Zooglobble

Mamma Yamma: The Canadian Foofa (Or Is It Toodee)?

2012-02-03T15:44:12Z

I recently got a note from reader Susan suggesting I check out Kids' CBC, because they "seem to be doing a Yo Gabba Gabba-type thing by inviting Canadian indie musicians to jam with the character Mamma Yamma, who is a large, ebullient yam. In particular, Susan directed me to this video which featured musician Joel Plaskett doing a kid-friendly take on his song "Fashionable People."

Joel Plaskett - "Fashionable People" (from Kids' CBC) [YouTube]

Goofy, and kinda cute, even if you don't know the pretty-much-not-kid-friendly original. Though I'd been vaguely familiar with the show (it even has a CD of songs), I hadn't paid too much attention. My loss, I suppose.

As I watched this video and dug deeper into the Mamma Yamma archives, I got not only a YGG vibe, but also a Sesame Street feeling. That show's been inviting musical guests onto its street pretty much from the get-go forty years ago. Admittedly, it's generally gone for more mainstream musical guests than Brobee, Foofa, Toodee, and the rest have on their own show, but they've occasionally dipped into slightly more off-center artists. (See: Feist.)

In fact, Mamma Yamma has her own Feist-ian equivalent, with Kathleen Edwards reworking her kid-unfriendly (albeit pretty awesome) "Cheapest Key" into a very kid-friendly (and still pretty awesome) song "Eat the Alphabet". (Sorry, for some reason it's cutting off early, but you get the point. If you want to listen to a live version, Bill played it before at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, perhaps he'll do so again, hint hint.)

And here's one more complete one to finish this off. Any show that features Tegan and Sara gets a thumbs up in my book.

Tegan and Sara - "Alligator" (for Kids' CBC) [YouTube]

Share: Edukator Jr. - Edukator Jr.

2012-02-02T15:38:58Z

A while back, I highlighted Plays Well Together, a free collection of mp3s from Seattle-based Burnside Distribution. While I focused on the mostly Seattle-based nature of the artists, there were a couple artists with whom I was unfamiliar.

One of them was Edukator Jr. Now, they're a band that clearly didn't spend too much time pushing the album (that's a Myspace link, for example, and not a particularly up-to-date one at that). But as EPs go, their self-titled debut is pretty good. It's squarely in the preschool/early elementary education wheelhouse and its subject matter -- songs about ABCs, brushing teeth, taking naps, etc. -- is nothing that hasn't been done before but it's wrapped in a shiny, mostly indie-pop sheen that stands up to repeated listenings.

Don't believe me? Well, you can check it out for yourself here, or just use this widget to listen to it or download for the price of an e-mail.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore: The Short Film

2012-02-01T01:28:25Z

I rarely stray from the subject of kids music here at Zooglobble, so when I do, you can rest assured it's with good reason.

This is good reason.

Before it was an acclaimed iPad app (or at least simultaneously), The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore was also a short animated film co-directed by author William Joyce (The Guardians of Childhood series and much more) and Brandon Oldenburg.

To say too much would ruin the joy that's found within the roughly fifteen-minute movie, but it celebrates stories and books and movies and includes both goofy slapstick and tugged heartstrings. I'm not surprised that it picked up an Academy Award nomination for Animated Short Film. It is worthy of Pixar's short film work, which is no small praise from these quarters.

I've embedded it below, but it would be doing a disservice to the movie if you didn't go here and watch it full screen, or, even better, watch on your TV via Roku or Apple TV.

Video: "Humpty Dumpty" - Groove Kid Nation

2012-01-31T14:51:51Z

I'm posting this video from Music in Motion, the latest album from Groove Kid Nation (the creation of L.A. musician Rodney Lee) mostly for one reason: the stinky face.

The animation's OK (a bit static, but it'll do in a pinch), and the groove on this retelling of the story of Humpty Dumpty is pretty funky, but, like I said, it's all about the stinky face. How often do you get to learn about the stinky face in a musically-appropriate manner?

Groove Kid Nation - "Humpty Dumpty" [YouTube]

Book Review: What Instrument Is This? - Rosemarie Hausherr

2012-01-30T20:04:33Z

A while back the Official Wife of Zooglobble brought this book home from her preschool classroom. It's called What Instrument Is This?, and as you might deduce from the title, its structure is a series of questions encouraging the elementary-school-aged reader to guess the name of an instrument.

Now, given that the book is 20 years old, and some of the pictures inside appear to be at least twice that, one could be forgiven for dismissing the book. But it's a totally charming book, probably the best "introduction to instruments" book I've ever seen.

