I know us parent types don’t often have a lot of time for reading, so in the interest of saving time, I’m going to cut to the chase: The New Explorers Club is my favorite family CD of the year. In fact, of all the dozens and dozens of CDs I’ve heard in 2010, this is probably in the top 20 overall. Yes. It’s that good. “Who are the Flannery Brothers?” you’re probably asking, because this Northeastern trio has flown mostly under the radar since making its debut with Love Songs for Silly Things in mid-2009, and odds are you’ve never heard their excellent songs. The Flannerys’ lack of platinum sales has been a mystery to me, but as good as their first two releases were, New Explorers Club is such a huge leap forward
Read More »Greenfield, MA isn’t necessarily known as an entertainment mecca, unless you count the fact that it’s the birthplace of Penn Jillette. But last weekend, while folks in Philly were sweating it out during the XPoNential Festival held by our pals at WXPN — and hipper listeners were at the Pitchfork Music Festival — New England was busy being blessed with its own live music extravaganza: the 24th Green River Festival. It’s held on the grounds of a community college in rural northern Massachusetts, but the Green River Festival isn’t the collection of acoustic guitar-toting folk singers you might expect. This year’s lineup, which sprawled out over two hot summer days and nights, included a touch of the traditional (Brooks Williams opened the main stage on Saturday), but made plenty of room for the unexpected (Allen
Read More »For those of you who live in more temperate climes, where winter is something you watch other people suffer through on TV, and snow is something you wish you had on Christmas, the idea of “spring fever” might seem like an old wives’ tale — like knuckle-cracking causing arthritis, or Karl Rove being the voice of Barney the Dinosaur. Speaking as a parent of two small children in the hills of New Hampshire, however, I can tell you it’s very much a real thing, and if someone happens to come up with something awesome for your kids to do on a beautiful spring day when their bodies are drunk with March sunlight, you may wish to throw a parade in their honor. So far as I know, no one has ever thrown a parade for
Read More »The Flannery Brothers’ debut CD, Love Songs for Silly Things, was a big hit in our house last year, and when I heard they had another disc on the way, I was filled with the kind of anticipation I don’t normally feel for Dadnabbit assignments. I mean, hey, I love kids’ music as much as the next guy, but if I get an e-mail telling me I have a new children’s CD on the way and something new from, say, K’naan or David Byrne…well, the kids’ stuff can wait. But as soon as I received my copy of Move Over Lullabies…It’s Time for Wake Up Songs!, I tore off the plastic and put the disc in the CD tray. With the Flannery Brothers performing the songs, and a title like that, how can you go
Read More »The Flannery Brothers – Love Songs for Silly Things (2009, self-released) purchase from Amazon 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,
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