Video: "The Change Song" - Herbie Treehead

I know. It's dorky, the lip-syncing is problematic, and there's lots of silly costumes. Still, this video, from England's Herbie Treehead, from his album Sleepy Songs and Not Very Sleepy Songs is not without its charms. (I'm a sucker for a good kazoo break.) The song will appear on European Playground, the next release in the "Playground" series from Putumayo Kids. The album's out May 19th. Herbie Treehead - "The Change Song"

Contest: Win Robbert Bobbert And The Bubble Machine. Literally.

GazillionRobbertBobbert.jpgThe wonderful folks from Little Monster Records have partnered up with Funrise Toys to give you a chance to win a copy of Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine's self-titled debut album plus an actual bubble machine. The fun new album from Robert Schneider's alter ego, you know about (and if you don't, here's a review). The bubble machine, well, here's how the folks at Funrise describe it:
The award-winning Gazillion Bubble Machine’s motorized rotating bubble wands put you in the midst of a bubble blizzard blowing 4,000 bubbles per minute! The easy carry handle lets you take the “bubblebration” wherever you go. Each Bubble Machine comes with an 8 oz. bottle of The One and Only Gazillion Bubble solution that attaches right to the Bubble Machine to continuously feed the wands. (Requires 6 AA batteries, not included.)
I'm pretty sure I've now used my quota of the word "bubble" for the website for like the next decade, but if that's what it takes to bring the fun to you, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. So here are the rules. In honor of Robbert Bobbert's extra consonants, in the comments below, post a fake song title or band/artist name with a vowel or consant overload (e.g., "Satisssssssssfaction" or "UUUUUUUU2"). One entry will be selected at random to receive the CD/bubble machine package. One entry per family; all entries due by 8 PM West Coast time / 11 PM East Coast time Monday, March 2. Thanks and good luck!

Video: "Field Trip" - The Hipwaders

My copy of Goodie Bag, the new EP from the Bay Area band The Hipwaders came packaged with an actual goodie bag, one of the very few promotional schwag items that have actually made me laugh. More thoughts on the EP in the future, but for the moment, you can hear the song "Field Trip" in the video below. The occasional lack of syncing makes it sound a little bit like the studio version dubbed over a live performance, but in any case it's a cool little space-jazzy song (apropos for the subject at hand). The Hipwaders - "Field Trip"

Review: Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine (self-titled)

RobbertBobbertBubbleMachine.jpgWhat do you get when you cross the Beach Boys with some fuzzed out guitars and synthesizers and mix in a tiny hint of Barney? Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine, who last week released his debut CD on Little Monster Records. Robbert Bobbert is the brainchild of Robert Schneider, whose main job is as the ringleader for Apples in Stereo, an indie-pop band whose output melds '60s pop sounds with more modern textures. And for the Robbert Bobbert album, Schneider melds '60s pop sounds with more modern textures. Sometimes this works to great effect, such as on the synth-poppy "We R Super Heroes," one of the year's catchiest kids' songs. The raved-up "Hey Little Puppy" seems stolen from a lost Beach Boys kids album, while "Boom Boom" features lots of vocalizations (beat-boxing, "ba-ba-ba-da-da"s to no end) and is perfectly timed for a 2-minute dance break with your littlest ones. While the music here is for the most part pretty catchy, listeners who are used to lyrics that play to two audiences at once -- the kids and the adults -- will be a little disappointed. In many songs, the lyrics are no more sophisticated than that of, well, Barney. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- what's wrong with a 90-second song tackling one theme in direct terms for a 3-year-old? And for the most part the melodies and arrangements are superior to that of the purple dinosaur's. But the songs where they don't quite ring true (the rapping mouse on "Fee Fi Fo, Fee Fi Fum"; the stomping in "The Mighty, Mighty Elephant") may have the parents hitting fast-forward and wishing for slightly more advanced lyrics as on the mini-science lesson of "Gravity" or the elegant "The Tiny Sheep." Lyrically, the songs here will be of most interest to kids ages 2 through 5. The 23-minute album comes packaged with some sweet art from Todd Webb (Little Monster is definitely doing the most interesting physical album packaging of any of the labels dealing with kids music). If you want to listen to the album, it's embedded at the bottom of this post (after the jump if you're reading this on the main page). The Robbert Bobbert character is being developed into a TV show. Based on the evidence from Robbert Bobbert's debut CD, it could hit the sweet spot for a lot a preschoolers and not a few of their parents. The album's got a lot of undeniably catchy tracks, and Schneider's only going to get even better as a songwriter for kids. Recommended. (Reminder: Embedded song player after the jump.)