Zooglobble

There is no mistaking New York's The Jimmies when they enter a room. Between Ashley Albert walking in a bright red dress (for Austin Kiddie Limits last year she also brought a very western gingham dress as well) and the rest of the Jimmies with their matching white shirts and ties, they rock a uniform better than any kids music band this side of the Wiggles. Between their website, their videos, and, oh yeah, their songs, they've done a great job of defining the Jimmies "brand," much as that term's a bit distasteful. They are, in short, ten tons of fun.

The Jimmies were the one band on the KindieFest 2009 showcase I'd seen before. So I didn't have the thrill of anticipation or curiosity I had with the other acts -- I could just appreciate the showmanship, do the occasional accompanying hand motions, and wonder whether they would hand out egg shakers to the audience (the answer to that was no). Of course, if I were to remember a single event from the set, it'd probably be when Ashley fired off her streamer cannon at the end of "Every Day's a Holiday" and several streamers wrapped themselves around the high-speed ceiling fan at Jalopy, providing a colorful swirl above our heads (that picture to the left doesn't do it justice). I could've tried that three dozen times and never succeeded. It was just Ashley's (good) luck, I think.

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool" (Live at KindieFest 2009)

Continue reading "Live Video: The Jimmies" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:10 PM | 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 time for the championship matchup in KidVid Tournament 2009. From the first round on, I had a pretty good feeling that this is where we'd be. The matchup features the The Jimmies' "Cool To Be Uncool," from their Make Your Own Someday CD and upcoming Trying Funny Stuff DVD, going up against Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's video for "Gotta Be Me" off his debut Easy.

Two thoughts:
1) Even if you know who you're going to vote for (and especially if you don't, natch), please watch both videos -- they're each excellent in their own ways. One of the whole purposes of this competition is to encourage folks to listen to and watch kids music they might not have seen before.
2) Every time you vote twice, a little puppy gets dropped on the sidewalk and whimpers. Seriously, y'all, I've put some safeguards to prevent/reduce double-voting, but it's not perfect. All I'm asking is that you remember that this is just a poll for fun on the internet. There are no cash prizes involved.

Anyway, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per household, please. Votes due by midnight tonight (Monday) East Coast time. And play nice!

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool"

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Gotta Be Me"

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Our first semi-final in KidVid Tournament 2009 features the Ella Jenkins Region's winner, The Jimmies' "Cool To Be Uncool," from their Make Your Own Someday CD and upcoming Trying Funny Stuff DVD, going up against the Leadbelly Region's winner, Mark Kozelek's "Bedtime Lullaby" (from the Yo Gabba Gabba! TV show).

Even if you know who you're going to vote for (and especially if you don't, natch), please watch both videos -- they're each excellent in their own ways.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per household, please. Votes due by midnight tonight (Wednesday) East Coast time. And play nice!

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool"

Mark Kozelek - "Bedtime Lullaby"

(Sorry, folks, it's been pulled from YouTube since first posted. You'll have to go to Lippy's page for the video to watch it.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's the first day of second-round matchups in KidVid Tournament 2009. This matchup features the Ella Jenkins Region's top seed, The Jimmies' "Cool To Be Uncool," from their Make Your Own Someday CD and upcoming Trying Funny Stuff DVD, going up against Central Services' Board of Education's video for "The Lonely Tomato" off their self-titled debut.

Comments welcome below, but what counts is the poll at the bottom of the entry. All votes due by midnight tonight (Monday) East Coast time. One vote per household, please. And play nice.

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool"

Central Services Board of Education - "The Lonely Tomato"

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It's the very first matchup of KidVid Tournament 2009. It features the Ella Jenkins Region's top seed, The Jimmies' "Cool To Be Uncool," from their Make Your Own Someday CD and upcoming Trying Funny Stuff DVD, going up against The Hipwaders' "Cat in a Bathysphere," from their album Educated Kid.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per person, please. Votes due by midnight tonight (Monday) East Coast time. And play nice!

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool"

The Hipwaders - "Cat in a Bathysphere"

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I already wrote about this video once - sort of - but the finished product shows that while there may be others who create unique and interesting videos, there is absolutely nobody in the kids music field that creates videos with the same love and attention (and, hey, probably budgets, too) as The Jimmies. Their latest effort, "Cool To Be Uncool," I like to think was filmed in the actual bedroom set for The Princess Bride. It's from their forthcoming DVD Trying Funny Stuff, which'll feature 6 videos, a live concert, other stuff, and a live CD of the concert.

Go over to their video page to see all of their videos (or if Flash gives your computer a headache, go see the YouTube version) and go here to pre-order the DVD at a discount until Sunday.

