Ah, back to 2 KidVid Tournament 2008 matchups a day. Over at Offsprung we have a battle to be the champion of the Pete Seeger Region -- Gustafer Yellowgold's "Pinecone Lovely" against Mr. Richard's "Cheese."
Vote here by 9 PM Thursday night.
The final day of the first round of KidVid Tournament sees a matchup from the Pete Seeger Region, with the #1 seed -- Gustafer Yellowgold's "Pinecone Lovely" (off the Have You Never Been Yellow? CD/DVD) -- taking on the #4 seed, Asheba's "No More Monkeys," most recently found on Putumayo's Animal Playground disk.
Who will win? That's up to you -- vote in the comments below, one per family, please. The voting deadline is 9 PM West Coast time tonight (Friday). And vote nicely.
Gustafer Yellowgold - "Pinecone Lovely"
Asheba - "No More Monkeys"
It's time once again for me to list my favorite kids and family albums from the past year or so.
As I noted in last year's list, I don't put tremendous stock in individual "best of" lists, because taste is idiosyncratic. (Please note the title here is "favorite," not "best," a deliberate choice of words.) The idiosyncracies of taste are one reason why I came up with the idea for the Fids and Kamily Awards. The fact that I think Recess Monkey's Wonderstuff is one of the year's best CDs might be more easily dismissed if it weren't for the fact that a good number of 19 judges happened to agree with me.
As for my list, the top 10 below reflects my Fids and Kamily ballot. But as with last year, limiting a list of favorites to just 10 albums would leave off a number of very, very good albums. In fact, as a whole, 2007 was even stronger than 2006, making this year's decisions even more difficult. Although I lost count some time ago, I'd guess that I probably heard 250 to 300 new albums this past year -- even at 20 albums, I've left off some great music from this list.
So without further ado...
Continue reading "My Favorite Kids and Family Albums of 2007" »
I have come to think of Morgan Taylor, the creator of Gustafer Yellowgold, as the exemplar of the Kids New Wave, the term I have coined just now to encompass the genre and the artists responsible for its resurgence, especially in the past five years. A background in making music for adults, the unplanned shift into making music for kids, the occasional difficulty in figuring out where the distinction lies between the two -- the New York-based Taylor fits all of these categories. By no means is Taylor the only artist these apply to, but he's done a great job creating a musical path all his own, on his own terms.
Taylor's second foray into the world of Gustafer Yellowgold, the DVD/CD set Have You Never Been Yellow?, released this week, is every bit as wonderful as the debut Wide Wild World and shows that Taylor has a fabulous career ahead of him.
What distinguishes Taylor from many other talented kids' musicians is his visual artistic skills, which are obviously on prime display on the DVD. If you're not familiar with the Gustafer "animation," I can try to describe it, but it's easier to just show you. Here's the leadoff clip from the DVD/CD, "Pinecone Lovely"
As you can see, it's animated in only a minimal sense -- the camera pans and scans, zooms in and out, and various components of picture move around, and that's about it. But it's very absorbing to watch. Taylor does the drawings but does get some help with animation aspects. While the animation on Wide Wild World was fine, the pictures and animation here are crisper and sharper -- the difference is small but noticeable.
Of course, the animation could be done by Pixar and if the music (and images) were dull, you wouldn't care. Luckily, that isn't the case. As a group, I think the songs are stronger here than on the debut. "Pinecone Lovely," with its ode to nature ("Pinecone Lovely / To thee I sing") and sing-along chorus, I think finally fulfills the promise of the karaoke audio option that is once again present on the disk. "Beard For All Seasons" has a touch of Beatles to it while "The Bluebird Tree" gives Ralph Covert's "Hideaway" a run for its money for the title of "Best Song About Needing Time By Yourself." There are some tracks I think are only OK musically, but there's definitely no filler. Pop and power-pop, well-played, with some brass instruments providing some sonic boost, particularly on the closer, "Dream In Green."
And the images are strong, too. The aforementioned "Bluebird Tree" has some of the most stunning visuals (the title is literal) on the disk, while "The Mustard Slugs" pairs amusing images with the silly math story. And, yes, "Punching Cheese" is the sequel to Wide Wild World's "I Jump On Cake" and every bit as funny. In fact, the whole disk feels ever so slightly lighter than the original, if only because the videos here seem a little more like vignettes rather than part of a story (Wide Wild World has a slightly stronger narrative drive). That's neither good nor bad, just that if you're looking for something with a concrete beginning/middle/end, you'll be disappointed here.
