It's Earth Day, a holiday for which kids music represents well, kids being interested in the future of the planet and all. Here's a list of songs for Earth Day 2011, free for the cost of a few electrons:

David Tobocman has a funky, futuristic take on the garbageman of the future on his song, "I'm Gonna Be a Garbage Man."

I'm Gonna Be a Garbage Man by tobocman

Meanwhile, Charity Kahn and the JAMband take an... er... earthier approach on their Songs for Earth Day 2011 EP, featuring "I'm A Little Bunny," "Rattlin' Bog" (my favorite, but I love the song generally), and the mellow "Wise Old Owl."

There's always the Baze and his Silly Friends track "A Little Green." It features Stacia Newcomb, who plays “Star” on PBS Kids Sprout's The Good Night Show as guest vocalist and lots of "na na na"s on the singalong chorus. Download it for free here.

Finally, as we noted last week, Dan Zanes, Bill Harley, and Daria have Earth Day-related songs for your listening pleasure (DZ's will cost you, though it's for charity; the others are free).

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's summer (officially) and watermelons are in the grocery store, so the 4th of July isn't too far away. David Tobocman is celebrating by giving away an mp3 of a new song, "America's Our Country," which is a little bit (new) country a little bit rock and roll. It's got flags, apple pie, and baseball. Not sure I saw mom, but it covers the bases pretty much.

Tobocman's second album for families, Lemonade School will be out in August. Shoot Tobocman an e-mail at "veryhelpful AT earthlink.net" (you can figure out how to turn that into a real e-mail address) to get a copy of the mp3. Or just listen below.

David Tobocman - "America's Our Country" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In the midst of Hanukkah, and only a week or so before the solstice, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, it's prime time for holiday music. No sooner do I post about a free track than the folks at Jitterbug's let me know about their holiday playlist. It's a good one and even better, it's a free one, available for downloading or streaming. Music from The Hipwaders, Brady Rymer, Didi Pop, Gustafer Yellowgold, Princess Katie & Racer Steve, Rock Daddy Rock, and David Tobocman. Good stuff (I've already talked about a few songs on the list), downloadable here and in a few cases, nowhere else.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a long day ahead of me, so I'm just going to repeat this mantra from one of my favorite David Tobocman tracks all day long.

David Tobocman - "I Count To Ten" (Live at McCabe's) [YouTube]

You'll have to wait a little while longer for album #2 from Tobocman, but Jewish faithful might be interested in his latest song, the fun "Hanukkah All Over the World," which you can listen to here. It's a catchy tune, but I think I'll stick to counting to ten today...

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I guess that since technically speaking we could still call the whole H1N1 flu virus thing a near-pandemic, I'm not actually late with this. And, hey, washing your hands never goes out of style.

So, yeah, head on over to David Tobocman's site to pick up the jaunty "Brush Your Teeth" as a free download. Yeah, yeah, I know -- the flu doesn't appear to have spread due to a lack of proper dental hygeine, but the song does have a few hand-washing references. And besides, it's a cute, free song.

Of course, having started down this public health path, there is the painfully obvious (if very, very cool) video selection...

Continue reading "Does The CDC Have a Kids Music Division?" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been nearly 7 months since I first watched (and wrote about) David Tobocman's fabulous video for his song "Home." (If you haven't watched it, stop reading this, click on the link, and see you back here in about 3 minutes. Really. Go now.)

Clearly I liked the video, so you might be wondering, why in the world haven't I review the rest of Tobocman's debut, I Count To Ten and other Very Helpful Songs? And the answer is... well, I have no good reason. I can't blame this on the dog eating the CD or a snowstorm -- sometimes good CDs just don't get reviewed on the site in a timely manner.

In any case, many CDs attempt to impart lessons to kids -- I know, I've heard a lot of them -- but very few do so in a totally appealing musical manner. This CD easily makes that small but distinguished list. I think there are a couple reasons for it. The first is that the songs are, for the most part, solid. The jazzy title track and "Brush Your Teeth," the pop of "My Rainbow," the country, banjo-inflected "Buttons and Bows" -- they're great melodies back up by well-crafted instrumentation. And more than half a year after I first heard it, I'm still moved by "Home," easily one of the top kids music tracks of the year.

The second reason for the album's appeal I think is that instead of conveying its lessons as a direct "you should do X" or "everybody feel Y," the lyrics are sometimes sung from a first-person perspective, telling the listener how the singer reacts. So the singer counts to ten and doesn't feel so angry ("I Count to Ten"), or the singer keeps his pajamas on through the night ("Jammies Song," based on a real-life problem Tobocman encountered with his daughter). It's not always the case, but there's very little sense of "should" here, and that makes the lessons easier for everyone to take.

The songs are most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear lengthy clips from the 33-minute album here and here. David Tobocman's I Count to Ten and other Very Helpful Songs is a solid little album. I can't guarantee your kids won't blow their top as much or brush their teeth more willingly with repeated listens, but I'm pretty sure you or your kids won't blow your tops if you listen to this a lot. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's start off the 2nd week of KidVid Tournament 2008 with a battle for supremacy in the Leadbelly Region -- the #1 seed They Might Be Giants' "Seven Days of the Week (Never Go To Work)" (from their recently-released Here Come the 123s CD/DVD) taking on the #2 seed, David Tobocman and his track "Home" (from I Count to Ten and Other Helpful Songs, also recently released).

Go forth, watch both videos, then You. Make. The. Call. (Or, rather, vote in the comments below by 9 PM Thursday night. Vote once per family. Play nice, y'all.)

They Might Be Giants - "Seven Days of the Week (Never Go To Work)"

David Tobocman - "Home"

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Over at Offsprung there's a KidVid Tournament 2008 matchup from the Leadbelly Region -- the #2 seed "Home" from David Tobocman (from his Very Helpful Songs CD) versus the #2 seed "Bounce" from Ellen and Matt (off their Best Friends album). Go there, watch the videos, and vote by 9 PM today! (You'll need to register with the site, but we're a very friendly group of people. No hassles, we promise.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As you might expect, I get a lot of e-mails from people who make kids music. Sometimes they include links to their own website (which I often peruse, if briefly) or perhaps YouTube videos. I've long since learned not to keep my expectations too high, which makes the occasional discovery that much more fun.

I'm clearly not the only person David Tobocman has e-mailed to let people know about his video for his song "Home," but that won't stop me. [Note: Tobocman let me know he hadn't yet e-mailed people, only the artist, and her post generated the viral popularity thus far...]

Tobocman's a southern California musician, and "Home" reminds me of nothing so much as the wistful songs on the soundtracks from another southern California musician, Randy Newman. The illustrations of Valerie Walsh make an excellent match. It's a great little video.

David Tobocman - "Home"

You can listen to samples from all of Very Helpful Songs here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)