Hey! The Budgeteer reviewed Pearl's benefit CD and they like it. Read it, buy it, give it as a gift.

CD Review: Duluth’s music community bands together for baby Pearl Matthew R. Perrine Budgeteer News - 12/14/2006

Pearl Swanson’s benefit album, “Treasure Chest,” is a remarkable affair. The fact that the compilation even exists is a testament to the kind of musicians that live and work among us.

It was conceived and put together in less than two weeks for Swanson, an adopted 8-month-old Ethiopian girl diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart).

Not only does the record showcase the region’s finest musicians, but it avoids the traditional pitfalls of hastily produced benefit discs.

Instead of relying on studio scraps and assorted B-side fodder, “Treasure Chest” favors new, quality recordings.

The album opens subtly with yet another infallible folk musing from Charlie Parr.

“Green Rocky Road,” on which he’s joined by his wife, Emily, seamlessly segues into Brother George’s dreamy “Brother John” and the Little Black Books’ relaxed cover of “Camp Grenada.”

Although that song’s opening lines (“Hello muddah / Hello faddah”) traditionally incite immediate and disgusted boos from yours truly, the Books’ reading is somehow enjoyable.

The same goes for most of the album.

Save for a few songs, the artists on “Treasure Chest” accomplish the feat of writing children’s songs without stooping to levels that make older listeners groan.

Craig Minowa, for instance, could have easily struck out with a song title like “Dream Music for Little Wizards,” but his meandering instrumental has just the right amount of sentimentality to work (given the context of the album).

Some artists don’t have to worry about the weepy factor, though.

Boy Girl Boy Girl’s take on “Knick Knack Paddy Wack” is just fun.

Although the liner notes suggest the song was recorded at the Play Pen by Tom Fabjance, its carefree nature hints of a cover-up.

If I were a betting man, I’d have to say it was recorded sometime in the ’60s … a ’60s that never existed outside of beach blanket parties filmed exclusively for the silver screen.

Similarly indicative of talent from a parallel universe, Both’s Greg Cougar Conley lets loose with “Billy Bumblebee,” a drum machine-fueled ditty that’s alternately nonsensical and wholly addicting.

Not only is it the album’s highlight, but one just has to ask, “Where has this guy been hiding?”

And, perhaps most importantly, “Why isn’t he featured more prominently on my MP3 player’s Pixies-dominated playlists?”

Other notables include the Black-eyed Snakes’ casual, heartfelt “Mama Knows What the Baby Wants,” Starfire’s sparse, no-frills “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the Gallows’ winning run-through of “Rainbow Connection.”

Although it’s hard not to think about Kermit the Frog each time that song is covered, Marc Gartman and his cohorts have managed to pull off one of the most sincere moments ever put to tape.

No small feat, but surely neither was putting together this album.

“Treasure Chest” is available at www.pearl.perfectduluthday.com or the Electric Fetus.