Peter Himmelman, whose recording career stretches back to the early '80s, has been alternating between straight-up rock albums and kids' releases since the late '90s, when his first children's album, My Best Friend is a Salamander, helped usher in the kindie era. (He's also kept busy scoring television shows such as "Judging Amy," "Men in Trees," and "Bones," thus proving that you can find great songwriters pretty much anyplace other than the radio these days.)
My Green Kite is Himmelman's fourth children's album, first for Rounder, and – as luck would have it – his best. Really, it's no accident that Raffi records tend to drive adults nuts; if illustrated on a Venn diagram, music that kids and adults can agree on would be represented by the slenderest of overlaps, and Himmelman – though he's thus far managed to avoid the genre's traditional saccharine overkill – has occasionally wandered too deeply into cutesy territory. There are no such missteps here, however; My Green Kite is a dizzyingly colorful blend, full of sly musical touches that parents will be able to appreciate, alongside lyrics that successfully walk the fine line between endearingly whimsical and gratingly sweet.
It's a tour de force, really, and parents who aren't grinning and bopping their heads after making their way through the opening triple punch – the percussive, horn-drenched "Feet," the charming power-pop confection of a title track, and the barnyard ballad "Another Bite of Hay" – should have their heads examined. Throw out those Veggie Tales CDs and hop on the kindie bandwagon. Start right here.
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