The Best of Gustafer Yellowgold: A Playlist

What am I supposed to do with the new Gustafer Yellowgold album, Gustafer Yellowgold's Brighter Side, since it's the first one that comes without a full DVD to accompany it? All seven Gustafer prior albums dating back to 2007's Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World, were produced as DVD/CD sets with a video for each song, and, to greater or lesser degrees, a unifying story linking the songs together.

But for the new album, musician and illustrator Morgan Taylor, the mastermind behind Gustafer, eschewed a full set of videos. He'll be doing videos for some songs -- shout-outs to "Hot Nights" and "Baconstein" -- but not all. Perhaps Taylor is just looking to mix things up. (And if it means he releases music a little bit more often, even better.)

While I could do the standard review thing, I think I will take a cue from Taylor's decision and mix things up myself. So I put together a list of the best Gustafer Yellowgold songs from all eight albums (including Brighter Side). It wasn't a terribly difficult process -- quite enjoyable, actually -- because Taylor is one of kindie's most gifted pop songwriters, with an oblique sense of humor.

I tend to go for the more uptempo Gustafer tracks, so while you could easily make a solid compilation of nothing but the mellow tracks for cooling-down/nighttime purposes -- and Brighter Side tends to lean slightly more towards that softer, mellower side -- this playlist features more of the punchier tracks, either in tempo or arrangement.

So here's a Spotify playlist of my 40 favorite Gustafer Yellowgold tracks, organized chronologically, up to and including music from Brighter Side, out today. Grab your favorite foods (or least favorite foods, depending on how pugilistic your kids are feeling), tune in, and enjoy!

Video: "Hot Nights" - Gustafer Yellowgold

Yay for new Gustafer! That's right, our favorite animated friend from the sun is back. September 8 sees the release of Brighter Side, the eighth Gustafer Yellowgold release from Morgan Taylor. The album promises a look at both Gustafer's childhood on the sun along with more peeks into his current life in Minnesota.

"Hot Nights" is a funny take on really hot evenings featuring a melody and production that would slide right into '70s AM radio. Speaking as a resident of desert Arizona, I can relate to the subject matter. Speaking as someone who's listened to a bit of '70s AM radio, I can relate to that as well.

Anyway, enjoy this video, because unlike the other seven Gustafer releases, this new album is a music-only release and so there won't be a video for every song. (I am very pleased, however, to see that there will be a video for "Baconstein," a sequel to one of the all-time great Gustafer songs "Cakenstein," along with at least one other.)

Welcome back, Gustafer!

Gustafer Yellowgold - "Hot Nights" [YouTube]

Radio Playlist: New Music April 2016

I know that new music season must be approaching its peak, because there's quite a bit of music I've received I just haven't had a chance to choose the best from, and still this list is a half-hour of great stuff. (If you want to catch my list from March, another full list, you can see that playlist here.)

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 April 2016 (April 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Wake Up" - Red Yarn (w/ Morgan Taylor)

"Animal Tracks" - Laura Doherty

"All The Things I Found" - Frances England

"One Verse Song" - Sugar Free Allstars

"O pato" - Paulinho Garcia

"Chugga Chugga" - The Singing Lizard

"One" (feat. Dub Tonic Cru & Tommy Shepherd) - Aaron Nigel Smith

"Kelp!" - Two of a Kind

"Obla Dobla De" - The Que Pastas

"Sing a Summer Song" - Charity and the JAMband

Tim Kubart, Kids Music Grammy Winner, First Among Equals

In the insular world of kids music, news that Tim Kubart won at the 58th Grammys the award for Best Children's Album for his album Home spread quickly and was met with universal acclaim.

In part, it's because Home is a really good album, filled with as many big pop hooks as you might find on a Taylor Swift album.

But there were lots of good albums nominated (the Fids and Kamily Awards agreed with my own assessment), and this was a year in which I would have been satisfied with whichever of the five nominees -- which also included Molly Ledford and Billy Kelly, Lori Henriques, Gustafer Yellowgold, and Jose-Luis Orozco -- won this year's award.

Now, outside the kids music world, well, I'm going to assume that that outside world is pretty big judging by the number of hits my site's received in the past 18 hours or so on pages such as that Home album review up there and my rundown of the list of nominees.

That's why it's what Tim did after his name was called and he and his bandmates jogged down to the stage to accept the award is what will endear him for a looooong time to the rest of us who've spent years in this genre.