The Jimmies - "Cool To Be Uncool"

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know, I know, I talk about The Jimmies a lot. So even though their videos are awesome, and they've posted incomplete clips of two more videos on their website, I wasn't going to post anything here. "Cool To Be Uncool" is a fun song and will feature a bunch of green-screen and wind machine technology, but it could wait. "Soaper the Scaredy-Bot" is a live video, and features an appearance by the title character, but is, well, just a live video.

And then Soaper started tap-dancing.

Go to the Jimmies' video page now for the next week to see. (And, yeah, Ashley told me about it, but I'd forgotten.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I'm starting to wrap up coverage of the 2008 Austin City Limits Festival and the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, I thought it might be nice to add some video to go along with the pictures and words I've been posting. So read on ahead for a whole bunch of sights and sounds (simultaneously) from this weekend's activities. Not just the usual suspects -- the Jimmies and Uncle Rock and Buck Howdy -- but also some other artists and other stages...

Continue reading "ACL Fest (Austin Kiddie Limits) 2008: The Festival in Video" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another day, another entry in my ongoing series of previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival. Today -- The Jimmies. (Previous artists: Buck Howdy with BB, Uncle Rock, Jambo.)

First, the technical specs...
-- Official Website
-- Videos
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives, including an interview with lead Jimmy ("lead Jimmie"?) Ashley Albert.

The Jimmies will rock harder than anyone else at the AKL stage next weekend with the possible exception of the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars, and is the School of Rock bringing a giant tap-dancing robot? I didn't think so. Well, neither are the Jimmies, but they've brought one to a concert taping before, so they've got that going for them. Anyway, their debut album Make Your Own Someday features some great powerpop and a sense of humor that will greatly amuse your seven-year-old. And probably you.

The Jimmies play at 3:30 Saturday and 2:30 Sunday. Bring your own tap-dancing robot.

The Jimmies - "Do The Elephant"

More videos, including the much-loved "Spanimals," after the jump...

Continue reading "Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Preview: The Jimmies" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Proving that Dan Zanes and Beethoven's Wig aren't the only the only kids musicians that can sport an unconventional hairdo, the Jimmies have unleashed a whole series of unconventional hairdos for their fine new video.

It's for the rockin' song "Bedhead," and it can be viewed (along with all their other excellent videos) at their spiffy video player here.

Go.

Update: Ashley from the Jimmies reports that those 4 videos, along with 2 more will be on an upcoming DVD, along with a "behind-the-scenes doc, sing-along karaoke versions of the songs, general shenanigans and, yes, the fabled live concert, complete with giant tap dancing robot." What can go wrong with a tap dancing robot? (Don't answer that.) Oh, and the band is planning something else really cool, but I'm not going to jinx it by mentioning it now...

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't typically mention single concerts around the country (unless, you know, I'm helping to put on the show), but occasionally a lineup stands out.

Like next weekend's Target Children's Book Festival in Bloomington, Minnesota. On Saturday, Sept. 13th, at Hyland Lake Park Reserve, the Festival's hosting a great lineup of kids musicians to enjoy for free. And, yeah, I guess since it's a book festival, there might be a few authors hanging around. Books, music, it's all good.

Set times for musicians (there are authors scattered in between there) are...
10:00 The Jimmies
11:25 Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players
1:10 Nick Jr.'s The Wonder Pets!
12:35 Lisa Loeb
1:55 The Jimmies
3:05 They Might Be Giants
4:25 Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ashley Albert is the founder of the New York-based band The Jimmies. Their debut album, Make Your Own Someday is a whole bunch of fun, and their videos are, well, their videos are something to see, and a lot of that is due to Ashley herself.

Let's put it this way -- when I asked Ashley to send some photos to accompany this interview, she sent me one that featured her wearing a fake mustache. Deedee Doodle (of Doodlebops fame) might have many positive attributes, but being willing to send a photo of herself wearing a fake mustache is not, I am willing to guess, one of them.

Read on for the story behind the band's creation, the recording of the debut, the name of their next album, and, yes, the picture of Ashley wearing the fake mustache.

Zooglobble: What were your musical influences growing up?
Ashley Albert: I had music coming at me from all sides when I was a kid- my dad was a record producer and I spent a lot of weekends in the 70’s asleep on the couch at the studio while bands like CSN, The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and John Cougar rocked it out. I also fell in love with a lot of unknown bands he worked on that never saw the light of day. My mom was really into the reggae scene and we actually lived in the Bahamas for a stint while Bob Marley was recording “Rastaman Vibration”. I was exposed to a whole lot of decidedly “adult” music. When I was writing the songs for Make Your Own Someday, I remembered that the songs I liked best were the ones that at least mentioned something that seemed kid-like to me…i.e. “Rock the Boat” by The Hues Corporation (“Boats! Boats are for kids!”) or “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. (“The number two! This is like a counting song!”). I also went through a heavy Dr. Demento phase in junior high, followed closely by an affinity for musicals, Carly Simon, Led Zeppelin and Cat Stevens. I’m just all over the place in the music department.