Author Rosemarie Hausherr organizes the instruments by instrument group (winds, strings, keyboard, and percussion), and features many different types of pictures and settings. There's just enough detail to make it interesting without overwhelming -- the recorder is a long, hollow piece of wood with eight holes, played by blowing into the whistle mouthpiece, with a "warm and cheerful sound."

While the text style and the design of the book remain remarkably consistent throughout (and the subtle logos representing each of the four instrument groups would look modern today), that's offset by the diversity of musical and photographic styles and subjects. Classical music, sure, but bagpipes? CBGB (yes, that CBGB) is thanked in the credits, so I can only assume the picture for the electric guitar (strings section) is from a gig there. The kids in the pictures reflect a fairly diverse crowd, spanning many races and featuring more than one child with disabilities playing (or experimenting with) instruments. It's nothing fancy, but it's great at keeping kids interested without trying too hard to do so.

The book appears to be long out of print, but Amazon has several copies for little more than the cost of shipping and I'm sure it's available elsewhere. (That's an Amazon affiliate link, by the way.)

What Instrument Is This? is a great book for preschool and elementary school classrooms, as well as families looking to introduce a visual element of music into their homes. Definitely recommended.

Monday Morning Smile: "Violet" - Jeremy Messersmith

2012-01-30T15:27:50Z

Take one longtime fan of Twin Cities musician Jeremy Messersmith, mix in a video featuring kids having a snowball fight, and what you get is a "Monday Morning Smile."

The video's for "Violet," one of several great tracks off his great 2010 album The Reluctant Graveyard. And, yeah, a snowball fight is actually kinda thematically appropriate. Keep the video in mind for this year's "Storm of the Century."

Jeremy Messersmith - "Violet" [Vimeo]

Monday Morning Smile: The Joy of Books

2012-01-23T14:14:17Z

There's a reason this video had over 300,000 views within 48 hours of its release a couple weeks ago: it's enchanting. Sean and Lisa Ohlenkamp (and their friends) make a Toronto bookstore come to life using stop-motion animation. Regardless of whether you're pro- or anti-Kindle (and I think you can guess on which of the debate this video would side), the word "magical" isn't too much of a stretch to describe this.

The Joy of Books [YouTube]

Interview: Rick Dobbis (myKaZoo)

2012-01-20T14:56:14Z

Rick Dobbis' resume is a lengthy one, with many stops in the music and record business, including a stint as president of Sony Music International. His latest effort targets a younger audience than one he's spent much of his career focusing on -- preschoolers and elementary school-aged kids.

Along with business partner Richard Ellis (that's him on the right, Dobbis on the left), myKaZootv and myKaZoo Music are attempting to bring a wide variety of music videos in one centralized (and curated) place as well as seeing if the idea of a kids' record label can be saved. Their label's first release, Farmer Jason's Nature Jams, comes out February 7, and the myKaZoo website will be up and running this month. They've got ambitious plans in a field that has seen many ambitious plans -- and seen many of those fail.

Dobbins chatted with me this week about his introduction to kids music, why he thinks myKaZoo is good for the genre and not just his artists, and one inspiration for the site's name.

Zooglobble: What are your earliest musical memories?
Rick Dobbis: I grew up with a sister six years older than me. She was a huge, huge rock 'n' roll fan. This was the early '50s, so folks like Elvis Presley, Connie Francis. My sister was a huge Connie Francis fan -- my father once brought her an autographed picture of Francis and she just about died.

My father... the name "myKaZoo" isn't specifically named for my father, but he was an amateur kazoo player. He opened for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at an annual show three years in a row.

My first kids record was the theme from Davy Crockett. My first album was "A Taste of Honey" by Jimmy Rodgers.

How did you get into kids music?
Well, Rick Chertoff, who's a distinguished producer, he and his wife and others formed Dream Jam Productions to do stuff related to music and movement. It'd primarily been focused on books. We were sitting talking one day, and we asked, "why don't we create our own music -- good music that shares the values we're trying to convey?" That struck a chord with me, so I worked with them and that's when the Dream Jam Band came into being.

I worked with every genre over my career, and internationally at a particularly good point, a great time to open my mind. It was new, and new is healthy. There's some wonderfully creative content in the genre. It's also under-resourced and underrepresented in the marketplace.

