With Messianic Fervor

I would make for a lousy missionary. Talking to people one at a time, trying to convince them right then and there in the correctness of my position is not my strength -- proselytizing makes me blanch. I would rather spend time day after day, week after week, year after year, offering facts and sharing opinions, not to mention listening to others. If others come to my point of view, great. If not, it's not worth ramming my head into a wall repeatedly. And maybe I'll have my own mind changed. My approach to kids music has been pretty much the same. I'm happy writing my opinions on my website and argue them with some vigor, but get me one-on-one with somebody about kids music, and I'm, like, "Uh, I kinda like Elizabeth Mitchell." I know. I should be a little more forceful (and, OK, that quote above's an exaggeration) but it's not an exaggeration to say that the person who talks most about Zooglobble locally isn't me -- it's one of my friends who's constantly asking for my business cards and giving them to people she meets. So it was with some amusement that I read an article about Rani Arbo and her career with her band Daisy Mayhem. Her career navigates both the folk and kids music camps...

Rani Arbo is one of Middletown's biggest exports — hell, it wouldn't be a stretch to call her one of Connecticut's, considering her band's rigorous touring across the nation. She and Daisy Mayhem have the rare luxury of fitting into two niche markets, whereas most bands are lucky to fit into one. Since they use acoustic instruments (including drummer Scott Kessel's all-recycled kit — he uses cat food tins and a suitcase for a kick drum), they fit in handsomely with the folk, bluegrass and roots music circuit. And their versatility with both adult and children's songbooks allows them to tap into the kids' music fanbase, who Arbo (vocals/violin) describes as “messianic about things they like.”

Uh-oh - she's got us.

Video: "Mr. Butterfly" - The Que Pastas

When I last told you about Denver's Que Pastas, it was to mention their free EP. (Pro tip: it's still free.) Now I'm telling you about their shiny new video for "Mr. Butterfly." It's done by eg design, the same folks who've done the snappy set of videos for the Bazilions, with help from artist Season Mustful. Call it "The Very Funky Caterpillar." The Que Pastas - "Mr. Butterfly" [YouTube]

Video: "Parachute (Using the Ghost of Buddy Holly As A)" - Fishboy

So I saw this the other day, and I just thought you (and your family) needed to see it, too. It's for "Parachute (Using the Ghost of Buddy Holly As A)" from Denton, Texas band Fishboy and their 2007 album Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State With the Power of Rock and Roll. A catchy tune, a Pong reference in the video, and although it contemplates the possible death of the song's narrator, by the end it's uplifting and even makes the title make sense. Fishboy has a new album out -- Classic Creeps -- May 10 (stream it here). You can download this track for free here. Fishboy - "Parachute (Using the Ghost of Buddy Holly As A)" [YouTube] (Via the Pop For Kids blog, more on that anon.)

Please Release Me: April 2011 Edition

Another month, another list of new and upcoming releases. (Last month's list is here.) As always, if I've listed you on here and gotten something wrong (or something not ready for primetime), let me know and I'll edit or delete it. And if you're not on here and think you should be, drop me a line, too, and I'll get you added for the next iteration. Joanie Leeds: What a Zoo! (April 12) Brady Rymer: Love Me For Who I Am (April 12) [features duet with Laurie Berkner] Azam Ali: From Night to the Edge of Day (April 12) Daddy A Go Go (aka John Boydston): Grandkid Rock (April 19) Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of the Flaming Lips (April 26) Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke: Hey Pepito! EP (mid-April) Eric Herman: The Elephant (DVD, national release April) Randy Kaplan: Mr. Diddie Wah Diddie (April) Tom Chapin: Give PEAS a Chance (May 3) Lucky Diaz: O'Lucky Day! (May 10) Moey's Music Party: Happily Ever Moey! A Fairy Tale Lark in Central Park (DVD, May 10) Readeez: Readeez Vol. 3: Knowledge is Good (DVD, CD, May 13) Egg: Hard Boiled (spring) Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Jimi Hendrix (Spring) Recess Monkey: FLYING! (June 21) Charlie Hope: Songs, Stories and Friends: Let's Go Play! (June) Central Services Board of Education: Title TBA (summer) Rocknoceros: Colonel Purple Turtle (Sept. 13) Andy Z The Grand Scream of Things (Oct. 4) [produced by Tor Hyams] Milkshake: Title TBA plus Holiday Album Title TBA (Fall 2011) Other 2011 albums: Ah-Choo, Alastair Moock, Peter Apel, Funky Mamas, Dan Zanes, Hipwaders, Big Don, Mr. Richard, Chuck Cheesman. Also, Rockabye Baby for Van Halen, The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna.

