Review: Pop Fly - Justin Roberts

It's unfair, but I'll start this review of Pop Fly, the sixth solo kids' music album from Chicago's Justin Roberts, by saying I think Meltdown, Roberts' fifth solo kids' CD is easily on the shortlist of best kids' music CDs of the decade. Clearly, I had high expectations for the new CD, which is being released today. Never fear, Pop Fly is a hit. (OK, I promise -- that's the only baseball-related phrase I'll use here. Read on fearlessly, folks.) If Roberts isn't the best songwriter in the rock/pop/folk heart of kids' music, he certainly doesn't have many peers. The new album has a number of outstanding tracks that again showcase his songwriting strengths -- nifty lyrics that flow effortlessly ("Pop Fly," "Kickboard, Baby, Yeah"), carefully crafted portraits of life at home ("From Scratch", "The Backyard Super Kid"), and an affinity for singalong choruses ("Stay-at-Home Dad", "Field Trip"). If some of the lyrics don't quite work -- a stay-at-home dad who kids' clothes don't match very well seems a bit cliched -- it's forgivable because so much else does. Roberts' melodic and musical sense is once again ably abetted by fellow musician Liam Davis, who again produces Roberts' CD. The album sounds great, from the faux Dylan (and loose chorus) of "Henrietta's Hair" to the strings on "The Backyard Super Kid" to the mellow surf sounds of "Kickboard, Baby, Yeah." And, yeah, there are a bunch of horns, a Roberts habit from almost the very beginning. The alterna-pop sound mixes in hints of Fountains of Wayne and ELO, and every great forgotten '80s alternative hitmaker, along with Burt Bacharach. It's a heady mix. The overall mood of the album is somewhat more reflective than Meltdown, and maybe for that reason I liked Pop Fly a little bit less. It's maybe a little bit more in the Not Naptime camp -- another fine album, but more downtempo than Roberts' best-known songs. The irrepressible protagonists of "Meltdown" or "Ten Little Cookies" don't make an appearance here. Again, the songs are excellent, they're just a little more mellow. And I think Roberts' best songs are the less mellow ones. Having said that, my favorite song on the CD -- my favorite song of the year thus far, kids or adult -- is the tender "Fruit Jar". It's a stone-cold folk classic, with lines like "Life ain't no fruit jar / Stuck in a cellar / Sometimes you've just got to / Spin that old propeller / Watch it rise up / Way past the moon / And if love don't find you / You know it's going to be there soon." The song itself is beautifully constructed -- add the duetting voice of Nora O'Connor (who also appeared on Yellow Bus) and Davis' nifty guitar work, and it's one of those songs that should carry on far beyond this album. It's a tremendously affecting tune, and consdering how much some of Roberts' other songs have affected me ("Cartwheels and Somersaults," for example), that's high praise. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 8. You can find Roberts' CDs in an increasing number of physical stores, but if you want to hear songs from the 37-minute album, you can hear "Pop Fly" by checking out Roberts' Radio or his (new) Myspace page (or check out snippets at your favorite online retailer). Pop Fly is another masterfully crafted collection of songs which will have broad appeal just like the best in kids' literature. If Roberts has taken a slightly more mellow approach to his songs this time around, they're no less appealing. Highly recommended.

Review in Brief: Ditties for Kiddies - Deep Fried Pickle Project and Pals (V/A)

There's nothing terribly fancy about Ditties for Kiddies, a benefit CD for the Little Kids Rock organization, which brings free musical instruments and music instruction to public schools. The CD comes in a small slipcase with nothing but the cover art on the front and song titles and artists on the back. But, you know, so long as the music's good, I'm OK, and the music's good here. There's a wide variety of songs here, but a lot of them would fall in the "jamband" category. Compilation producers Deep Fried Pickle Project contribute their jug-band original "Picklejuice," while Hot Buttered Rum turn in a sprightly and bluegrass-y "Firefly." Other tracks, such as Greensky Bluegrass' take on "Boom Boom" (which Raffi's done) and ALO's "Mashed Potatoes" mine similar veins. Deadwood Revival's "Daisy" is a sweet Americana tune. It's not entirely on the Americana side of roots music -- one of the most fun tracks is "Who Stole the Hot Sauce" by Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, a rollicking zydeco-influnced tune. And there's the electronica dance tune "Milk Man" by Zilla. But if you're not keen on roots music, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. (And if you're looking for a CD with a sound more directly targeted at kids, look elsewhere, too. It by no means is kid-unfriendly, but aside from a Melanie Dill track and a couple other tracks, it's really kid-friendly, not focused.) The songs may be most interesting to kids ages 3 through 8, but, as noted above, the appeal is probably pretty broad. You can listen to track at the album's CDBaby page. In Ditties for Kiddies, the Deep Fried Pickle Project have put together a sweet little compilation CD that will appeal to a number of listeners, particularly those families who like the jamband/roots music sound. Recommended.

