2008 Kidz Music Reviews

May Music Reviews
albums from Banana Slug String Band & Greg Brown & Various Artists

We All Live Downstream & Down at the Sea Hotel 

albums from Banana Slug String Band & Greg Brown & Various Artists, reviewed May 2008

The Santa Cruz California based Banana Slug String Band’s latest aptly titled CD, We All Live Downstream, is an educational and highly entertaining paean to the understanding and preservation of our valuable watersheds. Sound like a ho-hum subject matter? Not when the Slugs wrap their multitude of strings around it! A variety of hip musical styles propel this message along like a clean flowing river on its way to the ocean. Terrific organic musicianship and a solid kid’s choir mesh just right.

 We All Live Downstream, Banana Slug String Band, Slug Music, 2008; CD $15.00; www.bananaslugstringband.com.

Buy We All Live Downstream at Kidzmusic.com

What a wonderful compilation! Greg Brown has re-purposed some of today’s best songwriters’ tunes into a lullaby tapestry of gentle reflection and introspection. In addition to Brown’s title tune, Tom Waits, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Billy Joel, Don Henley, Carole King, and other greats are represented front line and center. A beautifully illustrated picture book accompanies this package. You will treasure this CD as it grows with your child.”

Down at the Sea Hotel, Greg Brown and Various Artists, The Secret Mountain, 2007; CD & Book $16.95 each; www.thesecretmountain.com. 

Also check out:

Once Upon a Song Stories – The Music of the Mountains, Emily Rabon Hall, Music For Children, 2007; CD $16.99; website www.musicforchildren.net. “An interactive down-home celebration of the world around and within us with folk-based songs and engaging vocals.” John Wood, Kidzmusic.com 

ABC Rap, Alice Villa, One Room School House & Brown N Proud Productions, 2008; CD $9.99; website www.abcrap.net. “The heart’s in the right place as this collection seeks to share life lessons and matters of acceptance and cooperation in a contemporary musical framework of rap and hip-hop.” John Wood, Kidzmusic.com

An Elephant Never Forgets, Owen Duggan, Old Records, 2005; CD $15.00; website www.owenduggan.com. “Children’s music is evergreen and this album is a pleasantly wrapped present and reward for parents who seek the magical yet fleeting moments that create childhood memories.” John Wood, Kidzmusic.com  

Little Songs, Brian Vogan, Brian Vogan Music, 2008; CD $14.99; website www.brianvogan.com. “Quirky, engaging and simply surprising songs that demand repeated listening." John Wood, Kidzmusic.com