Please Release Me: April 2010 Edition

It's been quite some time since I've done one of these, but I thought it'd be worthwhile to run down what the kids and family music world can look forward to here in the next few months... Lots and lots of stuff... Sugar Free Allstars: Funky Fresh & Sugar Free (April 30) Princess Katie & Racer Steve: Tiny Cool (May 4) Randy Kaplan: The Kids Are All Id (May 14) Billy Kelly: Is This Some Kind of Joke? (mid-May) Justin Roberts: Jungle Gym (June 8) StarFish: Enter Sandbox (June 1): My favorite album title of the year thus far... Recess Monkey: The Final Funktier (June 15) Putumayo Kids (Various Artists): Rock 'n' Roll Playground (June 15): Features Dan Zanes, Peter Himmelman, Uncle Rock, and Charity and the JAMband, among others. The Not-Its: Time Out To Rock (July 6) Frances England: Title TBA (the album has a tentative title, but I'm going to wait a bit...) (Early fall): Says Frances:
"We were lucky to have Tor Hyams produce this CD, and he kept the mood high - we had so much fun recording these songs, and I think that comes through in the sound. It's definitely the most upbeat, swinging thing we've ever done. There are 15 tracks with topics ranging from road trip pleasures, to bicycle love songs, to building log cabins in the woods, to the remarkable Jacques Cousteau."
Flannery Brothers: Title TBA (September): Theme is "exploring," apparently Jamie Broza: I Wanna Dog (October) Caspar Babypants: This Is Fun! (Nov. 2) "I think this album will be very upbeat and silly," says Chris Ballew... Elizabeth Mitchell: Sunny Day (TBA 2010) Others working on albums with potential 2010 releases? Lunch Money and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo at the bare minimum...

Video: "Hello Hippopotamus" - Laura Doherty

I know that Gwyneth just posted this too, but just because she's more efficient with her to do list doesn't mean I should be prevented from posting on this video from yesterday myself... This is a simple but effective song from Laura Doherty's Kids in the City disk. The animations in her new video for the song aren't the most polished (albeit better than what I could do), but convey the lyrics with humor. Challenge: come up with matching lyrics for the following animals or bugs: three-toed sloth, cougar, praying mantis. Laura Doherty - "Hello Hippopotamus" [YouTube]

SXSW 2010 (Music) Report: Day 4

SXSW_JMessersmithSolo.jpgWhereas Day 2 and Day 3 of SXSW Music were pretty glorious, weather-wise, Day 4, the Saturday, was... not "Chamber of Commerce" weather. It started out cold and, um, just never warmed up. It made for a lack of motivation to get back downtown for a third day of music. What I never fully appreciated having never attended SXSW before was how tiring the whole thing can be. Now, to some extent, this trip was just a giant vacation for me. My wife, whose tolerance of crowds and standing around is waaaay lower than mine, stayed home for some time without the kids, and my kids got lots of grandparental time. Which meant I could play hooky, listening to music for 3 days straight. It was wonderful. But just like you can be exhausted after a couple days of Disneyland or camping in the woods, SXSW can be exhausting. Scratch "can" -- is exhausting. So after telling you how cold and tired I was, what was my first activity on Saturday? Waiting in line for 30 minutes to get into the Rachel Ray party. I wanted to go for a couple reasons: 1) the bands (Jakob Dylan with Neko Case and Kelly Hogan, as well as She & Him), and 2) just to see what it was like doing a "free" (no badges) event. There were plenty of other events like that I skipped (who really needs free Taco Bell?), but the music (and the food) pushed it over the top for me. (The food was pretty good, definitely better than Taco Bell.) I got in, heard Street Sweeper Social Club, which sounded like it was for those who liked Rage Against the Machine but couldn't be bothered with the whole politics thing. (Turns out that was a pretty good read, as the band included Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine.) I chatted with a random stranger for awhile while listening to She & Him, the Zooey Deschanel / M. Ward project, who were pretty sunny for such a blustery day. As I noted before, it's amazing how much networking you can do when you're not expecting it -- it even was slightly kids music related. I don't remember much of the show, but I did note that they had 2 tambourines in the band. For some reason, I spent much of Saturday noting the presence of tambourines in the bands, because it seemed like everyone had them. She & Him were the final act for the party, so they rushed us out of Stubb's, and I made my way to Flatstock for the second time. It was just as cool the second time. I never did find a show poster I loved (I picked up a small New Pornographers poster for $5), but I did find this at the Seattle Show Posters booth. (What can I say? It was my third day without my wife.)

Share: "76 Trombones" - Dan Zanes and Friends

76Trombones.jpgNo, not the entire album, Dan Zanes' latest. Just the title track from it. But don't you think that's enough? It's in support of Heifer International, the well-known charitable group that helps provide income-producing farm animals and training to folks around the world. Just go here and, for the price of an e-mail address, pick up Zanes' lopey rendition. (And while we're on the subject of Dan Zanes and animals, he's recorded a second Nodcast Podcast for the Land of Nod -- remember the first? -- while strolling through the Central Park Zoo. It's acoustic Dan, with friends from the animal kingdom.)

Baseball Songs for Kids (Once More with Feeling)

I'm sorry, baseball doesn't begin under the lights on Sunday night. It begins in the full bloom of the sun on a Monday (or Tuesday). Today is the first full day of Major League Baseball, no matter what the standings say. As is my yearly tradition, I've provided this slightly updated list of baseball songs. (Read last year's list here.) Enjoy, and may all your teams have a great season. Except if you're in the National League West, because, the Diamondbacks rule. If any of you have more suggestions, leave me a comment.

Video: "You're Not the Boss of Me" - Bill Harley

This isn't really a video per se -- it's Bill Harley staring into the camera telling a story. That's good enough, though, because although Harley's storytelling needs no visual accompaniment, Harley's facial expressions are a sweet bonus. This is "You're Not the Boss of Me," collected on Harley's Play it Again disk in which lessons are learned (and promptly forgotten). Bill Harley - "You're Not the Boss of Me" [YouTube]