As if I needed more proof.
Having a website devoted to a particular subject area -- in this case, kids music -- obviously draws other similarly-inclined readers and can make one think, "hey, this is kinda popular!"
Until you vote in a massive year-end poll -- in this case, Idolator's 2007 Pop Critics Poll -- and realize that you are, indeed, weird. OK, not weird, perhaps, but clearly my taste in music (submitted based on "professional" obligations, anyway) does not closely align with anyone else's. Here's the proof. Heck, at least last year, I think someone besides me at least voted for the Dan Zanes disk. It's really too bad, because I keep saying (and said so in my own ballot) that there's great music in the genre for all ages if you're only willing to give it a shot.
I really couldn't have filled out that ballot to look like other voters anyway because I barely listened to 10 "adult" albums in 2007 that were from 2007. It usually takes me 6 to 12 months just to get caught up. (I think I'll finally get to that new Georgie James disk next week.) So, for what it's worth, here are my top 5 albums of the year, adult division.
1. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: Oh, how I adore this CD. It's not even close -- my favorite of the year by far.
2. They Might Be Giants - The Else: Which isn't to say this album was bad by any means. My favorite TMBG "adult" album since John Henry.
3. The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A case of 8 or 9 OK-to-good songs and 3 awesome songs. Works for me. Roots-pop-rock.
4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver: Technically speaking, I didn't even hear this in its entirety until 2008. But it's good. Really good.
5. (Tie) Feist - The Reminder / Kelly Willis - Translated From Love: Depends on whether I want my female singer-songwriting fix close to the Canadian or Mexican border.
Interview: John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants)
They Might Be Giants were my first musical discovery. Meaning, up through and including most of high school, I was a fairly straight-laced, MTV-watching, Columbia-House-12-for-a-penny-ing music listener. And, then 20 years ago this September, they released Lincoln on the Bar/None label and that was the start of an entirely new musical direction for me, one where I actually sought out music rather than taking whatever was most easily consumed.
I take that brief personal detour for two reasons:
1) In one sense, the fact that I've got this website charged with finding great music for kids and families is due, in some small way, to that 20-year-old album.
2) It provides an interesting perspective to me as I consider the words of John Flansburgh, who founded the band as a duo with John Linnell 25 years ago and who now navigates with Linnell both a very independent course as a band but also one that has them working with many large media corporations.
Flansburgh, who, along with Linnell and the rest of TMBG, has released two excellent album in the past 12 months -- the adult-oriented The Else last summer and the kids-focused Here Come the 123s last week -- took some time out from his busy schedule to answer some questions about the new CD/DVD set. Read on for Flansburgh's thoughts on the influence of "Sesame Street" on their work for kids, how they went about picking animators and directors for the video, the future of the Podcast for Kids, and much more.
Zooglobble: What sort of music did you listen to in your childhood?
John Flansburgh: My mom avidly listens to a bunch of quite specific music that is very non-rock and very non-kid: Noel Coward, Joan Baez, Louie Armstrong, Lotte Lenya (which was very mysterious to me as a kid). West Side Story and Cabaret were routinely played at top volume to inspire housecleaning. I had some Beatles and Monkees albums I bought with birthday money that I essentially memorized, and some very odd kiddie albums I inherited from a distant relative that were truly strange. One was called Happy Birthday to You! and even at a very young age I was suspicious it was a bit of a rushed effort. Side two got pretty grim.
You've mentioned Sesame Street as an inspiration for your kids' CDs -- is that the music, the visuals, or both?
Both. Personally, as abstract or maybe as obvious as this sounds, when we first embarked on kids' stuff I felt it was important that it be focused directly to kids. I know that notion contradicts what a lot of people say is our kids' stuff's fundamental appeal, but for me it was the essential difference from our adult efforts. I never wanted anyone to walk away from the kids' stuff thinking we were rock guys some how goofing on kids or kids' stuff. No inside jokes for adults allowed, and no pandering. Sesame Street was very good at avoiding any kind of pandering vibe that poisons so much kids' stuff. Also, Sesame Street, and specifically the Muppets on Sesame Street, established this perfect tone. They balanced educational material with very original ideas and actual entertainment. It's breezy.
Did you primarily write the songs for the album in a concentrated burst, or was it a case of polishing up song snippets you'd written sporadically over the past few years?
Baby Loves Other Types of Music, Too
Is there any stopping the Baby Loves Music empire? Uh, well, probably -- after last night's Grammys, anything can happen -- but I'm increasingly curious as the next two entries in the series show considerable promise.
