The Kindie Rock Showdown Has Begun!

Kindie Rock Showdown logo

I told you last week about the impending re-boot of the KidVid Tournament, in which for several years I pitted kids music videos against each in friendly competition to determine one fan favorite. The fine folks at batteryPOP have partnered with me to create the Kindie Rock Showdown. For the next four weeks, eight great kindie bands and artists will compete to see who will claim this year's title.

The first two matchups went live yesterday, and if you missed it, well, you still have 6 days left to vote. Literally -- you can vote once a day through Sunday.

Last week I told you who would be competing, but not the specific videos. Well, now it can be revealed: it's Alphabet Rockers' "Dynamite" vs. The Bazillions' "No Homework" and Danny Weinkauf's "Ice Cream" against Caspar Babypants' "The Stump Hotel."

You probably know all about these fine artists, but if not, a few notes from me on the batteryPOP blog will clue you in.

So, again -- check it out, vote, and come back next week for the rest of Round One!

The Kindie Rock Showdown: Coming Next Week!

Kindie Rock Showdown logo

As many of you readers know, for a number of years I hosted a KidVid Tournament, which featured kids music videos released over the past year competing against one another in a friendly (I think) competition. Fans and readers voted for their favorites, March Madness-style, with one band and video being named champion. I last hosted the competition in 2012, but I had lots of fun hosting it the six years I did so.

But no good idea ever goes away for too long, and so I'm proud to announce that starting next week, there will be an entirely new way to enjoy the tournament. The website batteryPOP features a ton of great curated video content for kids of a variety of ages, from preschoolers to tweens -- live action, animation, educational shows, shows just for fun, music, etc. Why "batteryPOP"? Well, if someone watches a video and likes it, they can "POP" it -- it's like upvoting for the kindergarten set.

I think you see where I'm going with this.

That's right, starting next Monday, May 11, batteryPOP will be hosting the Kindie Rock Showdown. For the next month, they'll be hosting showdowns between 8 great kids' musicians:

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

The Not-Its

Josh and the Jamtones

On top of that, not only will I be providing some color commentary, so will Laurie Berkner! Yeah, that Laurie Berkner, who will give her own personal reactions to the videos.

The fun kicks off next week as the Alphabet Rockers will take on the Bazillions and Danny Weinkauf is pitted against Caspar Babypants. The following week, starting May 18, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band will go up against Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and the Not-Its will compete against Josh and the Jamtones. The following week will feature the semifinals featuring the most-POPped videos, with the finals the week of June 1.

So tune in to batteryPOP starting next week with your kids to find out which videos are competing, support your favorite kids' musicians, and vote for your favorite videos! (And you can even go there this week -- really, they've got a lot of great and varied content.)

Intro to Kindie: Bill Childs (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child)

So a month or two ago, I was talking with a fellow kids' music person about my upcoming series on best kids music albums (here's the one on best kids music albums for new parents), and he said that he'd been thinking about a similar question, of how to introduce new listeners to kids music. He described it as the musical equivalent of an "elevator speech" -- if you only have an hour or so, how do you grab someone who's not familiar with the genre, make them want to hear more?

I thought that was an excellent idea for a new series here, and so today I'm pleased as punch to kick off this new "Intro to Kindie" series with the person whose turn of phrase sent me down this path -- Bill Childs.

Bill wears many hats in the kids music field, but the specific hat he had on when he was thinking about introducing new audiences to kindie and kids music generally was as the long-time proprietor of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. His radio show will celebrate its tenth anniversary later this summer, and part of that celebration includes a new flagship radio station, Austin's KUTX. Starting May 9, STR will air on Sundays at 6 PM, and Bill's been thinking a lot about what will air that first episode and beyond.

While more folks will be sharing their lists as part of this series in the weeks and months to come, I'm really happy to have Bill lead this off.

When Stefan suggested that I kick off this series, I was super excited, and then I realized… oh dear, this is a tough project. So instead of actually tackling that project, I’ve just included the songs I’ve picked for the first two weeks of Spare the Rock airing on KUTX here in Austin, which is probably just about the same thing.

