Video: "Press Play" - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could (World Premiere!)

Still image from "Press Play" video

This new video for "Press Play" from Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, well, it just grooves along in so many different ways.

First, you've got the song itself, which bubbles along so happily.  Then you've got the production design for the video, which has such a groovy '60s vibe that I half expect someone to come on in the middle and say "Sock it to me."  And then there's the band members, many of whom look... oddly familiar.  Rymer asks if you recognize any of the legendary musical icons represented here.  (As for me, my favorite is the Mozart-by-way-of-Jerry-Lee-Lewis.)

In any case, this video for Press Play's title track is a treat and I'm pleased to offer up the world premiere here.  All you need to do is press... well, you know.

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - "Press Play" [YouTube]

Video: "Beep Beep Beep" - Dan Vapid (World Premiere!)

All Wound Up album cover

Mike Park's Fun Fun Records keeps truckin' along with music for kids -- in this case, almost literally.  The label's latest family release, its seventh, is from pop-punker Dan Vapid (who's also played in Screeching Weasel).  The album's called All Wound Up, and I'm pleased to world-premiere the album's leadoff track and single, "Beep Beep Beep."  It's barely a minute long, but I'd be wary of playing the song in a traffic jam for your favorite kindergartner lest she get too wound up.

Luckily, you're not driving while you're all watching a YouTube video, so you can just enjoy the sketching from Gilbert Armendariz.

All Wound Up is released September 9, but you can preorder it here today.

Dan Vapid - "Beep Beep" [YouTube]

Radio Playlist: New Music July 2016

No new music playlist in June -- that's what happens when you post on May 31 -- but let's start July with a half-hour of new music for your family's listening pleasure.  (If you want to catch that list from May, you can see that playlist here.)

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here (or right here in you're in Spotify).

**** New Music July 2016 (July 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"It Ain't No Fault of Mine" - The Hollow Trees

"Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It" - Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

"Do You Talk to Yourself" - Dean Jones

"Diez Pajaritos (feat. Nathalia Palis)" - 123 Andres

"Phone" - Eric Herman and the Thunder Puppies

"Made to Fly" - Chibi Kodama

"Hole in My Bucket (feat. Jazzy Ash)" - KB Whirly

"Glitter Bug" - Animal Farm

"The Musical Cat" - Genevieve Toupin

Video: "Feufollet" - Katy Hobgood Ray and the Confetti Park Players

This is a video that's probably more appropriate for the last day of October than the last day of June, but no matter.  It's for the song "Feufollet," off the album We're Going to Confetti Park.  What is Confetti Park?  It's a kid-friendly radio show and podcast featuring New Orleans culture led by New Orleans musician and producer Katy Hobgood Ray.  Their first album features songs inspired by New Orleans and a children's chorus.

This song, "Feufollet," is a little spooky in a kid-friendly way, with the art and animation by Gustavo Wenzel and Santiago Germano a perfect atmospheric match.  With swamps and flickering lights and danger of the will o'the wisps, watch this now... and bring this back out around Halloween.

Katy Hobgood Ray and the Confetti Park Players - "Feufollet" [YouTube]

Podcast Review: Short & Curly

Short and Curly logo

In the still-small field of kids podcasting, it doesn't take much to stand out.  Short & Curly stands out in not one but two ways: it's 1) Australian, and 2) about ethics.

Item #1 -- its Down Under nature -- I mention in part because the hosts' accents are a novelty to North American ears, but there's a more significant component as well because the program is produced by ABC.  The Australian Broadcasting Company, that is, and the fact that their national broadcaster has devoted its resources toward producing this podcast for kids serves to highlight, in a small way, how the American and Canadian broadcast systems haven't produced such a program on a national level.

Accents and national differences in the production of radio aside, what makes Short & Curly more interesting is its subject: ethics.  And not just simple questions with obvious answers like, "is stealing bad?," but more complex ones like "Is it ever okay to lie?," "Should chimps have the same rights as kids?," and "Is Dumbledore as great as he seems?"  These are not easy questions to answer, and exactly the sort of thing that ethics is supposed to tackle (well, Aristotle didn't address the last one, but you get my point).

The program is hosted by actress/writer Molly Daniels and reporter Carl Smith -- the two of them have a jokey interaction, often role-playing the ethical question at hand.  Dr. Matt Beard from The Ethics Centre appears in every episode to provide some context and ways to think about the question.  And, of course, there are kids' voices as well, though one of the nifty things about an ethics podcast -- where there aren't necessarily right answers in the way a science podcast might have -- is that rather than the kids asking the questions, they're the ones answering the question, or at least giving their ethical perspective.  And while most of the episodes have thus far followed a fairly uniform structure (question, possible answers, experts), the just-released Season 2 had a little more variety -- the aforementioned Dumbledore-themed episode was structured as a trial.  It's also designed to be interactive, as at least a couple times per show the hosts ask listeners a question and suggest that they pause the podcast to discuss.

