Welcome to those of you finding us because of the Salon article on "kindie rockers". (Welcome also, as always, to people looking for downloads of and lyrics to "Great Big World," from Hoodwinked. I still can't help you with those, despite your insistent pleas.) Thanks, Salon, for the link, and for posting some fabulous mp3s from said rockers. (Scott Lamb's article is worth sitting through the Honda ad non-subscribers will have to watch in order to read the article -- it's a nice summing up of the current state of kids' music.)
If you're new to the site, I encourage you to look around -- links to other kids'-music-related blogs as well as to every full album review (including Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, and Milkshake) can be found on the right. If you're wondering what to get that 4-year-old nephew for his birthday, check out my page of album recommendations by age. I treat kids' music the way any parent who really likes music would -- with my own set of interests but with an understanding that perhaps not every song off Spoon's Gimme Fiction is going to appeal to my 5-year-old (let alone my 1-year-old).
There's so much great kids' music being made, and not just by the rockers mentioned in the article who have made their way to kids' TV screens. Dig in -- you're bound to find something you and the kids in your life will really like.
Saturday AM edit: You know, I could actually help readers "dig in" if I specifically mentioned a few artists and albums that readers might not be familiar with if they're only sticking to the TV/Noggin crowd. No disrespect meant to the Noggin crowd -- Zanes, Roberts, and TMBG, in particular, are all among my favorites kids' artists -- but these four albums are tremendous, too.
Silly Reflection, by Lunch Money (review)
If You Ever See An Owl, by the Terrible Twos (review)
Fascinating Creatures, by Francis England (review)
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD, by Morgan Taylor (review)
Googling Children's Music
Google has introduced a beta version of Google Trends, which tracks the popularity of certain search terms. What can this tell us about the popularity of children's music? A lot (though it means nothing to me in terms of what our family actually listens to).
Here's Dan Zanes. A spike in mid-2005 -- I'm guessing there must've been some Noggin-related activity around then. The graph only appears to go through early-April, so there's little evidence of a Catch That Train! bump in the available data. Looks pretty good until you compare him to...
Laurie Berkner. Note the spike in early 2006 -- that would be the release of We Are... The Laurie Berkner Band DVD. Again, looks pretty good until you compare her to...
They Might Be Giants. I'm guessing the spike in mid-2004 has to do with the release of The Spine, their last non-children's release of new material. So they have the advantage of non-kids-related stuff, too. But you don't need that if you're...
The Wiggles. Hoo-boy, those other lines are getting mighty flat. But even that's not all that impressive once you type in...
High School Musical. Breaking Free, indeed.
Song of the Day: Mama Don't Allow - Brady Rymer
One of my favorite kids' books is Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, which simultaneously manages to capture the mindset of a three-year-old and permits that same three-year-old to yell "No!" repeatedly. It's a safe rebellion for the child, while also allowing him or her to exert control. (It's also now a musical, apparently, but that's a whole different subject.)
The musical equivalent is the traditional "Mama Don't Allow," which allows the listener to do all sorts of things mama (a particularly strict sort) don't normally allow: hand-clappin', foot-stompin' -- you get the idea if you somehow have never heard the song before.
Brady Rymer has a nice version of the song on his latest album, Every Day Is a Birthday. It's uptempo, full of energy, but the part that I really dig (and I why I'm mentioning it here) is when Rymer sings, "Mama don't allow no backup-singin' 'round here," and, sure enough, the backup singers chime in. It's a nice, slightly meta-, slightly humorous moment in a fun version of the song that could easily be no different from countless other versions of the song.
Reminds me a little bit of They Might Be Giants' "Fibber Island," off of -- appropriately enough, given the start of this post -- No!. "Here on Fibber Island / No one sings along," and then the backup singers (or whatever the squeaky voices are) chime in "no one sings along." Just as with Rymer's version, it's a meta-moment that challenges the listener and gives them a little bit of excitement when they figure out what just happened.
You can hear Rymer's version of "Mama Don't Allow" here. And, while we're sending you to CDBaby, you can hear TMBG's "Fibber Island" here.
News: New They Might Be Giants Album This Spring
Via TV For Tots (which I've been following for awhile, and needs to be added to the sidebar soon) comes this article on music videos for kids.
I remember when "music videos for kids" meant "kids watching MTV." But I think we're probably way past that point, aren't we? (Remember A-Ha's "Take On Me?" I think I'd probably let my daughter watch that, even with the small bits of stylized violence. Maybe there's something on MTV or MTV2 today I'd be comfortable with. But that would require me to actually watch MTV or MTV2.)
In any case, besides the article itself, which is kind of interesting, there are a couple news bits buried within:
1) Yes, indeedley-doodley, Ralph's World has signed with Disney. Do I know how to read between the lines or what?
2) They Might Be Giants is preparing the follow-up to Here Come the ABCs entitled, naturally, Here Come the 1-2-3s. It'll be another CD/DVD combo.
Desert (Island) Disc(s)
I asked my daughter today if she had a favorite CD. "No!" she said. Not at all?... OK, I'm not going down that far-too-easy humorous path. Her favorite CD was "the No! CD," which I took to mean They Might Be Giants' version. She also likes the "ABCs" CD. Which, uh, as you know, is also a They Might Be Giants CD. I know she has no concept that the CDs are from the same band, but clearly the apple has not fallen far from this tree.
Of course, the concept of an "album" is also somewhat alien to her, as she tends to think in songs ("House At The Top Of The Tree," from No!, "Theme From Higglytown Heroes" from Here Come The ABCs, Raffi's "Who Built The Ark", "Rattlin' Bog," off Dan Zanes' Night Time!). And she'll probably grow up a "song" person, not an album person, given how easy it is to pick songs.
Me, I'm still an album person, and while I could probably tell you what my favorite album ever was (Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend), I couldn't tell you what it would be now. Too many to choose from. Plus I get hung up over picking one among bands with lots of albums I love (TMBG, Wilco), and so some other album (Golden Smog's Weird Tales, maybe) slides through. Kinda like actresses from the same movie cancelling each other out at the Oscars...
News: They Might Be Giants Like Kids, But Not Too Much So
One of the things I've always enjoyed about TMBG shows is seeing parents bringing their kids. In the back of the crowd, enjoying the noise and lights and energy, it seemed like a nice way to bring parents and children together.
Well, have I been wrong all these years? Because They Might Be Giants' (main) tour page now includes the following disclaimer:
Also, we enjoy having the opportunity to perform for children at our kid's shows, but there is simply no place for children at the regular TMBG shows. Things get very adult specific in terms of language. The volume is extreme even in the back of the hall, and there is usually large amounts of smoke of every variety; but most important of all-there are routinely a small number of very large, drunk, excitable adults who, at regular intervals 1.) jump off the stage directly into the crowd 2.) slam dance through the crowd 3.) throw bottles into the crowd and 4.) knock people down in their revelry. Over the years we regret to report we have seen many different kinds of serious injury due to crowd rowdiness-injury that would be far more serious to a small child than to a flexible 18 year old. There is essentially no controlling the random nature of crowds. This is why we cannot allow children at our shows. Please-get a baby-sitter. Make no mistake-TMBG shows are adult-only affairs. Do not bring children to shows that are not specifically for children. You will be turned away.Sigh. Maybe they're right. (But I'm still sad I didn't get a chance to take my daughter to a "regular" show.)
