It's Cinco de Mayo as I type this, and while 123 Andres' new album Arriba Abajo gets its official release a month from now, this is as a good a week as any to release a brand new Spanish-language kids music video.
The video is for "Dame una A" ("Give Me an A") and its simple celebration of vowels ("vocales") is well-served by an incredibly cute quartet of animated animals, characters, and, er, vowels. I'm guessing this is not the last we will see of them.
123 Andres - "Dame una A" [YouTube]
Continuing our look at the year's best in kids music, we finish up with videos. Now, unlike albums and songs, for which I've traditionally tried to adhere to the Fids and Kamily year (which is Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014 this year), my best-of video selections have tended to run on more of a March through Feburary video fiscal year. I did that to kick off the very first KidVid Tournament, and I've sort of stuck with that ever since. (So nobody release an awesome video in the next 48 hours, OK?)
Here's my list of my favorite 30 kids music videos of "2014." Some are big-budget productions, some are small-budget productions, and some are virtually-no-budget productions. There are puppets, stop-action, hand-animation, computer animation, live action, and sometimes, more than one of those things.
Before I present the 30 videos, I should note that I wanted to limit an artist to no more than one video on the list. Which meant that artists like The Bazillions, Danny Weinkauf, and Caspar Babypants don't get their full due as artists that have fully committed to the art of the kids music video, each releasing several music videos that could have appeared on this list (if I wasn't limiting them to one video, they might have had a dozen or so between them).
Of particular note, Chris Ballew has done some amazing work, not only contracting out with a variety of animators for his Caspar Babypants videos but also producing videos on his own beautiful in their creativity and simplicity. For that reason, I'm giving him a Special Award for Awesomest Kids Music Video Guy of 2014. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go find an MTV VMA statue on eBay so I modify it and give it to Ballew.
So while I'm doing that, here's the list in alphabetical order by artist. A YouTube playlist can be found at the very end if you'd like to while away an hour or two...
Dynamite - Alphabet Rockers (YouTube)
No Homework - The Bazillions (YouTube)
Bottle Caps - Laurie Berkner (YouTube)
Tiny Little Car - Johnny Bregar (YouTube)
The Creatures Under My Bed - Caspar Babypants (YouTube)
Grand March from Aida - Dog On Fleas (YouTube)
I'm a Little Fish - Laura Doherty (YouTube)
Hair - fleaBITE (YouTube)
I Can't Feel My Face - Gustafer Yellowgold (YouTube)
How Great Can This Day Be - Lori Henriques (YouTube)
November First (Jump, Run, Shake) - Eric Herman (YouTube)
Just Not Me - The Hipwaders (YouTube)
Did You Ever See a Lassie? - Charlie Hope (YouTube)
Snow Day - Josh and the Jamtones (YouTube)
Crew Cut - Randy Kaplan (YouTube)
Gingerbread Man - Lunch Money (YouTube)
I Love You More - Todd McHatton (YouTube)
Girls Wanna Dance - Milkshake (YouTube)
Call Me Mista Cookie Jar - Mista Cookie Jar (YouTube)
Haircut - The Not-Its (YouTube)
Walking With Spring - The Okee Dokee Brothers (YouTube)
All These Shapes - The Pop Ups (YouTube)
Love Bug - Raffi (YouTube)
Brick By Brick - Recess Monkey (YouTube)
Rattlesnake - Red Yarn (YouTube)
Los Colores - Andres Salguero (YouTube)
Pillow Fort Pillow Fight - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (YouTube)
Ice Cream (Healthy Eating) - Danny Weinkauf (YouTube)
Sea Turtle - The Whizpops (YouTube)
Armando Armadillo - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (YouTube)
Continuing on with my look back at 2014 (or Oct. 1, 2013 though Sept. 30, 2014, or thereabouts), let's turn our attention to debuts.
The notion of "debut" is a difficult one, particularly in kids music, because one often hears music from artists who've been around for a long time recording music for adults who dip their toes into the kiddie pool. Is that a debut? My answer has tended to be "no." So albums from artists like The Short Films and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir, albums I clearly loved, weren't considered for this list, because I got no sense that those artists viewed those albums as the start of a career (or even career sideline) making music for families. Same goes for albums by Luscious Jackson, Zee Avi, and MC Frontalot.
Or what do you do about artists like Dan Flannery and Steve Lee, who recorded kids' albums already with the Flannery Brothers and, er, Steve Lee? Well, you disqualify albums recorded as Danny Lion and Yumzah which would've potentially made this list. And Rainbow Beast? I just didn't know what to do with that group of folks recording music written by a rotating set of kids. So I omitted them.
Luckily, the list of ten albums below are still fine introductions to kids music from artists I've got a pretty good feeling might come back for round 2 -- at the very least they went to the trouble of creating a new band, right? So here are my top 10 favorite debuts, listed alphabetically.
Bears and Lions - We're a Club in the Woods (review) - "Jangly, southern-fried guitar-pop songs about jumping out of airplanes, man's best friend, and PAN! CAKE! SWEEP! STAKES! (Just listen to "Pancakes" all the way through, trust me.)"
