Children's music gains indie cred with the March 21st release of See You on the Moon!, an eclectic collection of kid-friendly originals and covers performed by hipster darlings like Mark Kozelek, Sufjan Stevens, Broken Social Scene and Low's Alan Sparhawk.
The collection kicks off with Sparhawk's zippy "Be Nice to People With Lice," captured live -- with audible laughter when he sings, "Back at school everybody calls me names/They scream, 'Hey, it's lice boy!' then they run away." Canada's Broken Social Scene put a mournful spin on their tune, the classic "Puff the Magic Dragon," complete with a funereal-sounding brass section; and Kid Koala's skittish "Fruit Belt" sports twinkling chimes and a joyful sample of soulful female voices.
The jauntier tracks include the Apostles of Hustle's "24 Robbers," which finds Andrew Whiteman (also the guitarist for Broken Social Scene) looping a sample of his goddaughter and her friend chanting playground jingles over a series of handclaps and a spacey backbeat. "I just started with a beat and I got them to think up actual songs and little chants they do in the schoolyard right now," he says. Sufjan Stevens' breezy, banjo and trumpet-kissed "The Friendly Beasts," is a traditional French carol he sang as a child. The hymn, says Stevens, combines "a simple religious concept (the joy of giving) and the animal kingdom."
Former Red House Painters singer Mark Kozelek contributes a characteristically lilting track, "Leo and Luna," about an ex-girlfriend's crazy cats. No stranger to compilations -- his last effort is a record of re-imagined Modest Mouse songs -- Kozelek says it was the broad appeal of See You on the Moon! that attracted him to the project.
"I liked the idea of making a CD for kids," he admits. "It's for kids -- and it's kind of hip, too. It's got this cool vibe. It's kind of a win-win record."
See You on the Moon! track list:
"Be Nice to People With Lice," Alan
Sparhawk
"See You on the Moon!," Great Lake Swimmers
"The Friendly
Beasts," Sufjan Stevens
"Kiddo 1," Montag
"24 Robbers," Apostles of
Hustle (featuring the Husky's)
"Max," Junior Boys
"Puff the Magic
Dragon," Broken Social Scene
"Under the Bed," FemBots
"Kiddo 2,"
Montag
"Voices Are Your Best Friend," Glissandro 70
"Leo and Luna,"
Mark Kozelek
"Baby Brother," Detective Kalita
"Kiddo 3,"
Montag
"I Can't Wake Up," Hot Chip
"Fruit Belt," Kid Koala
(featuring Lederhosen Lucil)
"Bonne Nuit Etienne," Montag
"Faith's
Silver Elephant," Rosie Thomas