I realize that 2007 ended almost 6 weeks ago, but I really want to make sure that I note publicly my 20 favorite songs in the kids music genre from the past year. I'm not going to go through the fool's errand of trying to rank songs (it's hard enough ranking entire albums), so I'll just provide you a top 10 list (with the songs in no particular order), along with a list of tracks 11 through 20 (again, in no particular order).
If people wonder why in the world you'd ever play kids music for your kids (let alone the whole family), I think these 20 tracks might change at least a few people's minds...
(Note: I've only posted links to complete songs. All links current as of February 2008.)
Top 10 Songs
The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Major Deegan"
Georgie James - "Grizzly Jive" (listen/download here)
ScribbleMonster - "I Wish I Lived In Michigan" (listen here)
Peter Himmelman - "My Green Kite" (listen/download here or listen here)
Steve Lee - "Grab A Balloon" (listen here)
Soccer Team - "I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again" (off the Play compilation from DeSoto Records)
The Nields - "Anna Kick a Hole in the Sky"
Orange Sherbet with Hot Buttered Rum - "Bit By Bit"
The Hipwaders - "Educated Kid" (listen/download here)
The Barenaked Ladies - "The Other Day I Met a Bear" (listen here)
Songs 11-20
Johnny Bregar - "Airplane"
Asylum Street Spankers - "Be Like You" (listen here)
Gustafer Yellowgold (Morgan Taylor) - "Pinecone Lovely" (watch video here)
Renee & Jeremy - "Night Mantra" (listen here or here or watch here)
Sugar Free Allstars - "Bathtub Boy" (listen here)
Andre 3000 - "Throwdown"
Recess Monkey - "The Pool" (listen here)
The Terrible Twos - "Caroline"
Uncle Rock - "Elephant in the Room"
Jambo - "Lady Bug Boogie"
Interview: Joel Rinsema (Phoenix Bach Choir)
I've talked to a few Grammy winners and nominees here at Zooglobble -- Dan Zanes, Ralph Covert, the incomparable Ella Jenkins -- but with the Grammy ceremon(ies) set for Sunday, I hope you'll indulge me another Grammy interview. No, it's not kids music, but it's also not every day that a friend gets nominated for 4.4 Grammy Awards (yes, 4.4 -- see below).
Joel Rinsema is the Executive Director and Assistant Conductor for the Phoenix Bach Choir. (Here he is rehearsing the Phoenix Bach Choir.) Their recording with the Kansas City Chorale of Grechaninov’s Passion Week, led by Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, was nominated for four 2007 Grammy Awards, including Classical Album of the Year.
Joel is also the music director at our church and is always up for talking about cooking good food. He was kind enough to talk about what it was like hearing about the nominations, their music, and where to get designer fashions on the cheap.
To some extent, there are some parallels here between Joel's comments on the impact a win for the Choir and Chorale would have on the classical music category and what wins for independent artists in the children's music categories mean. So go ahead and read -- you'll enjoy it...
Photo credits: Tim Trumble
Zooglobble: Where literally were you when you heard about the Grammy nominations? Was there lots of jumping and screaming involved? Or did you just go back to getting the kids ready for school?
Joel Rinsema: The kids were off to school, and I believe that the televised nominations began at 9 AM Arizona time (8 AM Pacific), so instead of making my way to the office, I booted up my laptop and worked while the nominations were going on. Charles Bruffy lives in Kansas City and we do a lot of our work via AOL Instant Messenger. He wasn’t on, but Donald Loncasty, the Executive Director of the Kansas City Chorale was, and we immediately began to IM back and forth while watching. Of course, they announced all of the “major” nominations to the press corps, but when they got to the end (without announcing any of the classical ones!) and announced that a full list of the nominees was available “at the back of the room” we were both ready to throw things at our TVs.
Instead, I began to frantically type in www.grammy.com. So did, it seemed, thousands of others were doing the same thing, as the website was frozen. I kept on hitting refresh…and there it was…the list of the 50th Grammy Award Nominees. I remember quickly scrolling down the list, and clicking on the word Classical. The first field that appeared was Category 98: “Best Classical Album of the Year.” Alphabetically, ours is listed second, right after the Cherubini Mass with Ricardo Muti conducting. Shaking wildly…so much so, that I knew that I couldn’t type, I picked up the phone to call Kansas City. Don answered the phone and I just remember screaming craziness into his ear. (Something like “Oh My God! Best $(*^&^^% Classical Album of the Year!)
