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Glee: The Music – The Power of Madonna

May 1, 2010 By

Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonnacover of Glee The Music The Power of Madonna is the soundtrack to the episode of Glee that aired on April 20th, and if you are a fan of either Glee or Madonna, this is a CD you need to own!

It was an evening of television that rocked my world – one of my favorite TV shows, Glee, featuring the music of the Material Girl herself, Madonna. From the opening number “Express Yourself” in which the ladies strutted and let the boys know in no uncertain terms that they had better start treating them right, to the surprising “Like A Virgin” with two couples dancing (literally) around the topic of having sex (because in each couple, someone is still a virgin!), and wrapping it all up with Sue Sylvester’s shot-for-shot remake of Madonna’s “Vogue” video, this was an episode of Glee I’ll watch again and again.

These are the seven tracks on Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna Glee The Music The Power of Madonna :

1. Express Yourself (Glee Cast Version Featuring Jonathan Groff)
2. Borderline / Open Your Heart (Glee Cast Version)
3. Vogue (Glee Cast Version)
4. Like A Virgin (Glee Cast Version Featuring Jonathan Groff)
5. 4 Minutes (Glee Cast Version)
6. What It Feels Like For A Girl (Glee Cast Version)
7. Like A Prayer (Glee Cast Version Featuring Jonathan Groff)

With Mother’s Day coming up soon, this would make the PERFECT gift for a Mom who loves Glee!  Just so you know, the links in this post are Amazon Associate links, so if you click them and buy the Glee soundtrack or anything else, I earn a small commission.  Which is a great way to help support MomReviews while getting your online shopping done! :)    Amazon.com carries pretty much everything, so check out the books, cookbooks, movies, jewelry, clothing, beauty products, and more!

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World Music from Putumayo Kids

August 28, 2009 By

I’ve listened to a lot of CDs meant for children lately, and only a few have made it into regular listening rotation. Two of our newest favorites are from Putumayo Kids. We received Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground and Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground for review, and the kids and I are enjoying listening to music from other countries.

European PlaygroundPutumayo Kids is “committed to introducing children to other cultures through music from around the world.”  European Playground has 15 songs, our favorites are Trampolin from Finland/Sweden, and Tudom En Mar, Mit Csinalok from Hungary.  We didn’t realize how the style of music from the Caribbean had influenced European music until we listened to this CD and heard steel drums in Trampolin and in Alles Uit De Kast from the Netherlands.

The Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground website has samples of each song on the CD, a downloadable teaching guide, world map, PDF of the song lyrics on the CD, and a video from England’s Herbie Treehead. You can also find other Putumayo Kids CDs, videos, and teaching tools using the links on the side.  A portion of of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to the European Federation for Street Children (EFSC), a Brussels-based non-profit organization committed to the improvement of the rights and situations of street children in Europe and beyond.

Picnic PlaygroundPutumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground is twelve songs about food from ten countries.  This would be a fun CD to use along with lessons on food from other countries.  The song Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo, for example. I knew it was something with Chicken and Rice, so I googled “bolitas” and found out that it refers to a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites rolled into balls and fried in oil. My oldest son then remembered that in Spanish class they had talked about popular foods and that was one of them. Now he wants to make Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo together!

Download the lyrics to Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground from their website, plus watch Johnny Bregar perform “Shoo Fly Pie”. A portion of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of Picnic Playground will be donated to Vitamin Angels, providing essential nutrients to children in the U.S. and around the world.

The Putumayo World Music Blog has information on concerts, the link to their Facebook and Twitter pages, info on the artists, and photos. Pick up either of these terrific CDs to get your kids up and dancing along to world music!

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Woodstock 40th Anniversary CD Collection

August 14, 2009 By

woodstock-posterIn 1969, five acts recorded albums for the Columbia, Epic, and RCA labels (divisions of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT) and brought their music to Max Yasgur’s farm that summer. For the first time, THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE couples those albums with music from the festival, providing a pocket portrait of what each artist and band was experiencing during 1969. Legacy sent me the CDs to review and I want you to know about them as well. The CDs are:

• JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(RCA/Legacy) Includes Volunteers, their sixth and final album with the original lineup before all the changes came in 1970, with “We Can Be Together,” “Good Shepherd,” “Wooden Ships,” “Eskimo Blue Day,” and the title tune; coupled with 13 songs from their Sunday wee-hours set at the festival, including six previously unissued live tracks.
• JANIS JOPLIN – THE WOODSTOCK EXPER¬IENCE
(Columbia/Legacy) Includes I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, her first and only solo album released during her lifetime, with “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder),” the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody,” and Rodgers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue”; coupled with her entire 10-song festival set, including three previously unissued live tracks.
• SANTANA – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(Columbia/Legacy) Includes the debut Santana LP, with “Evil Ways,” “Savor,” “Persuasion,” “Soul Sacrifice,” and Olatunji’s “Jingo”; coupled with their entire 8-song set, including one previously unissued live track.
• SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE
(Epic/Legacy) Includes their breakthrough fourth album, Stand!, with “Every-day People,” “Sing A Simple Song,” “Stand!” and “I Want To Take You Higher”; coupled with their entire 8-song set, including seven previously unissued live tracks.
• JOHNNY WINTER – THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE (Columbia/Legacy) Includes the debut Johnny Winter solo LP, with homages to Robert Johnson (“When You Got A Good Friend”), Sonny Boy Williamson (“Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“Back Door Friend”) and B.B. King (“Be Careful With A Fool”); coupled with eight songs from his Sunday evening set at the festival, including seven previously unissued live tracks.

Each 2-disc CD is packaged in Each THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE disc will be packaged inside a mini-LP cover with inner paper sleeves: one replicating the front and back covers of the original LP, and one featuring iconic photography of the artist performing at the festival.

Each CD is packaged  in a paper-board slipcase which  contains a two-sided 16×20-inch fold-out poster, with one side displaying iconic photography of the artist performing at the festival, and the other side displaying a classic crowd shot of the audience.

Want more Woodstock?  Director Ang Lee’s movie “Taking Woodstock” comes out in theaters on August 28th, and starsDemetri Martin,  Emile Hirsch, and Liev Schrieber in a fictional tale of a young man working at his parents’ motel in the Catskills who inadvertently gets the Woodstock concert started.  Visit The Woodstock Festival website to learn more about the festival, find tour dates and buy tickets for upcoming concerts, and learn how you can live more eco-friendly, among other things.

I was born in 1969 (quit doing that math in your head!), but the music of the artists from the Woodstock era was very much a part of my life growing up. I appreciate Legacy sending me the CDs to add to my music collection!

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