He's Not Just "That Guy From Blue's Clues" Anymore!
Written: Aug 16 '03 (Updated Aug 17 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: An excellent indie-pop/alt-rock album by an ex-children's television star
Cons: That he had to leave Blue's Clues to make it
The Bottom Line: I'm very impressed. I really wasn't expecting much, but was surprised to find an album that I'm really into. Check it out for yourself at http://www.steveswebpage.com
mizgnomer's Full Review: Songs For Dustmites by Steve Burns
Yes, Steve Burns is "That guy from Blue's Clues", but please don't hold that against him. His new album, Songs for Dustmites, is indie-pop/alt-rock intended for adults, and it really is good -- honest!
I'll admit it -- my knowledge of Steve Burns comes from watching many, many hours of Blue's Clues with my son. Burns seems like a truly nice guy, and he was a fantastic host of the show, thus I was actually quite sad when he left the little Blue puppy behind to pursue his first love, music. Now that I have his first album, Songs for Dustmites, in my possession, I'm kind of glad he left the show, because Dustmites is pretty darn good!
Now, I don't rush out and buy all albums put out by ex-children's show stars, nor did I think that this was an album of children's music. Mr. Burns has a web site (http://www.steveswebpage.com), where I had wandered one day in search of things to entertain my Blue's Clues obsessed child. Steve's sense of humor, as expressed on his web page, kept me amused (translation: he's pretty hilarious), thus I vowed to visit every so often. The self-proclaimed "rock godlet" talked a lot about the album he was working on (full of "sweet sounding songs about science and love"), and his new buddies Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and master record producer David Fridmann. Eventually he had the entire album on his site, and that's when I became a bit addicted to it. Aside from being surprised at how good the songs were, the blasted things (specifically "Mighty Little Man" and "What I Do On Saturdays") got stuck in my head, where they kept repeating until I simply had to go back to the site and hear them again. I was downright distracted at work because I couldn't get them off my mind. My copy of Dustmites finally came in the mail, and we have been wearing the poor thing out since it arrived.
The songs are "different", and I mean that in a good way. I'm a Radiohead fan, and find that the songs have a similar feel (unique, very musically interesting). I haven't been a big fan of The Flaming Lips, but with some of the Lips' band members appearing on the album you can be sure that some of their sound is in there -- a kind of psychedelic feel. The instrumentation varies wildly -- from a simple guitar to accompany Steve's voice on "A Reason", to the harder-rockin' riffs of "Mighty Little Man". The song ">1" lists the instruments (all played by Burns) as "Guitars, Empty Ice Cream Container, Thinking Chair". Other songs like "A Song For Dustmites" and "Henry Krinkle's Lament" start off quietly and simply but then swell to large, grand orchestral compositions with layers of strings, woodwinds, percussion, and electronic sounds. Steven Drozd certainly adds his touch with cool percussion licks, added to the mix of instruments and synthesized sounds.
Steve has such a wide-eyed innocence and little-kid cuteness to him, even when his lyrics aren't the most uplifting. Maybe it's just me, because I'm so used to him being all ultra-sweet on Blue's Clues, but the entire album (minus a few songs) comes across as playful and sweet as well. Even the songs on more depressing topics seem to have his wide-eyed innocence/heart-on-his-sleeve quality to them.
I also really like the fact that many of the songs are about science (and love). One song is about Super Strings (you can read more about Super String Theory here: http://superstringtheory.com/), another is about flying in the troposphere. The title track was inspired by a picture Steve saw of a dustmite fighting with a micro gear. This isn't pre-schooler stuff here, folks. I'm an admitted science geek, so Steve's songs really get to me (or to my brain).
I tend to gravitate toward the songs with lots of instrumentation and swelling melodies. The songs that really get stuck in my head include:
"A Sniveling Mess" - a psychedelic pop song that personifies the "sweet/innocent" feel of the album ("Will you love me if I'm a mess?").
"Superstrings" - a science song that appeals to my inner-geek, it alternates between simple verses and grand, sweeping choruses
"Troposphere" - another cool song with those grand musical swells and a catchy chorus
"What I Do On Saturdays" - definitely one of my favorites, but hard to explain musically. A sweet-sounding song with self-deprecating lyrics ("I'm just a boring example of everybody else") and a rockin' base line. The lyrics are based on the Biblical story of the conversion of Saint Paul. Plus, it has a really cute video, which helped solidify my love for the song.
"Mighty Little Man" - My first love and still my very favorite song on the album. It rocks, plain and simple! The song is about an inventor having his "eureka" moment, but is also a bit autobiographical in nature. It has an uplifting message to boot (Nobody else is stronger than I am, Yesterday I moved a mountain, I bet I could be your hero, I am a mighty little man).
I won't claim that the entire album is perfect. I have a hard time hearing Steve's voice on "Stick Around" (a quiet little song), and many of the songs probably won't appeal to the more "mainstream" audience. But I'm surprised to find myself playing Songs for Dustmites as frequently as I do (particularly now that my music-listening time is limited due to my toddler, and there are so many albums that I would like to spend more time with). I usually listen to "heavier" music, but Dustmites is a great (and musically interesting) change of pace in our house right now.
Overall, I'm very impressed with Steve Burns' Songs for Dustmites. I sincerely hope that people don't just dismiss him out-of-hand because he was once a very successful children's television star -- he really is quite a talented musician/songwriter. Don't just take my word for it, visit his site and have a listen for yourself.
Track Listing:
1) Mighty Little Man
2) What I Do On Saturday
3) Maintain
4) >1
5) Troposphere
6) Stick Around
7) A Reason
8) Music For Montgomery County
9) A Song For Dustmites
10) Superstrings
11) A Sniveling Mess
12) Henry Krinkle's Lament
All of the songs and a couple of videos are available on Steve's site: http://www.steveswebpage.com
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