Music

It’s been shown (through studies! Really!) that babies respond to music in the womb, prefer music they heard pre-birth and settle more easily when they hear calm music they heard in the oven. So for some time there have been prenatal music belts, such as those peddled by Lullabelly and Bellysonic. But the drawbacks for those belts are that they can slip around as you move, and that they have speakers going towards the womb, so if you want to listen along you have to plug in headphones.

But ThinkGeek’s smartly updated RITMO basically turns the pregnant lady into a roaming stereo. This belt has womb speakers, in addition to surround sound speakers with a volume you control. So you can be zipping around the house listening while you vacuum or whatever instead of sitting stationary in a pair of headphones. The RITMO also has an under- and over-the-belly construction that keeps it in place a lot more securely than the other belts.

RITMO Prenatal Music System, $89

With Labor Day approaching, a new fall TV season is just around the corner. That means fresh episodes of the L&Os, CIS and NCIS multiples and The Good Wife plus a batch of freshman shows (many of which are usually canceled).

For the sandbox set, PBS Kids is rolling out The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That (see UB story) on Labor Day, and Nickelodeon is launching its first annual Nickelodeon Mega Music Fest, an hour-long, prime-time concert special. Teen sensation Justin Bieber will be headlining the show along with Wyclef Jean, The Laurie Berkner Band, The Fresh Beat Band, Dora the Explorer and Yo Gabba Gabba! Comedian John Leguizamo will host, with Sherri Shepherd serving as Stage Manager. The Mega Music Fest, which was shot live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, will feature a mix of pop and family-friendly songs.

No rotating panel of judges to follow … just singing, dancing and a young American idol with the most famous hairdo since Rachel on Friends.

Nickelodeon Mega Music Fest premieres Labor Day, Mon., 9/6, 8-9pm ET/PT on NICK with encores on Nickelodeon Tue., 9/7 at 10am ET/PT and Thur., 9/9, at 1pm ET/PT.

We’ve found a way to simultaneously expose Junior to a sanitized version of Lady Gaga’s music and the sounds of classical music instruments.

The Vitamin String Quartet gives 11 of Lady Gaga’s songs a special makeover. “Poker Face,” “Alejandro” and “Just Dance” hit iTunes tomorrow. The full album, Vitamin String Quartet Performs Lady Gaga, will be released mid-September, and the music will get top placement on the pop section of the iTunes homepage.

The string quartet is comprised of two violins, a viola and a cello, and it’s actually a rotating collective of top-flight L.A. musicians who create a crossover genre by putting together contemporary music styles with classical music instrumentation. The Vitamin String Quartet has given the classical music treatment to Journey, Aerosmith, The Doors and many others.

Lady Gaga enters PG territory.

The Vitamin String Quartet Performs Lady Gaga be available at iTunes and amazon.com come mid-September. Three singles from the album will be available on iTunes starting 7/27.

You’re constantly adding songs to your iPod playlists. Junior deserves to have some fresh music in the rotation as well. Below are a few new albums debuting this summer:

Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti
A We are the World for the sandbox set. Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti is the brainchild of family musician Dean Jones. Shortly after the devastating January 12th earthquake that destroyed the Haitian capital, Jones decided he wanted to create something that could help the rebuilding effort. He enlisted a who’s who of family music artists - including Dan Zanes, hip-hop star Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and They Might be Giants -  to write and record songs for Many Hands. The album is filled with spiritual, uplifting (but not too out there) music as well as some whimsical and impossibly catchy tunes (”Arabella Angelique”). The soothing vocals of Elizabeth Mitchell, Emily Curtis and Frances England are some of the best in the world of kiddie music.
Coming 8/10. Will be available on amazon.com.

Putumayo Kids
Rock & Roll Playground
Putumayo Kids’ latest release is a tribute to the history of early rock ‘n’ roll. The CD comes with a fab little booklet about the origins of rock and the story behind each song. The album is a mix of established artists - Peter Himmelman plus Grammy-Award winners Dan Zanes and Friends and Bill Harley - and up-and-coming ones. Unlike some of the other current “children’s” albums, this one doesn’t ooze cross-generational appeal, with the exception of “Magic Carpet Ride.” That’s a must-listen. It’s even iPod worthy.
Coming 6/29. Available for pre-order on amazon.com.

The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band
The goddess of tot rock is coming out with her first collection of greatest hits. “Victor Vito,” “I’m Not Perfect,” “Song in My Tummy” and “Bumblebee” are all on The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band. The final track, “Open Your Heart,” is the one new song. It’s hallmark zany Berkner but with a Carly Simon-esque melody woven in that’s definitely ear-worthy for you. Berkner wrote Open Your Heart for the national children’s charity The Pajama Program, which provides new jammies and books to kids in need throughout the country and around the world.
Coming 6/29. Available for pre-order on amazon.com.

John Mayer. With his reputation as a Ladies’ Man who kisses and tells all (Remember the Jessica Simpson sexual napalm comment?), he’s not exactly the kind of guy you’d want to introduce to your kids (especially your DD). But we’ve found a PG way for Junior to at least hear his music.

