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Laurie Berkner takes her time recording and releasing music, so new music from her is worth noting. New music from Laurie Berkner for free for a good cause is definitely worth noting.

Starting today and through February 28, the Pajama Program will be offering visitors to their website a chance to download "Open Your Heart," a new song recorded by Berkner especially for the organization, which provides new, warm sleepwear and books to children in need. (Berkner played several "Pajama Party" concerts in 2009 where she asked fans to bring pajamas and books for the program.) It's jaunty, sweet, and should have a shelf life beyond the month of February.

And there are hand motions, apparently. Berkner's going to sing the song on her Valentine's Day webcast, with daughter Lucy doing the hand motions.

If you want your chance to be in a Laurie Berkner video (in a manner of speaking), you can also film your kids dancing to the song and send those videos to the Pajama Program by February 22 -- they'll be compiled into a single video that the program will use to promote itself. It's not quite fame and fortune, but perhaps it's a small part of a good deed, which is enough for a Monday, no?

Anyway, go here to download the track.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An early, as-yet-unrevealed formative video experience for Michael Rachap?

Who knows, but this is pretty much a guaranteed grin. Not kids music, but bring 'em round the computer.

Papas Fritas - "Hey Hey You Say" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I mentioned previously that registration for Kindiefest was open, I wasn't 100% sure that I was going myself. I mean, I had lots of fun last year, and this year promises to be even better (more panels, a keynote, a chance to hear 14 different artists playing live). But it's a really long flight from Phoenix, and a weekend away from the family essentially working.

Having said all that, I'm going. And now the panel I was asked to moderate is starting to take shape, I might've been willing to go to Brooklyn for that experience alone. The panel "Old School Meets New School," will talk about the generations of family musicians -- those who've been doing it for 3 years and those who've been doing it for 30 -- and their perspectives on making music for families in today's world. At the moment, the panel includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Suni Paz, and Bill Harley. Not to mention Kids Corner's Kathy O'Connell. (And I don't think the panel's quite complete.)

Yeah. You read that right. My chief goal in being moderator will be shutting up and not getting in the way.

Anyway, earlybird registration for the conference ends next Monday, so if you haven't seen the burgeoning list of speakers and artists, I encourage you to do so. See you in Brooklyn.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bill played "Space Kitty" on this morning's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, so I thought it'd be worth directing you to the other track from Roy Handy and the Moonshot, "Crayon Man" -- if Roy G. Biv is your (or your kid's) best friend, this song is for you. Also, if you (or your kid) like a good power-pop rockin' tune, this song is for you. If you (or your kid) like meowing, this song is not for you.

I've heard more of Handy's music, and I think the full-length, when complete, is gonna have a lot of fans...

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yo Gabba Gabba's Muno (the tall red one) is co-starring in a Super Bowl ad for Kia. I could make the serious tsk-tsk noises about how this proves that the show is targeted at least in part at adults because why else would the ad agency use a character from a show whose most popular song encourages kids to eat everything on their plates.

Instead, I'll just note that whatever swelled head Muno might get compared to his (unseen) YGG co-stars would be wiped out by the fact that that Paul Frank monkey gets most of the good scenes (the tattoo was particularly amusing).

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of my favorite tracks from the upcoming Ralph's World disk All Around Ralph's World is "All About Bob."

Want to share it amongst your family and friends to see if they agree with me? OK -- Bar/None Records is offering a free download of the track -- go here to download the mp3.

Tres catchy.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the noisiest kids' CD you'll hear all year. Dean Jones, musician with a dozen hats (including one as the ringleader of the wonderful folk/pop/jazz/whatever band Dog on Fleas), turns to a bunch of friends, primarily the Felice Brothers and Earmight, for his latest album Rock Paper Scissors. Unlike his first solo kids' disk, the lullaby(-ish) Napper's Delight, this new album is loud and sloppy and all over the place. (If the two albums are in the same place at the same time, they will explode, just as if you put matter and anti-matter together.)

