Stream Los Lobos Goes Disney

I've talked about it a lot, but Los Lobos' album of Disney covers, called Los Lobos Goes Disney (of course), is out today, October 27th, after being an Amazon exclusive since last month. Want to hear what one of the country's great bands does with one of the great American musical canons? OK. I'm proud to invite you to go here and join the listening party, courtesy of Disney. Even if you're not a big fan of Los Lobos or the Disney canon, just listen to the first track, the awesome cover of "Heigh Ho" - you won't be disappointed. [Too late: Limited time only, and all that jazz...]

Stream Sarah Lee Guthrie / Johnny Irion's "Go Waggaloo" For Free

You know the deal. I really like Go Waggaloo, the first kids' music album from Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, but, then again, I'm biased. Anyway, the Smithsonian Folkways album is officially released next week, but for the next two weeks (through Nov. 3rd) you can stream the album in its entirety here. Just click on the pop-up player. But hurry, it'll be gone on Nov. 3rd. (Also, for you Facebook folks, comment here and get a free song download code from Folkways.)

Listen To This: "Wake Up" - The Verve Pipe

I could have named two, three dozen bands who rose to national prominence in the early-to-mid-90s before mentioning The Verve Pipe as a band who I'd expect to do kids music, to come out with a family album. But they have. Literally. The band's just released A Family Album, and it's about as far from "The Freshmen" as you could possibly get. Just get on over here, listen to "Wake Up" -- the album opener, a happy bit of power-pop with the kitchen sink thrown in -- and tell me you don't have a bit of a grin on your face when its two minutes are up. (And if that doesn't do it, "Cereal" is a song for which the phrase "over the top" was invented.) Seriously, folks, I really think it's worth your time to check out; the whole album's available for streaming. Here's the tracklist...

Listen To This: "London Bridge" / "Hickory Dickory Dock" - Elizabeth Mitchell

It says a lot about the two new ("quite old, but new to you!") tracks from Elizabeth Mitchell that they take two of the most repetitive sing-song melodies and turn them into nearly 2 minutes of very listenable songs. Don't get me wrong, singing "London Bridge" or "Hickory Dickory Dock" with your kid is great, but after two minutes of that I'm usually more than ready to move on. These two tracks, especially the toy piano-accompanied mellow "Bridge," pass the test. I suspect these tracks won't appear on Mitchell's new Smithsonian Folkways album, which'll come out sometime in 2010, but they're nice nonetheless. Listen at her Myspace page for a limited time...

Listen To This: "Mezuzah" / "Apples & Honey" - The Macaroons

How's this for a kids music supergroup of sorts? A couple guys from The Zambonis (North America's favorite all-hockey band, who are partially responsible for "Hockey Monkey"), a guy whose band DeLeon turns Sephardic folk tunes into indie rock, and Michael Azerrad, best known for the book Our Band Could Be Your Life. OK, not a kids music supergroup, seeing as they have maybe one great kids song between them. But put them together as The Macaroons, a kids band with a fairly Jewish focus, and you have a potentially ground-breaking album. They're putting out an album later this year on JDub Records, and I'm here to tell you that regardless of your faith, you need to listen to the two tunes they've posted post haste. Both songs -- the stomping, hair-metal with a sense of humor "Mezuzah" and the sweet pop-rock of "Apples & Honey" -- are, well, awesome. In case you're not Jewish and need the Internet to explain things (like I did), here's teh internets on what a "mezuzah" is. You don't need any help with "Apples & Honey," which is a sweet Rosh Hashannah song. "It's when things get sticky / Just remember life is sweet" -- special meaning for those of the Jewish faith, but a sentiment the rest of us could get behind.

Listen To This: Steve-n-steveN (or, Steve Burns and Steven Drozd)

Today the Flaming Lips are releasing their latest studio album, a two-disk set entitled Embryonic. Seems like it's as good a time as any to start talking about Steve-n-steveN, the collaboration featuring Blue's Clues star-turned-indie rocker Steve Burns and multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips. This collaboration's been talked about for a while (the songs have been posted for awhile, too), and given Burns' and Drozd's previous foray into music for kids, the fact that it's getting closer is Good News For All Involved. The "About" description sums up the 6 songs on the Myspace page thusly:

One day, while searching everywhere for Princess Rainbow, a lonely unicorn named Steve Burns met a magical musical octopus named Steven Drozd in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "Hi," said Steve to Steven. "I like writing stories about outer space, wizards, and feelings." "That's cool," said Steven to Steve while playing a bass guitar, Micro Moog synthesizer, and two Stylophones simultaneously. "I like to make brain burning musical soundscapes. Maybe you could add your stories to my music." "Okay", answered Steve, "let's always do that right here in Oklahoma and never in New York City." And that's just what they did... for all us children.

Songs about poop, facts, unicorns, and octopi. Basically, it's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (already one of the best not-kids-albums that's really a kids' album) meets preschool. And, yeah, it really sounds like that. Totally worth 20 minutes or so of your attention. (Thanks to Cormac at Kids-Tunes for the reminder.)