Top Kids and Family Podcasts (July 2016)

It's been about a month since I last produced a list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts, so it's time once again to dive into the nebulous world of podcast rankings.

This month's list is virtually identical in both composition and ranking to the June chart, with one exception -- the inclusion of The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified. The WHYY-supported podcast (read an interview with its creator John Sheehan here) has been ranked highly since its debut in late June, and after a plug on Fresh Air reached the Top 20 of all iTunes podcasts. While its overall popularity on the nebulous iTunes chart has dipped (#140 as of this latest check), it's still doing well. (But not quite as well on Stitcher, which explains why it's only #3 on my chart below.)

I also said last month that I wanted to check whether the rankings of the kids podcasts within the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts are higher today than when I checked them last month. The verdict? Mixed -- some podcasts were higher, some were lower. What is an improvement is the number of podcasts on one of the two lists, 28 versus 22. In any case, I'll continue to monitor these figures as well.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons should not solely (or even primarily) be used as a measure of quality. (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)

Two other reminders:

1. If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive. We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. (tie) Brains On

1. (tie) Stories Podcast

3. Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified

4. Storynory

5. Story Pirates

6. Tumble

7. Story Time

8. Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Others (listed alphabetically): Activated Stories, Audio Books for Children, Barefoot Books, But Why, CBeebies Radio, Children's Fun Storytime, Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Porters Podcast, The Secret Diaries of Tara Tremendous, Spare the Rock Spoil the Child, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show

Video: "Secret Superhero" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Aw, man, is there a better time for Secret Agent 23 Skidoo to release this video than the week Comic-Con starts?

One viewing of "Secret Superhero," the first video from Skidoo's brand new album Infinity Plus One, and the answer is so clearly, "no." A whole bunch of kids with a bunch of costumes and powers that are gonna look kinda familiar. It's funny and cool, just like the song itself. There's never been a better use of "arch-nemesis" in a song, I guarantee.

(Make sure you look for Skidoo's Stan Lee-like cameo.)

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Secret Superhero" [YouTube]

Video: "PANORAMA" - Moona Luna (World Premiere!)

Summer is for many families a chance to travel and explore far and wide. Could be down the block or it could be in one of the world's great cities, like New York City.

Or, if you're Moona Luna in their latest video, it could be one and the same.

In this video for the title track from their latest album P A N O R A M A, Sandra Velasquez and her NYC-based bilingual band celebrate traveling by tooling around Governors Island, that small island located between the southern tip of Manhattan and Brooklyn that people pass on the ferry on the way to the Statue of Liberty. As you might expect from that description, there are a lot of familiar panoramic views (so to speak) in the video.

It's a fun video regardless of whether you're heading to the Big Apple this summer, and I'm glad to be offering the world premiere!

Moona Luna - "PANORAMA" [YouTube]

Video: "Press Play" - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could (World Premiere!)

This new video for "Press Play" from Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, well, it just grooves along in so many different ways.

First, you've got the song itself, which bubbles along so happily. Then you've got the production design for the video, which has such a groovy '60s vibe that I half expect someone to come on in the middle and say "Sock it to me." And then there's the band members, many of whom look... oddly familiar. Rymer asks if you recognize any of the legendary musical icons represented here. (As for me, my favorite is the Mozart-by-way-of-Jerry-Lee-Lewis.)

In any case, this video for Press Play's title track is a treat and I'm pleased to offer up the world premiere here. All you need to do is press... well, you know.

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - "Press Play" [YouTube]

Video: "Beep Beep Beep" - Dan Vapid (World Premiere!)

Mike Park's Fun Fun Records keeps truckin' along with music for kids -- in this case, almost literally. The label's latest family release, its seventh, is from pop-punker Dan Vapid (who's also played in Screeching Weasel). The album's called All Wound Up, and I'm pleased to world-premiere the album's leadoff track and single, "Beep Beep Beep." It's barely a minute long, but I'd be wary of playing the song in a traffic jam for your favorite kindergartner lest she get too wound up.

Luckily, you're not driving while you're all watching a YouTube video, so you can just enjoy the sketching from Gilbert Armendariz.

All Wound Up is released September 9, but you can preorder it here today.

Dan Vapid - "Beep Beep" [YouTube]

Radio Playlist: New Music July 2016

No new music playlist in June -- that's what happens when you post on May 31 -- but let's start July with a half-hour of new music for your family's listening pleasure. (If you want to catch that list from May, you can see that playlist here.)

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums. But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here (or right here in you're in Spotify).

**** New Music July 2016 (July 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"It Ain't No Fault of Mine" - The Hollow Trees

"Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It" - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

"Do You Talk to Yourself" - Dean Jones

"Diez Pajaritos (feat. Nathalia Palis)" - 123 Andres

"Phone" - Eric Herman and the Thunder Puppies

"Made to Fly" - Chibi Kodama

"Hole in My Bucket (feat. Jazzy Ash)" - KB Whirly

"Glitter Bug" - Animal Farm

"The Musical Cat" - Genevieve Toupin