My grand plan to list a bunch of Christmas songs this December kinda fell apart under the typical rush of December activities, but I didn't want to forget the Sippy Cups' slightly-slowed down version of "Jingle Bell Rock," now available at their Myspace page.
(Thanks, by the way, to Gwyneth, who first pointed out the song at the Sippy Cups' own website. If you're not reading Gwyneth's site on a daily basis, you're missing out on some great roundups of news.)
Tiny Mix Tapes for Tiny Mix Tapers
Another day, another YAKMA (Yet Another Kids Music Article), this time from the fine folks at Tiny Mix Tapes, which I've been reading for a number of years now. (Really.)
It's a detailed article on the current crop of "adult" artists making kids music, with quotes from Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Paper Bag Records' Leila Hebden and a review of classic albums from years past. The article never really gets into which ones are "excellent" and which are "crappier than crappy nappies," but, oh well.
While I'm not sure it's of much news to regular readers here, the article certainly casts outside the regular cast of characters normally interviewed for a YAKMA. It also provides this one nugget of information that's news to me: Saint Etienne plans to release the Up the Wooden Hills EP as a full album in 2007. I knew that was the plan eventually, but had not seen a date (or an article with a Saint Eitenne quote) before. I've been meaning to review the EP for some time now -- better make sure I do that before the full album is released...
Cereal For Christmas: A Zooglobble First
Between interviews and other miscellaneous posts, I've been the recipient of much text here on the website authored by other generous people.
Well, in the spirit of this giving season, The Lovely Mrs. Davis gave me the opportunity to be part of her fun series of Christmas-related guest posts, and I gave her some thoughts on the 10, er, 11 Christmas CDs we own. Stop by Amy's site to see our family's nomination for best cereal-related CD ever, among other things. And thanks, Amy!
Robert Christgau, Kids Music Blogger?
One of the weirder things things about the NPR interview this week was that not only did that story appear higher on NPR's top e-mailed story list than the venerable music critic Robert Christgau's piece on crunk, so did my list of the top 20 kids' music albums of the year. I still don't know if that was a good or a bad thing, but perhaps kids' music -- one of the few genres Christgau hasn't really touched on in his long career -- is a genre he might want to explore.
Well, anyway, news this week that Christgau has moved his "Consumer Guide" record reviews to MSN. It's well worth your time every other month to read his reviews. And, what do you know? One of Christgau's favorite records in his MSN debut? The Gothic Archies' The Tragic Treasury, the Lemony Snicket-inspired CD from Stephin Merritt. Hmmm... I've reviewed that here, too.
Perhaps there's hope for the guy yet...
Wouldn't It Be Great If There Was A Video About Tricycles?
Why, yes, yes it would. Frances England's got herself a spiffied-up website and a video and slideshow to boot. Now if only Lunch Money and the Jellydots would jump in with videos for their awesome three- and two-wheeled songs...
The New York Times Tells You What To Think...
... with a little help from The Lovely Mrs. Davis.
Tammy La Gorce has YAKMA (Yet Another Kids Music Article) in the New York Times about the nurturing of musical taste in the under-5 set.
Amy provides thoughtful context for the rash of new music for kids -- you can decide for yourself whether that's "rash" in a good or a bad way.
If you're finding your way here thanks to Amy's kind linkage, feel free to look around. Plenty of reviews, another interview with Dan Zanes, info about Kevin Salem's and Kate Hyman's Little Monster Records, and lots of news.
Just one link you might not be familiar with -- my recent review of The Family Hootenanny, a collection of kid-friendly songs from Detroit artists. Check it out -- you won't be disappointed.
