Friday Free-for-All # 21

Didi Pop, Didi Pop

Cute tunes from L.A.-based singer/songwriter Deborah Poppink. This is her first CD for kids, but her resume includes compositions for film and television, including The X-Files. Produced by Brad Jones (The Shazam; Bobby Bare, Jr.; Imperial Drag; David Poe) and performed with a crack team of Nashville musicians, Poppink's debut children's album is full of songs about pets, etiquette, the alphabet, and poop!



Funky Mama, Moo Juice

Kansas City, MO, musician Krista Eyler brings her rootsy rock and roll style to her third CD for kids, Moo Juice, with tunes about family, food, and dancing. Toddlers can hoist their juice cups to the rockin' "Sippy," dance to the Cajun flavor of "Potty Train," air guitar to the four-to-the-floor "Let's Drive," and join in with the a cappella activity songs "Can You Hear Me? / 1-2" and "Down Down Baby."



Jeanie B! and The Jelly Beans, Joy

Joy is the third kids' CD from Chicago-area musician Jeanne Bonansinga. A few overly-cutesy tunes are redeemed by songs that seem tailor-made for XMKids Radio, including the anthemic "I Just Wanna Play," the rave-up "When I'm Older," the rockin' "Bubble Wrap," and the Jimmy Buffett-esque "Hot Summer."

2008 Parents' Choice Awards

The 2008 Parents' Choice Awards for children's audio were announced October 2, and the four Gold Award-winners were Putumayo's African Dreamland, Frances England's Family Tree, Gunnar Madsen's I'm Growing, and Ralph's World's The Rhyming Circus. Seven Silver Awards were also given out, along with nine Recommended Awards, 19 Approved Awards, and two Classic Awards.

Here's the complete rundown of all the Parents' Choice winners this year:

Classic:

• The Treblemakers Children's Choir - Singing With Treblemakers: Songs for Young Singers (originally released in 1998)
  
• Jack Pearson - Singin' in Our Own Back Yard (originally released in 1995)

Gold:

• Putumayo - African Dreamland
  
• Frances England - Family Tree
  
• Gunnar Madsen - I'm Growing
  
• Ralph's World - The Rhyming Circus

Silver:

• Little Groove - Building Blocks
  
• Jack Grunsky - Catchy Tune
  
• They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s
  
• Linda Severt - Grinning Streak
  
• Lois Young - Jelly Bean Soup
  
• Trout Fishing in America - Big Round World
  
• Sweet Honey in the Rock - Experience...101

Recommended:

• Dan Zanes - Nueva York!
  
• Joanie Leeds - City Kid!
  
• Putumayo - Sesame Street Playground
  
• The Chickadees - Songs from the Great Outdoors
  
• Danielle Sansone - Two Flowers
  
• Hullabaloo - Tall as a Tree
  
• Hayes Greenfield - Music for a Green Planet
  
• Lisa Loeb - CAMP LISA
  
• Astrograss - Let Me Stay Up All Night

Approved:

• Jorge Anaya - A Bailar! Let's Dance: Spanish Learning Songs
  
• Leeny and Steve - Be Nice
  
• Daria - Grandchildren's Delight
  
• Tom Freund - Hug Trees
  
• Kaley Willow & Wy Griffith - Miss Willow's Fence Row
  
• Anne Meeker Miller - Rainbows, Railroads and Rhymes
  
• Smart Start - Birth and Beyond
  
• Susie Tallman - A Child's Christmas: Holiday Songs and Carols
  
• Dominic Bakewell - Monkey Shoes
  
• Mark Wilder - Lovely Vibes
  
• Baby Loves Everything - The Dino 5
  
• The Kerplunks - The Kerplunks
  
• Jim Cosgrove - Upside Down
  
• Jeff Jones and the Earthtones - Sing a Little Song, Do a Little Dance
  
• Janyse - The Magic of Think
  
• Hot Peas 'N Butter - Vol. 4: The Pod Squad
  
• Jay Mankita - Eat Like a Rainbow
  
• Koolkidz - Songs For Koolkidz
  
• Steve Pullara and his Cool Beans Band - Zooboogie

New Video by Sunflow

Now, this video is more like a karaoke presentation than a full-fledged video (very basic graphics are displayed as lyrics flash by), but DIG THIS TUNE! Nancy Falkow and Fran King comprise the duo known as Sunflow, and their debut kids' album Under the Stars just came out. This first single is just the tip of the pop iceberg ... stay tuned for a full album review. Until then:

Sunflow - "I Wish You Love"

Silly Sally

We have been praciticing walking backwards in our toddler classes lately. Here's a great book by Audrey Wood to practice this skill at home!