Enter Baby Blanket Music. The company takes songs by well-known artists - Mayer, Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel and Elton John - and creates lullaby arrangements sans lyrics. The music was developed under the guidance of doctors, teachers and child development specialists. It pairs classical instruments with familiar baby sounds such as music boxes. The tunes are ones you’ll be familiar with (and like!), so the albums are a far cry from your typical cringe-inducing children’s CDs. The company was founded by Josh Rutt, a New York-based teacher, composer and performer. Rutt’s onto something big, like Baby Einstein big (minus the refund fiasco).

Anyone who can make a kid-appropriate version of Mayer’s “Your Body is a Wonderland” has talent in our book.

Baby John Mayer, Baby Billy Joel, Baby Elton John and Baby Simon & Garfunkel are available for $14.99 each, with discounts when you purchase multiple albums, at babyblanketmusic.com.

Cloying, cringe-inducing, a colossal waste of time. All of these describe a decent percentage of the children’s music making its way onto DVDs every year. The real gems have what’s called cross-generational appeal, meaning you can enjoy the songs together with your DCs. The best of this class are even iPod-worthy.

Renee and Jeremy produce the kind of music that falls into this last category. The L.A. duo’s second children’s album, C’Mon, will be released next month, and it’s the type of CD deserving of a pre-order. With their soothing vocals and an upbeat-but-relaxed, folk pop style, their music is reminiscent of Carly Simon and James Taylor of years past. You won’t mind hitting replay a few times. Packed with songs you and your brood won’t want to “skip,” standouts include It Makes You Feel Good, BFF, Rely, Share and the album’s title song. The lyrics are simple and child-friendly without being patronizing. They talk about dreaming, playing hide ‘n’ seek, being a friend, and feeling good about everyday, little accomplishments (something more of us should take to heart).

Bring it on.

C’mon is available on barnesandnoble.com. Download a free song from C’mon at reneeandjeremymusic.com.

We’re getting a powerful tool in our efforts to mold kids into rocket scientists, microbiologists and nuclear physicists: a new CD from They Might Be Giants.

Alternative rock heavyweights John Flansburgh and John Linnell are releasing their new children’s album, “Here Comes Science,” on the heels of their Grammy-Award-winning “Here Come the 123s.” The dynamic duo from Brooklyn tackle hard core science subjects like no other rock stars could. Not only do they deal with planets and the body’s circulation system but also photosynthesis and computer-assisted design. To ensure their material was accurate, TMBG called on Eric Siegel, the director and chief content officer at the New York Hall of Science, to serve as a consultant. The album’s standout iPod-worthy song is “Meet the Elements.” Bet you never thought you’d want to get up and dance to a song about the periodic table. Also particularly ear-worthy are “I am a Paleontologist,” “How Many Planets?” “Speed and Velocity” and “Science is Real.” The CD comes with a full-length animated DVD of engaging and artistic videos. Here Comes Science is geared toward post-toddlers but there’s certainly enough to keep the sippy-cup set entertained while learning a thing or two.

Not sure whether to give these guys another Grammy, a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences, or both.

Available on amazon.com.

Watching a movie with a young child can be a dicey proposition. What can seem like a harmless kid flick can contain scenes of animal torture (The Secret of Nimh, Babe: Pig in the City) or snuffing (Bambi), the death of parents (practically every Disney flick ever made), and a host of other horrors. If you have a sensitive kid, you’ll want to know in advance what you’re going to see.

That’s where Commonsense Media comes in. Like a Consumer Reports for kids’ media, Commonsense rates movies, games, books, music, TV shows, and websites for parents. What might give parents pause? What age is it intended for? What might parents want to discuss with kids? Commonsense flags anything that might be worrisome, including violence, sex, cursing, and consumerism.

Parents can look up particular movies or games by name or age group, or get ideas for what to consume from Commonsense’s lists of recommended media picks.

Pictured: Rodents are sucked down a vent to their deaths in The Secret of NIHM.

In 1983, Gandhi won an Academy award, a stamp cost 20 cents and the Styx song Mr. Roboto hit the airwaves. Twenty-six years later, the under-five crowd has its own version of Mr. Roboto in the form of Mr. Leebot.

Mr. Leebot (a.k.a. Austin-based artist Lee Davila) is out with his follow-up album to Activate! Robot Dance is “80s kids music” complete with techno, synthesized sounds and shades of Talking Heads and Devo. “Twirl! Twirl! Twirl!” has some nice, dancey, pop elements. “Green Family” highlights ways to recycle and conserve energy, and “Paper Airplane” gives instructions on how to make one (manual dexterity required). And for this post-camp, pre-start-of-school abyss of time we’re in, there’s “Bouncing off the Walls.”

Domo arigato …

Available at cdbaby.com.

A is for…aren’t you sick of all that cloying kids’ music? They’re too young for T-Pain, but you need them to get on board with something with soul.

B is for Bob is a new collection of Bob Marley recordings re-imagined for kids. Produced by son Ziggy (whose own child-friendly CD, Family Time, recently hit stores), it features a host of Bob classics (known around the world for its powerful political and spiritual message that touches people of all ages) with a new spin. Hear songs like “Jamming” and “Three Little Birds” transformed by new sounds that create a feeling of hearing them for the first time (others, like “Could You Be Loved,” remain untouched).

C is for cool.

Available at amazon.com.