Archive for August, 2009

CD Review: Milkshake, “Great Day”

Milkshake – Great Day (2009, Milkshake Music)
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Milkshake isn’t just a band, it’s a budding media empire. Since rising from the ashes of Baltimore’s LOVE RiOT in 2002, they’ve become fast favorites of the indie kidpop world, releasing three well-received CDs (Happy Songs, Bottle of Sunshine, and PLAY!), a DVD (Screen Play, issued earlier this year), appearing all over the Noggin, Discovery Kids, and PBS Kids networks, and even spinning off a Milkshake comic book (featuring the band as superheroes, natch); with their brand new fourth album, Great Day, they stand poised to rock the diapers off musically adventurous children of all ages.

I don’t mean “rock” ironically, either — Milkshake’s stuff has sharper teeth than most children’s music, and it’s more musically adventurous to boot: Great Day’s dozen tracks lead the listener on a madcap dash that boasts punk-kissed pop (“Shake It Up”), hints of zydeco (“Statue of Me”), and a dash of newgrass (the banjo-laced “When I’m Old”). It’s also packed to the rafters with stringed instruments, from the aforementioned banjo to the ukulele, mandolin, and hollow-body Gretsch guitar (lended by ex-Glenmont Pope Rodney Henry). It’s fun, mostly uptempo stuff, with messages that are both appealing (“I want five scoops of ice cream, piled up so high”) and important (“You did it! Yeah! I gotta say I think you’re great”) for the band’s target demographic. Read the rest of this entry

CD Review: The Flannery Brothers, “Love Songs for Silly Things”

The Flannery Brothers – Love Songs for Silly Things (2009, self-released)
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I know we aren’t generally in the habit of giving bad reviews here — if we don’t think something is worth a dad’s hard-earned time and money, we simply won’t cover it — but the Flannery Brothers‘ Love Songs for Silly Things is a special case. As in an especially wonderful case. My house is a constant stream of kids’ music, and my 3.5-year-old daughter has reached the point where she doesn’t even bat an eyelash when a new CD or DVD arrives in the mail “for her.” With all that entertainment going on, it’s hard for one album to stand out, but Silly Things has done it, becoming an instant summer favorite for my daughter, my 21-month-old son, my wife, and even our visiting nephew, who turns 11 in September. Rare is the kids’ CD that doesn’t advertise itself as “fun for the whole family,” but this one really delivers on that promise; my nephew spent the better part of a week singing the chorus of “Broccoli Yet” under his breath, and my wife yelled “I love that CD!” when she walked in and found me writing this review. Read the rest of this entry

CD Review: Hot Peas ‘N Butter, “Best of the Bowl: Ingles y Español”

Hot Peas ‘N Butter – Best of the Bowl, Ingles y Español (2009, self-released)
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Bailando!

As you might guess from the big “volume 5″ slapped on Best of the Bowl’s artwork, Hot Peas ‘N Butter have been around for awhile — in fact, their bilingual music should be familiar to anyone who spends time on the Nick Jr./Noggin end of the TV dial. They’ve certainly earned enough success to pause for a reassessment of their most popular material, which is exactly what co-founders Daniel Lapidus and Francisco Cotto do here, re-recording 11 favorites that, in the words of Lapidus, “are the songs that audiences ask for over and over again.”

Even for Hot Peas ‘N Butter novices, it shouldn’t be hard to hear why the band’s fans love these songs — they’re deliciously fun, danceable pan-cultural blends, and whether or not you live in a bilingual house, or are interested in exposing your children to world music, you should find Best of the Bowl wonderfully, instantly addictive. And if you do happen to be raising a miniature army of merengue listeners, well…it’s hard to imagine a better album to share with your kids this fall. To sample music, videos, and more from the band, visit their website — just be prepared to stay awhile, and probably spend some dinero while you’re there.

DVD Review: “Field Trips with Recess Monkey”

Recess Monkey – Field Trips with Recess Monkey (2009, Monkey Mama)
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Our love for Recess Monkey has already been well documented, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t alert you to the imminent release of Field Trips with Recess Monkey, a DVD companion of sorts to the band’s most recent album, the stellar Field Trip.

