Video Game Review: Lego Rock Band (Wii)

We are not "gamers" by any stretch of the imagination -- somehow, being the sole kid without an Atari 2600 on my block growing up did not lead me to overcompensate by buying every single gaming console ever made. So when I was offered a copy of Lego Rock Band for Wii for possible review (it came out right around Thanksgiving), my first task was to, well, find a Wii. Which probably gives you a pretty good indication of my gaming experience. (Previous total Wii experience = about 1 hour.) But, having secured a Wii and assorted equipment for a couple hours and my friend Larry (along with his kid) to enjoy the game with, I dove right in. For those of you who aren't familiar with the whole Rock Band concept, in brief it lets players "play" console instruments (e.g., guitar, bass, drums) and/or sing-along karaoke-style along with popular songs in front of animated singers. The more accurate your "playing" (i.e., press the correct colored button at the proper time) is on these fake, simplified instruments (or the closer your vocals are to actual notes), the higher your score. Basically, it's karaoke without the crowds and with points. And, in this, the latest version of the Rock Band concept, animated Lego characters.

The Best Children's Novels of All Time

No, dear readers, I haven't forgotten about the Top Kids Music Albums of All Time poll. I've been tallying votes and hope to start running some lists in the not-too-distant future for that endeavor. But I wanted to point out that Elizabeth Bird at Fuse #8, whose Top 100 Picture Books poll was the inspiration for my poll, is back with a new poll -- the Top 100 Children's Novels. Yay! I'm tempted not to show you the results, because then you'll think that my write-ups will be just as detailed as Elizabeth's, and I'm here to tell you that you'd be super-wrong. But then you won't get to enjoy them. So here's numbers 80 through 76, the latest entry as of this writing. Go forth and enjoy.

Share: "Home Run Ronnie" - Debbie and Friends

Today's free tune comes courtesy of Debbie and Friends, who's releasing her (their) second album, More Story Songs and Sing Alongs on March 30. For the price of an e-mail, you can get a free mp3 of "Home Run Ronnie," which mixes some '70s-era pop-rock with a story song about, well, you can probably guess the sport (March 30 is a particularly apropos date, no?). Just when you think the story's getting a little too schmaltzy, Ronnie starts talking and pulls it back ever-so-gently from the edge. And, if you want to hear the song first, here's a storyboarded version of the upcoming video for the song.

Share: "Row Row Row Your Boat" - Charity and the JAMband

The Bay Area's Charity and the JAMband have been pretty good about sharing tracks with the general public, and the latest is one of the coolest tracks from their latest album, the 2-CD set Party Like a Twinkle Star. This month (ignore that whole "January 2010" thing - it's new) it's their funky take on "Row Row Row Your Boat," and as lead singer/songwriter Charity Kahn suggests, it's a pretty great music-and-movement song. But you'll probably like it even stuck in carpool traffic. More details (and coloring pages) here, or just stream or download it below.

Contest: Create the Best (Fake) Children's Album of All Time

My friend Larry and his friend Eric have a pretty cool website called Figment that seems like the logical extension of our Rock Band-playing, statistics-obsessed culture -- the site lets users create a fake band, record a fake album and market it to fans. (Their motto: "Figment – All Bands, No Music!") I think it's time to expand their list of artists, albums, and audiences. So in conjunction with Eric and Larry, I'm proud to introduce to you the Figment Children's Album Contest. The contest begins today, Wednesday, February 10 and will run until Wednesday, March 10. During that time you're being asked to create a children's album -- or, at least, everything except the actual music. The album’s artwork, description and songs all have to be relevant to the kids music genre. The crack Figment editorial staff (plus me) will be judging the entries and will crown a winner and two runners up. The winner will receive a prize package containing 2,500 pieces of Lucre (the "money" that can be redeemed for prizes on the website) plus a t-shirt. The first runner up will receive 1,500 pieces of Lucre plus a t-shirt, and the second runner up will receive a copy of 1,000 pieces of Lucre plus a t-shirt. In addition, I'll throw a kids' CD for each of the three winners. (I'm talkin' good CDs with excellent design value -- think Lunch Money's Dizzy, for example.) To enter please follow these basic rules:

Conference Me In: SXSW 2010 and Kids Music

When I mentioned a while back that South By Southwest would feature another kids music panel, I omitted one small detail: I'm going to participate on the panel. That's right -- "Jumping into the Kiddie Pool: Diving for Dollars" will feature me along with four other folks talking about this little (but growing) slice of the music industry. Considering the other folks on the panel -- Tor Hyams, Karen Rappaport McHugh, Daniel Brindley (who runs Jammin' Java and manages Rocknoceros), and Marty Diamond (who books a lot of kids shows, including the Sippy Cups) -- I'll excited just to be a part of it. While I wouldn't expect somebody to register for the conference just for that one panel, if you're around -- even if you're an artist who thinks they'd never record music for kids -- on Friday, March 18 at 2 PM, stop by. It'll be lots of fun, and I'm pretty sure you'll learn something. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to be spending the next five weeks catching up on my sleep. I gather from Bill, who spoke on a similar panel last year, that I may not sleep that much that weekend.