Music News: Alphabutt by Kimya Dawson

Following on from my post last week about music that is and isn't appropriate for kids, I can't believe I didn't know that Kimya Dawson has done a kids album! Why didn't someone tell me?

Alphabutt, released after Juno, rings true to Kimya's style of catchy and laugh out loud funny lyrics and pushes the rude boundaries a bit too. The title track is a fast paced alphabet song where Kimya plays on the toilet humour and fart jokes that kids love so much. It moves really fast and kids may have trouble keeping up, I can't believe she sings it all the way through without getting tongue tied, but that is her style after all.

My favourite song on the album is I Like Bears, simply cause it reminds me of the Bear Hunt song (which I can never remember all the words too) and it is just so happy and fun to sing along to. Closely followed by Seven Hungry Tigers for it's pure nonsensical fun lyrics. But there are also a couple of tracks where the subject matter is purely adult focused, such as the weird cravings and neurotic worrying of pregnancy (Smoothie) and Happy Home which champions the importance of staying true to yourself.

For me, this is an album that I'd listen to and sing along with, but not sure I'd love it if the girls were reciting the alphabet this way, but not everyone's going to feel the same. If you love Kimya Dawson you will love this too without a doubt and I think it will be a winner more with grown up listeners than with kids.


You can by the CD or Vinyl from Fishpond or download it in MP3 from iTunes. Click on the iTunes link to hear samples from the album.

Here's a couple of live performaces from Kimya Dawson from tracks on the album.

Happy Home (Keep on Writing)


Alphabutt

Songs that will make milk come out your nose

It is often my gripe that the music our kids hear everyday on the radio just isn't appropriate for their little ears. I personally have has a "little miss sunshine" moment where my then 3yr old was in the shopping trolley singing at the top of her lungs how her milkshakes brought all the boys to the yard. Couldn't find a freezer section big enough that day to crawl into and needless to say we listened to Radio National everywhere we went for quite some time after that.

It's around about then that my love for Kindy Rock developed. It kinda all stated with Justine Clarke releasing her album and it constantly being played on ABC kids. I was so relieved to have a Wiggles alternative that I went on a mad web search to find more. I now have quite a collection and there are some albums that I've bought more for myself to listen to rather than the girls.

Which leads me to Godrey, Robbie Fulks song about the sickly unemployed amateur children's musician (listen to it here at iTunes). Its on the Bottle Let me Down album that we had in store for a while last year. I'd heard most of the songs before, having a particular fondness for I'm My Own Grandpa, remembering it from it's days on the Muppet Show. I gave the album it's first complete listen in the car on our Easter break. This is some funny stuff. Most of it so very far away from being politically correct, your first reaction is to snort/laugh through your nose (hence my reference to milk coming out your nose), and then check to make sure no one heard you laugh, and then continue to snicker to your self all day whilst you whistle the tune.

There are some other corkers on this album too with Senor el Gato and Don't Wipe Your Face on Your Shirt being the standouts in bad taste humour. But the are all so catchy you can't help but get hooked. The subject content can be a little iffy as far as the kids are concerned, but i doubt they'll put it all together and come out with anything but their own snickering at the toilet humour.