Radio Playlist: New Music February 2016

I will admit that this February playlist is somewhat brief. That's mostly because January isn't necessarily a popular month for releasing music. (If you want to catch my list from January you can see that playlist here.) But what it might not have in length it makes up for in quality.

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums. But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here.

**** New Music February 2016 (February 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Love Comes Back" - Jim Cosgrove and Jazzy Ash

"The Dog On the Bus" - Raffi

"There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' in My Heart" - The Laurie Berkner Band

"Definition of Good" - They Might Be Giants

"Espejos" - Moona Luna

"Don't Drink the Water (Your Butt's Been In)" - Matt Heaton

"Just Be" - Kira Willey

Two Unnecessary (Albeit Necessary) Kids' Albums

Lisa Loeb - Nursery Rhyme Parade album cover

In one sense, I place albums of nursery rhymes in approximately the same category as entire albums of Beatles covers -- pretty much unnecessary. The Fab Four's originals are so iconic (and often perfect) that redoing them seems pointless unless the artist is doing something entirely novel with the songs. A single Beatles song mixed among originals or covers of other artists? Sure. But an entire album? Even if it's really good, they're more likely to send the families to dig out what Beatles music they have.

With nursery rhymes and classic kids' songs, I have the same basic issue, but with a different spin. With albums covering classic songs like "London Bridge," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Row Row Row Your Boat," and so on, artists have two possible approaches: 1) simple renditions that put the melody and lyrics up front, and 2) entire reworkings of the songs whose elaborate arrangements, rather than the song itself, become the point ("Pop Goes The Weasel"... gone metal!).

The latter approach isn't without merit -- such arrangements can sometimes help listeners of all ages hear an overly familiar song with new ears, or introduce those listeners to a genre they might not typically spin. As you might expect, the former approach -- simple songs done (relatively) simply -- is my preferred approach, but the problem here is that, well, exactly how many such albums does a family need?

Besides the fact that the only member of our family in single-digits age-wise is our youngest Boston Terrier, we are also card-carrying members of Team Wiggleworms and Team Raffi. Songs for Wiggleworms and Singable Songs for the Very Young (and their immediate successors) met our need for collections of nursery rhymes and familiar kids' songs a decade ago and, well, there's no need for anything new. That's overstating things maybe a bit, but not a lot. Songs for Wiggleworms features dozens of classic songs, usually with nothing more than a guitar for accompaniment. Singable Songs for the Very Young is more expansive -- some original songs amidst the classics, with more elaborate arrangements -- but at its heart, it's still an album of classic kids' songs.

Laurie Berkner - Favorite Classic Kids' Songs album cover

So from one perspective -- my own family's, reviewer's hat aside -- the latest releases from Laurie Berkner and Lisa Loeb, are utterly unnecessary. We have the unadorned collection of songs, we have the slightly adorned collection of songs, and we've been listening to them for so long that they feel like much-loved stuffed animals. Why anyone would throw those stuffed animals away for lovely new stuffed animals is beyond me.

But there are lots of families who haven't yet found that stuffed animal, and perhaps some of those families will find in Laurie Berkner's Favorite Classic Kids' Songs and Loeb's Nursery Rhyme Parade a stuffed animal that they can rely on.

Because make no mistake, these types of albums should be in the collection of every family with a preschooler in the house. These are the foundational songs of childhood, with melodies (and often lyrics) that have lasted for literally centuries. These are the songs that parents and caregivers should be singing to (and hopefully with) the young ones in their midst, and good collections of classic songs help families do that, by reminding the adults of songs (both lyrics and melodies) and offering the kids repetition to solidify their knowledge of the song.

Of the two albums Berkner's is more reminiscent of Raffi's fuller arrangements and approaches. Her band appears on many tracks, and she shares vocals with a number of musicians. Sometimes she sings a cappella, and some tracks end up on the other end of the production spectrum ("Shoo-Fly" features strings), but all the arrangements put the song first. And Berkner still has one of the best female voices in kindie.

On her album, Loeb goes the more minimalist Wiggleworms route. More a cappella, and when she is accompanied, it's usually just with a simple guitar. If the listener wants the song, just the song with as little embroidery as possible, then Nursery Rhyme Parade is the album more likely to meet that listener's expectations. To be clear, Loeb has a fine voice herself, and it's produced well, but it's hard to envision a much simpler album.

