*Note: Song Links have been corrected. Enjoy the Music!
The weather here on the East Coast is getting colder (although this week has been raining and in the 60’s – just crazy for mid-November!) and our monthly music picks are getting a bit cozier, warmer and quieter.
Enjoy these six selections huddled around the fireplace, or at least the flicker of a candle, writing out your holiday wish lists as a family and dreaming of an early winter snowfall.
I have begun including some record label and band/artist website links along with year of original release detail. I find this data relevant when discussing music, hopefully you agree.
The Spinto Band “Oh Mandy” from “Nice and Nicely Done” – released in 1005 on on Bar/None Records.
Boy-o-boy is this catchy. Double bonus points if your child is named Mandy! No way the family isn’t singing along with this one after a couple spins. This is the one song that does not fit with the warm and fuzzy feel I was working so hard to create – but I kept forgetting to include it on previous monthly music picks – so here it is now – before I forget again!
Van Morrison “Ballerina” from “Astral Weeks” – released in 1968 on Warner Bros.
Astral Weeks is one of the finest albums ever made and this track is one of the prettiest on it. I picked this one for my little Halloween ballerina and for all the little girls who adore Sesame Street’s Zoe, dancing and ballet.
The Guillemots “Made up Love Song #43” from “From the Cliffs” – released in 2006 on Fantastic Plastic.
I really wanted to like this record, but I could not get into it at all. Most of the music made me real uncomfortable, like I was listening to a WHAM! record or something in a similar vein. This song however, is silly and cool. It is relaxed, upbeat, and kinda nonsensical. A light and airy little number that is best suited for a sleepy Sunday morning – maybe one that sees you and your clan huddled up in bed reading the newpaper.
Lou Barlow “The Ballad of Daykitty” from “Emoh” – released in 2005 on Merge Records.
One of the best “cat” songs ever recorded, along with Red House Painters “Wop-A-Din-Din”. I first heard this when Lou played it live a couple years back, when he was touring in support of “Emoh”, and was struck by how much he loves cats and how his love of those little furballs comes through in the song.
Norah Jones “Sunrise” from “Feels Like Home” – released in 2004 on Blue Note.
My family has a deeply routed connection to Norah Jones. The title track of her 1st record, “Come Away With Me” was our wedding song in 2002. Then “Sunrise”, the first single off of record #2, “Feels Like Home”, was the song played at the time of our 1st child’s birth in 2004.
Just as my wife was entered the “hard-pushing” phase of the delivery I accidentally pushed repeat on the cd player causing “Sunrise”, the album’s lead track, to play roughly 15 consecutive times. When we would play the song again, during the first few months of our little one’s life, we would swear to it that she recongized the melody in some way. She would perk up and appear to be listening – and she did not do that with any other tune back then. “Sunrise” was the first song she heard outside of the womb – so it too is very special to us. We took our girl to see Norah Jones in concert when she was 6 months old (our daughter, not Norah Jones).
Norah Jones does have a new release scheduled for 2007 – so hopefully the tradition will hold and a track off that one will be a good tune for us to use during our next trip to the maternity ward. She seems to be aligned with our schedule.
They Might Be Giants “Alphabet of Nations” from “Here Come The ABC’s” – released on Disney.
I love geography and get so excited when our daughter takes an interest in the planet, states, countries, or anything having to do with the subject really. This song is a great way to get kids into, at the very least, the names of foreign countries such as Zambia, Pakistan, West Xylophone…
We will be in attendance for They Might Be Giants’ upcoming kids show in Philly on 12/9 so we are spending a lot of time with this record right now – in preperation for the big event.
They Might Be Giants has what may be the finest website in the world. It is so incredibely clever and fun. They offer so much free stuff on there too – MP3s, podcasts, target practice…check it out!
If you would like to purchase any of these fine selections for your own music library, please visit your local independent record shop (should one still exist in your town). If you prefer to purchase online or digitally, click on either the Amazon.com or iTunes link to the right (you may need to scroll down a bit). By doing so, you will be helping to support this site (which you love deeply, we know). We will owe you a big hug if we ever cross paths. Thanks in advance!
Want to see what songs were suggested in previous months? Well then, click on the OWTK Monthly Music Suggestions tag beneath this post.
Enjoy the music!
Disclaimer: If you are the artist, band, label, or publisher of a song featured on OWTK and would not like your track to be available in digital form, Simply email us and we will remove it.
Jeff