Share: Mother's Day 2014 Playlist (free music!)

Ten tracks of maternal kindie goodness from a variety of artists, courtesy of them and kindie publicist Beth Blenz-Clucas.  The Not-Its, Lisa Loeb, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Brady Rymer, Danny Weinkauf (with Laurie Berkner), Zee Avi, the Okee Dokee Brothers, and Suzi Shelton offer up some mom-related tracks in time for Mother's Day.  Includes tracks from forthcoming albums like those from the Okee Dokee Brothers, the Not-Its, and Brady Rymer, too, so even if you don't care about downloading because you've already supported some kindie musicians, there's some new goodness to enjoy as well.

Download the tracks for free by clicking on the individual track and then on "View track."  But do it quickly, 'cause it's only up for a week or so!

(And, as always, please get your mom something besides free mp3s!)

Video: "A Walk Around the Block" - Bill Harley

Bill Harley's ode to spinners of tales (and cookies), "A Walk Around the Block," from his album The Best Candy in the Whole World.  The illustrations from Laura Dowling make for a nice mix of retro and fanciful, an appropriate accompaniment for Harley's gentle tune.

Bill Harley - "A Walk Around the Block" [YouTube]

Review: Tales from the Monstrosity Scrolls - Rainbow Beast and the Rock Band Land Rockers

The longtime reader of this site will deduce that I have not been the biggest fan of music for kids written or performed by kids.  There are exceptions, more on the performing than songwriting side, but they tend to be the accent on music from adults, not the other way around.

Enter Rainbow Beast, the San Francisco trio of Brian Gorman, Marcus Stoesz, and Jen Aldrich.  Brian Gorman and Marcus Stoesz run “Rock Band Land.”  Over six weeks they take a class of 4-to-8-year-olds, help them craft a story, and turn it into a song they perform together on stage.  And earlier this year Rainbow Beast, along with the "Rock Band Land Rockers" (AKA some of their prepubescent collaborators) released Tales from the Monstrosity Scrolls, an album of what's essentially a "best of" those songs.

This collaboration between adult musicians and some very young songwriters is the kind of thing that I approve of, but in theory have little interest in listening to.  But these songs are far afield from the musical styles and subjects of many kids' music songs.  Have folks in your family who like The Flaming Lips, the Kinks, Built to Spill, or Metallica?  They'll hear echoes of those bands here.

And once you add the surreal imagery to the often tripped-out arrangements, you can hear just how... tame kids music can sometimes be.  You'll hear songs about poisonous snakes ("Remblin Race"), a girl who shoots ice -- and ice cream -- from her fingers ("Ice Girl"), and a pool that traps people who dive within it as a jewel forever ("Pool of Light").  A character's flesh falls off in "Fish Wife," while the title character in "Oliver in the Wrong Cast" loses his skin and is known as the "polka dot skeleton boy."

Puts those songs about learning to brush one's teeth into perspective.  The songs really aren't violent -- they're just epic adventures starring the kids at the center.  In fact, probably the biggest problem with the album as a whole is that it's one epic song after another, and after 71 minutes, it can feel exhausting.

Done well, a lot of kids music speaks to kids’ everyday experiences in language they understand.  But kids ages 4 through 8 -- the same ages as the songwriters -- will also respond to these flights of fancy and stories of worlds far, far away.  This album speaks to that need in kids, and, just maybe, might inspire a few new tales.  In the end, the album's mere existence should be considered a victory because it was the result of dozens of kids creating their own songs.  The fact that it's often eminently listenable to the outsider is just a bonus.  Definitely recommended.

Monday Morning Smile: "Hockey Monkey" - The Zambonis

I was going back through my archives and was surprised to find that I've never posted this video on the site (or if I have, I have very poor website indexing and searching skills).

It's the classic song from James Kochalka and The Zambonis, "Hockey Monkey." The animation (and song) was used for the Nickelodeon animation show KaBlam!, but really I'm posting it because 1) the NHL playoffs are underway, and 2) it's never not an awesome song.

The Zambonis - "Hockey Monkey" [YouTube]

Weekly Summary (4/28/14 - 5/4/14)

Free Comic Book Day 2014 Recommendations

The annual celebration of comic book nerdery that is Free Comic Book Day is (again) tomorrow, and if I know anything about comic books, it's that I know virtually nothing about comic books.  We've been going for 3, maybe 4, years now, but that's usually my only visit every year.  (The store we visit tends to offer one free book per person, more if you buy other comics, which is what we usually do.)

So as I planned my visit with Miss Mary Mack and Little Boy Blue to our local participating comic book store, I realized that I needed some expert guidance.