For those not already in the know, Recess Monkey is a fun-loving, award-winning trio whose previous forays into kids’ music — including the aforementioned Field Trip, 2008’s Tabby Road, and others — have earned them a devoted following, as well as stacks of glowing reviews from outlets like NPR, Real Simple, and the notoriously cranky and difficult-to-please Stefan Shepherd of Zooglobble. (Just kidding. We love Stefan and he’s nothing but charming.) Field Trips with Recess Monkey is the band’s first DVD, and includes videos for four songs (“Marshmallow Farm,” “Haven’t Got a Pet Yet,” “Fort,” and the wickedly catchy “Hot Chocolate”) as well as a handful of vignettes following the Monkeys around Seattle. Read the rest of this entry

DVD Review: “Pete’s Dragon — High-Flying Edition”

Pete’s Dragon (High-Flying Edition) (2009, Walt Disney Studios)
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Released pretty much smack dab in the middle of Disney’s lost years, 1977’s Pete’s Dragon generally isn’t the first movie people tend to think of when they talk about the studio’s classics, and for good reason — though it was noteworthy at the time of its release as one of the few live-action/animation hybrids to grace the silver screen (1964’s Mary Poppins and 1971’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks used similar technology, but not as extensively or seamlessly), it was also the latest example of the distance Disney had drifted from its roots. Still, 1977 represented something of a miniature renaissance for the studio, at least in the context of the relatively barren ’70s; if you count The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a Frankenstein-style stitching of short features, three of the five features Disney released that year contained animation. Things had been worse (Superdad) and would get worse again (Condorman), and probably as a result, Pete’s Dragon has become a source of rather fond memories for the generation that grew up with it. Read the rest of this entry

DVD Review: “The Tigger Movie — Two-Disc 10th Anniversary Edition”

The Tigger Movie: Two-Disc 10th Anniversary Edition (2009, Disney)
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Nobody raids the vaults like Disney. Even now, in the era of the DVD’s death spiral, most studios refrain from pathologically reissuing catalog titles — particularly those that were never terribly popular in the first place — but Uncle Walt’s house has always treated everything it’s ever done (or almost everything, anyway) like a timeless classic. Which is why you shouldn’t raise your eyebrows (but probably will anyway, if you’re anything like me) at the double-disc 10th anniversary edition of The Tigger Movie, an enjoyable trifle that Disney sort of half-heartedly shooed into theaters roughly a decade ago. Part of a sort of low-profile renaissance for A.A. Milne’s beloved characters at the studio, The Tigger Movie is a kissing cousin to Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, a more fleshed-out (and less Tigger-centric) adorable lesson in things like acceptance, friendship, and personal identity. Where Tigger Too mainly revolved around Rabbit’s perennial annoyance with Tigger’s brain-damaged antics, The Tigger Movie puts the bouncy-tailed wonder in pursuit of the family he’s certain is out there — despite his famous (and, it must be said, joyous) earlier insistence that he was the only one of his kind. Read the rest of this entry

DVD Review: “Race to Witch Mountain”

Race to Witch Mountain (2009, Disney)
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The first words out of my son’s mouth after we finished watching Race to Witch Mountain were, “That. Was. AWESOME!” I concur, Jacob, Race to Witch Mountain is indeed awesome. Disney’s remake/newest adaptation of Alexander Key’s book, Escape to Witch Mountain,  is funny, full of some exciting action sequences, and has enough emotional appeal to make this movie well worth your time for the next movie night in your house. However, this is a movie that earns its PG rating, so if your kids are under the age of 7, the chases and final fight with an alien meanie may require some covered eyes; they get a little intense.

Dwayne Johnson stars as Jack Bruno, a former stock car racer, reformed mob driver trying to turn his life around by driving a cab in Vegas and living in a crummy motel. As the film opens, sin city is in the midst of a science fiction convention. Jack chauffeurs around geeks in Stormtrooper costumes and wonders “what have I done to deserve this?” One of his fares is a brainy, gorgeous woman named Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugiano), an author giving a lecture at the same convention about her proof that life does exist outside of the earth. Jack rolls his eyes and leaves her. But he’s soon to find out that she’s right when, after a run in with a couple of mob musclemen, Jack’s very next riders are a brother and sister whose behavior is strange and, well, a little out this worldly. The kids are Sara and Seth, played by AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig. Read the rest of this entry

DVD Review: “It’s a…Farmer Jason!”