I went back to the computer as Don was still trying to access the site. I just knew that if we were nominated for best Classical, that there were other nominations. Sure enough, we were given nods for four additional Grammys including Best Choral Performance , Best Engineered Album -Classical, and Best Surround Sound Album. Also, our producer Blanton Alspaugh from Soundmirror in Boston was nominated as Best Classical Producer. Two of the five discs he submitted for consideration (Passion Week and Eternal Rest) are ours. [Ed: Hence, the additional 0.4 nominations.]
Did you have any idea that you'd be nominated for four awards? Any rumors?
We heard that Passion Week had made a good impression on the voters. We had no idea though, that we would be up for Best Classical. That was SO far removed from our thinking.
What are the big "firsts" associated with the nominations? (Besides "first Grammy nominations for Joel Rinsema")
Joel Rinsema is the Executive Director and Assistant Conductor for the Phoenix Bach Choir. (Here he is rehearsing the Phoenix Bach Choir.) Their recording with the Kansas City Chorale of Grechaninov’s Passion Week, led by Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, was nominated for four 2007 Grammy Awards, including Classical Album of the Year.
Joel is also the music director at our church and is always up for talking about cooking good food. He was kind enough to talk about what it was like hearing about the nominations, their music, and where to get designer fashions on the cheap.
To some extent, there are some parallels here between Joel's comments on the impact a win for the Choir and Chorale would have on the classical music category and what wins for independent artists in the children's music categories mean. So go ahead and read -- you'll enjoy it...
Photo credits: Tim Trumble
Zooglobble: Where literally were you when you heard about the Grammy nominations? Was there lots of jumping and screaming involved? Or did you just go back to getting the kids ready for school?
Joel Rinsema: The kids were off to school, and I believe that the televised nominations began at 9 AM Arizona time (8 AM Pacific), so instead of making my way to the office, I booted up my laptop and worked while the nominations were going on. Charles Bruffy lives in Kansas City and we do a lot of our work via AOL Instant Messenger. He wasn’t on, but Donald Loncasty, the Executive Director of the Kansas City Chorale was, and we immediately began to IM back and forth while watching. Of course, they announced all of the “major” nominations to the press corps, but when they got to the end (without announcing any of the classical ones!) and announced that a full list of the nominees was available “at the back of the room” we were both ready to throw things at our TVs.
Instead, I began to frantically type in www.grammy.com. So did, it seemed, thousands of others were doing the same thing, as the website was frozen. I kept on hitting refresh…and there it was…the list of the 50th Grammy Award Nominees. I remember quickly scrolling down the list, and clicking on the word Classical. The first field that appeared was Category 98: “Best Classical Album of the Year.” Alphabetically, ours is listed second, right after the Cherubini Mass with Ricardo Muti conducting. Shaking wildly…so much so, that I knew that I couldn’t type, I picked up the phone to call Kansas City. Don answered the phone and I just remember screaming craziness into his ear. (Something like “Oh My God! Best $(*^&^^% Classical Album of the Year!)
I went back to the computer as Don was still trying to access the site. I just knew that if we were nominated for best Classical, that there were other nominations. Sure enough, we were given nods for four additional Grammys including Best Choral Performance , Best Engineered Album -Classical, and Best Surround Sound Album. Also, our producer Blanton Alspaugh from Soundmirror in Boston was nominated as Best Classical Producer. Two of the five discs he submitted for consideration (Passion Week and Eternal Rest) are ours. [Ed: Hence, the additional 0.4 nominations.]
Did you have any idea that you'd be nominated for four awards? Any rumors?
We heard that Passion Week had made a good impression on the voters. We had no idea though, that we would be up for Best Classical. That was SO far removed from our thinking.
What are the big "firsts" associated with the nominations? (Besides "first Grammy nominations for Joel Rinsema")TMBG 123 XM
No, it's not the long-lost final verse of "ICU," it's shorthand for the announcement that They Might Be Giants will prresent, "1,2,3... TMBG!," an "exclusive" XM Radio event hosted and produced by John Flansburgh and TMBG.
It'll air Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 9 AM and 5 PM, and Sunday at noon. (All times Eastern. East Coast Bias, grr...)
I might be going out on a limb, but I think it has something to do with Here Come the 123s.
They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s Archive
While I could never take the place of This Might Be A Wiki, I thought it might be good to put a listing of relevant YouTube, mp3, and newsclippings for They Might Be Giants' new Here Come the 123s CD/DVD due out from Disney Sound on February 5. That way I don't have to constantly post every new item. Even though I probably should, because they're a whole heckuva lot of fun.
Sites of Note:
Official
They Might Be Giants homepage
TMBG download page
Disney's TMBG page
They Might Be Giants on Myspace
Not So Official. But Pretty Useful.