The albums are different enough -- beyond the arrangements, surprisingly enough there are a number of songs that are featured on only one album or the other -- that you could conceivably get both. But assuming you only want one, there are other differences that might influence your choice. For example, Berkner's album is actually a 57-track collection that stretches to 2 hours and 9 minutes in length. About half of those are remastered previously-released tracks (including 6 Berkner songs included as "bonus" tracks), but even then you'd get 27 new songs. Loeb's collection zips by, 37 tracks in 31 minutes, and, perhaps more importantly, it's featured on Amazon Prime Music, which means that you're not going to be able to hear it on streaming services like Rhapsody and Spotify (both of which are streaming Berkner's new disk). It's part of what appears to be a new effort by Amazon to target family audiences, and while you can buy Loeb's album from Amazon, either in mp3 or physical format, I think much of the audience will be Amazon Prime customers streaming it. (There are very few albums of classic kids' songs in the Amazon Prime collection that won't induce parental frustration -- Loeb's is one of the few that passes muster.)

So, do you need these albums? If you're a Laurie Berkner fan or a Lisa Loeb fan and you have kids still in preschool, then I think their albums will be an excellent fit for your family, even if maybe you already have a preschool song collection. If you have preschoolers, but don't have a preschool song collection, then both these albums are worth exploring. There are other albums that serve the same audience, but the arguments I might make for favoring one over another would be mostly my own particular biases. You don't need these albums at all, but you do need albums like these -- perhaps even these albums -- very much so. With those caveats, these are both definitely recommended.

Note: I received copies of both albums for possible review.

Video: "Owl Singalong" - Raffi

The return of Raffi to the kids music scene has been one of the most pleasant surprises from the past couple years of kids music. His 2014 album Love Bug was a solid return to the industry, his voice and sensibility undimmed from the '70s and '80s when he almost single-handedly created the kids music section in record stores. He's said he felt a "stirring" to make music, and that stirring continues as he releases his next album, Owl Singalong, on January 15, 2016.

He's already released one video from the new album, for the reggae-and-strings "Green Dream" and now he's released a second video. It's for the title track, "Owl Singalong." The track is classic Raffi -- gentle, funny, and featuring his voice, which remains the best male voice in kids music. The video is pretty simple, little more than illustrations, but they're cute enough, and the song engaging enough, that it should work well for the preschoolers in your orbit.

Raffi - "Owl Singalong" [YouTube]

Best Lullaby Albums

It was foolish, perhaps, but I went ahead and did it anyway -- I boiled down more than a decade's worth of listening (and more than a half-century's worth of recordings) to what I thought were the five most essential albums for new parents. Despite my trepidations in providing such a list (including the insanity in thinking that such a list could even be limited to five), it seemed to be well-received.

So now I'm providing my second list of top albums -- this time, it's my list of best lullaby albums.

Before I provide my list, I should note that, unlike the broader set of albums for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, as far as I can tell there weren't nearly as many lullaby albums dating back a half-century -- I can't find evidence that Pete Seeger or Ella Jenkins, for example, bothered recording a specific album of just lullabies. That is an interesting musicological question worth exploring, but not today. In any case, the upshot is that the notion of a "classic" or "best" lullaby album is far less settled than it was for the "new parents" list above.

As a result, this list feels more idiosyncratic to me than that other list, like I'm going out more on a limb. I do have a particular preference for lullaby albums in a way I might not for kids music albums generally and that preference is for music that would conceivably be played to lull a young child back to sleep. I have memories of taking the 3 AM feeding shift, or of calming a restless infant, and sometimes (some of) these albums were the soundtrack for that. In my experience, many lullaby albums seem far too hyper and vocally piercing to be very useful for that quiet, darkened room.

So, with that, here are my five picks, listed alphabetically by artist.

Julianne Baird, Madeleine Kapp, Mela Tenenbaum & Richard Kapp: Lullabies (A Songbook Companion) (1997) -- This might have been the first lullaby album we had that we truly enjoyed, so it's possible that personal affinity drives this selection more so than most. But as with the other albums here, even today it holds up very, very well. With piano, violin, and viola accompanying the vocalists, this is unsurprisingly by far the most traditional (and classical) album of all those listed. It covers a wide range of lullaby songs from not only the English-language tradition, but also others. There are also a handful of instrumental tracks that serve as nice counterpoints to the vocals. And while a few tracks are more emotive than I'd prefer, on the whole, it's both thorough and gorgeously done -- a one-stop lullaby shop.