Making the jump from grown-up rock to children’s music is all the rage now, but Farmer Jason — a.k.a. Jason Ringenberg, the erstwhile leader of Jason & the Scorchers — has been doing it longer than most; he made his first foray into the kid-pop market in 2003 with A Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason, and since then, he’s divided his time between post-Scorchers solo records (such as 2004’s Empire Builders) and appearances as his agriculturally inclined alter ego, who has been rocking the junior set in concert and a local access PBS series, bits of which have been repurposed for his new DVD, It’s a…Farmer Jason!

Given its humble origins, the DVD is about as endearingly low-budget as you might expect, despite a NASCAR-type block of corporate logos emblazoned on the back of the case. Nothing too flashy, just Farmer Jason kicking it up with bunches of his little fans (as well as a handful of special guests, including Webb Wilder, Todd Snider, and ex-Scorcher Warner E. Hodges). For kids raised on overcaffienated Nickelodeon fare, I suppose It’s a…Farmer Jason! might seem a little too slow, but that speaks to a defect in current children’s programming trends, not a weakness in the DVD; Ringenberg is an enormously appealing host, and the songs — which include titles like “Punk Rock Skunk,” “Ode to a Toad,” “Potato Rap,” and “The Tractor Goes Chug Chug Chug” — are tons of instantly memorable fun. It’s simple, sweet, and positive — in other words, everything you want in entertainment for your young ones. Check out samples and buy the DVD (for the low, low price of $16.75) at Farmer Jason’s official site

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CD Review: The Sippy Cups, “The Time Machine”

The Sippy Cups: The Time Machine (2009, Snacker)
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While San Francisco-based children’s band the Sippy Cups might at times remind you of the quirky and energetic B-52’s, there is no doubt that they know how to take their own experiences as parents and turn them into some of the catchiest kids’ fare you’ll ever hear. The Sippy Cups’ latest, The Time Machine, is symbolic in more ways than one, as they claim that their sound has matured right along with most of their listening audience—and they also tried to convey the message of growing up and all that goes along with growing up, and how it should be fun, to their young fans.

For example, the topics include personal experiences such as losing teeth (“Loose Tooth”), or having fun with math (“Seven is the New Fourteen”). The title track sounds like it could be the theme song for a TV show, and “Don’t Remove the Groove,” a song about making everything you do musical, is catchy and funky in a retro disco sort of way. And the crunchy guitars and sugary harmonies on “My Angry Voice” should teach kids about both keeping your anger in check, and about channeling it into a rocking song.

While The Sippy Cups might appeal to kids that are beyond toddler age, their latest is something that parents should have no trouble getting into as well. And haven’t you had enough of The Jonas Brothers anyway?

CD Review: Bob Marley, “B Is for Bob”

Bob Marley – B Is for Bob (Tuff Gong, 2009)
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A perfect blend of the utterly crass and the undeniably entertaining, Tuff Gong’s latest Bob Marley compilation stitches together a dozen previously released tracks — eight of them with subtle remixing and repurposing from Ziggy Marley — bundles them with a whole bunch of nifty bonus content, and serves them up for one more round of consumption. On the one hand, it’s label tomfoolery at its most repellent — how much Marley product do these people need to sell? — but on the other, it’s really sort of brilliant; after all, now that Legend has passed the 10 million-in-sales mark, is there a reggae fan left on Earth who doesn’t own his greatest hits? It’s time to start building new ones, which is where B Is for Bob comes in. Though I doubt most people have ever thought of him as a children’s artist, a lot of Marley’s music is quite kid-friendly — simple, catchy, and carrying messages of peace, love, and happiness — and though it seems safe to say the original versions of these songs would have worked just fine, Ziggy’s remix job hasn’t done them any harm; in fact, unless you’re a dedicated Marley disciple, you probably won’t even notice a difference.

Adding value to the compilation is a raft of extra online material, unlockable when you insert the disc into a Web-connected computer. In exchange for purchasing these songs for the umpteenth time, you get things like coloring book pages, a music video, and a one-year subscription to Parents magazine. None of it is truly essential, of course, but it’s a fun little package, and something that’ll make a terrific gift for any budding Bob enthusiasts in your life. You might get more sparkle from a more contemporary artist, but for classic songs that will last a lifetime, this batch is just about impossible to beat.