58th Children's Music Grammy nominees at Lucky Strike Live

In his speech, which you can view here, Tim thanks a kajillion people in the many different roles he plays -- at one point, after thanking the "Tambourine Army," Kubart says, "I know a lot of this doesn't make sense, but it does to a lot of people." Simply by naming his fellow nominees by name and giving a shout-out to the fact that they were all independent artists (and first-time Grammy nominees, to boot), Kubart gave a boost to the genre. I'm sure that the other four nominees were disappointed that they didn't win, but Kubart's good-hearted nature and generous speech made it easy for them on social media to congratulate Tim. (As somebody noted on Facebook in a status update, "my thumbs are broken from hitting 'Like' so much.") It was really a "first among equals" sort of moment, and while kids music has many good ambassadors, and needs them all (and more) to reach that wide world still unaware of the excellence in this field, there are few I can think of who wear that suit as well and as gracefully as Tim.

Jose-Luis Orozco and band at Lucky Strike Live, Feb. 13, 2016

I should note that, yes, I did party with Grammy nominees on Saturday. The five nominees all played 3-song sets in Hollywood at Lucky Strike Live for an audience of bouncing kids.

I hung out at the back for the most part, listening to musicians I'd known for many years. While I hesitate to call them "friends" because I respect the distance and perspective necessary to observe and critique the genre, these are musicians whose effort I respect and whose company is worth having. That photo I took above with the nominees all together? I saw similar photos from the ceremony itself on Monday. While I've had lots of mixed thoughts over the years about the Grammy Awards and their value, if they can bring together artists once a year on the West Coast to party and celebrate what they do, then in my book, they've done enough.

Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns - Gustafer Yellowgold

Gustier Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns album/DVD cover

Can it be true? Can Gusfater Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns really be the seventh album from Gustafer Yellowgold?

Of course it's true -- why would I start out this review with a bunch of untrue rhetorical questions? Over the course of more than a decade and those seven albums, Morgan Taylor has crafted an entire world about the yellow guy from the sun wrapped in a gauzy '70s AM-rock packaging. The songs are catchy, but what lodges Gustafer into the kindie listener's memory are the lyrics and the videos illustrating Taylor's often surreal subjects and stories.

Sure, you can hear "Sunny Side" as a song celebrating waking up early and having a positive attitude, but the video suggests that it's really celebrating eggs cooked sunny side up (and features at one point some 8-bit squirrels). "Dark Pie" brings a little electronic percussion (hints of Wilco's update of '70s soft rock on "Heavy Metal Drummer") to the public and private shame that is overbaking of pies.

This is an album of food-inspired songs and while there's always been more than a hint of food antagonism in the Gustafer oeuvre, that comes out in full force here -- from the Gary Glitter stomp of "Rock Melon" to the slightly disturbing craziness of "Gravy Insane" to the food-gone-amock soft-rock-turned-electro-rock-rap of "Cakenstein." (I love "Cakenstein.") But Taylor indulges his softer XTC side as well, particularly on tracks like "Cinnamon Tap," "Strawberry Love," and "I Sandwich," which is an odd metaphor for love.

If there's any change from prior GY work, it's that unlike the past few albums, there is no story throughline to the album. It has its "food" theme (though like They Might Be Giants' numbers and letters-inspired albums, it's as much a jumping-off point as anchor), but there's no plot per se. That's fine, but I do miss those attempts at broader stories.

You can get the 29-minute album either as part of the DVD/CD set or just the album alone. I think the music stands up on its own, but hopefully I've made the case for the videos as well. The DVD/CD set also includes sing-along versions of all the songs, along with a 24-minute bonus video featuring Taylor telling you how to draw Gustafer's best friend, the pterodactyl Forrest Applecrumbie, with occasional sound clips from other songs. As with all Gustafer albums, the sweet spot is for kids ages 3 through 8.

Gustier Yellowgold's Dark Pie Concerns is another surreal trip through the Gustafer universe, funny and memorable, both musically and visually. Even if this trip doesn't head anywhere in particular, it's still fun to meander with him. Definitely recommended.

Note: I was provided a copy of this DVD/CD set for possible review.

Interview: Molly Ledford and Billy Kelly

I like to think that Molly Ledford (of Lunch Money) and Billy Kelly (of Billy Kelly) met in the comments section of my NPR piece on Billy Kelly's "People Really Like Milk," but the truth is, they met some time before.

