Review: The Family Garden - Billy Kelly

Just in time for Earth Day, Billy Kelly releases The Family Garden, an album of gardening-related songs designed to help kids better understand the impact they have on their planet... Just kidding. I mean, about part of it. It's the other part that, uh, isn't quite so true. But Kelly, whose line in song between truth and un-truth has never been very clear, probably wouldn't want me to tell you which is which. On this, his third album, Kelly eschews some of the production wizardry and elaborate wordplay of his first two disks for a rootsier sound. It's a deliberate choice sonically -- Kelly specifically mentions recording the songs live with his band, the Blahblahblahs. On songs like the title track, or "That Old American Flag," or his cover of "Coney Island Washboard," the roots/country sound matches up well with the songs' earnest nature. Those songs (as well as "We Could Be Pen Pals," his duet with Lunch Money's Molly Ledford) are songs you might find in a gigantic American songbook. Kelly's always had an earnest streak in his songwriting, but he hasn't forgotten the more surreal components, either. "It's Close Enough" continues Kelly's streak of writing songs about the songs he's writing about. "I'm Thinking of an Animal" is as close as he'll get to writing a standard "name the animal" song (which is to say, only about 80% of the way there). "The Invention of the Straw" doesn't reach the heights of "The Legend of Johnny Box" from Is This Some Kind of Joke?, but "Why Is the Moon Following Me?" is way better than Harold and the Purple Crayon. The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 8. You can listen to clips from the 37-minute album here. If I had to recommend just one Billy Kelly album for someone's collection, I'd probably start with Is This Some Kind of Joke? -- I think his intricate wordplay and savviness fills an underserved niche for older-kids' kids music. But The Family Garden is a neat expansion of his sound. To some extent, this is a kindler, gentler Kelly. Whether or not we wanted a kindler, gentler Kelly you'll have to decide, but he's not bad to have around. That's all true, I promise. Definitely recommended.

This Cover Art is FLYING!

Ah, Recess Monkey, look what you've done now. You've proven beyond all doubt that Mayor Monkey is indeed your secret weapon. Clearly the slightly bumbling and affable nature of Hizzoner is just a front, judging by the cover of the band's upcoming release FLYING!. That's a great photo, boys. (The rest of the album art is from Jarrett Krosoczka, creator of the Lunch Lady comics). Tracklisting for the Tor Hyams-produced album, due out June 21 -- along with the listing of a gazillion guest stars -- is after the jump.

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 8

Time once again for all the news that didn't fit into a separate post due to time, interest, contractual, or legal obligations -- it's your favorite pun-titled file folder of a blog post, the Ketchup Report! Yaaay! (Cue Kermit the Frog wild arm-flailing here...)

The World of Happiness single, the "We Are the World" of the kids' biz, "A World of Happiness," is here. Except your kids might actually want to listen to this new song when they become parents themselves. Sales of the single, produced by Tor Hyams and Joanie Leeds, benefit Autism Speaks. The single includes a whole host of folks besides Leeds and Hyams -- Molly Ledford (who gets the honor of leading off the track), Frances England, Ralph Covert... it just goes on and on. A bunch of the participants will be recording a concert later this month for broadcast on Sirius/XM Radio later on. Anyway, it's $1.29 well-spent right here. I could probably start a whole separate post listing all the recent crowdfunding projects in the kids music world. Heck, it's almost getting to the point where I could start a blog listing all the recent crowdfunding projects in the kids music world. I've been partial to Kickstarter, of course. The two most recent projects have been a Professor Banjo and his successful second-album project and Ryan SanAngelo and his not-one-but-two-Kickstarter-projects. But other sites do the same basic thing. Van Oodles didn't quite succeed in making a video for a song of his, but LA indie-rockers Ellen and Matt and Chicago's Laura Doherty are both looking for funds for their next disks. Should you feel so inclined, help out Ellen and Matt here and Laura for her new album Shining Like a Star in the widget there to the side. -- For a limited time, Doctor Noize's "Bananas" iWhatever app is free. Download the ever-so-slightly-educational app here. (Note: may no longer be free.) -- Finally, with Earth Day coming up, a it's time for Earth Day-related tunes. Dan Zanes has a new, original tune, "Hail the Creatures" written by Zanes for a new exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo. You don't need to be near Philly to enjoy the track, just near an iTunes-enabled gadget that can download this, with proceeds benefiting the Zoo. (More details on the tune and the Zoo's new exhibit here.)... Bill Harley is offering a free download of "Keep It Green" from his 1996 album Big Big World -- you can get it here... And finally, DARIA is offering a mini-CD of 6 "earth friendly" songs, free just for the price of an e-mail address (and an earth-friendly suggestion).

