Listen To This: "Look Both Ways" - Egg with Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (World Premiere)

LookBothWays.JPGThe last time the LA band of pop-rockers Egg hooked up with kid-hop star Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, the result was the very winning "I Like Fruit". Now the two of them are back together once more and it's just as fun, methinks. Egg brings the ska, Skidoo brings the hip-hop, and both parts will have the family bouncing, if not their whole bodies then at least their heads. EggBandPhoto.JPGThe genesis of the song? In return for Egg mastermind Jeff Fuller giving 23 Skidoo "I Like Fruit" to remix as he'd like, Skidoo gave Fuller an idea to write for Egg - "Look both ways. Not just at street corners but in life." Fuller returned the song back to Skidoo, which he cut up and used parts from for his upcoming single "Road Trip." That's collaboration. (And "Look Both Ways" will also end up on the next Egg disk as well.) Anyway, however you, er, look at it, here for a limited time, courtesy of Egg, you can stream download it (just send an e-mail to "lookbothways AT eggmusic DOT net," which is an autoreply address that'll get you the URL to download the track). Enjoy. Egg w/ Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Look Both Ways" (Note: I'm pretty sure "Look Both Ways" has been played before -- I just don't think it's this version...)

Share: "Welcome To Our School" - The Not-Its! (World Premiere)

A little bit crucnchy, a little bit sweet, they're sorta like those new pretzel-based M&Ms except they come from Seattle. It's the Not-Its!, and this is a world premiere from their upcoming album Time Out to Rock, out July 20. The song's "Welcome To Our School," and features no small amount of rock and no small amount of inclusiveness either. Stream or download it here, courtesy of the band... but just for the next week. Enjoy! [Ed: And the week's over...]

The Not-Its Give You A Four-Day Weekend

TimeOutToRock.jpgThe Not-Its have a new album coming out next month -- Time Out To Rock on July 20th, to be exact -- and they're making sure that everybody knows with a whole bunch of world premieres this weekend, starting tomorrow and stretching all the way into Monday. Friday, June 25 (tomorrow!): Pied Piper Radio - "Cheetah The Buffalo" Saturday, June 26: - Spare The Rock, Spoil the Child - "Green Light, Go!" - Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl - "First Kid In Outer Space" - Ages 3 and Up - "FANTASTIC" And that's not all. On Monday, June 28 you'll have the chance to download not one but two songs from the disk. Out With The Kids will offer up "First Kid In Outer Space" and I'll have "Welcome To Our School" for you. (And, yes, you'll want to check it out.) Track listing after the jump.

Video: "Welcome to Grammaropolis" - Doctor Noize

I know, Kids Place Live listeners are probably tired of this song, seeing as its been played there for months now, but for those who haven't heard this, it's an introductory song for Grammaropolis called "Welcome to Grammaropolis" (natch) and in addition to it being an amusing song it has an amusing video to match. (Unsurprising, considering it's a Doctor Noize joint, and Cory's pretty much the funniest guy in kids music, and that's saying something.) The song basically condenses American grammar into, like, 3 minutes. It's for people who like Schoolhouse Rock but couldn't be bothered with the whole half-hour it takes to play the Grammar Rock disk. (The lyrics can be found here should you need them.) For what it's worth, a full album covering the Grammaropolis concept -- which is actually the creation of Coert Voorhees -- is due out in 2011, but, really, why bother? Don't you and your kids know everything after watching this? Doctor Noize - "Welcome To Grammaropolis" [YouTube]

Please Release Me: June 2010 Edition

An update of last month's list of upcoming family music releases... Laurie Berkner Band: The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band (June 29) Putumayo Kids (Various Artists): Rock 'n' Roll Playground (June 29): Features Dan Zanes, Peter Himmelman, Uncle Rock, and Charity and the JAMband, among others. Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers: Zinghoppers Live: A Dance Party Concert DVD (July 6) Billy Kelly: Is This Some Kind of Joke? (early July?) Dream Jam Band: Leave It In The Soup (July 13) The Not-Its: Time Out To Rock (July 20) Pete Seeger: Tomorrow's Children (July 27) The Okee Dokee Brothers: Take It Outside (Aug. 3) Various Artists: Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti (Aug. 10) "Doc" Dauer and others: The Body Rocks! (Aug. 17) David Tobocman: Lemonade School (mid-August) Secret Agent 23 Skidoo: Title TBA (very late summer) Oran Etkin: Wake Up Clarinet (fall) The Boogers: Title TBA (fall) Elizabeth Mitchell: Sunny Day (Oct. 5) Flannery Brothers The New Explorers Club (Oct. 19) Jim Cosgrove: Title TBA (Fall?) Jamie Broza: I Want a Dog (Oct. 12) Caspar Babypants: This Is Fun! (Nov. 2) Frances England: Mind of My Own (Nov. 9) David Weinstone: Title TBA (November) Others working on albums with potential 2010 releases? Lunch Money, Ella Jenkins, Big Don

Itty-Bitty Review: Funky Fresh and Sugar Free - Sugar Free Allstars

FunkyFresh_SugarFree.jpgIf you're going to title your second kids' CD Funky Fresh and Sugar Free, you better bring at least a modicum of funk, am I right? Luckily, Oklahoma's Sugar Free Allstars meet that test. The heart of the music is still Chris Wiser's Hammond B3 organ and Rob "Dr. Rock" Martin's drums, but they've opened up a little more on this disk, with Wiser occasionally playing sax or bass, and Dr. Rock pulling out the theremin. If there's nothing on the album as instantaneously memorable as "Bathtub Boy" from their debut, this new album is much more consistent -- heck, just better -- overall. "Rock Awesome!" is actually the least funky track on the disk (though kids may get into the call-and-response) and "The Train Beat Song" I think works much better live than it does on the album. But the eight songs in the middle are solid tracks -- I'm particularly fond of "Little Red Wagon" -- and Wiser's sense of humor is evident on the silly "SFA Disco Dance Party" and the stroll-down-memory-lane "6th Grade Band." (Note: not my memory lane. Sixth grade orchestra is muuuuuch less interesting.) With the aspirational exception of "6th Grade Band," kids ages 3 through 7 are most likely to enjoy the songs here. (You can stream the whole album using the player below.) Funky Fresh and Sugar Free is sweet, but your kids may even lose some calories overall dancing to the music. Recommended. <a href="http://sugarfreeallstars.bandcamp.com/album/funky-fresh-sugar-free">Rock Awesome! by Sugar Free Allstars</a> Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.