It’s definitely the best track on this album by a band named after sound editing software. It kind of sounds like a garage band rock song from the 60s, and it suits the song well. “Scare Them, Boo!” by Audacity (Balsam and Lee, originally sung by Philo, Gunge and Wembley) For all I know, that’s what it feels like when the Fraggles transition into shared consciousness, so I guess this track is a success! Actually, you know what listening to this reminds me of? When you wake up after you’ve been anesthetized for surgery, and you feel like everything is moving slowly and your head is underwater. The lyrics are practically unintelligible, but it certainly does have a dreamlike quality. “Dream a Dream and See” by Fol Chen (Balsam and Lee, originally sung by the Fraggles going into Boober’s dream space)

On the other hand, the casual impulse-buyer who finds this on iTunes would probably have no clue which of the Fraggles is dancing with a ragtime queen, or why, or what a “ragtime queen” is, so it was probably open season. I wonder if there were any songs that were off-limits to the artists contributing to this album, because they wouldn’t make sense on their own. Which brings me to another point: Most Fraggle Rock songs serve a very specific purpose in the episodes from which they originate. I don’t know what happened to the rest of Jenny O’s last name, but she does a pretty, simple version of Mokey’s ode to her burlap doppelganger. “Ragtime Queen” by Jenny O (Balsam and Lee, originally sung by Mokey to her Mokey doll) The arrangement here is sort of video game-y, which doesn’t sound much like something that would ever be on Fraggle Rock, but it retains the upbeat spirit of the original song. The album gets off to a good start with this one. “Count on Me” by Kyle Andrews (written by Phil Balsam and Dennis Lee, originally sung by Gobo to Sprocket) The question is especially interesting when you have an album of independent artists doing songs for an adult audience, and those songs were originally performed by puppets who live in a cave on a children’s show. I know this is the most obvious possible point to make when reviewing an album of covers, but it really can’t be ignored in this case: With any tribute album, the big question is whether the cover versions of the songs should try to sound like the originals, or whether they should add their own spin. Part of the show’s 30th anniversary goings-on, it’s called Dream a Dream and See and it features 18 tracks of Fraggle Rock songs performed by various indie-type bands of today. As we reported not long ago, a Fraggle Rock tribute album is now available for purchase on the iTunes Store.

Fraggle rock mokey and the minstrels