Monday Morning Smile: "The Morning Call" - Sho, Mo & the Monkey Bunch

I kinda think everybody should get to be woken up by a personalized marching band at least once in their life, but barring that, Toronto's The Monkey Bunch have the next-best thing. It's "The Morning Call" off their 2006 self-titled debut album. (Their 2010 follow-up Power to the Little People was one of those albums I liked but never got a chance to review. It was also nominated for a Juno Award, so between the two, I think they probably got the more significant recognition.) Anyway, sleepyheads who watch this video are likely to miss a few of the slightly more subversive moments. But they'll be awake. Sho, Mo & the Monkey Bunch - "The Morning Call" [YouTube]

Pop! For Kids (and Their Minders)

I'd like to think that finding pop (and classical and rock and reggae and hip-hop and so on) for kids is at the heart of what we do here at Zooglobble, but Dennis Greeuw, the guy behind The Pop! For Kids Project named his whole darn blog after the idea. Greeuw's operating conceit for the blog is asking his favorite artists to record a family-friendly song for posting/downloading on his site. I posted something about his site on Facebook just after it debuted in late January, but I wanted to see what else he'd come up with. Now, nine songs in, I'm ready to declare Pop! For Kids worth your time. Greeuw isn't trying to post something daily (more like weekly), so the site is sort of like a veeeeery slow compilation disk. And, like most compilation disks, the tracks here are of varying quality. Some are marginal (I could do without the Zipper live track), some pretty decent (see Vom Vorton's "The World is Round"), and some are just plain awesome (Mascot Fight's "Dance Like Robots" -- please download it now). The best part is that Greeuw is clearly just following his own personal interests, which makes for some pretty interesting discoveries. You and your kids won't like everything, but I'm pretty sure you'll like at least a couple tracks quite a bit.

With Messianic Fervor

I would make for a lousy missionary. Talking to people one at a time, trying to convince them right then and there in the correctness of my position is not my strength -- proselytizing makes me blanch. I would rather spend time day after day, week after week, year after year, offering facts and sharing opinions, not to mention listening to others. If others come to my point of view, great. If not, it's not worth ramming my head into a wall repeatedly. And maybe I'll have my own mind changed. My approach to kids music has been pretty much the same. I'm happy writing my opinions on my website and argue them with some vigor, but get me one-on-one with somebody about kids music, and I'm, like, "Uh, I kinda like Elizabeth Mitchell." I know. I should be a little more forceful (and, OK, that quote above's an exaggeration) but it's not an exaggeration to say that the person who talks most about Zooglobble locally isn't me -- it's one of my friends who's constantly asking for my business cards and giving them to people she meets. So it was with some amusement that I read an article about Rani Arbo and her career with her band Daisy Mayhem. Her career navigates both the folk and kids music camps...

Rani Arbo is one of Middletown's biggest exports — hell, it wouldn't be a stretch to call her one of Connecticut's, considering her band's rigorous touring across the nation. She and Daisy Mayhem have the rare luxury of fitting into two niche markets, whereas most bands are lucky to fit into one. Since they use acoustic instruments (including drummer Scott Kessel's all-recycled kit — he uses cat food tins and a suitcase for a kick drum), they fit in handsomely with the folk, bluegrass and roots music circuit. And their versatility with both adult and children's songbooks allows them to tap into the kids' music fanbase, who Arbo (vocals/violin) describes as “messianic about things they like.”

Uh-oh - she's got us.