Radio Playlist: New Music September 2017

Between catching up with stuff I missed last time and the late summer/early fall rush of new music, I've got a whopping 16 songs in this month's new music playlist. (Feel free to check out the August list here if you missed it.)

As always, these Spotify playlists are limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here (or right here in you're in Spotify).

**** New Music September 2017 (September 2017 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Ellen Lemon" - Gustafer Yellowgold

"Fiesta De La Brea" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

"Ten Little Piggies" - Caspar Babypants

"Miss Mary Mack" - Jazzy Ash

"Come Gather 'Round" - KB Whirly

"Sway" - Alphabet Rockers

"My Purple Fox" - Purple Fox and the Heebie Jeebies

"That Thing" - Randy & Dave

"Pennies and Forget-Me-Nots" - Steve Pullara and the Cool Beans Band

"Conjunctions" - Big Don

"You Could Be the One" - The Bazillions

"Going for a Drive" - Marjo Wilson (aka Cotton Dandee)

"Beethoven's Horse" - Ralph's World

"Alphabet Tebahpla" - Danny Weinkauf

"Hooray for Spinach" - Val and the Whippersnappers

"I've Got No Strings" - Jess Penner

Radio Playlist: New Music June 2017

Summer is here -- today! -- and there's no stopping the kids music playlists.  A dozen songs, three dozen minutes, and if you want more, feel free to check out the May list here.

As always, these Spotify playlists are limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here (or right here in you're in Spotify).

**** New Music June 2017 (June 2017 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Tilt-A-Whirl" - Trapper Schoepp

"Dance party avec un hérisson" - Dana & the Petit Punks

"Sunshine Sunny Sun Sunshine Day" - Danny Weinkauf

"Gozar" - Mister G

"Elephants" - Uncle Dox

"Superhero 2017 Remix (feat. Carly Ciarrocchi)" - Tim Kubart

"Go Out and Play" - Zigzag and the Astronauts

"I'm a Bear Now" - Will Parker

"Toss the Toys Blues" - Brenda Kahn

"Mozartistic (feat. Orion Weiss & Marley Carroll)" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

"Subway" - Joanie Leeds and the Nighlights

"Captain Brown Beard" - Mr. Dave

Summer Road Trip Playlist!

Swing Set album cover

Beth Blenz-Clucas, proprietor of Sugar Mountain PR, has, for a number of years, compiled a summer road trip playlist featuring tracks from her clients.  This summer is no different, and there's a bunch of new and excellent tracks for your listening pleasure, including music from as-yet-unreleased albums from Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Danny Weinkauf, and Jazzy Ash, whose album Swing Set comes out July 21.  That's the very playful cover art over there.  (There's also music from artists like Lisa Loeb, Justin Roberts, and more.  Peep the list below.)

And while there's nothing definitively "road-trip-y" about the set (only Jazzy Ash's "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" and Weinkauf's "Transportation") specifically suggest travel, it's an entertaining set nonetheless.  For the next week you can download it for free, but you can listen to it all summer.

Kids' Songs for Elections

I do my best to stay apolitical 'round here.  That doesn't mean that there aren't some societal assumptions underlying this entire venture, but you're not going to find anything remotely resembling an endorsement.

Which isn't to say I'm not interested in government and elections -- that's very far from the truth. And so, with an election coming up next week, I thought it was high time that I put together a list of political and civic songs for kids.

I will note that I've tried not to make this a list of history songs.  If I did that, after all, half the songs on the list could be from the Deedle Deedle Dees.  I was as interested in the political process, citizens participating, and the category of Presidents as I was in specific "historic" individuals.

As with all of these types of lists, it's a work in progress, so if I've left your favorite (or, if you're a musician, your own) song off the list, let me know in the comments.  (And if They Might Be Giants ever release Here Comes Political Science, you'll hear about it here first.)

Albums

Schoolhouse Rock - America Rocks [lyrics]

Various Artists - We Stood Up [stream/download]

Songs

Jim Gill - "Vote for Jim Gill" [video]

The Galactic Heroes - "George Washington" [stream/download]

Dan Zanes - "Washington at Valley Forge" [stream]

The Not-Its - "Washington, D.C." [video]

Brian Vogan and his Good Buddies - "Presidents' Day" [stream]

Schoolhouse Rock - "I'm Just a Bill" [video]

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Si Se Puede!" [stream]

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Teddy Days" [notes]

They Might Be Giants - "James K. Polk" [stream]

They Might Be Giants - "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" [stream]

They Might Be Giants - "Vote or Don't" [stream]

Danny Weinkauf - "Cast My Vote" [video]

Radio Playlist: New Music August 2016

The summer new release doldrums plus some vacation on my part (read: can't listen to much new music) means that this month's list of new music for your family's listening pleasure is a bit shorter than usual.  (If you want to catch July's slightly longer list, you can see that playlist here.)  But just because it's short doesn't mean it's not good -- this is 18 minutes of premium music.  (And just wait 'til the September list!)

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here (or right here in you're in Spotify).

**** New Music August 2016 (August 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Botany" - Danny Weinkauf

"1-2-3-4-5-6-7 a Song" - Doctor Noize

"Miss Mary Mack" - Ella Jenkins

"Secret Superhero" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

"Willy Was a Whale" - Justin Roberts

"Byke" - Baron Von Rumblebuss

Video: "Astronauts Love" - Jumpin' Jamie (with Danny Weinkauf)

So here's a song (and video) born out of Kindiecomm, the annual gathering of kids' music artists in Philadelphia.

Last year, Jamie Theurich, AKA Jumpin' Jamie, met Danny Weinkauf, bassist for They Might Be Giants and occasional kids musician in his own right, at Kindiecomm. Weinkauf agreed to produce Theurich's first single, which ended up being "Astronauts Love," a look at all of the things (maybe besides space) that astronauts love.  It's got an angular pop melody reminiscent of early Elvis Costello, with a la-la-la chorus -- Weinkauf on the instruments, Theurich on lead vocals -- it's a charming slice of kindie pop-rock.

For the video, Theurich recruited French animator Marie Chatelot, who threw in references to the band Weezer (both Theurich and Chatelot are big fans) and a certain little OK Go video you may be familiar with as part of her puppet animation, just as charming as the song itself.

In any case, seeing as Kindiecomm 2016 kicks off today, this seems like the perfect time to release the single and its video, no?

Jumpin' Jamie (with Danny Weinkauf) - "Astronauts Love" [YouTube]