I should also note that the DVD comes with, yes, an audio commentary. Morgan Taylor does the honors, of course, and it's definitely worth a listen for an adult Gustafer fan (or older child with the patience to listen to someone talking over the music for 30 minutes). Finding out which Steve Martin movie helped inspire "Aye, Aphid" or which '70s band "Dream In Green" apes was a cool bonus. Repeating spins probably aren't necessary, but it's worth at least one run-through.
Kids ages 2 through 7 are most likely to enjoy the animation (and songs) here. In addition to "Pinecone Lovely," you can also watch the clip for "Birds" here. (Gustafer's two YouTube pages are here and here.) Or listen to "Beard for All Seasons" and "The Mustard Slugs" at his Myspace page. For being from the sun, Gustafer's adapted quickly to our modern technological modes of communication, no?
Gustafer Yellowgold's Have You Never Been Yellow? is a fabulous DVD/CD set. Taylor has a gift for memorable images both visual and musical and I'm looking forward to many more images from him in the years to come. This set is highly recommended.
Ever since the New York Times used the phrase “The show is a cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss" to describe Gustafer Yellowgold, it's been plastered all over their promo materials. Hey, if I were them, I would too. But I always thought it was just barely appropriate -- yes, it's animated and poppy, but those weren't quite the musical and lyrical influences I was hearing on the debut DVD.
But they've posted another track off their upcoming Have You Never Been Yellow? CD/DVD set, "Beard For All Seasons," on their Myspace page. And "Beard" definitely sounds like the Beatles (a clean melody, horns, handclaps) aided by a touch of Seussian lyrical whimsy. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
(Oh, and the DVD, which comes out October 16, has an audio commentary from creator Morgan Taylor. While the idea of an audio commentary on a kids movie isn't weird at all, I'm pretty sure this is a first for the kids' music world. DVD geeks unite!)
It's been a little while since I checked in with the coolest dude from the hottest thing in our solar system -- that's right, Mr. "I'm From the Sun" himself, Gustafer Yellowgold. Well, not literally, mind you, since he's an animated character, the creation of New York artist-musician Morgan Taylor.. What I mean is, it's been awhile since I paid close attention to their Myspace page, and lo and behold, a new song is up.
"The Mustard Slugs" starts out with a cheesy Casio keyboard $80 full-sized Lowrey Genie family organ from 1979 (that's Rachel's description, not mine) that never really goes away, but is joined by other supporting instrumentation (including an irresistible bout of hand-clapping) and a fun story about some multiplying mustard slugs.
"The Mustard Slugs" is one of the tunes on Gustafer's second DVD/CD set, Gustafer Yellowgold's 'Have You Never Been Yellow?' (hah!), which will be released on October 16 (with pre-ordering available at the Gustafer website starting September 10. I have no reason to believe that this new album will be any different from the first (Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World), in which the Nick Drake/Matthew Sweet-esque retro-poppy tunes mixed with the slightly odd "musical moving book" style of animation makes for a hypnotic viewing experience, and even separated from the visuals, the songs stand up on their own.
Little Monster Records released Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World earlier this week. I originally reviewed the DVD nearly a year ago. I've updated the review below -- if you already have the earlier version of the DVD, go to the end of the review for my comments on this new version.
Continue reading "DVD/CD Review: Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World" »
Moving on to the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007, this matchup pits the #2 seed in the Pete Seeger Region, "I'm From The Sun" from Gustafer Yellowgold against the #3 seed, "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" from AudraRox.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.
[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"I'm From the Sun" - Gustafer Yellowgold
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.
The tentative showcase list for the 2007 South by Southwest Music Festival has been posted, and a brief perusal of the 1,300 (yes, you read that right) bands indicates at least 3 artists whose primary medium is kids' music: Daddy-A-Go-Go, Gustafer Yellowgold, and The Sippy Cups. The Sippy Cups' newsletter from Tuesday night indicated that they'd be headlining a free family concert at Auditorium Shores, so I wonder if the three bands are on a (pretty cool) triple bill...
Oh, and there might be a couple other bands in that list worth seeing.
Perhaps patrons of the Bowery Club on Dec. 31 will find out, as Gustafer Yellowgold will be opening up for the jazz musician Hayes Greenfield for an early New Year's Eve show, complete with noon ball drop. Two of New York's finer kids'-related artists teaming up -- should be awesome.
"Well, then, pick up your CDs, dear."
