Weekly Summary (12/9/13 - 12/15/13)

Listen To This: The Misty Cowboy and Other Songs to Dream By - Mr. & Mrs. Muffins

I talked with Mr. & Mrs. Muffins (aka Noah and Nanda Wilson) back in July on an episode of the Bake Sale podcast, and now, 5 months later not only do they have a brand new baby (literally), they have a brand new baby (musically).

That's right, The Misty Cowboy and Other Songs to Dream By is now available for listening (and purchasing in both electronic and vinyl formats).  It is, if you'll pardon the obvious adjective, a dreamy set of tracks, mostly instrumental, and lovely to listen to on a cold winter's day.  (It feels more Christmas-y to me than many holiday albums I've heard this year.)  Also: serious bonus points for including a cover of Mr. Rogers' "It's Such a Good Feeling" as the closing track.

Weekly Summary (7/15/13 - 7/28/13)

Some vacation and some other deadlines mean that this weekly summary is actually a dual-week summary.

Blog:   Kindiefest: Not an Elegy, Radio Playlist: New Music July 2013, Video: "Tell Me It All" - Frances England, Listen To This: Justin Roberts "Recess" Sampler

Videos:  "Ice Cream Sunday" - Groovy David, "Why Is the Sky Blue?" - Nick Cope

Listen to Music:  None

Free Music:  None

Kids Music Reviews:  None

Upcoming Releases: Constantly updating...

Podcasts

Kindie Week in Review:  Not-an-Episode 3: Sometimes I Just Take a Break, Y'Know?

My Other Other Gig:  None

Bake Sale:  Episode 6: Noah and Nanda Wilson (AKA Mr. & Mrs. Muffins), The Misty Cowboy and LP, Jon Samson, A New Kids Album

  

Best Kids Music 2011: Top 10 Debuts

I'll kick off my review of the best kids music of 2011 with a look at the year's best debuts. As was the case last year, we didn't know many of these artists a year ago (or if we did, we had no idea they had a kids music album in them). But these albums caught my ear fairly quickly and some of them even made my top albums of the year list. I should note that, as I did last year, by using the word "debut," I'm assuming that this isn't the last family music album from each of these artists. Albums from Holly Throsby and Chip Taylor, for example, would've been considered for this list, but I've made the assumption that their family albums will be their sole foray into the genre. I would be happy to be proven wrong, next year or at any point in the future. So here are ten debut kids music albums (listed alphabetically by artist) worth celebrating. AlphabeticiansRock.jpgThe Alphabeticians Rock Leading off this alphabetical list is this Portland, Oregon duo (Eric Levine and Jeff Inlay, AKA Mr. E. and Mr. Hoo) who trade in sharp, hook-filled guitar jangle-pop and slightly absurd lyrics. (Sample song title: "Eric Saw Peter Buck's Girlfriend and Then He Saw Peter Buck".) But then again, isn't looking at life through a child's eyes a little absurd once we've left our adult glasses on too long? Listen here.