]]> So where or when did you come up with the specific idea for myKaZoo?
We -- meaning I and Richard Ellis, who's spent a lot of time in this space with his 12to20 company -- had a sense of frustration. It became clear that there was a lovely kindie scene being highlighted in places like your site or Kids Place Live. But it was also clear that Viacom and Disney weren't in the space, the Sirius/XM merger was reducing the number of national channels, and there wasn't much local commercial radio. So we thought, to use the cliche, "If you build it, they will come."

There are lots of great characters (both performers and in the songs) and a lack of resources. myKaZoo is based on two ideas:
1) Create a platform for exposure of the genre, and
2) Given our experience in distribution, strong marketing, and partnering with Universal Music, sell music.

If you add a bunch of creative people pulling in the same direction, hopefully this will be good for kids music. If we're successful, then whether or not they're myKaZoo artists, it's good for the genre -- it's a virtuous circle.

So, don't take this the wrong way, but there have been lots of labels and folks -- Rhino Kids, Rounder Kids, for example -- who've tried to do what you're doing and haven't been able to make a go of it. What makes you think you can succeed where others have failed?
As the music business has evolved in the past ten years, the business has caught up to the genre. Those dynamics have caught up. You have to start with a realistic knowledge of what's going on. If they spent $100,000 to produce an album, then more money on mainstream ads, they quickly ran out of money. If you can have an instant response, then large dollar amounts is an OK way to go. Our first release is on February 7, it's from Farmer Jason, and he hits the road immediately afterward. If I don't support him next fall, next year, I have failed. The big splash in pop music is not the way to go here.

What advantages do you offer to artists? What are you looking for?
Besides Farmer Jason we've signed three other artists, close to a fourth. Our philosophy isn't original or unusual -- we're looking for fresh, challenging work, music that has complexity and doesn't speak down to the audience. There's not a big jump from the basics to the Beatles, there's sophisticated stuff that kids can enjoy.

Lots of artists (Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, or Sukey Molloy, for example) are doing really great work for younger listeners -- "beginners" -- but our music will focus on sophisticated stuff.

Characters are at the heart of this music -- both in song and singers, and whether you have a loud big personality or a quiet big personality, that's the thread we're looking for. But we also need to make sure that within the roster the artists stand out from each other.

We want to make sure that there's stuff that's not just music-related, but more, such as stories, both for the site and elsewhere. On our channel, too.

When I was general manager at RCA, we chased a particular artist, but the artist ended up signing with another label. The artist was later quoted in Rolling Stone saying that the other label was just "smarter." We don't think we're "smarter" than anyone else. But our partner Universal Music is in a lot areas, and they take the long view. They've got the right attitude, right support. Our success will make it easier for other artists to get interest from TV bookers and concert bookers.

And how about parents?
We're creating a "walled garden" that will offer them value and range. We want to offer an environment that's age-appropriate, parent-appropriate, and positive. Now, everyone I've met in this genre aims to do that, but there aren't a lot of places that are a strong environment (for example, compare to YouTube). We're carefully curated -- if they "don't KaZoo," we want to know why.

We're going to be platform agnostic -- we'll be on Kabillion TV on Demand and we're working with Roku, for example. We want to put ourselves in millions of homes by June. We want to be a safe place to have a good time.

Video: "Everybody Sing" - Imagination Movers (World Premiere)

2012-01-18T14:58:08Z

“Reach high, think big, work hard, have fun!”

This is probably imprinted in the brains of probably millions of kids and their parents. It's the motto of New Orleans' Imagination Movers, and as mottoes (and band jingles) go, it's a pretty darn good one.

The band's popularity is due in no small part to their Disney Junior series (and, yes, new episodes are coming in 2012), but anybody's who seem 'em live (even folks like me who weren't in their target audience) will testify to the fact that they're going to have a career long after they stop making music and video for the Mouse.

In fact, in 2011, they signed a deal with Razor & Tie, and next month -- February 14, to be exact -- Razor + Tie will release the band's new CD/DVD Rock-O-Matic. I've listened to a lot of the album, and I can guarantee a few tracks will be concert favorites. Luckily, the band's embarking on an 80-date concert tour starting in early March (details here) so you'll have plenty of opportunities to put my guarantee to the test.

The album was made available for pre-orders yesterday; besides the CD, it also includes a DVD, which the Movers promise includes "skits that recall old-school Movers comedy heroes like Monty Python and the Monkees" and more.

But perhaps you'd like to hear one of those new songs before February 14? Well, then, I'm proud to present the world premiere of one of those instant concert classics, "Everybody Sing." I apologize in advance for getting this stuck in your brain for the rest of the day.

