble across an appropriate song on my own.

And, finally, I updated my review of Putumayo's Folk Playground CD from this morning, not to update the tone (fine but not outstanding) but to correct numerous grammatical errors. Hoo boy, it was early, but I can't blame those mistakes on the time.

Review: Folk Playground (Putumayo) - Various Artists

"Folk Playground is neither 'folk' nor 'playground' -- discuss."

The Putumayo label got its start a number of years ago putting together mix tapes for use in its clothing store. They have since abandoned the clothing store, focusing solely on music, and have developed a kids' music label, Putumayo Kids. The latest entry in the Putumayo Kids series of CDs is the 2006 release of Folk Playground, to be released on Tuesday.

The 33-minute CD may confuse folk purists while also confusing some parents new to the children's music scene. The key component in the definition of "folk" seems to have been whether or not acoustic guitar was included on the track. The "playground" songs -- "This Old Man," "Froggie Went A Courtin'," -- aren't necessarily "folk music" in execution (or, if they are, it sort of stretches the definition.) The term "Folk Playground" is marketing and stretches the definition of what's actually on here.

Now, if you are a devoted children's music listener, you may already have half the songs (or at least half the artists) already in your collection. The problem with the selections from the more familiar artists is twofold. In some cases, the selections are not very representative of the artist's work (Justin Roberts' "Roller in the Coaster," while a nice little song, is a less common type of song for him, compared to the rave-ups; Laurie Berkner has made a name for herself for her originals, not covers. Neither would be considered folk artists.) In other cases, the songs are more representative of the artists' overall work, but not necessarily a highlight from their catalog (Dan Zanes' "Hop Up Ladies," Trout Fishing in America's "Fill It Up," Elizabeth Mitchell's "Crawdad"). These songs are perfectly fine, but I could probably have come up with a half-dozen songs each that I'd've preferred to see on here. (I do think Brady Rymer's "It's All How You Look At It" is pretty good, though.)

Of the less familiar artists (kids' related -- Leon Redbone is hardly an unfamiliar artist), the clear standout song on the CD is Zoe Lewis' "Sheep," about her musings while seeing sheep from far above in an airplane ("I wonder what are you thinking as your little pink lips go round and round and chew / Does night time bring you dreams of spring, mutton, mint sauce, leg of lamb or stew? / (Sorry, sheep)"). It's a sprightly melody, sung with whimsy, and mixed with tin whistle, among other instruments. Forget about the less familiar artists -- it's the best song on the CD, period.

The album is probably most appropriate for kids age 2 through 8. You can download lyrics and listen to sound samples at Putumayo's page for the release.

In the end, after listing all my criticisms, you might be surprised to read that I like the CD. It's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Putumayo's history as a mix-tape creator serves it very well here as Folk Playground is a CD which will serve as a very pleasant soundtrack to a session of coloring or game-playing. While there are few standout tracks here, the overall listening experience is nice.