The White Stripes Rock It For the Kids

Really. I dig the preschool our kids attend(ed), but it's safe to say the White Stripes never played a secret show for them like they did a couple weeks ago at a Toronto YMCA. The setlist included “Cannon,” “Sugar Never Tasted So Good,” “Apple Blossom,” “We’re Going to be Friends”, “Martyr for My Love for You” and “Hotel Yorba.” Oh, and then kids came up and sang songs -- "Wheels on the Bus" and "I Believe I Can Fly" among the selections. Y the Y? Well, apparently it came up first when the band's manager searched for "Toronto" and "fun" on the internet. Oh, and if you haven't seen this, the Stripes' last "secret show" in Canada, this is kinda funny. Make sure you stick around for the crowd chant at the very end.

Review Two-Fer: Greasy Kid Stuff (1 & 2) - Various Artists

Would I be here on the web without Greasy Kid Stuff? Yeah, probably. Would anybody care? Well, I'm not so sure. Way back in 1995, when Belinda Miller and Hova Najarian started their weekly Saturday-morning "Greasy Kid Stuff" broadcast on WFMU in the New York area, there may have been a number of kids' music shows on the radio, but none were doing what Belinda and Hova did. Sure, they played "kids' music" (cartoon theme songs, the Chipmunks, and a Sesame Street song made their appearance on a randomly-selected playlist from November 1997). But they also re-appropriated kids' songs played byadult artists (Elvis Presley, the Mr. T Experience and Tanya Donnelly/Juliana Hatfield on that same broadcast) and, even more subversively, artists and songs that had never been anywhere near a kids' show. It wasn't just Jonathan Richman -- it was the Phantom Surfers, the Go-Nuts, and Yo La Tengo. GreasyKidStuff.jpgIn 2002, Belinda and Hova compiled their first Greasy Kid Stuff collection, filled with their broadcast's most popular songs from 7 years of Saturday-morning radio shows. This collection has a very goofy vibe to it that owes as much of its energy to Dr. Demento as it does 120 Minutes. Finding out from the liner notes that the very odd "There's a New Sound (The Sound of Worms)" was "without a doubt the most-requested song" on the show in the mid-'90s is a bracing tonic in thinking about what kids actually like to hear. Although I think the silly outweighs the rock, even the silly has a lot of rock to it (check out the surf "Ants in My Pants"), and the rock -- exemplified by the Mr. T Experience's cover of "Up and Down" from Schoolhouse Rock and the by-now-immortal "Jockey Monkey" from James Kochalka Superstar. GreasyKidStuff2.jpgThe sequel, released a couple years later, is more at the 120 Minutes-end of the GKS spectrum. With tracks from Cub, Supernova, and They Might Be Giants, the album has much more of an indie-rock feel. "Dictionary" is another great indie-rock track, done by Muckafurgason (two-thirds of which would later become the kids' band The Quiet Two. But the less-familiar names also turn in enjoyable tracks, most notably the surprisingly sweet (with pointed commentary near the end) "The Dinosaur Song," from Drew Farmer. Both albums are appropriate for kids of all ages (unless you think kids shouldn't hear the "Mission: Impossible" theme as performed by chickens, then stay away from the original). But I think kids ages 4 through 10 will probably get the most out of the CDs. Samples are available at many fine internet superstores. It's hard to choose between the two CDs (if, indeed, you have to choose between them), but I think my rough stereotyping above -- Dr. Demento or 120 Minutes is a reasonably fair one. There are some awesome tracks on both CDs and your family will like both, if for perhaps slightly different reasons. With news that a third collection is in the works, Belinda and Hova will get to share their many discoveries with a music world that's, well, finally, sort of, caught up with them. Recommended. Obligatory conflict-of-interest note, which I forgot to include when originally posting this last night: Belinda and Hova have just started a new Greasy Kid Stuff blog at Offsprung, which is where I post, too. I could've written this review many months ago, long before they even joined the fold, but thought you should know.

Road Trip! (Oh, Wait, We're Flying. Mostly.)

Our family actually spent much of last week in Austin, Texas, where my mom and brother and his family live (and where I spent a number of years growing up). We met my one-and-only nephew for the first time (cute kid), saw the water rushing out of Mansfield Dam as the region recovered from a 50-year-flood, and generally hung out and avoided responsibility. We also lost the keys to the rental car right before we headed back to the airport (note to self: never give keys to your 2-year-old, no matter how desperate you are to occupy him while you finish packing). Well, that last issue won't be a problem this September when my daughter and I head back to Austin to attend the great Austin City Limits Festival, from September 14 through 16. That's right, Zooglobble goes on the road for the first time. We'll be wandering around, talking to artists at Austin Kiddie Limits, checking out some of the other bands (see my draft and incredibly unrealistic given that I'm traveling with a 6-year-old schedule here), and, assuming that there is a) a press tent, and b) it has a high-speed internet connection, providing some reasonably live coverage of the event. We've got press passes, housing (thanks, Mom!), and plane tickets. Now, the plane tickets are acutally to Dallas (that's what I get for waiting so long to make reservations), but that'll give me a chance to show the plains of Central Texas to my daughter, who's not been on I-35 before. Am I missing a band I should check out? Any tips for attending a kids music festival with a 6-year-old? Any of you going to be there? Let me know!