Imagination Movers - "Everybody Sing" [YouTube]

Photo credit: Adams Photography

(Kids') Rock Superstars Reunite With Original Singer

2012-01-18T04:00:36Z

Sure, the world's heart is aflutter at the idea of a Hall of Fame band who've been playing for more than 20 years reuniting with their original singer.

But it's not Van Halen and David Lee Roth.

It's The Wiggles (yes, they were inducted into an Australian Hall of Fame just last year), who announced today that original Yellow Wiggle Greg Page would be returning to the band, with replacement Yellow Wiggle Sam Moran stepping aside.

For those of you who are wondering what I'm actually talking about, a little more than 5 years ago Page stepped away from the band due to serious bouts of fainting and lethargy. He was replaced by Moran, who had been a dancer with the band and Page's understudy.

And now today, in some bizarro merging of All About Eve and Star Is Born rewritten with a happy ending, Page wants to return, and Moran has agreed to step aside. (The reason appears to be that Page has recovered medically and perhaps is not doing great financially.)

But just because all is well within Wiggle-land doesn't mean the rest of the community agrees. Within just three hours of the announcement on the band's Facebook page, over 3,000 people wrote to express their view on the matter. "Sam for Green Wiggle" seemed to be the consensus.

Five years ago, I finished off the piece by essentially wishing Page "get well soon," so I'll finish this piece by saying, "welcome back."

Monday Morning Smile: "When Will You Die?" - They Might Be Giants

2012-01-16T14:17:58Z

A meditation on mortality from They Might Be Giants.

Also, a kick-butt rock tune (it's from their fine 2011 "adult" album Join Us).

And a celebration of life.

All of that in a two-and-a-half-minute video. Unless you think the phrase "when will you die?" will prompt questions from your kids that you just don't want to deal with (and, hey, I'm not judging) totally appropriate for the kiddos.

They Might Be Giants - "When Will You Die?" [YouTube]

Best Kids Music 2011: Big Ideas

2012-01-13T15:19:13Z

Nope, we're not done yet with our look at the best in kids music from 2011. For the second year in a row, I'm going to list big ideas from the past year. Not so much albums or songs, but concepts or trends I think will continue to have big impacts.

Inspector Widget: Maybe this is just the blogger/website operator in me, but the biggest trend of 2011 to me was the full flowering of web businesses designed to make it incredibly easy for artists to share their music with the world. Unlike the trainwreck that Myspace was from almost the beginning, these new entities let artists share (and sell) their music with a minimum of fuss and distraction. I'm talking about websites like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Noisetrade, and Topspin. Now, all of these entities existed prior to 2011, but there was a definite increase in the usage of these entities by the music world in general, and kids music joined right in. Rather than making listeners come to the artist, these embeddable widgets make it easier than ever to meet potential fans where they are -- on Facebook, on Twitter, or on music sites that know a good thing when they hear it. (Ahem.)

Widgets Aren't The Only To Have Your Music Heard: 2011 wasn't just the year of the widget, there were lots of other innovative ways kids musicians got their music out in front of fans both current and potential. One of my favorite (and potentially most important) is from The Bazillions, who have established their own Roku channel to provide instantaneous streaming of their videos to literally millions of households. (Details here.) But iPhone apps, iPad apps, Kickstarter campaigns, and circus collaborations were other ways that kindie musicians tried to reach folks who might not have thought of kids music beyond the big box artists.

Two Heads are Better Than One: Sugar Free Allstars and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. Little Miss Ann and Suzi Shelton (with an assist from Baze and His Silly Friends' Marc Bazerman). Recess Monkey and Dean Jones (collaborating on the next Recess Monkey album, In Tents. Just a handful of the individual song collaborations between artists whose collaborations might not have occurred just 5 years ago when the scene was a lot more scattered and solitary. Collaboration has always occurred, of course -- folks like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and Bill Harley have reached to make music with others for a long time. But connections happen so much faster now that I expect that such collaboration will soon become the rule and not the exception.

Fourteen Heads Are Better Than Two: I mentioned this concept last year in the wake of Kindiependent, the Seattle-area cooperative promoting six local bands. But other areas continue to create their own support groups. Besides AMFM in LA and Let's Play! in San Francisco, which both formed in 2010, the Windy Kindie Chicago Cooperative set up shop this year. And the most active cooperative is probably KindiePDX in Portland, Oregon, which teems with activity, advice, and, well, support.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention kinDIY, the self-organized wiki-style site (founded by Bill Childs and Susie Tennant, and which I'm an administrator of) designed to help kids' musicians navigate the complex world of kids music.