And once I compiled that guidance, I thought that maybe it'd be of interest to you.

First, what I'm writing below is just a compilation of roundups from the following sites; if you have time to just read one, I'd read Glen Weldon's annual roundup for NPR:

NPR

Nerdist.com

USA Today

Bleeding Cool

GeekMom

Wired

io9

IGN

Loser City

But I'll just state the obvious -- you should go read those links to get a better sense of the titles.

The links below are to the Free Comic Book Day page for the book.  I've noted recommendations from the links above, though I should note that the Bleeding Cool (BC) recommendations are my interpretations of their comments -- they don't specifically recommend titles.  I've marked titles that appear to be appropriate for kids -- at least those under 13 -- with a (K).  And not every title will be available at every store (and, even if it is, it might not be by the time you get there...).

Enjoy, and have fun!


2000 AD SPECIAL - BC, Wired, io9, LC

ADV OF JELLABY (K) - NPR, USAT, BC, GM, Wired

ALL ROCKET RACCOON (K) - NPR, USAT, BC, GM, IGN, LC

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL TERRA FORMARS - Nerdist, BC

ARCHIE DIGEST #1 (K)

ARMOR HUNTERS SPECIAL - IGN

ATOMIC ROBO & FRIENDS - NPR, BC, LC someone else I forget so many lists...

BLEEDING COOL MAGAZINE

BONGO FREE-FOR-ALL (K) - NPR, Nerdist, GM

BUCK ROGERS (K) - NPR, BC, LC

CBLDF PRESENTS RAISING A READER (K) - NPR, BC, io9

COURTNEY CRUMRIN #1 (K) - NPR, BC, Wired

DEFEND COMICS - NPR, Wired, io9, LC

DC THE NEW 52 FUTURES END SPEC ED - USAT, io9, IGN

DH AVATAR HELLBOY JUICE SQUEEZERS (K) - NPR, BC, Wired, io9

DH PROJECT BLACK SKY (NET) (MR) - NPR, BC, Wired, io9

ENTROPY - USAT

EPIC #0 (K?) - NPR, USAT

FINDING GOSSAMYR WAY O/T BLADESLINGER (K?) - BC, io9

FUBAR ACE OF SPADES (NET) (MR) - USAT, BC

GIANT-SIZE 4-COMIC BUNDLE

GRAPHIX SPOTLIGHT DUMBEST IDEA EVER (K)

GRIMM FAIRY TALES #0

GUARDIANS OF GALAXY - USAT, Nerdist, BC, GM, io9, IGN

HATTER M FAR FROM WONDER (K?) - NPR, USAT

HELLO KITTY SURPRISE (K) - BC, GM, IGN

HIP HOP FAMILY TREE TWO-IN-ONE (Net) (MR) - NPR, Nerdist, BC, Wired, io9, LC (non-fiction)

INTRINSIC VOL 2 - USAT

IPSO FACTO (NET) (MR)

KABOOM SUMMER BLAST (K) - NPR, Nerdist, BC, GM, IGN, LC   Adventure Time!

LES MISERABLES FALL OF FANTINE (K?) - GM

MAGIC WIND

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS (K) - GM

MOUSE GUARD LABYRINTH RUST HC - BC, Wired

OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE

PREVIEWSWORLD SPECTACULAR

RISE OF THE MAGI (K) - NPR, BC, io9

SCAM CROSSWORDS #0

SCRATCH 9 (K) - USAT

SHERWOOD TX BOONDOCK SAINTS DOUBLE FEAT - USAT, BC

SHOWA HISTORY OF JAPAN - NPR, Nerdist, BC, io9 (non-fiction)

SKYWARD & MIDNIGHT TIGER (K) - GM

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MEGA MAN FLIPBOOK #1 (K) - GM, IGN

SPONGEBOB FREESTYLE FUNNIES (K) - BC, GM, Wired

STEAM WARS - NPR, BC

STREET FIGHTER #0 (K) - BC

TEEN TITANS GO #1 SPEC ED (K) - NPR, BC, GM, LC

THE SMURFS (K) - GM

THE TICK (K) - NPR, BC, GM, LC

TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB (K) - NPR, BC, GM, io9

TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE (K) - USAT, Wired, io9, IGN

UBER THE FIRST CYCLE (NET) (MR) - USAT, io9

VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK

V-WARS (Net) (MR)

WALT DISNEY SCROOGE DONALD DUCK GRAVITY (K) - NPR, BC, GM, io9

WORLDS OF ASPEN

ZOMBIE TRAMP & EHMM THEORY (NET) (MR)