Continue reading "Interview: Ashley Albert (The Jimmies)" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A few weeks ago, the Austin City Limits and Austin Kiddie Limits lineup was announced, now comes the hard part -- figuring out what shows you're gonna see at this year's ACL Festival.

Austin Kiddie Limits lineup after the jump. Now updated for a totally revised schedule. Oh, and I hope you're not a big fan of both Beck andRobert Plant and Alison Krauss, 'cuz your Saturday night will now be fraught with confusion...

Continue reading "Austin Kiddie Limits: Schedule Set, Let Schedule-Balancing Begin." »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... so why wouldn't you host a kids' music concert there?

OK, that probably wasn't the thinking of XMKids when they set up a concert for Saturday, May 24, but, hey, why not? The XMKids' Traveling Roadshow will broadcast from 11 Children's Miracle Network hospitals across the country starting May 12 as part of an effort to raise $10 million for the non-profit group.

And at the end of the trip they'll host a live, free show from noon to 4 PM at the Sylvan Theatre on the National Mall. Musicians playing at the show include Lisa Loeb, Meredith Brooks, and the ubiquitous Jimmies, who are well on their way to becoming the Jack Johnson of this year's summer concert circuit, appearing seemingly everywhere.

Nice lineup for a good cause.

Posted by SAShepherd at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After going over-the-top for their first two videos ("Do The Elephant" and "Spanimals"), New York's Jimmies do what all artists do for their third release -- go power-ballad.

OK, it's not really a power ballad (there is no poofed hair), but "Taddy" is one of the few sweet and tender songs off Make Your Own Someday, and now it has a video to match, one in which the band members sit around and don't even lip-synch a word.

But it's awesome in its own way.

The Jimmies - "Taddy"

By the way, is there a word for tweaking your video to make the YouTube "pull-clip" (such as the "Taddy" above) be particularly enticing (or relevant)?

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, they've announced the Austin City Limits Festival lineup for the 2008 edition, and it's a doozy. Foo Fighters, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Beck appear to be the 3 headliners based on the fact they're listed first, and there are a lot of bands on the undercard worth seeing (David Byrne, Neko Case, Gillian Welch, Mates of State are just some of the intriguing names on the list).

But this is Zooglobble, and so here I am with the Austin Kiddie Limits lineup:

Jambo
Q Brothers
Buck Howdy with BB
Uncle Rock
Big Don
Mr. Ray
The Jimmies
School of Rock

With the exception of Jambo, Q Brothers and School of Rock, all are new to the AKL stage. The lineup is a little more country (Buck Howdy), a little more hip-hop (Big Don, who was there last year passing out CDs, so that seemed to work out well for him), with perhaps the Jimmies trying to fit the large showmanship shoes of the Sippy Cups.

Austin City Limits Festival this year is Sept. 26 - 28.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, there was a KidVid Tournament 2008 semi-final between the Jimmies and Mr. Richard. Which ended in a tie.

But just like that other March Madness permits its 40-minute games to go into 5-minute overtime, so will I. Given that the voting window has generally been about 12 hours long, I'm going to open voting IN THIS THREAD for about 90 minutes (that's 1/8th the length of regulation), 'til 1:50 PM as time-stamped below.

The rules: One vote per family/household in the comments below. I will be checking IP addresses, so don't even think about voting twice, 'cause I'll delete both votes. I'm not going to delete votes for trash talk, but c'mon, folks, be nice. (Besides, I don't think you're going to convince someone to change their vote.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Moving on into the semifinals of KidVid Tournament 2008, we have a matchup between two popular videos thus far in the competition. The first video, The Jimmies' Latin-tinged (of course) "Spanimals," is off the Jimmies' 2007 debut CD, Make Your Own Someday (review). Its competition will Mr. Richard's Italian-tinged "Cheese," which is from his late-2007 release Polka Dot Puzzle (review).

Please read these voting rules carefully...
1. Vote in the comments below.
2. One vote per family.
3. Vote by 9 PM West Coast time tonight (Wednesday).
4. Please vote nicely. Anything that smacks too much of, well, talking smack won't be counted as a vote. It's OK to say how wonderful your favorite is. It's not OK to say how awful the other is.
5. Just as a reminder, comments aren't posted immediately -- for spam-prevention purposes they need my OK before being posted. So if your vote doesn't show up immediately, don't worry -- it will get posted eventually.

OK, so on to the videos (which you should watch both of, even if you already know who you're voting for.)

