Can you believe it? This the ninth year of the Fids and Kamily Music Poll (http://www.fidsandkamily.com/). This year saw the Okee Dokee Brothers' Through the Woods edge out The Pop Ups' Appetite for Construction for the best kids and family album of the year. Those two topped another list of outstanding releases from familiar names and newcomers to the kindie world as well.
You can listen to selections from the top 10 by streaming this week's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.
The Top 10 albums of 2014 are (in order):
1. The Okee Dokee Brothers - Through the Woods
2. The Pop Ups - Appetite for Construction
3. Recess Monkey - Wired
4. The Not-Its - Raise Your Hand
5. Walter Martin - We're All Young Together
6. Danny Weinkauf - No School Today
7. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - The Perfect Quirk
8. Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - Just Say Hi!
9. Dog on Fleas - Buy One Get One Flea
10. Zee Avi - Nighlight
Honorable Mentions (unranked, listed alphabetically)
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - Aqui Alla
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - Lishy Lou and Lucky Too
The Good Ms. Padgett - If We Must, We Must
Gustafer Yellowgold - Gustafer Yellowgold's Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom
Randy Kaplan - Jam on Rye
Jazzy Ash - Home
Rainbow Beast and Rock Land Band Rockers - Tales from the Monstrosity Scrolls
Recess Monkey - Desert Island Disc
Red Yarn - The Deep Woods
Steve Weeks - Once I Lived Upon the Sea
In addition to these 20 CDs, there were another 45 albums receiving at least one vote, making a total of 65 albums receiving one or more votes from the Poll's 24 judges.
Among those 65 were 20 albums from artists that had not previously released family-oriented music. The top eight debuts (unranked) were:
Zee Avi - Nightlight
Edie Carey & Sarah Sample - 'Til the Morning: Lullabies and Songs of Comfort
Robert Charde - For Little Ears of Tender Years
Walter Martin - We're All Young Together
Rainbow Beast and Rock Land Band Rockers - Tales from the Monstrosity Scrolls
Red Yarn - The Deep Woods
Danny Weinkauf - No School Today
The Whirlygigs - Greetings from Cloud 9
The Fids and Kamily Poll is the first compilation of year-end kids and family music "best of" lists from critics, writers, radio programmers, and others involved in the music industry. The poll was launched in 2006 and was inspired by the Village Voice’s long-running “Pazz and Jop” music poll.
