Video: "Dance Party" - Triple Rainbow (World Premiere!)

Screenshot of doll with turntable from “Dance Party” video

I’m a sucker for chocolate ice cream, cool t-shirt designs, and warm-hearted sitcoms with a touch of absurdity and/or acerbity. I’m also a sucker for a deceptively lo-fi kids music video with a well-placed California Raisin cameo.

So, yeah, of course I liked the latest video from Portland, Oregon-based Triple Rainbow. The band is the combination of Jared Mees, head of local boutique chain/indie music label Tender Loving Empire, and his two under-10 daughters, July and Piper. They’ve got an album, You Are Magic, coming out next year and their latest single, “Dance Party” is out today.

“You Are Magic” album cover

The song is appropriately dance-worthy, an electronic bop that isn’t too fast — maybe even well-paced enough to do a little cleaning to. And the video? It’s a sweet little stop-motion video that features art direction and set creation by July Mees. (Jared and July did the animation, Jared edited, and Jesse Bettis did the motion graphics.) Like I implied above, it’s got a lo-fi aesthetic but is quite well done. And, yeah, a California Raisin cameo (not to mention at least a couple other cameos that might be more famous to the current under-10 set).

Anyway, I’m happy to world-premiere this fun video. You can preorder the album here or find the link to your family’s preferred way to stream or watch music here. You Are Magic is out on Jan. 22, 2022.

Triple Rainbow - “Dance Party” [YouTube]

Video: "Color by Number / Bobbing and Weaving" - Mike Phirman (World Premiere!)

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Mike Phirman laughing in studio. Photo by Michelle Livingston

Mike Phirman, like some (though certainly not all) kids’ musicians, didn’t start out intending to become a kids’ musician. Instead, he was a comedian who wrote some funny songs. But one of those songs, “Chicken Monkey Duck,” became popular on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live (and, erm, with me?), and so it shouldn’t have been so surprising that after becoming a parent himself, he turned more directly to making music for kids.

He’s releasing his second album for kids, an EP title Activity Books, on 8 Pound Gorilla Records this Friday, and the second single from the album is called “Color by Number / Bobbing and Weaving.” When you listen to the song or watch the video (world-premiered here!), you might be wondering what in the world the 2 parts of the song have to do with each other. But give it a little time, and it all comes together quite neatly. The coloring-book-inspired video is courtesy of Dan Edwards. All in all, a nifty song (or two) and video that captures it perfectly.

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Interested in hearing more from Activity Books? You can preorder/save/whatever it is you younger parents do these days with music rather than trying to remember it with your own brain here.

Mike Phirman - “Color by Number / Bobbing and Weaving” [YouTube]

Photo by Michelle Livingston

Video: "Flying Starfish" - Elena Moon Park (World Premiere!)

Unhurried Journey album cover

Unhurried Journey album cover

Even though I’m not posting quite so much these days, I will always make time to post music from Elena Moon Park, the New York singer/violinist/multi-instrumentalist who first came to kindie prominence as a member of Dan Zanes’ band. (And not just because her non-musical background suggests she’s a policy nerd like me.) She’s always drawn from a deep well of influences, yes from East Asia as noted on her first album Rabbit Days and Dumplings, but beyond that.

Her new album Unhurried Journey takes another dip into that deep well, effortlessly melding sounds from different cultures. This song from the album — “Flying Starfish” — is deceptively simple but the instrumentation, featuring the musical saw and jarana with some electronic instrumentation as well, gives it a dreamlike feel. As for the song itself, Park notes that “I sang this song to my niece Zora when she was born, making it up as I went along. While holding her for the first time, I thought of all the exciting adventures coming her way, the transformations and changes that come with them, and how her family would always be waiting for her when she returns.”

This world-premiere video features drawings by the musician and artist Dana Lyn that match the song in its simple, otherworldly texture. All around, a lovely song for your family to get lost in for a few minutes.

Elena Moon Park - “Flying Starfish” [YouTube]

Video: "Ding Dong Merrily On High" - Charlie Hope (World Premiere!)

Sing A Festive Song album cover

It is always a good time for music from Charlie Hope, her clean, crisp voice a tonic for the dreary days of winter (or summer!).

Sing A Festive Song! is Hope’s 2017 holiday-themed album, and included a lovely version of “Ding Dong Merrily On High.” Hope rewrote the lyrics to remove the most religious parts of the text, but kept the er… glorious “Gloria,” which requires a long intake of breath before the singer the gently descending line. In other words, the absolute best part remains.

It may be a couple years after the album release, but now the song has a video that’s every bit of delightful. It’s directed by David Cowles and Jeremy Galante (this is not the first time by any means their work has appeared on this site, often in conjunction with They Might Be Giants’ music) and features a bunch of happy, playful, and singing gnomes. Festive for the winter holidays, no matter which winter holidays your family celebrate. And it’s a world premiere!

Charlie Hope - “Ding Dong Merrily On High” [YouTube]

Video: "Under the Big Umbrella" - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

Brady Rymer - Under the Big Umbrella cover art

We are in the midst of spring (or, if you’re in the desert Southwest, rapidly approaching summer), which means that it’s time for a sunnier attitude.

And as I think about kids’ musicians, Brady Rymer is right near the top of the list of those with sunnier attitudes. On May 17th, Rymer and his Little Band That Could release his tenth (!) studio album, Under the Big Umbrella.

Now, you might be thinking that I’ve failed in my narrative approach — “sunny” and “umbrella” being a more unusual pairing of words — but the album title track definitely takes more of a metaphorical than a meteorological view of the phrase. (If there were a camping-themed song here, it’d be titled “Big Tent" to be sure.) The whole album’s musical and lyrical approach will sound familiar to Rymer’s fans — roots-pop originals with an expansive sound and lyrics that welcome all. (These songs in particular were inspired by Rymer’s request for kids at a New Jersey elementary school for what was meaningful to them.) It’s a sunny set of tracks, hopeful in many ways.

We’re happy to be premiering the brand new video for “Under the Big Umbrella.” It’s a simple lyric video, but since it features the charming illustrations and hand-letterings of illustrator Emily Balsley, who did that cover art up there, that’s A-OK by me. (Go here for links to your favorite non-video way to listen to the track.)

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - “Under the Big Umbrella” [YouTube]

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - photo by Jayme Thornton

Photo credit: Jayme Thornton