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A few years back, there was a distinct spike in children's music catering to parents who shared the conviction that a baby's CD collection should run away from Raffi and toward The White Stripes. But once the thrill of rejecting the Wiggles wore off, the new breed of kids' rock started to seem less like the music of revolution and more like the cutesy regime it once sought to replace.
No such worries with The Big Bang! For their first release, the hard-grinding head bangers of Rockosaurus Rex wisely stick to covers of public-domain nursery classics, welcome news for anyone weary of tongue-in-cheek lyrics concerning strollers, teddies and naptime. It's kind of amazing how perfectly "This Old Man" translates to arena rock, complete with screeching guitar solo and lead vocals worthy of Beelzebub. Van Halen couldn't hold a candle to the whispery bombast of "All the Pretty Little Horses," but you might seize upon it as the perfect opportunity to school your toddler in how to hold a childproof lighter aloft. — Ayun Halliday
A while back, drunk and feeling maudlin, I wandered into another room at a party, and began to download Raffi songs. Raffi, the Hawaiian-shirted, preternaturally gentle singer of songs for children, was a towering figure in my early history, and as the first, bouncy strains of "Baby Beluga" and "All I Really Need" began to trickle from the tiny speakers of my iBook, I began to weep. All I really need/ Is a song in my heart/ Food in my belly/ Love in my family . . .
Raffi, at fifty-eight, is still going strong, recording, writing, and devoting
himself to a principle he has termed Child Honouring, a movement that, according
to his website, seeks to create a humane and sustainable world by addressing
the needs of the very young. And while his latest album may have songs with a
more specifically delineated message than in years past ("Salaam, Shalom, Side
by Side" and "Song for the Dalai Lama"), that message has remained unchanged ever since his 1976 album Singable
Songs for the Very Young. Raffi wishes nothing
but love, peace, and happiness for your family and for all the families in the
world.
While I have many favorites from the Raffi catalogue (with a special focus
on the years 1982-1986, when I was very young), from the silly world play
of "Apples
and Bananas" ("I like to eet, eet, eet, eeples and beneenees") to the unabashed
multiculturalism of the Caribbean flavored "Tingalayo" and the French "Y
a un rat/Sur le pont d'Avignon" best of all is the heartbreakingly simple "Like
Me and You" from the 1985 album One Light, One Sun. Raffi sings the names of
children from all over the world ("Ahmed lives in Egypt/Moshe lives in Israel/Bruce
lives in Australia") before concluding, softly, "each one is just like the other . . . a
very special son or daughter, a lot like you and me." For any parent questioning
the wisdom of bringing a child into the world at a time when the divisions
between people seem so great, there's your answer, in language so
simple only
a child can understand it. — Rachel
Shukert
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Listening to Songs for Kids Like Us, one would imagine that Robbie Schaefer is a five-year-old with a very deep voice. In actuality, he's the bald dude from indie folk band Eddie From Ohio. But his album is teeming with bugs, icky foods, and silly accents — just the kinds of things that make the under-six set erupt into disproportionate giggles. Schaefer writes amusing characters, like backwards-talking Cowboy Bob and German Professor Schnoodle (Germans are funny!), who appear in short original songs that don't wear out their welcome. His cover songs are longer and more generic. Songs for Kids Like Us also uses that tired device, the over-rehearsed kid chorus, which is clearly supposed to replicate a sing-along but never quite works. However, if you can tune out the chorus, Schaeffer's performance has the energy of a dozen kids. — Gwynne Watkins
A while back, drunk and feeling maudlin, I wandered into another room at a party, and began to download Raffi songs. Raffi, the Hawaiian-shirted, preternaturally gentle singer of songs for children, was a towering figure in my early history, and as the first, bouncy strains of "Baby Beluga" and "All I Really Need" began to trickle from the tiny speakers of my iBook, I began to weep. All I really need/ Is a song in my heart/ Food in my belly/ Love in my family . . .
Raffi, at fifty-eight, is still going strong, recording, writing, and devoting
himself to a principle he has termed Child Honouring, a movement that, according
to his website, seeks to create a humane and sustainable world by addressing
the needs of the very young. And while his latest album may have songs with a
more specifically delineated message than in years past ("Salaam, Shalom, Side
by Side" and "Song for the Dalai Lama"), that message has remained unchanged ever since his 1976 album Singable
Songs for the Very Young. Raffi wishes nothing
but love, peace, and happiness for your family and for all the families in the
world.