Review: Songs For Sleepy Beings - Half Moon

Maybe it's been a long and sleepy week, but I'm very taken by this CD. Songs For Sleepy Beings is the creation of Michigan's Gretchen Eichberger-Kudlack, who put together Half Moon, an old-timey string band which here plays a set of quiet-time folk music on the first half of this CD. Traditional lullabyes ("Pretty Little Horses") mingle with ever-so-slightly more current lullabyes ("Goodnight Little Gwen," attributed to Woody Guthrie). The musicianship here is first-rate, with the Half Moon musicians hitting just the right balance of technical expertise and tenderness, saving the album from the mushiness which afflicts many lullaby CDs. The band rightly plays second fiddle (if you'll pardon the pun) to Eichberger-Kudlack, who has a clear, bright voice. Initially her voice seems too bright for a quiet-time CD, but the secret genius behind the CD's appeal is the tracking, as the music and arrangements grow ever-so-slightly dimmer with each track. By the time the CD hits track 7, "Baby's Bed's A Silver Moon," 20 minutes in, her vocals are much more appropriate for a sleepy baby. Following that is another 15 minutes of Eichberger-Kudlack playing familiar lullabyes unaccompanied (mostly) on piano (there's a couple tracks with vocals). By this time your child (or you) will probably be fast asleep. The album is most appropriate for kids ages birth through 6. You can hear clips at the album's CDBaby page, or listen to some complete songs at the Half Moon music page. The packaging (featuring artwork by Jamey Barnard), I should note, is simple but very pretty. I hear few lullaby CDs I can recommend whole-heartedly. Songs for Sleepy Beings is the exception -- it meets that high standard. Besides being a lovely gift for new parents, you might want to consider it for your own family. Definitely recommended.

Review: I'm Growing - Gunnar Madsen

One of the things I like most about the kids' music genre is the feeling that artists are following their own muse, no matter how skewed, when they jump in. Oh, sure, with everybody thinking that kids music is the Next Big Thing, there are more than enough CDs that scream opportunism. But there are still plenty of musicians making their music, their way. Which brings me to Gunnar Madsen, the Bay Area artist who many years ago helped found the well-known a capella group The Bobs, and who last week released his third album for kids and families, I'm Growing. On his previous two kids' albums, Madsen tapped into the humorous vein he sometimes mined for the Bobs, such as on "Tuna Fish," all about a guy whose parents named him, er, "Tuna Fish." That occasional silliness continues here on I'm Growing, such as on "I Feel a Waltz Coming On," from a musical Madsen worked on nearly 15 years ago, about a person with a fear of waltzing. Or "Mozart's At the Window," which is the best "Beethoven's Wig" piece never written, as multiple Madsens tell the story of a very naughty Mozart to the tune of his 40th Symphony. But on many songs, Madsen plays it reasonably straight, or at least as straight as one can on a song about somebody walking from San Francisco to Texas (the Randy Newman-esque "Walkin' Back to Texas"). "Always on the Bottom" name-checks Hilary Rodham Clinton while, er, singing the praises of not being too ambitious. And "There's A Bowl of Milk in the Moonlight" sounded about 80 years old to me, but Madsen puts it about 70 years, describing his composition as "an old English Pub song for cats." Madsen's voice is usually front-and-center, and rightfully so, but the musical arrangements are well-suited to these stories, either a capella, or accompanied by piano, or even a fuller set of pop-based instruments. The songs here really aren't "kids' songs" -- there's nary a song here about the first day of school or learning the alphabet -- but I think kids ages 4 through 8 will be in the best frame of mind to hear the songs. You can listen to every track from the 43-minute album at Madsen's page for the album. Gunnar Madsen reminds me a bit of Peter Himmelman, another singer-songwriter whose released albums for families along with albums for adults for many years now and who shares with him a somewhat idiosyncratic view of the world. He's a story-teller, though Madsen tells his story not so much via folk-rock but rather through a wide gamut of musical styles. There's no pop-rock goldmine at the end of the rainbow here on I'm Growing, but if your family isn't looking for that and can appreciate the well-played (and sung) stories here, you'll enjoy the disk. Recommended.

