As we approach the 1 year anniversary of the official release of “Sing Me to Sleep – Indie Lullabies,” we are very proud to celebrate the prestigious awards and accolades our compilation received from professionals in the music, parenting, and publication industries in the past 12 months.

10th Annual Independent Music Awards Nominee
2010 NAPPA Gold Award
2010 Creative Child Seal of Excellence

To celebrate, illustrator and designer Kate Garchinsky has put together some collectible, commemorative bundles of art and lullabies in her Etsy Shop. Meanwhile, American Laundromat Records celebrates their 7th Birthday with $7 CD’s throughout their site for a limited time. As always, all lullaby music purchases benefit The Valerie Fund. Finally, we will announce pre-orders for American Laundromat’s new limited edition tee shirt, also designed by Kate, in the coming week. Join our mailing list (top of page) to be first in the know!

Congratulations and big hugs to all lullaby artists, performers, managers, producers, labels and studios who helped make this sweet dream a reality.

As 2010 comes to a close, we are very grateful to have received great accolades in our meek and humble attempts to better the lives of sick children and their families via The Valerie Fund. A few “Best Of” and shopping guide listings, as well as a few straggling but darling reviews of “Sing Me to Sleep” brought warm fuzzies to our hearts. We’d like to thank a few of our favorites in the spirit of the season…

Out With The Kids Holiday Gift Guide – Not only does SMTS make the top kindie albums of the year, but we also get a shout out for some of the best artwork in kindie rock for 2010! Rad…

msn.com’s Best Cover Songs of 2010 – Includes Telekinesis’s cover of ELO’s “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head,” recorded for SMTS, featured on not only both CD releases but also the limited edition 7″ blue vinyl which also included Sigur Ros and Tanya Donelly.

88.1 KDHK Top Albums of the Year – SMTS appears at number 10 in good company with The Eels, Mates of State and our good friends Stars.

Cover Me blog: We made their list twice this year. Once in The Best Cover Albums of 2010 and also in The Best Cover Songs of 2010 features Kiss Off by Say Hi, featured on the limited edition version of SMTS.

Family Times, The Parenting Guide of Central New York:  John Wood and Tor Hyams put us in the best lullabies category

Hilltown Family Variety Show: named “Little Boxes,” as performed by The Real Tuesday Weld (one of our faves), in their top songs nominated for the “Fids & Kamily Awards”

Washington Parent mentioned SMTS in their list of 2010 NAPPA award winners (thank you, thank you)

And many, many people uploaded “Sing Me to Sleep – Indie Lullabies” on sites such as RapidShare and FilesTube so as to spread the love around. We love that you love our album and our efforts. But. We are sad that our efforts to raise funds for children with cancer and blood disorders do not make it to The Valerie Fund when the album is downloaded for free. Our artists donated everything—creativity, talent, studio time, mixing hours, more creativity—for the sake of the children who benefit from this tiny, independently funded fund. Please, if you have received this album for free, make a direct donation to The Valerie Fund. Help us make a difference in the lives of children who have very little sunshine, moonlight or stardust.

Happy Holidays and a fruitful New Year.

We are quite pleased with our recent review on Cool Mom Picks:

“Rest assured these aren’t indie rock hits reinterpreted as musak and marketed as lullabies. Nor is it hipster music that’s trying to hard for its own good. This really is lovely music.” – Christina

Read the full review.

“…this utterly charming set of dreamy diversions succeeds on its own terms. Jenny Owen Youngs sings, ‘When we were kids/We hated things our parents did’ on ‘Have You Forgotten,’ but Sing Me to Sleep can be appreciated by young and old alike.”

Who doesn’t love a great review? It’s almost a peculiar, suspicious thing to receive nothing but praise, but we surely won’t throw a fit over it.

The Line of Best Fit:
“If you’ve got kids of your own, they’ll find as much here to enjoy as you will.  Tired of them singing nonsense from In The Night Garden?  Be proud of them teaching their friends the words to ‘Dear Prudence’ instead.  Or if you want them to drop off a little earlier than usual so you can watch the football – this is your secret weapon.  Just make sure you don’t join them in their slumber – this is pretty potent stuff.” – Adrian Mules

For Folk’s Sake:
“Overall, this is a pretty great compilation. It never becomes overly twee and, while aimed at children, works on more than one level. Whether they are parents or not, adults will find much to enjoy. On top of that, all the  proceeds go to a very worthwhile, important cause which deserves support. Lovely tunes, a handy weapon for parents and it helps other people. You can’t really go wrong.” –Lise Tannahil

Out With The Kids:
“If you’ve read enough of OWTK through the years, my love of indie rock is probably no secret to you.  As such, this album (and it’s sweetly painted artwork) is so totally in my wheelhouse.  If you, like me, prefer the indie side of the musical spectrum (define that however you’d like), “Sing Me To Sleep” will fit snuggly in your home and lead to much snuggling with loved ones.” – Jeff Bogle

Thank you, dear reviewers, for your ears and kind words.

One of our favorite music review sites, The Line of Best Fit, has not only reviewed Sing Me to Sleep, but has also begun a conversation on the merits and limitations of indie music for kids, aka “kindie.” Join the discussion.