On a recent drive to the beach, my kids and I glumly watched the black clouds rolling in as we all collectively whined, "Rain again ?" Fortunately the CD I chose to turn on at that moment was Asheba's totally fun calypso and world beat r…
There is no shortage of princess stuff around my two-daughter household, but that doesn't mean their CD collection needs to full of sickly sweet commercial voices. In fact, I'm thrilled that they love listening to Mary Kaye's Music Box ,…
When you hear my kids identifying a song from System of a Down, you get a pretty good idea of the the type of music I lean toward: Loud, fast and hard. But, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the polar opposite of hand-banging, and I o…
Back in the day, sweaty dancing to live music, singing loudly and staying up too late was a given during my annual pilgrimage to the Lollapalooza music festival. I've had to tone things down a bit now that my hearing is shot, my bedtime …
We don't own a lot of kids' DVDs in my house, primarily since it's so hard to know if we will get our money's worth or they will be watched twice before my daughter gets bored and just wants to throw the disk around. But one completely w…
They grow up so fast, I've said a million times, and while they're still little I want to introduce them to the coolest indie-vibe kids' music I can. Like CMP fave The Sippy Cups' new CD The Time Machine . Mixing bits of "stop and smell …
Now that it's still light at bedtime, my kids are bouncing off the walls when I try to tuck them under their covers at night. I need help, and I'll take it in the form of Sunflow's latest CD, the lullaby collection Under the Stars . It's…
At only 16 minutes long, The Hipwaders EP, Goodie Bag may be short but it's still the perfect little morsel of music for a quick drive across town, or to get us moving during a speed-cleanup session before company arrives. This Bay Area …
I've done enough seven-hour road trips with the kids to know that the right music can eliminate the fear of "are we there yet? " So before strapping the kids into their car seats, I spruce up our music collection with some new tunes for …
With a little one who hates loud noises and falls asleep before 9, seeing big Fourth of July fireworks has become one of those "maybe next year" dreams we tell his older siblings. So we were happy to learn about PBS' A Capitol Fourth whi…
Well it's about time someone reinvented the proverbial wheel of sensory stimulation baby videos, and in this case that someone is award-winning graphic designer and dad Rolyn Barthelman, creator of the ingenious Wee See collection of DVD…
If you still haven't found the perfect Father's Day gift (hello? Have you even been to our Father's Day gift guide yet?) we still have a few ideas up our sleeves that you can get in time to serve up with bagels in bed on June 21. If you'…
When I saw that NPR had put out a collection of radio stories called NPR Driveway Moments for Dads , I wanted to kiss the radio in gratitude for helping me in my quest for a perfect Father's Day gift . Not only is my husband an enormous …
The fact that Billy Jonas' Knock Knock song has taught my kids a bunch of jokes that are actually funny is alone worth the price of his new CD, Happy Accidents . But on top of that, Happy Accidents has loads of smart, humor-full and funk…
It's already been ten years that Putumayo's eclectic playground series has been introducing families like mine to kid-friendly music from around the globe -- from New Orleans, Brazil and even a multi-cultural Sesame Street. And now the n…
Call me frugal, or cheap, or just a big old party pooper, but there's just no way I can rationalize taking three young kids to the movies these days when all they really do is gorge themselves on popcorn and bounce around in the big seat…
The first time I heard Recess Monkey a few weeks back, I instantly fell in love with their unique sound and smart lyrics. This Seattle based three-man band combines kooky with clever in their new album, Field Trip , to create songs that …
I've read a few reviews that liken Ben Rudnick & Friends' new CD, A Frog Named Sam , to a kid-friendly Grateful Dead or Phish album which I guess could be a real plus for a lot of people. For me, though, who spent one blurry weekend at a…
I think that one of my roles as a parent is to expose my kids to music that doesn't suck, so when I see one of them reaching to put on Bunny Clogs' CD, More! More! More! , I breathe a little sigh of relief that they are choosing somethin…
This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Stinkfest (hereon forward known as Kindiefest ), a conference for the very cool if fairly small indie rock music for kids world. There was a running joke throughout the day about how many pitc…
Robbert Bobbert, aka Robert Schneider of the very cool indie rock group The Apples In Stereo, showcases his unique voice with Beach Boy-esque backing harmonies and experimental sound combos in his new self-titled CD for kids, Robbert Bob…
I know less Spanish than the average eighth grader, so I was a tad skeptical about my ability to review a CD called Spanglish Sing-Along! (Exclamation point theirs.) I shouldn't have worried. Miami's Spanglish Wrangler, aka Will Thomas, …
My taste in music runs more in the indie vein, but in kids' music, you've gotta hand it to Trout Fishing in America who have been putting out Grammy-nominated, family-friendly folksy rock for about 30 years. But this time around, they've…
I thought I knew what to expect when I saw the cover art on Mama Mac's self-titled kids' CD : I was sure there would be an acoustic version of Kumbaya and maybe a few 70's folk songs. Boy, was I wrong. A veteran of the LA indie music sce…