Review: Loquat Rooftop - Randy Kaplan

It is possible that Brooklyn-based Randy Kaplan could become, if he wanted to, the next Dan Zanes, playing for the moms and dads a mixture of blues and rock that works well for both the kids and adults. But on Loquat Rooftop, his second album for kids, Kaplan continues to follow his own idiosyncratic path that might not generate a deal with the Disney Channel next week, but shows off both his musical and storytelling chops. Those musical chops are certainly there, as Kaplan's voice, ever-so-slightly nasally and raspy, blends in perfectly with his song choices. A couple songs, such as producer Mike West's amusing "Clothes Dryer" (on which Kaplan dryly notes that he used to love doing laundry so much, he went to "laundry camp") and "The Ladybug Without Spots," employ a strolling New Orleans-jazz-style approach. "Mazal Mazal" is a punkish song about a little kid, while the title track is a gentle folk song. Kids are used as chorus and occasional counterpoint (and a kid named Joe does a great "Boogie Woogie Washer Woman") to good effect. Kaplan's choices of covers are well-selected -- Huddie Ledbetter's "Good Morning Blues" is a gentle blues which, as you might expect from the title, is more blues in 12-bar structure only. Hank Williams ("Move It On Over"), Lieber and Stoller ("Charlie Brown"), and the musical Annie ("Tomorrow") also make and appearance here, and one of Kaplan's strengths is making those songs sound fresh (and appropriate for kids). Finally, Kaplan comes from the stories-and-(and-in-)song wing of kids' music, as heard on the silly story about monkeys and ducks "No Nothing" or the sweet "(Don't Say) Anything At All," a message song about not using words as violence. It's the kind of song that, strung together a dozen times, would make most parents' eyes roll, but, as a single song interspersed all the other goofiness and gladness sounds just about perfect. With the exception of the "The Fire Engine," whose chorus "It's big / It's red / It's metal with water" is now unfortunately lodged in my brain, the 42-minute album is mostly targeted at kids ages 4 through 8. You can hear some tracks from the album (and its predecessor Five Cent Piece) at Kaplan's Myspace page for his kids stuff or at the album's CDBaby page. Perhaps Randy Kaplan won't be the next Dan Zanes -- his love of storytelling puts him more in the camp of Pete Seeger or Trout Fishing in America perhaps (not bad company there, either). But it would be nice to see a bit of Zanes' popularity rub off on Kaplan, because Loquat Rooftop's mixture of blues and folk-rock, laced with good humor and heart, will appeal to many kids and their adults. Definitely recommended.

Review: Ladybug One - The Harmonica Pocket

I hesitate to use the phrase "the most unusual kids' album you'll hear all year," because, I assure you, no matter how unusual a particular kids music album, I've heard odder ones (don't get me started). So let me describe Ladybug One, the second kids' CD from the Seattle-area Harmonica Pocket thusly: It's the most unusual good kids' album you'll hear all year. I hope that doesn't sound like damning with faint praise, because the album is quite good. But it's definitely not a collection of straightforward kids' pop, folk, rock, jazz, or anything else. Oh, sure, there are a few elements of that here -- the indie-pop "Spiders In My Breakfast," re-appropriated from the band's first album (for adults), and the soulful and jazzy take on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," for example, are fun tracks that don't sound too unfamiliar. "One Tree Said" sounds like a track from a future Decemberists kids' CD. But many of the other tracks veer into more challenging territory -- the psychedelic "I Love the ABCs" or the number of songs on which band mastermind Keeth Apgar explores Indian music. You might not think that "O Susanna" and sitar and tabla percussion would make a good fit, but it does, actually helping to hear the song fresh. In fact, one of the most successful things about the album is how the wide variety of instruments here (including didgeridoo, mbira, and saw, and quite possibly my favorite, hula hoop) serve the songs, not the other way round. The instruments aren't being used to show off -- they genuinely make sense within the context of the songs. And kids will enjoy the variety of songwriting approaches -- story, metaphor, humorous, counting. It makes "Mere Bacche Ke Liye Lori," a Hindi lullaby, which could potentially come off as pretentious, sound part of a whole. The album will be of most interest to kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear clips from the 55-minute album (many of which have been reworked from their first kids album) at the album's CDBaby page, or listen to four excellent tracks at the band's own music page. The Harmonica Pocket's Labybug One is unusual, but a couple spins of this low-key but well-crafted album should make many listeners aware of its numerous charms. Definitely recommended.