Let me start it off with some caveats:

This isn’t my “best of family music.”
The songs I picked don’t (necessarily) represent the songs I like best of those artists.
It’s not even necessarily a definitive introduction to our show! You’d have to also listen to the non-kids’ songs I included for that (plus the in-studios — we had Mates of State and Carrie Rodriguez for the first two weeks).
The playlist for our second week on KUTX is still in flux, so what you see below might not even represent what I claim it represents.
There are many — many, many — artists I could have included and felt great about including, so anyone’s absence from this shouldn’t be read as anything. At all. Top of my head: Okee Dokee Brothers, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Mister G, Mista Cookie Jar, Key Wilde & Mr Clarke, Moona Luna, The Jimmies, and good lord so many more that I shouldn’t even really try, should I? That’s a fool’s errand.

My goal, and I think this tracks Stefan’s request, was to put together something that would give someone new to the modern world of music for families a sense of the breadth and depth of what is in store for them, in genres, personalities, styles, tones, and so on. This particular list is Austin-centric, since I put it together specifically to welcome an Austin audience, but I think it works for anyone.

It’s in alphabetical order. (What, like I’m going to try ranking them? I’m not crazy.)

Asylum Street Spankers - Sliver

The Board of Education - The Lonely Tomato

Bunny Clogs - 3 Dogs and a Pancake

CandyBand - Down By The Bay

Jonathan Coulton - The Princess Who Saved Herself

The Deedle Deedle Dees - Henry (Hudson), How Ya Gonna Find a Way

Lucky Diaz & the Family Jam Band - Pinata Attack

Frances England - Mind of My Own

Lori Henriques - The World is a Curious Place to Live

Sara Hickman - Middle of a Little Country Road

Koo Koo Kanga Roo - Shake It Well (feat. POS)

Lead Belly - Rock Island Line

Lunch Money - Tiny Dinosaurs

Elizabeth McQueen - This Little Piggy

Milkshake - Baltimore

Elizabeth Mitchell - Lovely Day

Willie Nelson - Won’t You Ride in My Little Red Wagon

The Pop Ups - Outside Inside

Ralph’s World - The Great Outdoors

Justin Roberts - Meltdown

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Gotta Be Me

Shine & the Moonbeams - High Five

Sippy Cups - Springtime Fantastic

They Might Be Giants - Thinking Machine (and others)

Dan Zanes & Friends - Side by Side (feat. Father Goose)

Interview: Adam Levy (Bunny Clogs)

Adam Levy made his first foray into the world of kids music with his band Bunny Clogs way back in late 2008 with the album More! More! More!. (That band name, by the way? It's a pun on Levy's primary musical outlet, his band The Honeydogs.) That debut album had a distinctive, eclectic sound and some out-of-nowhere lyrics and musical tidbits, aided no doubt by the fact that Levy created the album with assistance from his two daughters, grade schoolers at the time.

Fast-forward six years or so. Levy's daughters are in or approaching high school, and the follow-up album I'd never expected would happen showed up. Whales Can't Whistle is maybe a little more streamlined, slightly poppier than its predecessor, but nobody would ever mistake the new album for bland, cookie-cutter music.

Levy recently sent some thoughts via e-mail about the latest album, musical parenting memories, and the good and bad of making an album (and playing live) with your kids.

Zooglobble: What are your first musical memories (growing up)?

Adam Levy: My parents didn't have a big record collection... but what they had got played a lot. I used to dance/march around the house with a Monkees ukelele guitar, air uke-ing to Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass's "Going Places." My hip Aunt Judy brought Rubber Soul to my folks in 1967. That got major air time for a few years.

What are your first parenting musical memories?

Big sister Esther was breach in her mom's stomach. We put Bach cello preludes on headphones to mom's belly for a few days and she flipped around... the girls' mom and I listened to music constantly. Lots of old funk and soul. I remember my girls going bananas for Fountains of Wayne's "Red Dragon Tattoo."

How did the first Bunny Clogs album come about? What inspired you to make that album?

I had just gotten my first ProTools studio rig set up at home in 2003. Esther would have been about 4 and Ava Bella 2. I would try to entertain the girls as I was figuring out the equipment and would make these danceable, amusing kids' songs. The girls would chime and sing and giggle and I'd record everything and made it a family affair. I kept writing these songs in the midst of, and as a break from, more "serious" musical endeavors. Friends would come over with kids for dinner and I'd play them the songs and folks would laugh and the kids would jump around like little squirmies. After a while I just thought, "maybe I have something" -- the songs were more absurdist, dance-beat and adult-friendly, less acoustic-folky than most kids' music. It alwasy took a back seat to my main songwriting muse, The Honeydogs... but eventually I just resolved to finish it and put it out in 2009.