Edie Carey & Sarah Sample - 'Til the Morning: Lullabies & Songs of Comfort (review) - " 'Til the Morning is an album of love songs, just like all lullaby albums should be, and beyond that it also has a feeling of things fitting just so, its songs of comfort also comfortable."
Django Jones - D is for Django (review) - "Songs like "Counterpoint," which manages to be about counterpoint the musical term and counterpoint the metaphorical concept while being mostly in counterpoint, demonstrate heart and humor and (natch) tight harmonies."
Jelly of the Month Club - Introducing… (review) - "Some songs like "Tell Someone" contain lessons of a sort, but that's a song that namechecks Cheryl Ladd and Chaka Khan, to name a few, so clearly there's a playfulness that cuts through any overt "Learn. This." approach."
Walter Martin - We're All Young Together (review) - "Whatever cool-points Martin may have lost by wadding into the kid's music world, the playful and sweet nature of this new album shows he doesn't care one bit. He feels very much at home."
Andres Salguero - ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! (review) - "From "Los Colores" (a mellow bachata, popularized in the Dominican Republic) to "La Clave" (a percussion-driven -- of course -- Cuban/Puerto Rican salsa tune), Salguero samples Latin America's rich musical heritage."
Ben Tatar and the Tatar Tots - Food! (review) - "But like a good bowl of mac'n'cheese, when done right, this style of kids music can be very satisfying. The multi-instrumentalist Tatar plays in a number of bands throughout Chicago, and the level of production is excellent, with Tatar handling a lot of duties, but also bringing in his friends to fill out the sound."
Danny Weinkauf - No School Today (review) - "You don't have to be a They Might Be Giants fan to appreciate this album (though TMBG fans are most likely to go nuts for this), just a fan of nicely-crafted, occasionally goofy, kid-pop."
Whirlygigs - Greetings from Cloud 9 (review) - "Greetings from Cloud 9 definitely has a retro sound, but it's not burnt in amber, either. For families looking for a mellower kindie sound reminiscent of those Taj Mahal records (or perhaps a little bit like fellow New Englander Alastair Moock), this Whirlygigs album is worth exploring."
Wait, it's August? Little Boy Blue starts school today? Where did the summer go?
Blog: World Premiere: "Archaeology" - Danny Weinkauf, Itty-Bitty Review: ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! - Andrés Salguero, Radio Playlist: New Music July 2014, Itty-Bitty Review: Good Egg - Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights, Video: "I'm a Little Fish" - Laura Doherty
Videos: "My My My" - Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips
Listen to Music: None this week
Free Music: Four Free Book-Related Songs - Caspar Babypants
Kids Music Reviews: Whoopty Whoop - Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Follow Me - Little Miss Ann
iOS Apps: None this week
Upcoming Releases: Constantly updating...
Podcasts
Kindie Week in Review: None this week
My Other Other Gig: None this week
Bake Sale: None this week
I'm not sure what the demand for Spanish-language kids music is, but the supply is once again full. Three or four years ago, the market was flooded by Spanish-language music that was essentially bilingual early education (songs about numbers, fruits, and colors) and, whatever its educational value, was often low in musical distinctiveness. That tide has receded, but there may be a new wave of Spanish kindie in which the main purpose is in making fun music for kids that just happens to be (mostly) in Spanish.
Andrés Salguero offered up his entry in this second wave, ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés!, earlier this year. Compared to the mostly indie-pop and rock sensibilities of his compatriots (Lucky Diaz, Moona Luna, the releases from Spain's Minimusica), Salguero takes a different approach, as his album features 10 different songs in 10 different Latin American musical styles. From "Los Colores" (a mellow bachata, popularized in the Dominican Republic) to "La Clave" (a percussion-driven -- of course -- Cuban/Puerto Rican salsa tune), Salguero samples Latin America's rich musical heritage. His most ambitious song is "Daddy Was a Migrant Worker," a Norteño song which takes the rural, ballad form and applies it to the type of narrative to which the Norteño and corrido form often applies. I tended to find Salguero's music (both the melodies and their performance) more sophisticated than his bilingual lyrics, which often lean towards to the basic and educational.
The 32-minute album will be most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 6. (Listen to the album here.) ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! is a welcome complement to the indie-rock sound of much new Spanish kids' music. (I say that even as someone with a natural indie-rock bias.) I look forward to hearing more from Salguero in the future as he takes his songwriting skills and tells stories for, and celebrates lives of, children from many different backgrounds. Recommended.
The April new music playlist is a little thin, but there's still another week left with at least a couple albums that'll be featured on the next music playlist. (You can see the March 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 go right here if you're in Spotify.
**** New Music April 2014 (April 2014 Kindie Playlist) ****
Sugar Free Allstars – My Daddy's Record Collection
The Little Rockers Band – Old Mick Jagger
Banana Baron – Queen of Sheba
Bears and Lions – Airplanes
¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! – O Papa
Zee Avi – Ben
The Laurie Berkner Band – Fireflies
Zooglobble
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