KidVid 2014 Tournament Champion: Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

It went from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 to voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament to voting in Semifinal #1 and Semifinal #2 to a championship match, but during the entire week, the eventual winner seemed to be pretty clear: Karen K and the Jitterbugs' "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck."

The Boston-based band had the loudest (or click-iest) fans in this year's contest, supporting this sitcom-esque (in more ways than one) video featuring a firefighter-themed cumulative song.

So, congratulations, Karen K and the Jitterbugs!  Don't let your KidVid 2014 title go to your heads!

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

My Favorite Kids Music Videos of 2013

It's been a couple years since I last tackled the kids music video world.  After years of organizing KidVid Tournaments, I think I just needed a break.  Plus I was organizing a talk on great kids music videos and my video curation energies went there last spring.

That doesn't mean, however, that I've lost interest in finding great videos to share with your family, friends, and strangers in line at the grocery store.  In fact, I went back and looked -- across the site, I featured nearly 100 new videos.

It's a new year now and with that I have a little extra energy to give you a brand new list -- my favorite kids music videos of 2013 (-ish).  Let's define the video year as I have in the past -- new videos featured on the site between March 1 of the prior year and February 28 of the current year.  (So, March 1, 2013 through February 1, 2014.)  Let's also say only one video per artist (though there were a handful of artists I considered breaking that rule for).  As always, I'm interested in visual creativity, a decent level of post-production values (which doesn't necessarily mean expensive), and a really good song.

PS: Miss the KidVid Tournament?  Then I might just have something up my sleeve for you.  Stay tuned.

Without further ado, then, in alphabetical order by artist, my 25 favorite kids music videos of 2013.  Whether this is the first time you've seen some or all of these, or the tenth, please enjoy.

"Similes and Metaphors" - The Bazillions

"Stump Hotel" - Caspar Babypants

"Thingamajig" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

(Oddly enough, removed from YouTube for violating its Terms of Service.  I've had similar problems with YouTube regarding videos I've had specific permission to upload.  I can imagine how frustrating it is for an artist.)

"Bunny in the Moon" - DidiPop

"Palindrome" - Dog on Fleas / Readeez

"Brussels Sprout Shout" - Duke Otherwise

"Midnight Sun" - Elska

"Day You Were Born" - Frances England

"Cakenstein" - Gustafer Yellowgold

"How Big" - Eric Herman

"Dinosaur" - Lori Henriques

"From You" - Charlie Hope

"End of a Summer Storm" - Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton)

"Spicy Kid" - Lunch Money

"Cocodrilo" - Mister G

"When I Get Bald" - Alastair Moock

"Snow Day" - Zak Morgan

"Skateboard" - The Not-Its

"Tambourine Submarine" - Recess Monkey

"Recess" - Justin Roberts

"Bigga Bagga" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" - Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell

Video: "Empty" - Andy Mason and Joshua Belter

I'm a sucker for well-executed videos that look hand-crafted in the best possible way.  So, yeah, when a mystery fan of this video from New Mexico musician Andy Mason and author Joshua Belter (AKA Fast Time Constant) made its way into my inbox and I watched it, I dug it quite a bit.  The video is for a song called "Empty," which is the official song based on the book The Story of a Box from Belter.  (Whew, that's a slightly complicated etymology.)

The song and the accompanying video created by Dusty Deen at Red Roadrunner Productions could be interpreted as a love song, but also as a gentle anti-bullying song that illustrates its point both musically and visually using little more than tiny boxes and pieces of paper and far more effectively than most attempts in the (sub-)genre.

Andy Mason and Joshua Belter - "Empty" [YouTube]

Video: "Walking with Spring" - The Okee Dokee Brothers

One of the most anticipated kindie albums of 2014 must be Through the Woods, the Okee Dokee Brothers' follow-up to their 2012 Grammy-winning album Can You Canoe?.  Rather than floating down the Mississippi River, this next album in their proposed-4-album "Adventure Series" sees Joe and Justin walking up the Appalachian Trail.

The first video for the album (and accompanying DVD), for "Walking with Spring," is out, and it follows the template of their Canoe videos -- gorgeously-shot scenes of their travels mixed with the occasional shot of the duo goofing off on their long journey.

Oh, yeah, and a lovely song.

(Bonus: Would you like to see some draft sketches of the album cover from cover artist -- and Zooglobble logo designer -- Brandon Reese?  I thought you might.)

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Walking with Spring" [YouTube]

Video: "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" - Mista Cookie Jar & the Chocolate Chips

Los Angeles' C.J. Pizarro -- better known in the kindie world as Mista Cookie Jar -- seems to be nearly omnipresent these days, showing up on a number of different kindie artists' albums.

As for his own music, though, he's been a little more silent, save for the release of the first Todd and Cookie EP last year.  Why is that?  Well, in small part that's due to the fact that he's spent nearly a year hand-animating (along with the rest of The Chocolate Chips) his latest video.  It's for "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" off his Ultramagnetic Universal Love Revolution album.

It's hard for me to say that anything that reduces the amount of MCJ music in the world is worth the wait, but this video?  Worth the wait.  Really beautiful retro-styled collages.

Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips - "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "Let It Go" - Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel and the Roots

As with the last time I posted a clip of Jimmy Fallon and the Roots tackling a pop culture hit, I suspect that many of you reading this have already seen this (or at least had a half-dozen friends recommend it to you via social media).  But it's still great.

This clip from The Tonight Show of Jimmy FallonThe Roots, and Idina Menzel singing the big hit from Disney's Frozen, "Let It Go," aired the night after the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song.  I actually was never a huge fan of the song in the movie -- for a song about letting it all go, it never seemed to actually… let go.  No problem with that in this version -- I like the arrangement better (though that has nothing to do with the toy instruments) and Menzel gets to show off her voice even more.  Big smile.

Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel, and the Roots - "Let It Go" (from Frozen) [YouTube