Ending the Damn "Finally": Jeff Bogle at one point this year suggested a simple piece of action that he thought (and I agree) would go a long way towards increasing the visibility of kids music -- having musicians suggest to their audiences other musicians they might enjoy. In my words, it's up to musicians to end the damn "finally." You know, those "finally"s that say, "Finally, kids music the whole family can enjoy." That statement is a lie, shows ignorance on the part of the speaker, and worst of all, it conveys the idea that the kids music genre is incredibly small when just the opposite is true. Musicians need to convey to their audience the truth, which is that they are part of a long-standing tradition of making music for families that has never been as vibrant as it is today. Some artists have done that in the past, and more are doing it today, but there's room for a lot more. Even if you're not collaborating with anyone else on record or on stage, it's time to share the love more broadly.

Share: Steve Lee Sampler

2012-01-13T03:51:48Z

A few years back, I was a little enchanted by What Did You Do Today, Steven Scott Lee?, the debut album from Nashville-based Steve Lee. Lee leaped right into the kids' music scene, got a bunch of his Nashville friends (they have a musician or two there), and recorded a bunch of incredibly catchy songs (along with a few skits). I called "Grab a Balloon" my favorite track, "quite possibly of the year", and the album made my list of top albums from 2007.

Lee has been a little bit quiet on the kids' music front since then, though he's been keeping himself busy out and around Nashville and tour-managing some acts.

Even better (from these admittedly biased quarters), Lee's been starting to play kids music around Nashville with a band he's put together called Yumza!. In talking with Lee, I'm pretty hopeful that the rest of the country will here the new songs pretty soon.

In the meanwhile, use this widget to grab six of the songs (including "Grab a Balloon") from Stephen Scott Lee for the price of an e-mail and zip code. I promise you that you'll find at least a couple songs to love.

Video: "Say What?" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (World Premiere)

2012-01-11T19:31:13Z

I think all kids should get a chance to -- among other things -- a) ride a train, and b) scat. Now, if those kids start scatting while on the train as they do in this brand new (world premiere!) video from Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, then I guess I'm cool with that.

The lovely artwork's by Micah Player and features Lily and Zeborah, characters in Lately Lily, the apparel line Player helps produce. Player did the album art for both Diaz albums, including Oh Lucky Day!, the album this song, "Say What?," is from. The visual pleasures are quiet ones -- rather than featuring lots of action, this video mostly consists small changes you and your kids will have sit quietly and watch to notice.

And, just like the last time I world-premiered a Lucky Diaz video, the video release comes closer to the release of his next album than the one the song is from. That's right, Diaz's next album, A Bit A Luck! will be out in less than 4 months, on May 8. Reportedly it features a horn section, which, in my experience, is never a bad thing.

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Say What?" [YouTube]

Radio Playlist: New Music January 2012

2012-01-10T19:20:36Z

Time again to update the Zooglobble radio station, covering assorted tracks collected in the last couple months or so of 2012. (You can see my October 2011 playlist here.)

This playlist airs in the mid-afternoons (West Coast time), but if you can't listen in the afternoon, the tracks are scattered throughout the day, too. The listing below is in alphabetical order; the on-air play order is totally random (due to Internet music restrictions).

Bill Bailey - The Biscuit Brothers (Get Up & Go)
It's Not Fair - The Buzzniks (Bug Out)
Goldfinches - The Chickadees (The Froggy Hop)
Help - Cloud Cult (Minnesota Beatle Project Vol. 3)
Walk Away - Debbie And Friends (All About Bullies...Big And Small)
Sacagawea - The Deedle Deedle Dees (Strange Dees, Indeed)
Max The Wonder Dog - DidiPop (Everyday Adventure)
Samantha the Butterfly - Fox & Branch (Things Are Coming My Way!)
I've Been Playing In A Soul Band - Groove Kid Nation (Music In Motion)
Sugar Buzz - Jeanie B! And The Jelly Beans (Sugar Buzz)
Living Inside Of A Jar - Jim Gill (Jim Gill Presents Music Play For Folks Of All Stripes)
The Mixing Bowl - Kira Willey (Kings & Queens of the Forest)
Soldier’s Joy - Laura Veirs (Tumble Bee)
Sometimes - Little Miss Ann (Walk with Me)
Welcome To The Library - Melvil Dewey (Deweylicious! Library Hip Hop)
Bambas - Mujeres (Els Transports)
Masha And The Rain - Sasha Bondarev (Sand Castle)
Wrong Side Of The Bed - Soundzania (Soundzania Elementary School)
Stink Bug - We Kids Rock Band (We Kids Rock!)