On the eve of Gustafer Yellowgold's and Robbert Bobbert's CMJ-related appearance at Joe's Pub on Saturday, I thought I'd note that their new label, Little Monster Records, has put together quite the diverse lineup of kids' releases. A Beatles tribute album, All Together Now, featuring members of the Bangles, Grandaddy, among others, will be released next week. A Medeski, Martin & Wood kids' album will be released next year along with Soulville, a collection of R&B and soul tunes that includes a kids chorus. (And then there are releases from Gustafer and Robbert Bobbert.) I can't imagine many families buying all 5 releases, but unless they're all awful, I can't imagine many families not finding something appealing in at least one of them.
I've often thought that there was room for kids-focused boutique labels. Frankly, even with Little Monster's creation (along with a re-energized Kid Rhino and ever-expanding Rounder Records), I think there's room for even more. Maybe not labels in the traditional sense (in which the labels often own the recordings), but labels as management companies, serving as filters and helping with distribution, production, and promotion.
News that Gustafer Yellowgold, or at least his nifty creator Morgan Taylor, has been signed to V2's new kids' imprint Little Monster Records comes amid changes at Gustafer's Myspace page.
That's right, folks, he now has 710 friends, the most important of which seem to be from "Sesame Street," primarily.
Oh, and there are a couple new tracks streaming there for your listening pleasure. "Cooler World" is sort of an introductory song, OK, but nothing special. "Birds," however, is a blast of Beatles-ian (or, if you're younger and/or hipper, XTC-ian) pop confection. ("Rocket Shoes" is also new, but has been streaming on the site for many months now.) Could "Mellow Fever" be the working title for the next DVD or CD following the rerelease of Wide Wild World?
In addition, there's an amusing video promo for Gustafer which includes news that Taylor's working on the next DVD (Have You (N)ever Been Yellow) -- which I think I knew, or maybe that was just a falling-on-cake-inspired reverie -- and an illustrated book (natch) called The Inifinity Sock, which was news to me. (Love that title, in spite of or perhaps because it makes no sense whatsoever.)
But the best part is that the first half of the video is done as if it were a preview for some awful Michael Bay flick.
"Part yellow, part gold... all Gustafer." I'm still chuckling.
News is slowly trickling out about V2/Artemis Records' new kids music imprint, Little Monster Records. And so far, they're batting 1.000. (See? It's baseball playoff time, and I made a baseball reference? Get it? Yeah, OK.)
Not only have they signed up Gustafer Yellowgold, as previously rumored (they'll be re-releasing Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD in March), they've also signed Robert Schneider, leader of the indie rock band The Apples in Stereo. Schneider's alter ego Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine (with the year's best PR line -- "If the number of B's in a name represented fun, Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine have cornered the market!") will release an album for Little Monster in spring 2007.
They'll be performing together at Joe's Pub in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 4. Should be a blast -- if you're in NYC, go.
One takes publicity in the New York Times wherever one can. Morgan Taylor, the man behind Gustafer Yellowgold, and his wife Rachel Loshak, appeared in the "Habitats" section of the Times on Sunday. It's a nice little profile of the couple. (Thanks to Bill for the link.)
It also contains an interesting tibit of info -- "They are also negotiating a contract with the V2 label’s new children’s imprint, Little Monster."
Good on them.
Welcome to those of you finding us because of the Salon article on "kindie rockers". (Welcome also, as always, to people looking for downloads of and lyrics to "Great Big World," from Hoodwinked. I still can't help you with those, despite your insistent pleas.) Thanks, Salon, for the link, and for posting some fabulous mp3s from said rockers. (Scott Lamb's article is worth sitting through the Honda ad non-subscribers will have to watch in order to read the article -- it's a nice summing up of the current state of kids' music.)
If you're new to the site, I encourage you to look around -- links to other kids'-music-related blogs as well as to every full album review (including Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, and Milkshake) can be found on the right. If you're wondering what to get that 4-year-old nephew for his birthday, check out my page of album recommendations by age. I treat kids' music the way any parent who really likes music would -- with my own set of interests but with an understanding that perhaps not every song off Spoon's Gimme Fiction is going to appeal to my 5-year-old (let alone my 1-year-old).
There's so much great kids' music being made, and not just by the rockers mentioned in the article who have made their way to kids' TV screens. Dig in -- you're bound to find something you and the kids in your life will really like.
Saturday AM edit: You know, I could actually help readers "dig in" if I specifically mentioned a few artists and albums that readers might not be familiar with if they're only sticking to the TV/Noggin crowd. No disrespect meant to the Noggin crowd -- Zanes, Roberts, and TMBG, in particular, are all among my favorites kids' artists -- but these four albums are tremendous, too.
