Dadnabbit

CD Review: Quest for Zhu (Music From the Motion Picture)

Two years ago, Zhu Zhu Pets were the hottest toy of the Christmas season, the 2009 version of Tickle Me Elmo, or Cabbage Patch Kids, and, as such were so popular that they were, ironically, impossible to find. Oh, Zhu Zhu Pets are, it is my understanding, robot hamsters that make little robotic hamster sounds and they squirrel around on the floor and burrow into plastic tunnels that you can buy for them to burrow into. They’ve spawned. Satisfied... Read More

CD Review: The Deedle Deedle Dees, “Strange Dees, Indeed”

Are the Deedle Deedle Dees the smartest band in the kindie music scene? Possibly.  I once heard Queensryche called “Egghead Bang” for writing rock music that was far smarter than what any of their counterparts were doing. The same applies to the Deedle Deedle Dees. “Egghead Kindie” could easily describe their new their album Strange Dees, Indeed. It’s an eclectic mix of smart songs with anything but your traditional topics used in kids... Read More

CD Review: The Chickadees, The Froggy Hop

There’s a lot of mindless kids’ music out there, the kind of stuff that makes me question why kids’ music is even a separate genre unto itself. The ridiculous, corporate, often brand-promoting junk with a carefully contrived mix of barely educational messages and hollow silliness prepared by people who have never met a child, the reason why I mostly just let my kid listen to whatever music I listen to, minus the songs with inappropriate... Read More

CD Review: Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights, “What a Zoo!”

I’ve struggled with Joanie Leeds’ music since being introduced to it with her last album, I’m a Rock Star. I think there’s a fine line between aiming music at kids and pandering to them, and it’s one that Leeds doesn’t always tread successfully; she has a fondness for slick, sugary production and cuteness that verges on the saccharine. Listening to her albums can sometimes feel like sitting in a room with someone... Read More

CD Review: Made in the Shade, “Stellar Jazz Safari”

Now here’s a neat idea: Give kids an entry-level introduction to jazz by taking them on a journey through some of its many permutations, from New Orleans to bebop to fusion, explaining (and demonstrating) the differences along the way. It’s an education that I’d guess many adults could use, and a fun way of clearing up a lot of the misconceptions that surround the music. Unfortunately, the execution is the problem with Stellar Jazz... Read More

CD Review: Jason Riley, “Funky Folk”

He might be overstating things a little with the “funky” part of the title — no one is ever going to mistake Jason Riley for Booker T., or even the Sugar Free Allstars — but this is an utterly pleasant, thoroughly nifty nine-song instrumental tour through European and American folk traditions. Anchoring a three-piece combo that features himself on “guitars and sundries,” Craig Kew on bass, and Terry Brock on violin,... Read More

CD Review: Cat and a Bird, “Cat and a Bird”

Cats and birds, generally speaking, don’t play nicely together — check any random Sylvester and Tweety short if you don’t believe me — but the laws of the universe have been known to bend from time to time, and here’s Cat and a Bird’s breezily addictive debut for proof. Offering a dozen tracks of jazzy, acoustic-based pop, topped off with sun-kissed melodies and delightfully charming female vocals, Cat and a Bird... Read More