Here's Les Savy Fav bassist Syd Butler bringing the rock with his kid at a concert in Brooklyn. Aside from the green bjorn (is a camo Bjorn far away?) I'm particularly partial to the baby's Vanns Vans [I must have been thinking of the company I bought my TV from. Thanks Gregg. Er, Greg. -mdd]
Best Seat in the House at Citysol [Gothamist via Dan]
Check out this video of "The Gauchos" performing Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" on YouTube. Freaking YouTube - you've ruled me again (almost as much as their little brother or sister who pretends to rock the lead vocals).
[Link courtesy of PR Nelson]
OK. September's almost over and was mid-August the last time I posted. If you still check in on this blog from time to time, thanks. I know I've been neglecting it. (And thanks especially to everyone who's emailed me with stuff to post that I haven't responded to yet - thanks especially to you.)
Now that's out of the way, I kind of feel I have to mention that today the new Jack's Big Music Show CD was released. After finally finding it in a store (my local Borders - seriously, where do people buy CDs these days?) we came home and waited until the modern day mom came home to test it out.
The result? Success. Kind of. My two year old knows almost all of the words to the songs, but was kind of annoyed that there wasn't any video to watch with it. She still danced and sang, but reminded us between each song that it wasn't on the TV and we needed to listen for the next song.
While I definitely recommend it, my only criticism is that while it's got a good mix of music from season one, it could have more of the songs they actually play in the clubhouse (not just the music videos). And where is Cathy? The most frequent clubhouse visitor got stone-cold snubbed.
Get Jack's Big Music Show Season One CD from Amazon.com for $11.97.
So the other day I was browsing the Top Sellers DVD list on Amazon (looking for Neflix ideas) and I noticed something that stuck out like a sore thumb. Right there, just after 24 - Season Three and right before Syriana Widescreen Edition at number 49 was We are... The Laurie Berkner Band.
Seriously? More people are buying that than Munich, Capote or the first season of Lost? Well, good for the LBB I suppose, but I hope somewhere Moose A. Moose is getting his ass kissed.
Buy We are... The Laurie Berkner Band for $10.99 at Amazon.com
(And yes, before someone comments, I know I've put up a bunch of links to Amazon in this post, all of which will make me a very small commission if someone clicks and buys. And whether I put this disclaimer in or not I still think it's a perfectly OK thing to do. So click and buy away!)
(And no, that's not my kid in the picture.)
A friend of mine sent this article to me a week or so ago, and I have to admit it hit home with me. Getting your child to like the music you like (or maybe the music you think is worth listening to, or really the music you want them to like) is no easy task. The author's scheme is a daily "music hour" with his kid to introduce him to decent kid's music, and slowly incorporate the music he likes - which sounds like a pretty good idea.
And his description of Dan Zanes is right on the money.
Preschool of Rock [NY Times Sunday Magazine re-posted at Doug Henwood Talks - thanks Brian.]
In some sort of perfect glitch-in-the-matrix synchronization of my life, it seems that Devo is reforming and releasing a kid's album. "Devo 2.0" will be released in March, not only with revamped versions of songs like "Whip It!" but also two brand new songs. Oh, and there's a DVD too.
If Pavement re-forms and makes an appearance on Jack's Big Music Show, I'd appreciate it if someone woke me up and got me out of my pod.
Devo whips up classic tracks for kids [Reuters via Matt - thanks!]
Damn this is cool. Brian Udelhofen, a teacher at a Minneapolis high school arranged and then taught his after-school percussion group to play two songs off of DJ Shadow's Endtroducing ("Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Changeling"). The kids had to spend an unbelievable amount of time rehearsing because it's perfect - with live drums that sound like drum loop edits and everything. Someone should give this teacher a raise or a grant or something.
Check out the video here (direct download link - 67MB wmv).
School band play "Endtroducing" with real instruments [Music Thing via Waxy.org]
Joshua Sitron is the guy who composed the theme song, travel song and some of the other music for Dora the Explorer. It's a pretty good claim to fame if you ask me, and even though (almost) no one knows his name, kids and parents are singing his songs every day all over the country.
He emailed me the other day with a link to his new project, Funkey Monkeys. It's kind of a band/performance art thing for kids, that he describes as Seinfeld meets the Wiggles. I might describe it as Freaky Monkeys. Not freaky in a bad way, but freaky like a video of Monkey Josh and a woman singing a lullaby to a grown man in a baby outfit - "Giant Baby". My favorite thing is the radio player at the top of the site that plays an ongoing stream of his music - something good to listen to with Madame while I'm blogging. I'm starting to figure out that the trick to kids' music is that the weirder it is, the less it annoys me and the more I enjoy it. And Funkey Monkeys doesn't disappoint.
Oh, and he posted a comment in my post about the song La Cucaracha the other day, confirming that the marijuana reference in the song was indeed the reason Boots and Dora will never sing it. The Backpack however I don't think he can speak for.
I mentioned a few weeks ago how puzzled I am about kid's music, and thankfully lots of people left comments with suggestions. I'm still trying out all kinds of stuff, but one thing I figured out was she loves the oldies. Actually my Dad figured it out - he was listening to the oldies station when we were visiting, and Madame immediately started shaking her rump. I'm not really a big fan of the oldies personally, but it's definitely closer to what I like than Raffi.
Then I read in Ideashak how his little girl loves Brian Wilson's Smile and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, and a light bulb went off. What I need to do is find the oldies that I like (and that I already have) and make a play list for Madame. I'm happy to report it's working like a charm. Especially Smile - as soon as it comes on she starts singing along, which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
Smile by Brian Wilson. $14.99 at Amazon.com.
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. $9.99 at Amazon.com
Before I had a baby I thought I'd basically still get to enjoy the things I like, only with a baby in tow. I especially figured the baby would be super hip, listening to all the music I enjoy and eschewing what I perceived to be annoying and often insipid kid's music. I definitely have a baby that likes music, but as it turns out, it's kid's music that she loves.
I don't know why - it's so much of a mystery to me I can't even bullshit a reason for it (and believe me, I'm pretty good at talking out of my ass). She'll listen to the music that I like, but it's "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" coming out of her activity table that she rocks her little butt to. I even broke down and played one of the children's CDs we got for a shower gift the other day, and sure enough, she loved it.
I've spoken with other people who have had similar experiences, but I'd love to hear from someone who's got a legitimate explanation as to why those kids songs work so well. I know simple melodies and sweet voices work, but how come it's not bad-ass guitar and dope beats?
Also, suggestions for kid's CDs that don't suck are also greatly appreciated.