The duo's friendship has produced a wonderful new album, Trees, which will be released next month, on March 20, the first day of spring. They chatted with me last week to talk about their friendship, recording the album, and a little bit, just a little bit, about trees themselves.

Zooglobble: Normally I'd start off an interview with the question, "What are your first musical memories?," but instead, let me ask, "What are your first arboreal memories?"

Billy Kelly (BK): We had a mimosa tree in front of my house growing up. I'd climb my tree, and I remember my grandma sitting in a chair with a white afghan in her lap, saying that I climbed "he's like a little monkey." And then my dad cut it down -- he said mimosa trees were dirty, so he cut it down. Not while I was in it.

Molly Ledford (ML): That's the origin story of why Billy is now very flip.

BK: "They cut down his first tree…"

ML: We had a magnolia tree. I was never a good climber -- I could climb on top a fence nearby, and then get onto a branch, and that was as far as I could climb. So in "Angel Oak," I could climb that tree, but it's illegal [to do so]. The song "By the Roots" my brother and I would roll Matchbox sportscars around with all these exposed roots.

BK: So that's what that song's about! I pictured you crashing an actual Lamborghini into the tree… I remember we also had a big oak tree. I'll tell you at the beginning of the story that Dad cut that one down, too, a couple months ago. It had a big branch that had a horizontal branch that he hung a climbing rope for that. He'd say to us, while we were climbing, "You don't want to fall, right? So you won't." That dispelled fear of heights that I had as a kid. Too much, really. It came back to me when I was 35, and I won't go any higher than a stepladder. So I'd use the tree to hide from people. Somebody would come over who I didn't want to play with, and I'd climb 50 feet in the air while my mom was calling, "Billy, your friends are here…." I should write about that for Trees, Volume 2. She never takes the bait every time I mention it.

ML: Hey, I've already written a couple songs!

How did the two of you meet?

MK: Well, we met because you posted a clip of the video in progress of "People Really Like Milk." I thought, "Hey, that's really cool, I'm going to say 'hi' to that person right now" and I reached out to him and bought his record and he thought of me as a nice, crazy fan until he figured it out and we've been talking shop ever since and enjoying each other's sense of humor.

Fast forward a few years, he said he was writing an album about trees. I've often along the way as work-avoidance behaviors, messed in other people's business instead of doing what I need to be doing. I said, "Here's a trees song" and I wrote "Standing By You, Sapling," and offered it up to him… He said, "Hey, you want to do this with me?" and I said, "Heck, yeah!" Before that we wrote "Pen Pals" together,

BK: I sent some lyrics, then she wrote a verse in about ten minutes. So I asked, "Do you want to record this with me?"

ML: And I was just having fun writing the words, but I said, "Sure!"

BK: Molly bought [Thank You for Joining the] Happy Club and the e-mail came in with the subject "Lunch Money" -- I still have it. That's all it said in the "from" line in the e-mail. It was the first album I ever sold to a stranger. At the time, I thought it was weird. It was an adult e-mailing, buying it and not making any mention of kids and it says "lunch money" for no reason.

ML: It was just the address...

BK: Which I know now as I see about 42 e-mails in my inbox that just say "lunch money." About a week later, I started snooping around and I realized who this was, and I reached out to her… You know, you [Stefan] tried to introduce me once to someone else via e-mail. It didn't work out at all. I think he was too similar to me. Molly knows everybody in the kindie scene For a while, I kind of fancied myself the Howard Hughes of kids music.

What was the genesis of Trees specifically?

BK: I had written the opening song called "Trees." We moved into our new house about 4 years ago and there's this massive, massive tree in our yard, a silver maple. When you walk past the tree -- it reminded me of that big blue whale that's hanging in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. That awe-inspiring feeling you get walking under. So I wrote that song, "Trees," and then I afterward wrote "(It's Just a) Dumb Ol' Stick" and "Bonsai." And that was as far as I got. Molly was so encouraging. I hope I'm encouraging to her, but mainly I hope she's encouraging to me. But I didn't get anywhere . I put "Bonsai" out [on Again!] because I wanted to get it out there. Then Molly wrote "Standing By You, Sapling"… And I said, "We should do this." I should do it with my pal Molly who lives in South Carolina and maybe we'd get to spend time with each other.

ML: There was talk of working with Dean [Jones, producer of Trees]. Normally I'm making records at home with all the other responsibility… Almost like a retreat of song recording sounded like the grand prize.

