The Barry Louis Polisar Tribute Album: Potentially Awesome

No, that's not the name -- it's my verdict. I've known for awhile of the tribute album consisting of Barry Louis Polisar covers, produced by Polisar's son Evan Aaron Cohen of the Radioactive Chicken Heads. But now it's got a name -- We're Not Kidding -- and, more importantly for the purposes of this website, songs for your listening pleasure. I use that phrase "listening pleasure" advisedly, because the songs I've spun thus far have been uniformly winning. I started out with the familiar names -- Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke, Elizabeth Street, Tor Hyams, Ham & Burger, The Boogers -- and all of those tunes worth the time. (Check out the electric guitar on Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke track.) And then I moved to the unfamliar, the top of the page. After 4 songs, some fabulous, none less than interesting, that's when I realized that this could be, well, potentially awesome. A 2-CD set could be too much Barry Lou, but the combination of Polisar's songwriting with the varied musical approaches and high quality production (never Polisar's strength) make me very eager to hear the final product, set to be released this year.

Concert Recap: The Deedle Deedle Dees (Phoenix, April 2009)

DDDeesAtCMOP.jpgIt was a whirlwind weekend for Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees here in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun. On Friday they played 3 shows at local elementary schools. Then on Saturday they visited the Children's Museum of Phoenix and played a couple sets in the gorgeous first-floor atrium. Nice mix of the history stuff and sillier, slightly younger stuff. But all I got is new stuff. Remember the "Have the Dees write a song" contest? Here is the winner: The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Little Red Airplane" (Live) DDDeesAtCOB.jpgOne of the things I noticed about the show, both at the Children's Museum and at Church of the Beatitudes, where the Dees played a show Sunday afternoon, was just how much more active Lloyd Miller (Ulysses Dee) was than the last time I saw him play (at the Family Music Meltdown Bill and I put on in Austin in 2007). To be sure, the fact that Lloyd was without his standup bass was the primary facotr, but they interacted much more with the crowds I saw. Yay for between-song banter! Yay for band-assisted dinosaur feet! The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Vegetarian Tyrannosaurus Rex" (Live) Anyway, the shows were a blast. Look for the Dees' new album (from which 4 of the 5 videos' songs are drawn)sometime in September. More video and photos after the jump.

Itty-Bitty Review: Honey, Sugar Baby Mine - The Von Swing Family

HoneySugarBabyMine.jpgThe story of Brooklyn's Libby Shapiro isn't terribly novel at this point. As she puts it in her PR materials:
Throw a rock and hit a musician in Brooklyn, it is true. And [she's] yet another professional musician living in that fine borough who spent her life making music for adults, who, once she had a family, started singing for and with the kids the songs she loved and sang as a child...
Whatever points Shapiro loses for originality, though, she picks up in putting together a winning collection of kids' favorites (with a few curveballs mixed in) on her debut album as "Wanda Von Swing" on the Von Swing Family's Honey, Sugar Baby Mine. The band puts a Cajun/zydeco stamp on some of the traditional songs such as "Skip To My Lou" and "Crawdad," putting piano, accordion, guitar, and stand-up bass to good use. All the songs feature Shapiro's distinctive and full-bodied voice, which sometimes comes close to overpowering the simpler toddler songs, but on songs like "Buffalo Gals/Red Haired Boy" and Shapiro's original "Shake It, Baby, Shake It," it makes for a good match. And it's impossible not to like an album that ends with a gently rollicking cover of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya." The album will appeal most to kids ages 2 through 7. You can hear samples of the tracks at the album's CDBaby page. Honey, Sugar Baby Mine is what might've happened had Dan Zanes swung through Louisiana many years ago as he was starting to think about music for families. It's just good kids and family music, American roots style. Recommended.

Phoenix-Area Reminder: The Deedle Deedle Dees (and Record Store Day)

Don't forget, folks, The Deedle Deedle Dees are playing all over Phoenix this weekend. They already rocked a couple Valley of the Sun elementary schools today, and Saturday they play at the Children's Museum of Phoenix at 10 AM and 11 AM (no reservations necessary -- they're playing outside!). And Sunday they play at the Church of the Beatitudes (7th Ave./Glendale in Phoenix) at 2 PM. And I'll even try to get to Stinkweeds' Record Store Day event. I'll probably miss the kids' music they'll have starting at 10 AM or so, but I'll stop by around 11 AM. And I'm going to the symphony with Miss Mary Mack Saturday afternoon, but I have nothing to do with organizing that.

Itty-Bitty Review: Goodie Bag - The Hipwaders

GoodieBag.jpgRather than record a full-length follow-up to their fine 2007 collection Educated Kid, the Bay Area band The Hipwaders decided to save a little money and record just an EP, Goodie Bag, released last week. The band packs in quite a bit of music into the 16-minute EP and while there's nothing as completely amazing as the title track to their Educated Kid disk, there's a lot here to enjoy. From the crunchy power-pop snippet "Birthday Ruckus" to the jazzy punk "Field Trip" to the XTC-punk of "Things You Want," the band covers a lot of musical territory and chords you don't hear so much of in the genre. They're not recording "Jazz Odyssey" by any means, but songwriter and guitarist Tito Uquillas likes to write songs celebrating the imagination or creativity -- "My New Camera" or "What's That Noise?," for example -- and the trio's music never fits a cookie-cutter pop mold. Fellow Bay Area musician Gunnar Madsen also makes an appearance on the title track, the goofiest track here. The album will appeal most to kids ages 4 through 9. You can hear clips at the album's CDBaby page or hear full clips plus lead Hipwader Tito's thoughts on the EP here. As far as goodie bags go, this particular one would be an excellent stuffer at your kids' next party. A tiny but recommended collection of songs.