The podcast is most appropriate for kids ages 6 through 12.  The iTunes link for the show is here, Soundcloud here.  Episodes are generally about 20 minutes in length and are completely ad-free.  There are a couple "seasons," both released this year, so the 10 episodes (plus trailer) are easily digested.

I really like Short & Curly because it encourages discussion, treats serious issues lightly enough for kids to not be turned off, and is breezily entertaining.  The accents are just a nice little bonus.

The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified: WHYY's Brand New Podcast for Kids

If you look at my list of podcasts for kids, you'll note that while there are a lot of story podcasts -- shows that tell many different stories -- there are relatively few what I call "audioplays," which is an amorphous term in my list, but which includes serialized audio dramas.

Starting tomorrow, that list of serialized audio dramas officially grows by one as The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified begins its first season.  It's a show grown under the auspices of Philadelphia public radio station WHYY and it features... well, according to the podcast's iTunes page, it features:

Eleanor Amplified, the world-famous radio reporter, as she foils dastardly plots, outwits crafty villains, and goes after The Big Story. Listen in as Eleanor's pursuit of truth takes her into orbit, out to sea, through a scary jungle, and even to the halls of Congress!

That doesn't intrigue you?  How about a trailer?

There will 10 episodes (not including the trailer above), with episodes 1 and 2 hitting your podcast player tomorrow, June 29, and the remaining episodes released weekly.

For many reasons -- not just the story, but also the story behind the story -- I wanted to find out a little bit more.  So I dropped John Sheehan a line.  He's the creator of Eleanor Amplified.  His day job, as it were, is as a producer for Fresh Air with Terry Gross at WHYY.  How did he get to WHYY?

I played in rock bands all through college.  One night, I was working the door at a venue and began talking with a woman who, as it turned out, was a producer at WHYY... I was newly into public radio, and very enthusiastic about it, and she invited me to come by the station and try editing some audio.  I was familiar enough with audio software from my band experience, and I bluffed my way into a part-time job.  I freelanced for years and eventually was hired on Fresh Air with Terry Gross - that was 2008.

Asked about the genesis of show, Sheehan cites an inspiration and a limitation:

First: A looong family car trip made me think, "Hey, I should do a podcast that kids and parents could listen to."  Second: Fiction was all I had time for.  My wife and I had just learned our second daughter was on the way, and I officially had zero free time outside of work.  So I had to come up with a podcast that I could make from my desk, right before work, during lunch breaks and on my walks home.  And with the exception of recording the actors, that's exactly how I did it.

As for the creative and audio inspiration, Sheehan listed Saturday morning cartoons, Indiana Jones, and Flash Gordon:

Obviously, I'm borrowing the form of old radio serials and radio theater, but I wanted it to sound contemporary.  I wanted the tone and the feel of the series to be something kids today would recognize.  I use a lot of music, snappy dialogue, and a lot of sound design.

Lest someone think that this is just a response to the sudden attention paid to the need for more kids' podcasts, it's taken about a year for Eleanor Amplified to get to this point.  Sheehan pitched the "very vague" idea of "children's adventure stories about an intrepid reporter" to an internal WHYY podcast competition.  After about six months, during which time Sheehan made some test episodes (and his wife and he had their second daughter), the station finally gave the go-ahead:

When it was ultimately approved, I was able to hit the ground running: I cranked out scripts, brought the actors back for whirlwind recording sessions, and started making episodes... I honestly enjoyed every step of the process, but having the actors in the studio breathing life into the scripts was amazing.

Another reason why Eleanor Amplified is a big deal is that it's the first kids podcast I'm aware of that's receiving foundation support.  As you might suspect, advertising in kids podcasting poses challenges that aren't there in podcasts for adults -- it'll be a significant component of what the audio producers in Kids Listen will grapple with.  So the fact that Eleanor Amplified has funding from the Sutherland Family Foundation -- not to mention the support of WHYY itself -- is a precedent that a lot of other producers no doubt hope is a successful one.  Sheehan himself says there's "definitely an audience for family friendly content" and hopes there's more foundation support for similar efforts.

In the end, though, the 6-year-old listening to Eleanor Amplified doesn't care about the economics of kids podcasting -- she cares about the stories.  I hope it's successful purely as a listening experience.  And Sheehan?

If it sparks some imaginations I'll consider it a complete success.  Growing up, I loved cartoons and adventure stories.  I'd even say I needed them.  I would think about a thrilling scene or a plot twist or a cliffhanger-ending long after the episode was over.  And if Eleanor can generate even a little of the kind of excitement I felt as a child, it'll be 100% worth it.