The Innocence Mission: Now the Day Is Over (2004) -- This album more closely resembles the majority of the lullaby albums here -- unique interpretations of songs, only some of which might originally have been considered lullabies. This is the band's only venture into the kids music world, and were it not for the cartoon-y cover art, the listener might not necessarily file it there at all. Low-key, minimally-arranged, the "hushed" on this album is dialed up to 11. Singer-songwriter Karen Peris' voice is distinctive and has a bit of a distinctive taste, but I've heard this album so many times that I can't think of many of the songs they cover ("Stay Awake" and "Moon River," among others, along with some instrumentals and one original) without it. Definitely a secret to be passed from one fan to another.

Dean Jones: Napper's Delight (2007) -- First, yes, that's an awesome album title. But moving beyond that, this is probably the most daring lullaby album on here (it's the one whose inclusion on the list I took the most time debating). How many times do you hear drum machines on lullaby albums, or at least on lullaby albums you want to listen to repeatedly? More so than the other albums listed, this is also more of a journey as the first few songs aren't super-sleepy. But give it a few songs and by the time Elizabeth Mitchell lends her vocals to "Grow Little Flower," the relaxed vibe is definitely established. Jones' eclectic taste in instrumentation (see drum machine above) makes this the most unique album here -- definitely not a lullaby album in the strictest definition of the phrase, but a superb take on sleepy time and relaxation.

Mae Robertson & Don Jackson: All Through the Night (1995) -- I don't even remember how I first heard this album. I think it was probably one of the (comparatively) few (at the time) kids music CDs at the library, but I remember playing it over and over in a darkened nursery. Robertson has a lovely voice, but doesn't oversell (i.e., over-emote on) the songs. Her choice of songs -- relatively few of which would be considered lullabies in any traditional sense -- delighted and surprised me. And the musical arrangements from Robertson and Jackson, featuring guitar, piano, and a handful of other stringed instruments, are warm enough to snuggle in. In short, this is the lullaby album I imprinted on and the one I still implicitly judge all other lullaby albums by today.

Renee and Jeremy: It's a Big World (2007) -- Finally, this album is the most modern-sounding lullaby album on this list, a combination of Jack Johnson and Elizabeth Mitchell with a series of (mostly) original lullabies. I remember liking the album a lot, then hearing it on a really good pair of headphones while recording an NPR review of the album and being blown away by how spare and intimate the album sounded. Since then, I've also become a much bigger fan of how Renee Stahl and Jeremy Toback meld their voices together. Between the sound, their intertwined voices, and the whimsical cover art, this is the lullaby album most likely to be named "not your parents' lullaby album."

As with any of these "best" or "most essential" lists I'm creating, limiting your choices to these is a little foolish, but people also want them. But if you're looking for a few more suggestions, here are some other categories of lullaby albums you may want to consider:

Artists I've Already Mentioned: Raffi (with his Quiet Time compilation), Laurie Berkner (with Laurie Berkner Lullabies), Caspar Babypants (with Night Night), and Elizabeth Mitchell (with significant chunks of most of her albums) would definitely have been under consideration for this list were it not for the fact that they already appeared on my best kids albums for infants and toddlers list. Somehow it's not surprising that artists who record a lot for the youngest of listeners know their way around a lullaby. As for Justin Roberts, his album Lullaby is excellent, but since he'll be appearing on a future list, I omitted him from consideration for this one.

Putumayo Kids: As I noted in the earlier "new parent" list, Just like its "parent," the themed albums of kids offshoot of the Putumayo label scours are a nice way to dip into the music of a non-American culture (though they offer some nice English-language compilations, too). Their "Dreamland" albums feature lullabies from around the world -- the sounds can sometimes be unfamiliar to the older ears of the parents (and therefore less than fully relaxing), but that shouldn't be a problem for the kids.

The Secret Mountain: This Canadian label has had an excellent run of nearly 15 years of publishing books and accompanying albums (or is it the other way around)? I've found their non-lullaby works to be pitched at a slightly older crowd (meaning, non-infant), but their lullaby albums, just like Putumayo's, span the globe in their coverage. Now if would only start publishing picture or board books that were specifically targeted at kids who might be just year or two old, that would be an awesome combination.

Best Kids Music Albums for New Parents

Although I run a well-respected kids music site (psst, it's this one), it's not something I'm constantly trumpeting. (I still get co-workers walking into my office with a quizzical expression the morning after an All Things Considered review airs saying, "I was driving home last night and I heard this familiar voice on the radio…") As a result, I'm often in the situation of explaining this interest of mine to co-workers or neighbors, and it's not uncommon for the following question to come up:

"So what albums do you recommend for my kid/niece/grandson?"