New Grammy Categories Announced: 50% Fewer Children's Categories

The Recording Academy, otherwise known as the folks who put on the annual music recording industry confab called the Grammys, announced today that after a year-long review review they were restructuring the Grammy categories for the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. Reducing from 109 to 78 categories, the Academy reduced the 2 categories in the Children's Field to one, eliminating the separate awards for Musical Recording and Spoken Word. On the one hand, this can clearly be seen as a shot at the Children's Spoken Word recordings -- some other changes in the voting process indicated that low numbers of relevant album submissions were clearly a concern, as categories with fewer than 40 entries will now have just 3 nominees, and entries with fewer than 25 will be suspended. The Spoken Word category has, for the past few years, hung around in that 25-40 range, while the Musical Recording field always has well more than 100, often approaching 200, entries. Oddly enough, however, it's that small number of recordings that may just give the spoken word recordings a disproportionate share of the nominees in the new, combined category. Fewer nominees, easier to vote for. And that's not even getting into the discussion once the nominees are announced, when the "famous name" aspect of the spoken word category may make it even harder for great, "non-famous" musical artists to break through. I could be wrong. I hope I am. But I think the likelihood of independent family musicians getting nominated for 2012 just went down fairly substantially.

Itty-Bitty Review: Planting Seeds - Maria Sangiolo

It is hard to make an "Earth Day"-themed album. Well, it's hard to make a good one, anyway, one whose musical enjoyment outweighs any "life lessons" the album hopes to teach (the teaching of which usually fails because the music fails.) I'm happy to report, then, that Maria Sangiolo's new album Planting Seeds is one of the few earth-themed albums families will want to listen to in April or even the rest of the year. This is partially the result of choosing good songs that happen to be about the planet we live on, and the plants and animals (including us) who reside upon it. It's only in that broader sense that putting Mark Erelli's version of the traditional folk song "The Fox" on an album "celebrat[ing] agriculture and sustainability" (to quote the back cover) fits. (Or the frustration with the bug world on Sangiolo's bluesy "Flashlights and Flyswatters" and Anand Nayak and Sienna Jessurun's "Noisy Cricket.") But it thankfully keeps the album from sounding like a lecture. The other thing that keeps it from sounding like a lecture is that the music is quite good. Sangiolo pulled in Nayak, who's part of Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, as producer, and like daisy mayhem's music, this album has a loose and relaxed feel, like a well-worn pair of jeans. Maybe the duet between Sangiolo and Nayak compatrior Steve Roslonek (aka SteveSongs) on Les Julian's participation song "Plant a Seed" took several tracks to record, but the genuinely humorous interplay between the two makes it sound like it was recorded live-to-tape in just one take. Sangiolo also is generous in sharing the album with many other artists beyond those already mentioned, include Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem on a couple tracks, Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen doing their best Pete Seeger on "Maple Sweet," and Alastair Moock and Lori McKenna on my favorite track on the album, "Didn't Know What I Was Missing." (Moock also co-wrote a number of the songs here.) The album is credited to "Maria and Friends," and the billing is apt. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 4 through 9. You can listen to samples here. Planting Seeds is a celebration of the earth on which we live, but it's also a celebration of community. Sangiolo's community of friends have put together a collection of songs worth listening to (and maybe, eventually, learning from). Recommended.