Oh, here's a heart-warming tale of a friendship between a bird and a porcupine animated by David Chao. Then why is it called "Pig Box"? (I had to Google the answer to that one.) I don't even know why the pig/porcupine didn't break into a rendition of "Hakuna Matata" like I kept expecting him to. -- that question I don't think can be answered properly.
But you should watch the video -- perhaps you will come up with a better answer than I've been able to provide.
"Pig Box" [Vimeo]
I noted that I posted very little on Facebook or Twitter this week. I did, however, post more here a bit on, y'know, this website.
Blog: Video: "The Rattling Can" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke, How I Got Here: Frances England (The Wiggles / Galaxie 500)
Videos: "Seventeen Years (A Cicada Love Song)" - Lloyd Miller
Listen to Music: "(Look for the) Good People" - Sugar Free Allstars, Pleased To Meet You - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke
Free Music: "Just Another Finger" - Mista Cookie Jar
Kids Music Reviews: None this week...
Upcoming Releases: I've said summer is busy, right? It's busy.
Podcasts
Kindie Week in Review: Not-an-Episode 1: Where I Just Write Stuff Down
My Other Other Gig: None this week...
Bake Sale: None this week...
While many kindie musicians found their way to the field as a detour from or second gig in addition to life as making music for adults, San Francisco's Frances England had a much more down-to-earth origin as a kindie musician. She was a mom and recorded an album as a fundraiser for her son's preschool. The result, 2006's Fascinating Creatures, sounded like nothing else that was being released at the time.
England will release her fourth family music CD, Blink of an Eye, in August. In anticipation of that release, I asked her to contribute to the "How I Got Here" series, featuring kindie musicians talking about albums influencing them as musicians.
When I read her piece, my first thought was of a comment musician/producer Dean Jones (who produced Blink of an Eye) made of England, that she was an artist who had a very clear idea of what she wanted her music to sound like and, more so than many artists, would sometimes consider and then decline his suggestions. In that context, her praise for the Wiggles is even more illuminating.
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I recorded my first family music CD, Fascinating Creatures, in 2005 and during that time there were two albums in high rotation at my house: The Wiggles' Yummy Yummy and Galaxie 500’s Today. My son Liam was three years old and someone had given him Yummy Yummy as a birthday gift. At the time, I had no idea there was even such a thing as a children’s music genre. I was the first in my circle of friends to have kids and I was still finding my footing with parenting and all that goes along with it.
So the Wiggles were a total revelation. I remember watching Liam’s face light up the first time we popped in the cd and heard songs like “Fruit Salad” and “Crunchy Munchy Honey Cakes.” The melodies were so catchy, the lyrics were so sweetly silly and every song was so obviously written and sung for kids and for kids alone. No winks or ironic nods to parents or older siblings. Nope, it seemed that Greg, Murray, Anthony and Jeff could care less what anyone over the age of 7 thought of them or their songs, and I loved them for that. So we must have played Yummy Yummy hundreds and hundreds of times that year and after a while I started going a little crazy.
My release, when I had a rare moment alone, was to get in my car, roll down the windows and crank Galaxie 500’s Today album. This is one of my favorite albums of all time and it’s lo-fi, dreamy-pop rawness was the perfect antidote to Yummy Yummy. Today is one of the most nostalgic sounding albums I’ve ever heard and songs like “Oblivious” and “Tugboat” and “Parking Lot” can actually make my chest ache, because somehow these songs conjure up vivid memories of days gone by, for me. Arrangements on the album are mostly sparse and fuzzy and, to be honest, it doesn’t really sound like anyone in the band was particularly great at their instruments. But for me, Galaxie 500 had what matters most: heart, a great vibe, and some awesome hooks.
So these two albums probably played the biggest influence in the writing and recording of Fascinating Creatures. I didn’t really know what I was doing then but I did know that I wanted the songs to be, first and foremost, engaging to kids and talk about things they could relate to. And I wanted it to sound fuzzy and lo-fi and nostalgic.
Since then, I’ve recorded 3 more children’s CDs and will be releasing my latest one, Blink of an Eye, which is produced by Dean Jones, on August 6. I’m also releasing my first ever non-kids album later this year called Paths We Have Worn (also produced by Dean). I’ve been doing this for a while now but still feel so truly lucky to be part of this community of indie family music makers. And now a lot of the albums that influence my writing are actually made by my friends who are also part of this community. It’s a really good place to be.