Now, I probably should have developed a concise answer by now. But when you've been listening to this music critically for more than a decade, trying to distill that knowledge into, say, three albums is difficult, and probably a little unfair as it leans too heavily on my own personal tastes.

Having said that, giving that response doesn't do the person asking the question any good. So I've decided to dive in and provide a list. I'm actually going to provide a series of lists, but the one I want to start out with is for new parents and their infants, toddlers, and maybe early preschoolers -- basically, kids ages 0 through 3.

There are lots of great kids musicians whose music isn't specifically targeted towards that age group. I love Justin Roberts' music, for example, but most of his music is pitched at a slightly older age group. (Believe me, when I get to the next age group, there will definitely be a Justin Roberts album in that collection.) The albums for this age group feature more simple, classic songs you may already know or faintly remember.

Now, there's no way I can limit this list to the number of albums I've featured. (For example, I was struggling immensely until I realized that I could make lullaby albums their own category. That'll be a future post.) So I've suggested some possible music series if you think my list is too limited or not diverse enough in its musical scope.

With all of that said, here's my list, organized in no particular order -- and if you want to add any for consideration, please feel free to do in the comments.

Raffi: The Singable Songs Collection (1976-1979) -- OK, this is cheating slightly, since this is actually a 3-CD set featuring the kids music superstar's first three albums. I've always suspected that people who make fun of Raffi have never actually listened to more than five minutes of his music (or have only listened to his later albums, which sound more dated in parts and a little more preachy). These 3 albums, particularly the first 2, Singable Songs for the Very Young and More Singable Songs for the Very Young, are a mix of traditional kids' songs and Raffi originals, arranged with a light but not too-light touch and with actual instruments. Raffi has the best male singing voice in kids' music (even today), and here, it rarely sounds treacly. Just try it -- I'm pretty sure you'll be fine with it and (more importantly) your kids will probably swoon.

Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower: You Are My Sunshine (2002) -- I might be accused of sticking too close to home -- Mitchell was the start of my kindie journey -- if it weren't for the fact that everyone else adores her as well. As with many artists on this list, narrowing it down to just one album has flummoxed me. (Really, I've been staring at a blank spot for the album title for far too long.) What I really want Mitchell to do is to release her first 3 albums as the You Are My Collection, named for the fact that those first albums all start with the words "You Are My..." I slightly prefer the album after this one, You Are My Little Bird, but think it's pitched at a slightly older age group, maybe starting at age 2 or 3. But if you want to substitute that one for Sunshine, I won't judge.

Old Town School of Folk Music: Songs for Wiggleworms (2000) -- Saying that singing to your child is important isn't some dramatic statement on my part, because early childhood experts agree that it's a Good Thing. But I think it's important to have a CD that helps model singing songs to the very young in addition to music that takes those songs and performs them in more varied and elaborately ways (such as these other disks). There are about 3 dozen songs here, arranged very simply so that the focus is on singer themselves and the lyrics of the song. The new parent who is tentative about singing to his or her child should feel more confident after listening to this, and the kids will be drawn to the renditions as well.

Laurie Berkner: Whaddaya Think of That? (1997) -- The closest we have to Raffi's spiritual heir. She's generally been content to write music for preschoolers and not have her music change to address an older age group. She's also the biggest kindie superstar, able to draw large crowds for her occasional shows. In part, that's due to her presence on Jack's Big Music Show on Sprout in the mid-to-late-2000s. But it's also due to the earworms of hooks she writes and the verve and humor with which she delivers them. You could always make your own Laurie Berkner mix on iTunes, or maybe get the follow-up Buzz Buzz instead, but this'll do you just fine.

Caspar Babypants: Sing Along! (2011) --The adults reading this may be more familiar with Chris Ballew's run with the Presidents of the United States of America, but I think it can be legitimately argued that 20 years from now his most lasting impact will be on kids music. What's most impressive in his career making music for families is the sheer consistency of his polished and reformulated folk music for the 21st century -- generally an album every less-than-a-year, all of high quality. It took me a long time to try to figure out which CB album I should list here (other contenders: More Please! and, well, just about any of the originals). What I'm saying is that you should just get a Caspar Babypants album and don't sweat the details too much.

Now, as I noted above, limiting your choices to these is, well, a little foolish. I could easily list another 5 or 6, and then complain that I couldn't limit myself to 10 or so, and I think you can see where that is leading to. So instead I'll list a few series that offer a broad range of options for the very youngest for you to dip into.