The opening track, "Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!" outdoes Dan Zanes and anybody else who's ever attempted to put a party group jam on record. You will not hear a better album-opener all year, and the album almost suffers from being unable to match that level of energy and raucous joy the rest of the disk, as if anything could. As the album proceeds, Jones and his pals move from the jazzy title track, the Jazz Age novelty track (in spirit, anyway) "Butterflies" to the sing-it-loud-and-proud midtempo "Sing Like a Sparrow." Jones pal Uncle Rock shows up to mug his way through the loudest song about snoring you'll ever hear "Roncando," while the band channels a little bit of the great band Morphine on "Poison Ivy." It moves through many emotions and many instruments (haven't seen "car-horn-o-phone" on an instrument list lately). While this isn't quite the folk/pop that Dog on Fleas mastered on When I Get Little, people who adored that album and didn't have quite the attachment to its follow-up Beautiful World will probably find this a worthy successor.

Kids ages 4 through 8 may dig the album more so than kids of other ages, though kids ages 34 through 38 will enjoy it just as much. You can hear clips from the approximately 34-minute album here.

So, yeah, Dean Jones throws in everything but the kitchen sink on Rock Paper Scissors, and then goes ahead and throws in the sink for good measure. Lots of kids albums describe themselves as a good party, but this album is the real deal. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Next month sees the release of Putumayo's latest kid-friendly release, Jazz Playground, and to promote the disk, they're offering a free download (well, free except for giving up an e-mail address) of the swingin' minor-key "Little Lamb Jam" by Oran Etkin with Charenee Wade on vocals -- go here directly to sign up.

You can also click on the Jazz Playground link above to hear the first 3 tracks from the album, including one of my favorite jazz-for-kids artists, gypsy jazz swing man Lewis Franco & The Missing Cats (see my review of his disk from a couple years ago here). Chris McKhool's take on "Spider-Man" is pretty cool, and it's hard to go wrong with the Cuban jazz of Jose Conde "Cumbamba."

Full track listing after the jump

Continue reading "Share: "Little Lamb Jam" - Oran Etkin with Charenee Wade" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've probably received more CDs from Rockabye Baby than from any label. Every two or three months, a new disk shows up, tinkling away melodies familiar and less-so, depending on the particular artist subject to the Rockabye lullaby treatment. Next up for the Rockabye treatment is Journey -- their album comes out next week. The last track, of course, is "Don't Stop Believin'," and having heard the disk, no, they don't end the track mid-song. (If you want to listen to the track, you can go here.)

I don't talk much about Rockabye Baby here because I feel conflicted about the series -- I do think that a fair amount of musical talent goes into producing them, but have always felt that the series puts the parents at the center of this to the near exclusion of the kids themselves. Meaning, what conceivable reason would a newborn have for listening to Journey?

Well, none -- the disk is entirely for the parents. Which isn't to say that the music on the disk isn't good, or that there isn't value in having parents enjoy listening to a disk because they recognize the song (and thereby communicating enjoyment of music to their kids). But those are tangential. Really, what's the difference between this and having your kids listen to this and, say, Lullaby Renditions of Color Me Badd? The difference is perceived coolness and actual popularity among people who, you know, are old enough to be parents. Your newborns won't care one bit.

But, man, the series shows no sign of slowing down, and why should it? People like me who have this uneasy feeling the series is more for people who want to get a laugh from a baby shower gift will be outnumbered by folks who have very strong feelings for the Rockabye-d artists and probably will be until we're grandparents ourselves. So I'm going to pass along this interview I received via Rockabye's publicist. It's with Lisa Roth, Vice President of CMH Records (Rockabye's label parent), and even with the softball nature of some of the questions and the essentially self-congratulatory nature of the interview as a whole, I think it does say some interesting things about the series and what they go through in producing a particular record.

Continue reading "Will Rockabye Baby's Nap Be Cut Short?" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know, the whole shadow thing's already been done today. I don't even care what happened (which is what happens when you live in Arizona).

You just need this. It's awesome on February 2nd and October 2nd. And all dates in between.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Step 1 to putting together a nice kids music video: Have a nephew. (Or niece, I suppose, if a nephew is unavailable.)

Step 2: Have that nephew become a teacher.

Step 3: Have that nephew assign your album as an assignment for creating videos.

Step 4: Profit!

OK, there was probably no profit for Chris Ballew, his nephew Marty, or Marty's student Gabe Trainer, but this video for "Robin on a Wire" from Ballew's second Caspar Babypants album More Please!, is pretty sweet. Very much like a children's picture book. (Note: Your ability to follow Ballew's template may vary.)

Caspar Babypants - "Robin on a Wire" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, it's simple, with low-grade production values.

