Play List: Again with the Little Boy Blue Birthday Playlist

We had a birthday party recently for Little Boy Blue and while it wasn't necessarily close to his actual birthday, we didn't worry much about that. 

But the mix CD for guests, yeah, that we (OK, I) sweated over a bit.  And so for something like the fifth consecutive year (although I guess the most recent mix here is from a couple years ago) , guests got a mix CD of mostly -- but not entirely -- kids music.

Here's the playlist and, for those of you on Spotify, you too can enjoy the home experience via the Spotify playlist or direct link or widget below.

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They Might Be Giants – Figure Eight
Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke
Dean Jones – Snail Mail
Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke – Bigga Bagga
The Board of Education – I'm Not Here Right Now
Psy – Gangnam Style (강남스타일)
Lesley & the Flying Foxes – I Love To...
Ratboy Jr. – High 5 Your Shadow
Shine and the Moonbeams – High Five
Play Date – Anyone Can Sing
They Might Be Giants – Tubthumping - feat. the Onion AV Club Choir
Caspar Babypants – Too Dirty To Love
Boxtop Jenkins – Wag More (feat. Indigo Girls)
Recess Monkey – Fish Sticks
Paul Spring – Home of Song
Stevie Wonder – Uptight (Everything's Alright)
Billy Kelly – Don't Tell Me That I Don't Know What I Know (When You Know That You Don't Know What I Know That I Know)

Bill Harley & Keith Munslow – It's Not Fair to Me
Cat Doorman – Peaceful
The Not-Its! – Let's Skateboard
Counting Crows – Accidentally In Love
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band – A Bailar
Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke – Take Ten
Justin Roberts – All For You
Renee & Jeremy – Give It Away

Duplex – Figure 8

Video: "Bandwagon" - Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights

When I was at Kindiefest this spring, specifically to do a presentation on great kindie music videos, I found out that Joanie Leeds had invested some money to do a music video.

Well, not a music video.  Fourteen music videos, to be more accurate.​

That's right -- thanks to the magic of Craigslist, every song except one from her forthcoming album Bandwagon​ (out June 25) will have a video.  The first one, "I Love New York," debuted Sunday, and I'm pleased as punch to offer up the world premiere of the second video, for the album's title track, "Bandwagon."  It's one of my favorite tracks from the album, and the foam-based stop-motion animation captures the good feelings from the group sing-along well.  [And, no, I'm not just mentioning it because the animator is some guy named Stefan (Fernandez). ;-) ]  Good stuff, no doubt.

Joanie Leeds - "Bandwagon" [YouTube]​

Monday Morning Smile: Pig Box

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]​

Weekly Summary (5/27/13 - 6/2/13)

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...

How I Got Here: Frances England (The Wiggles / Galaxie 500)

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.

Video: "The Rattling Can" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

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]​