Itty-Bitty Review: Meet You By the Moon - The Que Pastas

The Texas-based band The Que Pastas started out as a somewhat jokier band. (They also started out as a Colorado-based band, but that's an entirely different story.) Over time, while they haven't exactly dropped their sense of humor, chief Pastas Gene Davis and Simon Flory have added a healthy dose of heart to their songs.

Meet You By the Moon, their recently-released second full-length album, is a major step forward for the band, a solid collection of Americana with touches of the Beatles and the third grade cutup. The band's always had a bit of Americana sound, but with producer Salim Nourallah (Old 97s, Rhett Miller, among others) at the helm, it's brought more to the fore in sound, attitude, and instrumentation. There's the stomp of "Llama," the hint of zydeco on the reading anthem "Book Lion," and the fiddle accents on the suffused-with-heart "Saturday Morning." And for every jokey song like "Common Denominator" (a re-recorded version of an early demo track), there's a new song like "Helen's Song," written from the perspective of a parent looking forward to future awesome events in their child's life (e.g., first corn dog at the State Fair).

The 26-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 8. While the band's fans who grew up appreciating the band's outgoing attitude with a touch of class clown in their songs will still find songs to scratch that itch, wearing more heart on their sleeve will hopefully expand their audience further. Definitely recommended.

Note: I received a copy of the album for possible review.

Video: "Helen's Song" - The Que Pastas

I'm not one normally to post videos featuring user-submitted photos and videos because I don't tend to find them particularly compelling.

But this new one from The Que Pastas features lead singer/guitarist's Gene Davis' own photos and videos from, like, just about his entire life. It gives his song, or rather, "Helen's Song," already lovely in audio form, that much more "oomph." This one's probably more for the dads (and moms) in the audience than their kids, but the older kids looking for a soundtrack for a Father's (or Mother's) Day video could do much, much worse. The song's from the brand new album from the Texas band, Meet You By the Moon.

The Que Pastas - "Helen's Song" [YouTube]

This Human Person Would Like Your Help

I used to write a lot about kids music Kickstarters -- and other kid-focused crowdfunding projects -- but for a variety of reasons have let my "Bake Sale" series highlighting such projects go dormant. But that doesn't mean I'm still not checking out the kid-friendly projects that artists and creators are starting.

Therefore, I insist that any of you who like musicians like They Might Be Giants, Billy Kelly, and Turkey Andersen -- or who like and love kids who like and love musicians like They Might Be Giants, Billy Kelly, and Turkey Andersen -- or who like and love people who like and love kids who... oh, you get the point. Anyway, watch this video. (Even if you don't like those bands, watch the video. Very, very funny.)

Human Person is the nom de plume of Austin-based musician and commercial film director Dave Thomas, and I would very much like his Kickstarter for his new album "Music Songs" to be successful. Please listen to the demo versions of the songs there, filled with nifty wordplay and artful arrangements and tell me that it wouldn't be a valuable addition to our modern lifestyle. (You can also listen to those 3 songs on last weekend's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.)

Please, do it for the kids.

Intro to Kindie: Bill Childs (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child)

So a month or two ago, I was talking with a fellow kids' music person about my upcoming series on best kids music albums (here's the one on best kids music albums for new parents), and he said that he'd been thinking about a similar question, of how to introduce new listeners to kids music. He described it as the musical equivalent of an "elevator speech" -- if you only have an hour or so, how do you grab someone who's not familiar with the genre, make them want to hear more?

I thought that was an excellent idea for a new series here, and so today I'm pleased as punch to kick off this new "Intro to Kindie" series with the person whose turn of phrase sent me down this path -- Bill Childs.

Bill wears many hats in the kids music field, but the specific hat he had on when he was thinking about introducing new audiences to kindie and kids music generally was as the long-time proprietor of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. His radio show will celebrate its tenth anniversary later this summer, and part of that celebration includes a new flagship radio station, Austin's KUTX. Starting May 9, STR will air on Sundays at 6 PM, and Bill's been thinking a lot about what will air that first episode and beyond.

While more folks will be sharing their lists as part of this series in the weeks and months to come, I'm really happy to have Bill lead this off.

When Stefan suggested that I kick off this series, I was super excited, and then I realized… oh dear, this is a tough project. So instead of actually tackling that project, I’ve just included the songs I’ve picked for the first two weeks of Spare the Rock airing on KUTX here in Austin, which is probably just about the same thing.

