Animal Crackers
Wee Hairy Beasties, 2006
Wee Hairy Beasties [website] brings together a mix of bluegrass, Dixieland jazz, and blues that offers a relevant blueprint for a model of goofy kids' music that demands stellar musicianship and timelessness. If the band could be said to have a frontman it'd be former Mekons member John Langford, whose aggressive but friendly brogue makes a major contribution in addition to his lead acoustic guitar playing and percussion work; other band members and guests also take on vocal duties in a well-balanced blend of voices on this entertaining and often downright funny album.
The band isn't afraid of caricature ("Housefly Blues" is what you might suspect, and "I'm an A.N.T." is a straight-up parody of "I'm a M.A.N."), but overall, Wee Hairy Beasties creates a unique and cohesive musical world for children to enter when listening to the album. Two of our favorite tracks are songs which purport to back dancing animals performing for listeners, complete with supportive hollers from the band and comments from the animals themselves. This album is a deliberate, if restless, throwback to an earlier time, complete with jug, kazoo, washboard, kick drums, and a lot of zaniness, and it works beautifully.
Top Tracks: Wee Hairy Beasties / Ragtime Duck / I'm an A.N.T. / Cuttlefish Bone / Cyril the Karaoke Squirrel / Lightnin' the Turtle
Buy it at: Amazon.com | iTunes
Thursday, September 27, 2007
5x7 Top Pick: Wee Hairy Beasties' "Animal Crackers"
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1 comments:
Thanks for doing this music week thing. I've found some great stuff for my 3yo and 1 yo who love music. I've been searching iTunes willy nilly for the past few weeks, but was delighted to read about all of your selections and find some great things for them - and that I can enjoy, too.
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