My Here Come the 123s review
All things Here Come the 123s-related found here
All things They Might Be Giants found here
My interview with John Flansburgh
This Might Be A Wiki
Giants Online
Here Come the 123s song listing (with video links and director info)
Boys And Girls (Really) in America: Tad Kubler Plays Show For the Kids
Hold Steady guitarist Tad Kubler (who, I'm pretty sure, is a parent) is taking some time out from recording the Hold Steady's new album to play New York's KiDROCKERS series. This Saturday afternoon he'll be playing New York City's Living Room with Langhorne Slim and The War Eagles.
Gonna walk around, gonna walk around, gonna walk around and drink (some chocolate milk).
(Hat tip: Pitchfork)
CD/DVD Review: Here Come the 123s - They Might Be Giants
Here it is, the most eagerly anticipated kids music release of the year. They Might Be Giants' Here Come the 123s, to be released this Tuesday, February 5. Almost exactly three years after the release of Here Come the ABCs, was this release worth the wait?
Most definitely.
Unlike many CDs, especially in the kids' field, the songs and videos here have had a decent airing thanks to the band's popular iTunes video podcast. So assiduous surfers have had the chance to hear and see more than a half-dozen songs. Those songs are a good guide to the rest of the CD/DVD set in a number of ways.
"One Dozen Monkeys," for example, features lead vocals of TMBG associate Dan Levine's nephew Hannah Levine, indicative of how in general kids' voices are heard much more than on the previous disks. John Linnell's son Henry has some spoken parts in the funky, horn-assisted and Dust Brothers-produced "Seven" (a highlight of the album). They serve as a counterpoint to the music and the absurd story about sevens crashing a party.
"Even Numbers" is the loveliest animation on the DVD, but there are several other beautiful or distinctive videos that haven't yet been seen. It's where TMBG's attraction to animators and Disney's deep pockets pay huge dividends. Matthew Canale's "One Everything" has the friendliest and most anthropomorphic planet Earth ever seen. Hine Mizushima's "The Secret Life of Six" uses stop-motion photography to animate a mid-tempo look into six's secret life (it's like a numerical version of "D and W"). The Brothers Chaps of Homestar Runner fame are responsible for the rocking "Figure Eight." David Cowles directs a number of videos here. In other words, this is probably the best collection of animation the general public is likely to see this year. It's like a Sesame Street best-of.
Finally, "Nonagon" and "Apartment 4" are two really good songs, but they're by far not the only good ones. My wife didn't think there was anything quite as instantaneously distinctive as "Alphabet of Nations," but I think there are a number of excellent very memorable songs here -- the aforementioned "Seven," for example, plus the very danceable "Nonagon" and swirly "Apartment 4." "Figure Eight" rocks and has the awesome line "If you take a zero in your hands / And twist it / That's an eight." John Flansburgh's giddy vocals on "I Can Add" mimic the exuberance kids feel when they master something. ("I don't even know Spanish," Flansburgh shouts between verses, "but I'm gonna sing it in Spanish!") As a whole, I think the songs are better here than on Here Come the ABCs. They won't teach your kids how to add, but they'll probably at least get your kids more familiar with numbers if they're not already. (And the songs dealing with concepts -- "Zeroes," "One Everything," "Nonagon," for example -- do so fairly well.)
Two other comments: I don't think the three Disney-related songs at the end of the CD and DVD really fit in very well (nor are they quite as good, though "Heart of the Band" is fun), but I'm also the parent of a girl who was obsessed with the Higglytown Heroes theme at the end of the last album, so I realize that many kids won't care. Also, the clunky and user-unfriendly DVD menu from the last DVD has been much improved so that you can watch individual songs, just the songs, or the whole thing, including the occasional interstitials featuring the knitted John and John puppets, whose bits are every bit as loopy and improvised as their podcast appearances (probably because they were clearly filmed at the same time).
Any band with a fan base as broad, age-wise, as TMBG sort of mocks the idea of an age range, but I'll peg the targeted age range at ages 2 through 7. This album (about 45 minutes in length) will be found just about everywhere, including Amazon, which features extra tracks. ("One Two Three Four" is an OK song and video, but not an essential addition to your collection if you're trying to decide where to order the album. I haven't heard the live tracks yet.)
In case it's not obvious, I think Here Come the 123s is an excellent collection. It's a worthy successor to Here Come the ABCs and in many ways even exceeds that fine album. Fans of They Might Be Giants in general or that album in particular will thoroughly enjoy Here Come the 123s. It's a strong batch of songs and the best set of videos you'll see all year. Highly recommended.