What led you to make Whales Can't Whistle an animal kingdom-themed album?

We made a food-related record for the first one. I always incorporate the household characters and stories and silly phrases we used into the music. We are very into animals at our house and have been since the girls were small. I find it easier to write when I create some parameters and goals.

Your daughters were actively involved in making this new album -- what was their biggest contribution? Was Isaac's participation anticipated, or more of a surprise?

The girls are singing all over the record. Ava Bella (14) even recorded herself in some cases! She also designed the cover art. Isaac's participation was a necessity. He's 12 and a natural. He plays like an adult. Amazing.

What was it like having your daughters participate so much in what you do as a career? I'm assuming it was lots of fun, but did it also lead to tensions at times?

It's amazing. We've been performing publicly together since they were about 10 (Esther) and 8 (Ava Bella). Sometimes I have to encourage them to perform by increasing pay... sometimes they are not up for it. They tease me a lot. I get back at them by being a complete dork on stage. Ava Bella who is 14 now has expressed more interest in music than her big sister. I have loved watching her do musical things that are not with family.

You wear many different musical hats -- what particular musical itch does Bunny Clogs let you scratch?

Bunny Clogs fills a need to simply have fun making music and sharing it with my own children. Much of my music is conceptual, cerebral and sometimes deals with serious subjects. After I lost my son in 2012, the need to find joy in the midst of great grief and life-reassessment became very necessary. Last summer the girls spent a couple months leisurely making the record. We had so much fun.

What 3 (or 1 or 5) "not-for-kids" albums (from any artist) did your kids absolutely groove to growing up?

As I mentioned, the house the girls grew up in oozed music... all of The Beatles stuff. They have fond memories of Burt Bacharach's Butch Cassidy soundtrack. The Jackson 5.

What's next for Bunny Clogs (and you)?

I'd love to do some kind of animated film [and/or] a book. Depending on the girl's energy, perhaps more touring. As mentioned I'm ready to be Reuben Kincaid to Ava Bella's musical projects.

Photos by Youa Vang.

Video: "Henry Box Brown" - Lloyd H. Miller (World Premiere!)

I'm a longtime fan of Lloyd Miller's song "Henry Box Brown," liking it when Miller first recorded it with his band The Deedle Deedle Dees for their 2007 album Freedom in a Box. For his new album Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!, Miller re-recorded the track, giving the song a sped-up klezmer spin.

Now he's got a brand new video to go along with the new version, and it tells the story of the slave who escaped to freedom in the North by, yes, mailing himself in a box. And it does so via a craft version of Brown by Miller's daughter Hazel. It's cute and effective. (Also: Google Maps - hah!) Enjoy this world premiere!

Lloyd H. Miller - "Henry Box Brown" [YouTube]

Itty-Bitty Review: Turkey Andersen - Turkey Andersen

The debut EP is the proof-of-concept of the recorded music industry. It's not intended to be perfect, it's just supposed to be an introduction, something that says, this could work - this does work.

Such is the case with the debut self-titled EP from Turkey Andersen. Who is Turkey Andersen? Well, I don't think he and Northampton, Massachusetts musician Henning Ohlenbusch have ever been seen together at the same time. More importantly, though, in the course of 8 songs and 16 minutes, these songs put smiles on faces and quirky, poppy earworms in brains. "If a Sandwich Was a Sandwich" is the most brilliant 30-second song ever ("If a sandwich was a pillow then the bread would be the pillow case," the song starts out, and maintains that level of rational absurdity for another 25 seconds). The centerpiece of the album is "Time Travel Clothes," all about the trouble you can get into if you wear the wrong clothes while traveling through time. (We've all been there, right?) I also find "Hot and Stuffy" very funny and also educational about how to get a room to the right temperature.

You can stream the album here. It'll be most amusing to kids ages 3 through 7. Its combination of TMBG quirkiness and songwriting with Jonathan Richman-esque earnestness and vocals is pretty much instantly appealing. If this debut is proof-of-concept, then I think it's proven that Turkey Andersen needs some investors. More, please. Definitely recommended.

Note: I received a (digital) copy of the album for possible review.