Let me start it off with some caveats:

This isn’t my “best of family music.”
The songs I picked don’t (necessarily) represent the songs I like best of those artists.
It’s not even necessarily a definitive introduction to our show! You’d have to also listen to the non-kids’ songs I included for that (plus the in-studios — we had Mates of State and Carrie Rodriguez for the first two weeks).
The playlist for our second week on KUTX is still in flux, so what you see below might not even represent what I claim it represents.
There are many — many, many — artists I could have included and felt great about including, so anyone’s absence from this shouldn’t be read as anything. At all. Top of my head: Okee Dokee Brothers, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Mister G, Mista Cookie Jar, Key Wilde & Mr Clarke, Moona Luna, The Jimmies, and good lord so many more that I shouldn’t even really try, should I? That’s a fool’s errand.

My goal, and I think this tracks Stefan’s request, was to put together something that would give someone new to the modern world of music for families a sense of the breadth and depth of what is in store for them, in genres, personalities, styles, tones, and so on. This particular list is Austin-centric, since I put it together specifically to welcome an Austin audience, but I think it works for anyone.

It’s in alphabetical order. (What, like I’m going to try ranking them? I’m not crazy.)

Asylum Street Spankers - Sliver

The Board of Education - The Lonely Tomato

Bunny Clogs - 3 Dogs and a Pancake

CandyBand - Down By The Bay

Jonathan Coulton - The Princess Who Saved Herself

The Deedle Deedle Dees - Henry (Hudson), How Ya Gonna Find a Way

Lucky Diaz & the Family Jam Band - Pinata Attack

Frances England - Mind of My Own

Lori Henriques - The World is a Curious Place to Live

Sara Hickman - Middle of a Little Country Road

Koo Koo Kanga Roo - Shake It Well (feat. POS)

Lead Belly - Rock Island Line

Lunch Money - Tiny Dinosaurs

Elizabeth McQueen - This Little Piggy

Milkshake - Baltimore

Elizabeth Mitchell - Lovely Day

Willie Nelson - Won’t You Ride in My Little Red Wagon

The Pop Ups - Outside Inside

Ralph’s World - The Great Outdoors

Justin Roberts - Meltdown

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Gotta Be Me

Shine & the Moonbeams - High Five

Sippy Cups - Springtime Fantastic

They Might Be Giants - Thinking Machine (and others)

Dan Zanes & Friends - Side by Side (feat. Father Goose)

Itty-Bitty Review: Newborn, Too - Sara Hickman

Sara Hickman was one of the first kindie crossover artists -- musicians who made their name making music for adults who discovered the world of making music for kids. Starting in 1999, when she released the album Newborn, followed by Toddler a couple years later, the Texas-based Hickman always kept one toe in the kindie world, releasing or coordinating 5 albums and a DVD.

Fifteen years after releasing Newborn, Hickman has a brand-new album for the youngest of young'uns -- Newborn, Too. While Newborn was a mix of lullaby and uptempo tracks, the new album is designed just for sleepy time. As is often the case with lullaby albums from intelligent singer-songwriters, Newborn, Too features a number of well-chosen modern songs given new life in this new lullaby setting. Some are familiar -- John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" and Billy Joel's gorgeous "Goodnight, My Angel" -- while perhaps the most affecting are less well-known, such as Adrian Belew's "Dream Life." Hickman's emphasis on families of whatever sort on songs like "Family Tree" and "Welcome Home" (a lovely song for parents with newly adopted children). While some of the songs are a bit too brightly produced for my own sleepy time lullaby preferences, the album generally stays safely in the lullaby camp (and avoids the goopiness lullaby albums can be prone to).

The 47-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 0 through 5, and with its emphasis on modern songs, appropriate, too, for adults looking for a mellow album featuring Hickman's strong voice and interpretive sense. It's been awhile since Hickman made a straight-up album for kids, but Newborn, Too is a welcome return to the fold. Recommended.

Listen To This: "Texas" - Rocknoceros

Last month the Virginia-based band Rocknoceros released a single called "Ohio." I liked it.

So now they have a new single -- it's called "Texas" and if the state's BBQ doesn't hit you in the solar plexus, perhaps Williebob's guitar work will. Really, the whole song is pretty nifty and I suggest you check it out via YouTube, which is where the younguns these days find out about their music. (If you like it, you can download "Texas" here.)

Rocknoceros - "Texas" [YouTube]