________________ CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 16 . . . . December 16, 2011

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Everyone.

Brian Morcombe.
Caledon, ON: Music with Brian (www.musicwithBrian.com), 2011.
1 CD, 48 minutes, $16.99.

Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 3-7.

Review by Jeff Nielsen.

*** /4

   

      Brian Morcombe is a Brampton, ON, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist on a mission to make everybody - regardless of age or musical taste - dance!

      As with his earlier albums, Morcombe, alias Music With Brian (musicwithbrian.com), and his friends, Melody the Hippo and Alan the Lion, take on Brian’s dancing mission with zeal. On this album, Morcome says he and his friends blenderized all their experience into a "fruity concoction" that includes folk ("A Frog That Swallowed a Bird"), rock ("Have You Ever Had a Feeling?"), Surf ("Surfer Dude"), grunge ("6 in 2 Days"), samba ("Mexico), calypso, ("Calypso Hippo), techno dance "("Blast Off"), hip-hop ("Everyone") and much more! True to his mission, Morcombe delivers a big tumbler of fun here that should be able to get any two tykes to tango.

      If there's a drawback to all this, it's that sometimes Morcombe's cup overrunneth. At 17 songs and 48 minutes, many of your exhausted little dancers may end up in need of a chill-out room with ambient music and energy drinks. While one has to applaud a musician for giving the educator- consumer value for their precious dollars, at some point more does indeed become less.

      A case in point here might be the jaunty little tune "Grandpa's Car... Grandpa's Rules". While there's no particular minus to the song, it doesn't meet the musical value of some of his other, more adventurous tracks and hence takes away from the value of the whole. However, the length here is a mere quibble, and if you find the CD over-long, well, that's what the skip button’s for.

      So, if you're having for elementary dance-a-thon, maybe it's time to let Music With Brian bring the entertainment.

Recommended.

Jeff Nielsen teaches high school history in Lorette, MB, where in-class dancing is not exactly encouraged.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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