The Jimmies - "Spanimals"

Mr. Richard - "Cheese"

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (613)

Some days just get away from you, so there's no KidVid Tournament 2008 matchup here... but....

Go here and vote on the Jimmies' "Spanimals" vs. Orange Sherbet's "Campfire Song" for supremacy in the Woody Guthrie Region bracket.

Go, go now! Voting 'til 9 PM tonight.

If you are having problems voting over there, please post here and let me know! (I won't post the comments, but I do read them.)

Update #2: I've been told that people are not verifying themselves as being real. I know you're all real, but I think there's a follow-up step that you need to do after you've registered -- I think that's an e-mail, but I forget. In any case, check your e-mail for verification e-mails from Offsprung.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

While some other "March Madness" starts today, we're already on Day Thre of KidVid Tournament 2008, in which we have a matchup from the Woody Guthrie Region -- the #1 seed "Spanimals" from The Jimmies from their debut Make Your Own Someday versus the #4 seed "You Can Be Anything" from Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang (off their self-titled debut).

Vote in the comments below. One per family, please. Play nice. Votes due by 9 PM West Coast time today (Thursday).

The Jimmies - "Spanimals"

Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang - "You Can Be Anything"

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (46)

I've hear rumors of particular bands being booked for C3's twin titans of summer kid-friendly music festivals, Kidzapalooza and Austin Kiddie Limits, and some of those rumors would appear to be inching toward the realm of reality.

Austin Kiddie Limits has posted some new tracks on its Myspace page. New to the page are The Jimmies, Buck Howdy, Uncle Rock, and Mr. RAY. These artists would all appear to be on the bill for AKL, set for September 26 through 28. (Buck Howdy already has AKL dates on his live calendar.) And The Jimmies have a Kidzapalooza date set on their calendar. (Kidzapalooza is set for August 1 through 3.)

These aren't all the bands I've heard rumors of, so more will be announced at some point, to be sure. But, hey, it's only February -- ACL is 7 months away, after all. Now you can plan your summer 2008 road trips accordingly.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Man (or this man) at least cannot live on live music (and bottled water) alone. He must also have amusing videos featuring frisbie-throwing human-sized dogs and deers grilling at the barbecue.

Oh, yeah, a Carmen Miranda-style headpiece never hurts.

Here you go, the latest video from New York's The Jimmies -- "Spanimals."

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There are singers, and there are entertainers. In the former camp, I'd put artists like Elizabeth Mitchell, whose interpreter of songs is rivaled by few in the kids music genre and who have glorious voices.

In the latter camp, I'd like to introduce Ashley Albert, lead singer, songwriter, and mastermind behind the New York-based The Jimmies.

Don't get me wrong, Albert has a nice voice and could be a very adept interpreter of standards, kids-oriented or not. But on her band's recently-released debut album Make Your Own Someday (Silly Songs for the Shorter Set), Albert's strengths are in thinking like a goofy 7-year-old and performing for said kid. (It's not for nothing that Albert's done voice work for cartoons and commercials.)

Watch this completely infectious (pun mostly unintended) for "Do the Elephant," one of the catchiest songs on the album, and tell me that the Nickolodeon/Nick Jr. corporate behemoth shouldn't find some show to feature Albert and the whole band on a regular basis. It did wonders for Laurie Berkner -- it could do the same here.

Kinda like a cross between Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang and AudraRox, except skewed at a slightly higher age bracket.

The songs themselves sound bright and tackle common kid-themes like clothes (the swinging "What's On Your Shirt" or the rocking "Cool To Be Uncool") and pets (the unusually-sweet-for-the-album "Taddy") with a variety of musical styles. Albert gets the double-word-score for combining a foreign-language song with a song about pets (in "Spanimals," on which I kept expecting Rob Thomas to make an appearance on the Santana-lite melody). And the album's opener, "What's That Sound?," isn't quite a classic name-the-instrument musical piece like "Mama Don't Allow" and "Peter and the Wolf," but it's pretty darn close. The rest of the band -- who, like Albert, have day jobs that indicate serious musical talent -- backs Albert with aplomb. (Whatever "aplomb" is.)

The album's not perfect -- Albert sometimes has a tendency to cram too many words into the lyrics (making them hard to understand) and some songs are just sort of "eh" -- but it's not for lack of talent or imagination. The silliness here will be most appreciated by kids ages 5 through 10, particularly if they have a "Weird Al" Yankovic album in their collection. You can listen to 4 full tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples from the whole album at the album's CD Baby page.

You may as well get Make Your Own Someday now, because eventually these songs are going to end up on some TV show somewhere. Then your kids are going to beg to you play The Jimmies over and over again in the care and rather than investing in some dubious technology that rips audio from a DVD video, you may as well just get the CD and save yourself the hassle. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)