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With Old Mr. Mackle Hackle, Gunnar Madsen offers up some of the freshest, funniest, and most inventive fare in the ever expanding crop of children's music. "Summertime Is Here" is a bluesy romp in celebration of that venerable season and "Born to Chew (We Eat Meat)" is a carnivorous-dinosaur spoof on '50s rock. "Chicken Road" is a talking country blues that'll leave listeners in stitches as Madsen tells of chicken lipstick, chicken donuts, chickens playing guitars, and just about every other brand of rooster and hen. Horns and squawky keys chronicle the "Elephant Traffic Jam," "Selling Lemonade" is a straight-up folk tune begging for campfire sing-alongs, and the rhyming title track bounces and boings away, lodging itself firmly into one's noggin. Fleshed out with rootsy and faux-classical instrumentation, Madsen's lyrics are smart, sassy, and right on target, operating on multiple levels, pleasing both adult and juvenile audiences. Winning and witty! --Paige La Grone