Smithsonian Folkways: In addition to Elizabeth Mitchell, Folkways has an amazing collection of recordings for kids. Some of them are more appropriate for a slightly older kindergartener-ish (the many Pete Seeger albums come to mind), but Woody Guthrie's and Suni Paz's records and the many albums of the legendary Ella Jenkins are targeted at the under-5 crowd.

Putumayo Kids: Just like its "parent," the kids offshoot of the Putumayo label scours the globe for interesting sounds, and many of the resulting themed albums are a nice way to dip into the music of a non-American culture. The "Playground" albums are geared toward a slightly older audience, but their "Dreamland" albums feature lullabies from around the world (including, sometimes, the English-speaking world).

Music Together: Having spent a number of years with my kids in this music-participation series, I'm biased in that I'm familiar and comfortable with the songs on their many in-class CDs. They've collected favorites on 3 different CDs they sell to the public, and I find the sound -- engaged vocals, restrained but not simplistic production -- to be reminiscent of Raffi's.

Baby Loves...: They started out as Baby Loves Disco, producing dance afternoons for kids barely old enough to walk (and their older siblings and parents). And they've sort of returned to that. But in between, they produced 4 albums -- disco, jazz, hip-hop, and salsa -- that are worth checking out for your almost-preschooler.

Best Kids Music of 2014: Top 30 Videos

Continuing our look at the year's best in kids music, we finish up with videos. Now, unlike albums and songs, for which I've traditionally tried to adhere to the Fids and Kamily year (which is Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014 this year), my best-of video selections have tended to run on more of a March through Feburary video fiscal year. I did that to kick off the very first KidVid Tournament, and I've sort of stuck with that ever since. (So nobody release an awesome video in the next 48 hours, OK?)

Here's my list of my favorite 30 kids music videos of "2014." Some are big-budget productions, some are small-budget productions, and some are virtually-no-budget productions. There are puppets, stop-action, hand-animation, computer animation, live action, and sometimes, more than one of those things.

Before I present the 30 videos, I should note that I wanted to limit an artist to no more than one video on the list. Which meant that artists like The Bazillions, Danny Weinkauf, and Caspar Babypants don't get their full due as artists that have fully committed to the art of the kids music video, each releasing several music videos that could have appeared on this list (if I wasn't limiting them to one video, they might have had a dozen or so between them).

Of particular note, Chris Ballew has done some amazing work, not only contracting out with a variety of animators for his Caspar Babypants videos but also producing videos on his own beautiful in their creativity and simplicity. For that reason, I'm giving him a Special Award for Awesomest Kids Music Video Guy of 2014. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go find an MTV VMA statue on eBay so I modify it and give it to Ballew.

So while I'm doing that, here's the list in alphabetical order by artist. A YouTube playlist can be found at the very end if you'd like to while away an hour or two...

Dynamite - Alphabet Rockers (YouTube)

No Homework - The Bazillions (YouTube)

Bottle Caps - Laurie Berkner (YouTube)

Tiny Little Car - Johnny Bregar (YouTube)

The Creatures Under My Bed - Caspar Babypants (YouTube)

Grand March from Aida - Dog On Fleas (YouTube)

I'm a Little Fish - Laura Doherty (YouTube)

Hair - fleaBITE (YouTube)

I Can't Feel My Face - Gustafer Yellowgold (YouTube)

How Great Can This Day Be - Lori Henriques (YouTube)

November First (Jump, Run, Shake) - Eric Herman (YouTube)

Just Not Me - The Hipwaders (YouTube)

Did You Ever See a Lassie? - Charlie Hope (YouTube)

Snow Day - Josh and the Jamtones (YouTube)

Crew Cut - Randy Kaplan (YouTube)

Gingerbread Man - Lunch Money (YouTube)

I Love You More - Todd McHatton (YouTube)

Girls Wanna Dance - Milkshake (YouTube)

Call Me Mista Cookie Jar - Mista Cookie Jar (YouTube)

Haircut - The Not-Its (YouTube)

Walking With Spring - The Okee Dokee Brothers (YouTube)

All These Shapes - The Pop Ups (YouTube)

Love Bug - Raffi (YouTube)

Brick By Brick - Recess Monkey (YouTube)

Rattlesnake - Red Yarn (YouTube)

Los Colores - Andres Salguero (YouTube)

Pillow Fort Pillow Fight - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (YouTube)

Ice Cream (Healthy Eating) - Danny Weinkauf (YouTube)

Sea Turtle - The Whizpops (YouTube)

Armando Armadillo - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (YouTube)