Yes, I know that Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke have just released their newest album, Pleased To Meet You (and that I'd recommend it highly to you).
But there may be no KWMC song I hold in higher esteem than "The Rattling Can," off their debut album Rise and Shine (which I'd also recommend highly to you). From the first time I heard it, I loved its energy and the way it took the traditional and reinvigorated it.
So, yay, new video for the song! Simply animated by Wilde himself, but lots of fun. Make sure you stick around for the rare quark, rattling quark.
Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke - "The Rattling Can" [YouTube]
A day late, but you were probably relaxing. As was I. Because, as you can tell, I was busy the week before!
Blog: Monday Morning Smile: "This Is Water" - David Foster Wallace, Review: When the World Was New - Dean Jones, Review: A Day in the Life of a Boogaleeboo - Lesley and the Flying Foxes, Review: Pleased To Meet You - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke
Videos: "Toy Symphony" - Leopold Mozart, "Hippie Mom" - Big Bang Boom, "Fish Sticks" - Recess Monkey
Listen to Music: "Can We Buy a New Car (So I Can Have a Balloon)" - Eric Herman, Bugs - Mister G, Spicy Kid - Lunch Money, Dizzy - Lunch Money, Silly Reflection - Lunch Money
Free Music: Summer 2013 Road Trip Playlist - Various Artists
Kids Music Reviews: None this week...
Upcoming Releases: I've said summer is busy, right? It's busy.
Podcasts
Kindie Week in Review: Episode 17: Brief, or Maybe Not So Brief
My Other Other Gig: Episode 3: Darren Critz, Non-Sports Fan
Bake Sale: None this week...
My appreciation for Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke is long-standing and deep. My review of Rise and Shine, their first album from early 2010, felt to me less like a review than a summary of everything the duo had done in the couple years or so leading up to the album.
And to some extent I feel a bit the same way about their brand-new second album, Pleased To Meet You. It's been more than 3 years in the making, obviously, but beyond that, some of this music ("Animal Alphabet", for example, or "Raised By Trolls" and "Chuckers") has made its way into the world during that time. So when I say that this album feels familiar, I can't always tell if that's because it actually is familiar or because KWMC have tapped into some timeless country-punk attitude.
In that review of their debut, I called the band (they're a quartet now, with a handful of guest artists, including producer Dean Jones, joining in) a "mix of Johnny Cash, Johnny Rotten, and Johnny Appleseed." Sometimes, as on the opening title track (whose structure as a counting song is disguised by the propulsive shuffling beat and the British born-Clarke's slight sneer of a voice), they mix them up on the same song. "Raised By Trolls" has a killer surf-rock guitar line, but the next track, "Wander Round the World" is a sweet and earnest bluegrass ode to travel.
If anything, Wilde and Clarke's songwriting has become even weirder. "Lazy Raisins" is a ska tune about some raisins doing nothing but lying in the sun (which makes sense, when you think about it). "King of the Town" is a rocker about a kid who bemoans his inexplicable election as head of the city until he makes some very sensible rules. That's followed by "Conversation," a mini-operatic rocker in the vein of the Who about a kid confused by the adult chatter at a party which features the line, "Please excuse me / I have to step outside / My bike is double-parked." And as mystifying that song is, I have no idea what "Bigga Bagga" is about other than silly wordplay and shouting "Oi!" a lot (as a result, I think it'll be a big hit with Little Boy Blue).
Which isn't to say that they can't be tender and linear -- "Take Ten" is a roots-rocker with layered harmonies that happens to be about frustration and taking a break. But kids will relate because it's willing to sound how kids (and, occasionally, adults) honestly feel -- "This is the stupidest planet in the entire universe / It's so dumb / It's not fair / I've had enough / And I just don't care / Count to ten / Start all over again."
The 45-minute album will be most appreciated by kids ages 3 through 8. You can listen to the entire album here. And of course the physical product includes illustrator Wilde's character-filled illustrations of assorted animals and people. (Visit the KWMC website for stories behind some of the surprising appearances on the album cover.)
If you've read this far, it shouldn't be any great surprise that I think Pleased To Meet You is fabulous, an energetic blend of Americana and punk, of empathy and third-grade snark. Fans of Rise and Shine should snap this up immediately, and the rest of you shouldn't delay much, either. Highly recommended.
Zooglobble
Zooglobble helps you find kindie music -- news, videos, mp3s, reviews -- for your whole family.
DIY for the kindie world.