While I have many favorites from the Raffi catalogue (with a special focus
on the years 1982-1986, when I was very young), from the silly world play
of "Apples
and Bananas" ("I like to eet, eet, eet, eeples and beneenees") to the unabashed
multiculturalism of the Caribbean flavored "Tingalayo" and the French "Y
a un rat/Sur le pont d'Avignon" best of all is the heartbreakingly simple "Like
Me and You" from the 1985 album One Light, One Sun. Raffi sings the names of
children from all over the world ("Ahmed lives in Egypt/Moshe lives in Israel/Bruce
lives in Australia") before concluding, softly, "each one is just like the other . . . a
very special son or daughter, a lot like you and me." For any parent questioning
the wisdom of bringing a child into the world at a time when the divisions
between people seem so great, there's your answer, in language so
simple only
a child can understand it. — Rachel
Shukert
click to close
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"Smile! No One Cares How You Feel" may be the best children's song title of 2006. It's one of many macabre delights found in The Tragic Treasury, a musical companion to Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Stephin Merritt, recording under the name The Gothic Archies, perfectly embodies Snicket's sinister narrator. He has three major qualifications for the job: a cartoonishly deep singing voice, an ear for blending goth dirges with bouncy pop, and a gift for clever rhymes ("And you might be thinking, what a romp this is/ But wait til you meet his accomplices!"). Even if you're unfamiliar (or unimpressed) with the books that inspired it, The Tragic Treasury's Edward-Gorey-meets-Shel-Silverstein sensibility is hard to resist. —Gwynne Watkins
A while back, drunk and feeling maudlin, I wandered into another room at a party, and began to download Raffi songs. Raffi, the Hawaiian-shirted, preternaturally gentle singer of songs for children, was a towering figure in my early history, and as the first, bouncy strains of "Baby Beluga" and "All I Really Need" began to trickle from the tiny speakers of my iBook, I began to weep. All I really need/ Is a song in my heart/ Food in my belly/ Love in my family . . .
Raffi, at fifty-eight, is still going strong, recording, writing, and devoting
himself to a principle he has termed Child Honouring, a movement that, according
to his website, seeks to create a humane and sustainable world by addressing
the needs of the very young. And while his latest album may have songs with a
more specifically delineated message than in years past ("Salaam, Shalom, Side
by Side" and "Song for the Dalai Lama"), that message has remained unchanged ever since his 1976 album Singable
Songs for the Very Young. Raffi wishes nothing
but love, peace, and happiness for your family and for all the families in the
world.
While I have many favorites from the Raffi catalogue (with a special focus
on the years 1982-1986, when I was very young), from the silly world play
of "Apples
and Bananas" ("I like to eet, eet, eet, eeples and beneenees") to the unabashed
multiculturalism of the Caribbean flavored "Tingalayo" and the French "Y
a un rat/Sur le pont d'Avignon" best of all is the heartbreakingly simple "Like
Me and You" from the 1985 album One Light, One Sun. Raffi sings the names of
children from all over the world ("Ahmed lives in Egypt/Moshe lives in Israel/Bruce
lives in Australia") before concluding, softly, "each one is just like the other . . . a
very special son or daughter, a lot like you and me." For any parent questioning
the wisdom of bringing a child into the world at a time when the divisions
between people seem so great, there's your answer, in language so
simple only
a child can understand it. — Rachel
Shukert
click to close
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Making a children's CD out of covered Beatles tunes might beg the question: the original material is kid-inappropriate how? But it's pretty hard to screw up "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Love Me Do." The Bangles and Steve Conte (of the New York Dolls) versions are especially chipper. And the hard-page picture book that comes with the CD is colorful and appealing, if a little misguided. In addition to the pictures and short poems, handy "Beatle facts" accompany each song; it's hard to imagine that a little kid would care that "Ringo Starr replaced original drummer Pete Best in 1962." Still, it's a dance-worthy birthday party soundtrack. — Sarah Sundberg
A while back, drunk and feeling maudlin, I wandered into another room at a party, and began to download Raffi songs. Raffi, the Hawaiian-shirted, preternaturally gentle singer of songs for children, was a towering figure in my early history, and as the first, bouncy strains of "Baby Beluga" and "All I Really Need" began to trickle from the tiny speakers of my iBook, I began to weep. All I really need/ Is a song in my heart/ Food in my belly/ Love in my family . . .
Raffi, at fifty-eight, is still going strong, recording, writing, and devoting
himself to a principle he has termed Child Honouring, a movement that, according
to his website, seeks to create a humane and sustainable world by addressing
the needs of the very young. And while his latest album may have songs with a
more specifically delineated message than in years past ("Salaam, Shalom, Side
by Side" and "Song for the Dalai Lama"), that message has remained unchanged ever since his 1976 album Singable
Songs for the Very Young. Raffi wishes nothing
but love, peace, and happiness for your family and for all the families in the
world.
While I have many favorites from the Raffi catalogue (with a special focus
on the years 1982-1986, when I was very young), from the silly world play
of "Apples
and Bananas" ("I like to eet, eet, eet, eeples and beneenees") to the unabashed
multiculturalism of the Caribbean flavored "Tingalayo" and the French "Y
a un rat/Sur le pont d'Avignon" best of all is the heartbreakingly simple "Like
Me and You" from the 1985 album One Light, One Sun. Raffi sings the names of
children from all over the world ("Ahmed lives in Egypt/Moshe lives in Israel/Bruce
lives in Australia") before concluding, softly, "each one is just like the other . . . a
very special son or daughter, a lot like you and me." For any parent questioning
the wisdom of bringing a child into the world at a time when the divisions
between people seem so great, there's your answer, in language so
simple only
a child can understand it. — Rachel
Shukert
click to close
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