Silly Reflection, by Lunch Money (review)
If You Ever See An Owl, by the Terrible Twos (review)
Fascinating Creatures, by Francis England (review)
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD, by Morgan Taylor (review)
Did you know Gustafer Yellowgold has his own MySpace page? And blog? Who knew he was a Ween and Sun Kil Moon fan? And does he have latent cheese anger? (The blog, while not inappropriate, is really for the adults, not for the kids.)
You can also check out his music page, from which you can stream 3 songs, including a new track, "Rocket Shoes," which is a sparse, melodic track reminiscent of the first DVD's songs. Stills from the upcoming DVD are also available.
Incidentally, the Hollow Trees also have a MySpace page. But it's not quite as... different... as the Yellowgold pages.
This week at Zooglobble, we're going from LA to New York (with a review of Dan Zanes' Catch That Train!) and back again. See -- we exhibit both East Coast and West Coast Bias! (I can do the Chicago thing -- Justin Roberts and Ralph's World -- only so often. Though there are more reviews coming from those two, too.)
Also, it's been just over a month since the NPR interview that sent many of you here. Thanks again to everyone who's read, commented, e-mailed, or linked here. Also, many thanks to all the artists who have sent me their CD or DVD. I'm still working my way through them all, and while I won't review all of them here, I've got a lot of reviews (and other things) lined up in the weeks ahead.
Finally, here are links to a few posts in case you missed 'em the first time around.
Frances England's Fascinating Creatures -- review, interview
Lunch Money's Silly Reflection -- review
Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) -- review
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD -- review
Anne Hathaway's "Great Big World", from the Hoodwinked Soundtrack -- review. Goodness, there are lots of people wanting lyrics and mp3s for that song. (Too bad I don't actually have the lyrics or mp3s.)
Thanks again for reading.
An innocent wandering through the world is hardly an original concept for a story. The Who's Tommy, for example, or countless first novels.
To say that Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World borrows the concept, then, is no knock on this "Musical Moving Book," as it's called. The concept may be borrowed, but the execution is quite unique and wonderful.
Gustafer Yellowgold is the brainchild of New York-based songwriter and illustrator Morgan Taylor. Taylor has previously self-released several CDs but here has combined his songwriting talents with his illustrating skills to produce a concert which combines live music from Taylor and a small band of musicians with illustrations projected on large screens. It's the music and illustrations behind this live "moving book" which are captured here on the 24-minute DVD. There isn't much of a plot; it's more of a series of character sketches.
Gustafer is an alien from the sun who tells his story of life on the sun in the opening song "I'm From the Sun." It's an uptempo number which shows exactly how difficult life can be on the sun. ("No snowflakes on the tongue" is one of the complaints.) It's a jangle-pop tune with bongos, giving it a little Guster-like feel. The best song on the DVD is the concluding "New Blue Star," which is about, well, a new blue star, but could just be easily interpreted as a love song -- it's a gentle midtempo rockersworthy of Matthew Sweet in his less guitar-focused work (think Blue Sky on Mars without all the synthesizers). Another one of my favorite tunes is "Pterodactyl Tuxedo," a friend of Gustafer's who may be exasperating at times but is also a true friend ("He's always had the time / To pick up the phone / When you're calling way too late / He's always been the kind / To help you pickin' bones / When your faith begins to fade.") The music is hard to peg, but besides the bands listed already, there are hints of the Beatles (in the slow songs), World Party (yeah, a Beatles tribute band, virtually), and the Flaming Lips.
The lyrics here make it sound rather serious, and there's an undercurrent of sadness in Gustafer's story. His eel Slim ("Your Eel") will leave one day. The "Mint Green Bee" is sad and cries. But that sadness is leavened by the whimsical illustrations. This isn't really animation; particular animations are moved around the screen to give a primitive sense of animation. It might not sound compelling, but it's quite engrossing. It's used to particularly good effect in the surreal, vaguely They Might Be Giants-like "I Jump On Cake" ("I jump on cake from up above / I step on pie so warm and lovely / It's mine to punt, vanilla bundt / All freshly baked, I'm on your cake"). A picture of Gustafer moves (with blinking eyes) from up above onto a tempting cake. Pies explode like fireworks.
I'm always one to find nits to pick, and the only thing I can come up with here is that it's a DVD only. Perhaps in the future they'll consider bundling the DVD with an audio-only CD. Other than that, it's great. The album is probably best for kids age 3 through 8. You can see (and hear) video clips from "I'm From the Sun" and "Your Eel" here. You can purchase the DVD from the Gustafer website. Of note as well is the ability to sing along with the video, karaoke-style -- not sure how popular that will be, but since the videos all have the words on the screen, it's not inconceivable that it'd be used.
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World is a work of great creativity, visually and musically. It's definitely worth your time to check it out.