Nine Days of Great Kids Music in Chicago

Now, Kidzapalooza will rock Chicago August 3 through 5 (for more details, see here). But the previous weekend is, well, pretty darn good in its own right if you'd rather fight local neighborhood throngs than fight the Pearl Jam and Ben Harper-obsessed throngs in Grant Park. I've been waiting to post about the Summer on Southport festival on the 28th and 29th because I wanted to know the times, and I'm glad I did... check out the lineup. Not only does it include Lunch Money... and ScribbleMonster... and Justin Roberts, it also includes, well, see for yourself: Saturday Lunch Money 10:00 am Seussical the Musical 11:00 am Scribble Monster noon Little Nashville 12.30 pm Girl Authority 2:00 pm Justin Roberts 2:00 pm Sunday School of ROCK 11:30 am Ralph’s World 2:00 pm Girl Authority and Justin Roberts will be playing on different stages Saturday, though the '80s references on Roberts' classic Meltdown! might be a little bit up their alley. Hey, Chicago, did I miss anybody?

Review: Campfire Sing-Along: Orange Sherbet & Hot Buttered Rum

Campfire Sing-Along.jpgTwo is better than one. Or, in this particular case, fifty-one is better than two. Fifty-one is, as best as I can tell, the total number of people singing or playing on Campfire Sing-Along, the recently-released fourth album by the Bay Area duo Orange Sherbet. You might be thinking, last time I checked, "duo" meant, well, two people. And, yes, Jill Pierce and Tamsen Fynn are indeed a duo. But they've pulled in a whole host of family and friends to sing a collection of campfire sing-along favorites. Sometimes the friends are older (such as Charity Kahn from Charity and the JAMband, who makes an appearance on "Sippin' Cider"), sometimes they're younger (the chorus of kids who appear on old chestnuts like "Make New Friends" or "Down by the Bay"). Most are fun, or at least an excellent reminder of songs you can sing at your own campfire. What turns this album into more than a very enjoyable version of a "Wee Sing" CD is the presence of the Northern California roots/bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum, who join forces with Orange Sherbet and, occasionally, the rest of the 51 for great versions of traditional sing-alongs -- "Down By the Riverside," "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain," "Frog Went A Courtin'," among others. Making the CD stand out, however, are the originals, contributed by members of both bands -- "Bit By Bit" is an awesome song about how little things make a difference, while "Marshmallow" is a fun sing-along that could've been written 70 years ago. It's in the originals most especially that the combination sounds very much like a West Coast version of Dog on Fleas. It's a wholly winning sound. (Oh, and I almost forgot. All this plus Dan Zanes. Yep -- Zanes makes an appearance on an original called "One Man Band," revealing a heretofore unknown skill in humorous spoken-word poetry. It's hardly a Zanes-ian essential, but it's amusing listening.) The 48-minute album is appropriate for all ages, though kids able to sing along, ages 3 through 9, are probably more likely to enjoy the CD. You can listen to samples or at the album's CDBaby page (at which you can hear some of "Bit By Bit"). The best parts of Campfire Sing-Along are where Orange Sherbet and Hot Buttered Rum combine to make timeless songs sound fresh and new songs sound like they've been part of the canon forever. (Who would've thought orange sherbet and hot buttered rum would taste so good together?) There are enough such moments here to make this recommended, even if you don't plan to get any closer to the great outdoors than your local park.

The Band, Bands Go Kids

I've been far too tardy in mentioning these two stories, but what I love about them is the idea that making music for kids and families is now an acceptable thought to artists whose artistic legacy would be secure even if they stopped making music today and spent the rest of their lives on the tennis court or at their local coffee shop. Case #1: Los Lobos, who are looking into recording a kids' album (scroll down). "I want to research children's music from Mexico and Latin America. And maybe write a couple of our own; as a songwriter, I'd like to try to write a few, to see what I can do," says Louie Perez, the band's percussionist. Case #2: Levon Helm, whose Midnight Ramble series I've previously been enthused by, received a nice write-up in the New York Times (additional charge now applies). “Kids need to see real people playing real songs on real instruments,” said Helm, whose latest Ramble featured Elizabeth Mitchell and Susie Lamper (keyboardist for Laurie Berkner) and -- this is pretty awesome news -- is recording the kids' rambles for release on CD and DVD by the end of the year. Helm's interest is spurred in part by financial necessity, but I gotta tell you, kids' music is not the place to go to become rich. Financially speaking, in any case. In other ways, perhaps. But with the cash, not so much.