But.

It's the Muppets, with a nice arrangement of the classic "Mahna Mahna." I love the goofy angles from the Okee Dokee Brothers. So I think it's worth the minute or so runtime.

Okee Dokee Brothers - "Mahna Mahna" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I swooned over Sing With Me, the kids' EP from Haley Bonar, but a downside of that particular review is that there aren't any sound clips.

So I thought I'd close out this Friday by sharing this video of "Beautiful You," recorded by a Duluth radio station when Bonar stopped by to play a few of her tunes. Aside from the inability of Bonar to sing harmony with herself live (as she does on record), it sounds a lot like the album version.

That is to say, beautiful.

Haley Bonar - "Beautiful You" (Live) [Vimeo]

Beautiful You from The Duluth Scene on Vimeo.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, the Grammys are almost upon us, and once again the Grammy Museum is hosting a Children's Recording concert. It's tomorrow, Saturday, at noon, and for $10 a pop, you'll get to hear music from all six kids' music Grammy nominees -- Ziggy Marley, Buck Howdy, Milkshake, Jonathan Sprout, Greg & Steve, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Christylez Bacon. That's a pretty good lineup for $10, plus Dean Pitchford and Buck Howdy will do some readings from their Best Spoken Word-nominated albums.

Grammy weekend has always had a bit of a convention-week feel for folks in the industry, and the kids music folks are capitalizing on it, having another breakfast on Saturday that'll bring together musicians and other folks in the industry. For a variety of reasons, I won't be able to make it this year, but I will soon...

Now, as for the actual awards, the Best Children's Musical Recording and Spoken Word awards will be handed out on Sunday at 1 PM Los Angeles time. As they were last year, these not-ready-for-prime-time (or at least, not shown-on-prime time) will be streamed live GRAMMY.com. You'll be able to follow folks like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer on the interwebs throughout the weekend.

As for who'll actually win, as I said right after the nominations were announced, I think Ziggy Marley has to be considered the favorite taking into account the long Grammy history he has, but Cathy & Marcy could pull off an upset. Maybe next year there'll be 10 nominees.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the most welcome trends of the past decade, kids music-wise, is that artists who spend most of their time making music for adults don't have a problem occasionally making music for kids, joining the lucky group of folks for whom making music for families is a full-time gig. Often these albums appear at the midpoint of an artist's career -- think of They Might Be Giants, or Barenaked Ladies, or The Verve Pipe -- well after they've established themselves. But I think we've gotten to the point where up-and-coming artists -- potential Next Big Things -- feel like recording family music is a perfectly acceptable detour along the way.

Ten years ago, would Haley Bonar have released her 5-song EP Sing With Me? Probably not.

Which would've been a shame, because this is a beautiful 16 minutes of music. Bonar, a singer-songwriter from the Upper Midwest who now calls Portland, Oregon her home, has a sweet voice ever so slightly ragged around the edges. On Sing With Me, she uses that voice to good effect on songs like the album "Beautiful You," which fairly aches with joy. Lyrics like "Beautiful / Everyone is beautiful / And I think you're beautiful, too" might sound trite in the hands of lesser artists, but in Bonar's sparse arrangement becomes a thing of beauty. It's basically a muted version of "What a Wonderful World." That's followed up by the title track, which in its brazen exhortation to sing and use of the major scale in the chorus is a 21st century version of "Do Re Mi."

Those two songs, the album's best, are followed by "I Wanna Be Like You," of which Bonar's mellow take may not interest too many kids. The slow waltz "For Sister" is a little bit like Dar Williams' "The Babysitter's Here" in that it's a celebration of love for a little sister that may be best understood by the adults listening, but isn't outside the comprehension level of a kindergartner (who might be close to the experience). The EP finishes up with "If I Had A Rainbow," which features lines such as "If I had a rainbow / that'd follow me wherever I'd go / Everybody'd like me / Because I'd be so colorful." It's a cheery way to end the album.

The 16-minute album will be most enjoyed by kids ages 3 through 7. For the moment, you can only purchase the album at Bonar's store. I know that Bonar's on the way up in the world, and we're not likely to get another family album from her anytime soon. That's a shame, because I'm really taken by Sing With Me and I think you'll be, too. Good songwriting is always appreciated, regardless of whether you're 3 or 33. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)