First up is Baby Loves Hip-Hop features the story of the "Dino-5." The press materials say the CD "follows five best dino friends on a musical adventure as they teach key life lessons and have fun at the same time," which, I gotta tell you, sounds boring as all get-out, but then I read the participants, which include Prince Paul and members of Digable Planets, the Roots, and -- of course -- Jurassic 5. The "Dino-5 Theme Song" you can download at their website sounds much more promising than the PR. In any case, Baby Loves Hip-Hop is out on Baby Loves Music in April.
Next up is Baby Loves Salsa. The skeleton of the website for this CD throws a lot of names around that I, as a non-salsa expert, don't recognize at all. But the tune available for download, "Somos La Banda," is lots of fun. Between this CD and the new Dan Zanes album, it looks like 2008 is the year of Spanish kids' music. Baby Loves Salsa is out on Baby Loves Music in June.
Spare The Rock. Now With Twice the Rock.
I've been late in announcing this (mostly because I figure most people reading this are reading Bill's site, too), but Bill and Ella over at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child have made a big move to a commercial radio station, 93.9 The River in Massachusetts and Vermont. Well, "move" might not be the best verb, because they're still broadcasting on Valley Free Radio, but the fact that they're now also broadcasting on commercial radio puts them in pretty select company -- I'm only aware of Belinda and Hova at Greasy Kid Stuff who are doing rock (or rawk) shows for kids on a commercial station.
Good on them.
Review Four-Fer: Jazz Albums For Kids and Families
A while back, I wondered, "why are there not more great jazz albums for kids?" I could have substituted the word "good" for "great" and it still would have been a legitimate question. Still, the kids music jazz subgenre has picked up some steam since I wrote those words and with the recent appearance of a definitely great jazz album for kids, I thought it worthwhile to highlight some other new disks worth further exploration if you're looking to broaden the jazz section on your family's CD shelf (or whatever the iPod equivalent of that is).
Thirty Tigers' Jazz and Swing For Kids applies a big band (or at least one that approaches double digits) to 10 familiar kids' tunes. A glance at some of the titles, however, shows that they're mixing things up a little bit -- "Diddle Diddle Swing," for example, or the "Old MacDonald Jazz Remix" (a boogie-woogie which throws in a snippet of "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for good measure). Strong vocals ("Here Comes the Rain Itsy" gets turned into a Little Richard rave-up) and a sense of playfulness are the strong points on this 33-minute CD.
The Doug Beavers Rovira Jazz Orchestra's Jazz, Baby! is, in many ways, a similar album. All 10 songs here are traditional ("Twinkle Twinkle," "Shortnin' Bread," "Working' On the Railroad"), and the vocals take center stage. If there is any difference it's that the arrangements are stronger, with strong versions of "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" that take full-advantage of a 20+ member big band being two highlights. "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" is done in a fun cha-cha style. It's a polished recording, and while it's not targeted at adult listeners, those listeners who listen with their kids certainly won't begrudge time spent in its company. (Listen to several tracks from the 33-minute album here.)
While those two CDs certainly have much to recommend them, by sticking to traditional and familiar early childhood songs, they don't necessarily lend themselves to repeated listening over a long period of time -- they're CDs you might dip into occasionally.
Are there CDs worth more than an occasional dip? Well...
Thirty Tigers' Jazz and Swing For Kids applies a big band (or at least one that approaches double digits) to 10 familiar kids' tunes. A glance at some of the titles, however, shows that they're mixing things up a little bit -- "Diddle Diddle Swing," for example, or the "Old MacDonald Jazz Remix" (a boogie-woogie which throws in a snippet of "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for good measure). Strong vocals ("Here Comes the Rain Itsy" gets turned into a Little Richard rave-up) and a sense of playfulness are the strong points on this 33-minute CD.
The Doug Beavers Rovira Jazz Orchestra's Jazz, Baby! is, in many ways, a similar album. All 10 songs here are traditional ("Twinkle Twinkle," "Shortnin' Bread," "Working' On the Railroad"), and the vocals take center stage. If there is any difference it's that the arrangements are stronger, with strong versions of "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" that take full-advantage of a 20+ member big band being two highlights. "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" is done in a fun cha-cha style. It's a polished recording, and while it's not targeted at adult listeners, those listeners who listen with their kids certainly won't begrudge time spent in its company. (Listen to several tracks from the 33-minute album here.)
While those two CDs certainly have much to recommend them, by sticking to traditional and familiar early childhood songs, they don't necessarily lend themselves to repeated listening over a long period of time -- they're CDs you might dip into occasionally.
Are there CDs worth more than an occasional dip? Well...New (Old) Music from Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke - "Sylvester" (aka "Big Pet Pig")
Yeah, I posted this song ten months ago. I don't care. It still rocks (in a very, er, folky and gently humorous way).
Plus, now you can see what the mysterious Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke look like. Well, I guess they're not that mysterious. But it's not like I'd seen a picture before...
Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke - "Sylvester (Big Pet Pig)"