***Little Miss Ann***

On what may be the kids' album with the grooviest title of the year, Chicago's Ann Torralba uses a mix of world, folk, and rock influences to create one of the best children's CDs of 2008. On her first CD for kids as Little Miss Ann, 2006's Music for Tots, Torralba featured a more folk rock sound. Well, the reverse is true on Clap for Love: rock is definitely emphasized over folk, as Ann and her full band flesh out originals and traditional tunes.

The easy going welcome song, "Good Morning," sweetly kicks off Clap for Love. Then, wow! the powerful "Stand Up" jumps out of the speakers, proclaiming lines line "Stand up all you children / For things that are in your heart." A swirling organ and fist-pumping chorus deliver a message of the importance of empowerment and social conscience.

The quieter "Mockingbird" is all about individuality, followed by an absolutely rockin' version of the traditional "Over in the Meadow." The loping title tune features a banjo ukulele and demands audience participation ... for love! And dig the very Ring Starr-like drum rolls in the instrumental bridge.

"This Little Heart of Mine" is a great pop reworking of the old spiritual, and the rowdy "Wheels on the Bike" is another audience participation song. The sounds of a drum circle surround the South African hymn "Siyahamba," sung in both Zulu and English. Hints of Bruce Cockburn's world music style flavor the traditional "All Around the Kitchen," and the purely sing-along tune "Count by Fives" includes an enthusiastic performance by a First Grade class from Burley Elementary.

A key to the album's success is Jon Williams' production: great drum sounds and warm, organic instrumentation throughout, very reminisient of the whole mid-'70s L.A. crowd like James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, etc. Clap for Love is for an older audience than Music for Tots; in fact, the same fans of Little Miss Ann's first CD will now dig her second, kinda like fans of A Hard Day's Night turning on to Rubber Soul.

This is a beautiful album to be coming out in these times of increasing loss of uniqueness and personal conviction. It's very cool that a kids' artist will make a call-to-arms to the under-10 crowd, while entertaining them all the while ... have fun, but get involved. Groovy!

***me 3***

Here's a perfect example of why reviewing "children's" music is at the same time frustrating and exciting: this here album was recorded specifically for kids, but I guarantee that more grownups than children will dig this CD. So, while me 3's "The Thin King" might not make it to the best-selling rack at your local megablob retail outlet, it's thrilling to see artists like Jason Kleinberg creating such adventurous, intelligent, and downright catchy music for children.

San Francisco-based Kleinberg is heavily involved in that city's music scene, playing and recording with groups like Diego's Umbrella, 86 The Band, Our Lady Of The Highway, Beulah, and The Pine Box Boys. Seems the children of Kleinberg's friends liked his solo CD Must Have Fun so much, he decided to enlist Bernie Jungle and Adam McCauley (also known for his kids' book illustrations) to play on an album for kids, and voila! me 3 was born. Coincidentally, the children's musician most likely to draw artistic comparisons, Mr. David, lives nearby in San Jose.

You can hear hints of Weezer (specifically "Beverly Hills") in the lead-off track "Apple," while the pop brilliance of "Tulip" and its chorus of "Too-woo-woo-woo-woo-lip" guarantee multiple plays. The space-age rock of "Come On" is a little similar to the sound of Tray Batson's Baron Von Rumblebuss project, and the jug band/Kid Rock hybrid "Doug the Mole" tells the story of ... well, a mole ... named Doug.

Kleinberg gets all philosophical and stuff with the sea shanty waltz "Thinking is Fun," the sunny "I Don't Know!" and the quiet ballad "When It All Began," while "Peeling Paint" and "Cows" are just great fun. The title track is a majestic tune that tells the tale of a make-believe ruler, and "Sunlight" conveys through a child's eyes the simple amazement found in the Sun.

What makes this album special is that Kleinberg steers waaay clear of cliched kids' music subjects and dumbed-down lyrics, but he doesn't sing adult love songs or write about the frustrations of being a grownup, either. He has faith in his young listeners that they will "get" these songs about imagination, wonder, humor, beauty, and wordplay. Spin this one for your toddlers, your kids in college, and your grandparents. And sneak a listen yourself.

Everything to Me

My newest nephew was born today! He is the second adoption for my brother and his wife, and I am so very happy for them! In honor of adopted children and the birth mothers who chose life for them, I am posting this special video from Mark Schultz. You may need tissues.

Mr. Leebot news...

Just got word that the new Mr. Leebot album is due Spring 2009, and judging by the five tracks I got a sneak listen to, this one's gonna be even more solid than his first CD Activate!, and dives even deeper into New Wave territory. Totally awesome!