Posts Tagged ‘CD Review’

  • CD Review: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, “Songs from a Zulu Farm”

    Jan 24, 11 • In Music

    Ladysmith Black Mambazo has one of the most unique sounds in modern music — and also one of the most malleable, as demonstrated by a run of recent projects that has seen their traditional isicathamiya vocals blended with electronic textures (Chillout Sessions), the English Chamber Orchestra (No Boundaries), and a wide array of pop-star special guests (Long Walk to Freedom). All of these releases have their charms, but there’s still nothing quite like the sound of the group’s voices in their purest form, and their new album, Songs from a Zulu Farm, is a fitting return to basics. I say “fitting” because Songs from a Zulu Farm is a children’s album, at least nominally speaking; it’s a collection of traditional songs that Ladysmith’s members remember from their youth, and while they haven’t released a single

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  • CD Review: Dog on Fleas, “The Bestest of the Best”

    Dec 15, 10 • In Music

    Dadnabbit’s love of all things Dog on Fleas and/or Dean Jones has been well-documented ’round these parts, so I’m not going to even pretend to be objective about the band’s first best-of collection, the aptly titled The Bestest of the Best. Basically, what I’m about to say boils down to two things: 1. I love it; and 2. You should buy it now. That’s really it. If you trust my judgment at all when it comes to family entertainment, just stop reading now and order copies of The Bestest of the Best for your family and your closest parent-type friends. Come back here later to thank me. (You’re welcome.) If you need to know more for some reason, here it is: The Bestest of the Best culls a marvelous 20 tracks from the band’s previous

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  • CD Review: Professor Banjo, “Old Time, Good Time!”

    Dec 15, 10 • In Music

    While I sort of doubt he has an actual degree in banjology, you’ve got to hand it to Professor Banjo for truth in advertising. His 16-track Old Time, Good Time! delivers exactly what you’d expect: a guy, a banjo, and plenty of old-timey songs, like “Shortnin’ Bread,” “Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel” (weirdly shortened here to “Jerdin,” but whatever), and “All the Pretty Little Horses.” The packaging is also every bit as basic (and basically awesome) as the musical contents — the disc comes in a black-and-white cardboard case that says COLOR ME! on the cover, a winking nod to the days when these songs were originally popular, a time when families would sit around their parlors and sing the hits of the day themselves rather than streaming them to their AirPlay-enabled devices

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  • CD Review: Caspar Babypants, “This Is Fun!”

    Dec 15, 10 • In Music

    If you had told me 15 years ago that I’d be listening to a children’s album from the guy who sang “Peaches” — and really liking it — I would have called you crazy. And yet here we are with This Is Fun!, the latest kindie gem from Chris Ballew, a.k.a. Caspar Babypants: 20 tracks of bouncy, gently madcap fun for the whole family. Ballew has always taken the spraygun approach to recording music, loading his albums with lots of bite-sized songs, and that’s still true now that he’s making music for little people: This Is Fun!‘s longest track is 3:21, but most of them clock in around the two-minute mark, which is just enough time to burrow into your brain. This is Ballew’s third Babypants outing since 2009, and if you’ve heard his earlier

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  • CD Review: Frances England, “Mind of My Own”

    Nov 9, 10 • In Music

    Bright, catchy, and adorable, Frances England’s Mind of My Own is a slow pitch down the middle for grown-up fans of marshmallow-soft pop acts like Rabbit!, Lisa Loeb, Kaiser Cartel, and Mates of State (who pop in for a cameo on the sixth track, “Place in Your Heart”). Having listened to more than my share of albums by female singers who wear vintage frocks, play quirky instruments, and wish they were Zooey Deschanel or Jenny Lewis, I hear warning sirens when I open a CD and see a woman holding a tiny keyboard and wearing thick glasses and a thrift-store outfit. And honestly, if you have a low tolerance for cute, Mind of My Own may test your limits — but then, you’ve probably had those limits trampled by plenty of kids’ acts, and this

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  • CD Review: The Rhymatist, “The Rhymatist”

    Nov 8, 10 • In Music

    Taking an art form that’s usually aimed at adults and repackaging it for kids is always a risky proposition — and I have a very low tolerance for candy-colored cartoon artwork — but the playground hip-hop phenom known as the Rhymatist has just won a 2010 National Parenting Publications Honor Award for his self-titled debut, intriguing me enough to give it a listen. Brief verdict: The Rhymatist is a pleasant surprise, if not an unqualified triumph. I’m not really sure who the target audience for this album is, for starters — if you’re really into hip-hop and you want to share it with your kids, you probably know enough about the genre to be able to cherry-pick acceptable tunes from “grown-up” artists; my kids, for instance, regularly bob their little heads to choice tracks from

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  • CD Review: Elizabeth Mitchell, “Sunny Day”

    Oct 12, 10 • In Music

    As a parent of two small children, I value peace — and peaceful things — more than just about anything else. And as a music lover, I place a similar value on songs and albums created the old-fashioned way, with live musicians playing in the same space, with a respect for the roots of the craft they share. These are two of the reasons that I was thrilled to see Elizabeth Mitchell’s Sunny Day on the release schedule, and why it’s high on my list of the most wonderful family albums of 2010. Matter of fact, much like the Flannery Brothers’ New Explorers Club, I’d argue that this is an album that you can enjoy even if your kids aren’t around — or if you don’t have any children at all. I’m a big fan

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