I've come to decide that a good part of the benefits of vacations -- even working ones where you're just working away from home -- is that you don't have to do all the routine things you'd normally do at home. You don't have to worry about the garbage or the dishes or the laundry or making sure the kids get off to school OK in the morning.

BK: This is why the staycation will never take over the vacation.

How did the recording process for Trees work?

ML: Robert Drake from WXPN and Kids Corner and KindieComm heard we were doing Trees and asked us to do 15 minutes at KindieComm [in 2014]. I went to Lewisburg to practice some songs with him, so it wouldn't be all be new when we got up on stage.

We left the possibility of working together on the songs on the table, but I don't write much with other people. So we were sending stuff back and forth, supporting each other's songs.

When we recorded, we brought people out of their comfort zones. That was where the fact that Dean and Billy are really good musicians helped.

BK: Yeah, that's where the collaboration came in. I'm flip, Molly's emotional. For the song "Here Come the Trees," for example, [there's a spoken-word part, and] they tried to get me to talk in just a normal voice. Molly turned off the light [in the recording studio] and just used a flashlight to help encourage me to be myself. Or on "The Dichotomous Key," which has a really fast, high-pitched part for Molly to sing.

ML: It was like we were all leaning over the same car engine. All three of us are bandleaders of our own projects, so we'd bring in our own ideas on arrangements… It was suggested that everybody should sing together, like at a funeral, for "Count Your Rings." That was weird.

BK: We were literally standing together, like at a funeral. We were so serious.

ML: There were other points where we were dancing around [Billy], on "I, Wood."

BK: While I was doing my Tom Jones impression...

ML: We were feeding off each other.

BK: The whole week was so fun. They'd be dancing around me, trying not to make the floorboards creak. It really was a three-way split.

How much did you know about trees before writing and recording the album? Did you check out a book on California? [That, readers, is a shout-out to "Coniferous Trees."]

BK: Hah! Yes, we checked out some books. Years ago, I was a birdwatcher, and so learned some about trees through that. I had a casual interest in trees, but by no means was I am expert. My songs [on the album] were more info-driven and on things that I didn't know [when I started].

ML: I don't really know much about trees -- I thought I would learn more when I started this project.

It's funny, when we announced the project, we'd get letters or posts from people who, in all seriousness, would say things like, "I'm sure you're going to do the birch."

BK: "The willow!"

ML: So on "Trees," which leads off the album, Billy gave me the more dreamy, less technical lines, which really set up the whole structure of the album… On "Coniferous Tree," his instructions when he gave me the lyrics were that I should make it as difficult as possible for him.

BK: She was supposed to be the Fozzie Bear to my Kermit

ML: So there was the script, and I was really sick that wick. We stayed with Rachel Loshak (singer and wife of Gustafer Yellowgold creator Morgan Taylor), and she took care of me and was such a mom to me and would send me with concoctions. I was in a bit of a daze. I'd kind of lost my place in some of the songs.

BK: I'd get a little frustrated with her interruptions, and then I'd remember that my instructions to her were "Try To Ruin The Song."

ML: I like to think of it as, "That's Molly, daydreaming" and there's Billy, trying to provide real information.

So what from this experience do you take away into the rest of your recording life?

BK: I want to be first and I want to be sincere? Can I? I love my studio here, working with my band, but the experience of this was one in a million. The whole week was great, Dean was on point the whole time. The takeaway was something like this might not happen again -- it was magic and creative. We talk often about working together on other things, but I don't know if we could recapture it. Even if we didn't record anything, the week was worth it.

ML: For me, it's the power of working with other people who are also writers of words, of melodies. It was kind of electric.

It had to happen fast. Sometimes there's the danger of taking a song and everybody knows it so well, it's lost that brand-new magic. I've learned that the first time you sing a song, that's the take you want. Redoing it, you can't recapture the magic, you lose touch with the magic. I'd tell Dean, "This isn't practice… let's record the vocal just in case."

BK: Half the album is probably first takes.

ML: We did one take "Angel Oak," Count Your Rings," "Acorns" -- the first takes had so much of what they had to have. We did those songs live. On "To the Woods," we learned the song together… It was so fun what I want to take away from it in [other] times is to do my best to have that live quality in recording and not get too bogged down in click tracks and having everybody taking their turn.

BK: It was really interesting have three leaders… and no fights.

Photo credits: J.P. Stephens (Lumos Studios)