Video: "Young at Heart" - Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips (World Premiere!)

It's not quite Kendrick Lamar dropping a new mixtape or Wilco releasing Star Wars (the album) without any advance warning, but today Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips release their new album Music Is Everywhere with less than a week of public notice. They've been celebrating by releasing a whole week's worth of videos across the kindiesphere, and I get the privilege of wrapping the whole thing up with the world premiere of the video for "Young at Heart."

Mista Cookie Jar guitar, art by Alex Chiu

Mista Cookie Jar's released some of the songs on Music Is Everywhere as singles over the past year, but "Young at Heart" is brand new, a tender celebration of youthful attitudes, a spiritual cousin perhaps to Dylan's "Forever Young." The song gets some playful stop-motion clay-based animation from Portland based artist Alex Chiu, who, C.J. Pizarro notes, decorated his guitar a few years back.

In any case, you can find Music Is Everywhere today in all the usual places including CD Baby. And enjoy the video below...

Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips - "Young at Heart" [YouTube]

What Can You Find? Frances England's "All The Things I've Found" Contest

I'm a looooongtime fan of Frances England dating all the way back to her debut album Fascinating Creatures, which is now 10 years old. (Wow! Really!) Her new album Explorer of the World is set to be released on April 1, and if you've heard any of it -- try "City Don't Sleep" -- you'll understand why it's one of the most eagerly anticipated kids' albums of the year.

From my perspective, one of the most exciting things about the album isn't even the album itself, it's the Art + Observation activity book England made to accompany the album. Filled with activities that encourage discovery of the world next door by kids of all ages, it dovetails perfectly with the exploration theme of the album itself. (Fans of the books of Keri Smith and Lynda Barry's Syllabus, among others, will be particularly enamored of England's small book.)

To promote the upcoming album, England's been creating a series of short promotional videos, and I'm pleased to premiere the latest, which features a bit of "All The Things I've Found," one of the songs on the album. Unsurprisingly, the visuals accompanying the clip show some of the amazing patterns around us if we spend a little time looking for them.

Frances and I have a little assignment for you, too -- we're looking for patterns that you or your kids find in your everyday life. Post a picture of such a pattern here or on the Facebook post for this, and I'll randomly select one entry to receive a free copy of the album! I don't do contests often here, but I think that the chance to win this album is worth you taking the time out of your day to find an interesting pattern. Actually, I think it's worth you taking the time to find an interesting pattern regardless, but a chance to win the album is a sweet bonus. All entries for the contest are due by Monday at 7 PM West Coast time. Thanks and good luck!

Video: "Cosmic Vacation" - Michael and the Rockness Monsters (World Premiere!)

It's super-cute-video time!

The self-titled debut album from Michael and the Rockness Monsters got its official release yesterday (you can get it from iTunes and Amazon if you're so inclined), and to celebrate they've released an adorable video for the song "Cosmic Vacation."

Seriously, this computer-animated trip around the solar system (and back) is candy-colored and super-sweet and will captivate the nearest preschooler at hand. So I'm happy to be world premiere-ing here today.

Michael and the Rockness Monsters - "Cosmic Vacation" [YouTube]

Video: "Ice Skates" - Jazzy Ash feat. Jennifer Gasoi (World Premiere!)

Maybe some of you don't need another reminder that it's still winter, but since it reached 90 degrees this week here in Phoenix -- that is waaaaaay too early (it set a record for the earliest the thermometer reached that point) -- I could use a few more reminders of winter.

So that's one reason why I'm happy to be premiering this brand new video from Jazzy Ash. It's for the song "Ice Skates" off her fine album Bon Voyage and features lots of shots of Jazzy Ash and Jennifer Gasoi walking around the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal and skating on natural pond ice. Ahhhh... cold weather! (and Canada!)

Another reason is that they have two of the loveliest voices in kids music and it's a treat to hear them trading verses and singing together on this simple, jazzy ode to ice skating. It might be more seasonlly appropriate now, but you might want to have this in your back pocket when the temperature reaches 85 and the humidity is even higher.

Jazzy Ash - "Ice Skates" (feat. Jennifer Gasoi) [YouTube]

Video: "Dance With Me" - The Not-Its!

The Not-Its! Are You Listening album cover

Seattle band The Not-Its have a brand new album set for release next week -- February 19, to be specific. It’s called Are You Listening? and unsurprisingly there are more than a couple tracks that could cause involuntary pogoing and/or headbanging in your child. Chief among those tracks may be the leadoff single “Dance With Me,” which gets a nifty hand-animated video from Chris Looney. Looney describes the process of creating the video here -- those are Not-Its puppets, folks.

The Not-Its! - "Dance With Me" [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "I Believe in Little Things" - Diana Panton

What was it I said last week? "More joy." Well, Joe Raposo makes just about everything more joyful.

Canadian jazz musician Diana Panton turned to Raposo for the title track to her kid-friendly album I Believe in Little Things. The album was originally released in September 2015, but is going to get a bigger push here south of the Canadian border in 2016, and with tracks like the title track, I think it'll be well-received in the kindie world.

The video for "I Believe in Little Things" is charming and whimsical, and Panton's warm and clear voice elegantly lays out Raposo's masterful lyrics, with Jacqui Lee's illustration a perfect fit. Definitely an album to look forward to (or hear now, if you don't want to wait).

Diana Panton - "I Believe in Little Things" [YouTube]