LOCO

MIFFLIN LOWE

Author, singer and musician, Mifflin Lowe has delighted kids and adults from New Orleans to New England with his stories, poems and songs; while publishing books and CDs with Doubleday, Harper & Row, and Price/Stern/Sloan. His recent premiere of Beasts by the Bunches with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra was called “captivating and hilarious” by conductor, Ron Spigelman. A review by Channing Gray in the Providence Journal labeled him “a cross between Puff Daddy and Captain Kangaroo.” All in all, Mifflin Lowe is not to be missed.

REVIEWS

In February, 2004 Beasts by the Bunches was given a 5 star ***** rating and made “Pet of the week” by XMKIDS satellite radio. www.xmradio.com/pdf/xmkids.

Beasts by the Bunches was selected by www.kidzmusic.com as its featured work for May, 2004. (See following review.)

Mifflin Lowe, noted humorist and author, has ventured into the children’s music market with a plethora of songs and poems about the strange and true names for groups of animals. Beasts By the Bunches employs a bevy of musical styles that fit the animals attitudes. The country-western feel of “A Rag of Colts” is appropriately wild and wooly, and it’s easy to imagine some rough-and-tumble miners belting “A Labor of Moles,” shovels and picks at the ready. “A Troop of Kangaroos” takes on a British music-hall feel, and Lowe’s delivery is perfect on the clever poetry of “A Clowder of Cats.” This clever collection tickles the funny bone and informs and educates as it goes.


October, 2004 review from “Whatzup.”
Beasts By The Bunches
Miflin Lowe
by Jason Hoffman
Mifflin Lowe is a lover of words. In his writings they playfully topple over each other like a kindle of kittens or a gaggle of geese. It’s only fitting then that he should pen Beasts By The Bunches, a collection of poems celebrating the imaginative names given to groups of animals. As this is the music review page and not the book review section, Mifflin created a capricious collection of songs based on these poems, merely as a personal favor to me and the fruit of my loins.
A good idea of the whimsical wordplay to follow comes from the opening lyric: “Everyone’s heard of a herd of cows.” This track, “Beasts By The Bunches Theme,” introduces the concept of the album with spoken word, sung chorus, a muppet marching band romp and a bevy of colorful musical timbres and animal noises. The following 18 tracks are an assortment of songs and dramatically read poems that attempt to join the character of the animal group in question to a style of music.

Lowe – pg. 2

“A Smack of Jellyfish,” a favorite in the Hoffman household, floats about on a simple piano accompaniment while silly sounds and a squishy show choir sings about the perils of being a clumsy jellyfish. What sounds like a group of male New Jersey backhoe operators sing an earnest song about “A Labor of Moles” and light, Celtic guitars and angelic voices accompany the inspirational “An Exaltation of Larks.” The authentic country & western footstomper, “A Rag of Colts,” tells the story of a rowdy bunch of quadrupeds (“They’re impossible to stop / When they’re feeling their oats”) which is a perfect foil to the breezy mellow samba of “A Leap of Leopards.” Other songs go in for show tunes (“A Muster of Peacocks”) or vaudeville (“A Troop of Kangaroos”), jazzy rock (“A Pride of Lions”), Latin (the cowbell-driven “A Crash of Rhinos”) or do-wop (“A Murder of Crows”).
Seven of the tracks are dramatically enacted poems complete with sound effects, vibrant character voices and subliminal musical backing. “A Gaggle of Geese” is a fine example, read by the author who voices a variety of barnyard animals as they try to figure out just who strangled a gaggle of geese.
As you might surmise, a touch of Roald Dahl-type wickedly dark humor is present on Beasts By The Bunches, so you can be sure it will please your jaded tots and any pre-middle schoolers in your home, as well as certain parents who aren’t afraid to teeter on the far side of normal. Mifflin Lowe proves himself to be an amicable, capable ringleader for this erratic musical adventure that brims with wonderfully written poems and imagination-sparking lyrics.


Praise for “Beasts by the Bunches” from America’s leading children’s authors.

“A delightful collection of songs and poems. Some are funny, some are touching, all are clever and entertaining. A wonderful mix of silliness and insight.”
Chris Vanallsburg, Caldecott Award winner, author of Jumanji and The Polar Express.

“Sheer fun… this gaggle of giggles will cause the same delight as a book by Dr. Seuss.”
Barbara Girion, Winner of the American Library Association’s Best Book award.

“From rap and Country & Western to samba and Celtic music, Beasts By The Bunches combines an incredible range of musical styles with an indisputable wit
Randy Harelson, author of Amazing Days.


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