CD review: Kimya Dawson
By Casey Gillis on Sep. 10, 2008
By Blair Amberly
ARTIST: Kimya Dawson
CD: ‘Alphabutt’
LABEL: K
REVIEWER RATING: 3 out of 5
GENRE: Children/folk
Kimya Dawson’s popularity increased tenfold last year with the success of the movie “Juno.” Her minimalist anti-folk tunes were littered throughout the films’ soundtrack, which still rides on the billboard charts.
Continuing the success of the “Juno” soundtrack, Dawson is again broadening her fanbase by releasing her first-ever children’s album, “Alphabutt.” Dawson, a mother of a 2-year-old daughter, does not stray from her recognizable formula, incorporating a few notes of lo-fi acoustic guitar underneath her bouncing, accessible lyrics. This time around, she has help from her daughter’s chatter, as well from a chorus of children singing, clapping and playing out-of-tune instruments.
The CD’s 15 tracks are as whimsical as most of Dawson’s songs. Her greatest instrument is her voice, which she uses to rhyme about little monster babies, selling socks on eBay, unraveling stenches, hungry tigers in underwear drawers and wiggling loose teeth. As the title “Alphabutt” suggests, this record lets the potty humor fly, with farts and butts being the most heavily referenced.
Dawson also uses the musical platform to voice her opinions on slightly more mature issues, such as the importance of breastfeeding, being comfortable with being “different” and her lack of shaving body hair. On the album’s most powerful track, “Sunbeams and Some Beans,” Dawson weaves an optimistic story about convincing others to harvest food to feed the hungry. She sings, “I do what I do because there is a need / and a hunger created by corporate greed / see, there is a surplus of food in this country / and nobody should ever go to sleep hungry.”
While not as imaginary or musically adventurous as the children’s albums from They Might be Giants, “Alphabutt” is just like Kimya Dawson’s other music: cute, simple, fun.
Amberly operates Speakertree Records in Lynchburg
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