Weekly Summary (3/31/14 - 4/6/14)

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #1: Alison Krauss vs. Frances England

Well, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

But there's little time for the four of them to rest on their laurels as we move directly in the final, er, four.  Semifinal #1 features Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye going up against a bunny's courageous trip home in Keith Boynton's video for Alison Krauss' "End of a Summer Storm" from Sandra Boynton's Frog Trouble.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Thursday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm" [YouTube]

My Favorite Kids Music Videos of 2013

It's been a couple years since I last tackled the kids music video world.  After years of organizing KidVid Tournaments, I think I just needed a break.  Plus I was organizing a talk on great kids music videos and my video curation energies went there last spring.

That doesn't mean, however, that I've lost interest in finding great videos to share with your family, friends, and strangers in line at the grocery store.  In fact, I went back and looked -- across the site, I featured nearly 100 new videos.

It's a new year now and with that I have a little extra energy to give you a brand new list -- my favorite kids music videos of 2013 (-ish).  Let's define the video year as I have in the past -- new videos featured on the site between March 1 of the prior year and February 28 of the current year.  (So, March 1, 2013 through February 1, 2014.)  Let's also say only one video per artist (though there were a handful of artists I considered breaking that rule for).  As always, I'm interested in visual creativity, a decent level of post-production values (which doesn't necessarily mean expensive), and a really good song.

PS: Miss the KidVid Tournament?  Then I might just have something up my sleeve for you.  Stay tuned.

Without further ado, then, in alphabetical order by artist, my 25 favorite kids music videos of 2013.  Whether this is the first time you've seen some or all of these, or the tenth, please enjoy.

"Similes and Metaphors" - The Bazillions

"Stump Hotel" - Caspar Babypants

"Thingamajig" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

(Oddly enough, removed from YouTube for violating its Terms of Service.  I've had similar problems with YouTube regarding videos I've had specific permission to upload.  I can imagine how frustrating it is for an artist.)

"Bunny in the Moon" - DidiPop

"Palindrome" - Dog on Fleas / Readeez

"Brussels Sprout Shout" - Duke Otherwise

"Midnight Sun" - Elska

"Day You Were Born" - Frances England

"Cakenstein" - Gustafer Yellowgold

"How Big" - Eric Herman

"Dinosaur" - Lori Henriques

"From You" - Charlie Hope

"End of a Summer Storm" - Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton)

"Spicy Kid" - Lunch Money

"Cocodrilo" - Mister G

"When I Get Bald" - Alastair Moock

"Snow Day" - Zak Morgan

"Skateboard" - The Not-Its

"Tambourine Submarine" - Recess Monkey

"Recess" - Justin Roberts

"Bigga Bagga" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" - Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell

Weekly Summary (2/3/14 - 2/16/14)

Video: "End of a Summer Storm" - Alison Krauss

I suppose the Sandra Boynton video that would make me happiest would be one that Boynton herself animated with her amusing anthropomorphic animals.  But that also wouldn't fit the mood of "End of a Summer Storm," the Alison Krauss-sung tune from Boynton's fine Frog Trouble album.  The video, directed by Keith Boynton, features a bunny on a mission -- it's a felt-y, puppet-y action adventure. (Sort of.)  Also dig the Swallows and Amazons reference.

Alison Krauss - "End of a Summer Storm" [Vimeo]

Itty-Bitty Review: Frog Trouble - Sandra Boynton

I'm a Sandra Boynton fan from way back, mostly for her simple and brilliantly funny illustrated books for young (pre-)readers, but also for some of her albums of family-friendly music.  She's tackled Broadway, rock, and retro on previous albums, and for her fifth collection of songs she's gone Nashville.

On Frog Trouble, Boynton and her musical partner, the arranger Michael Ford, offer up another dozen songs of often surreal and animal-based nature.  Take the unreliable narrator of "Frog Trouble" (or don't), or the meta-approach of "CopyCat"  (I think you can probably guess how a song with that title gets meta).  But a number of the songs, some of them the album's strongest, play it mostly straight -- Alison Krauss' lovely take on "End of Summer Storm" and Ryan Adams performing "When Pigs Fly," which takes that absurd premise and turns it into something beautiful.

Of course, the key for Boynton and Ford is finding the right artists for the songs.  They return to Krauss and Mark Lanegan, who've sung on previous Boynton albums, and many of the other choices are inspired, if not always totally country -- I'm not complaining that Ben Folds ("Broken Piano") and Fountains of Wayne ("Trucks") are on the disk by any means, and Brad Paisley is a good sport on "CopyCat."  Also: Kacey Musgraves singing anything is a good thing.  It's most appropriate for kids ages 6 and up.  You can find the 34-minute album anywhere and also in book form should you desire whimsical illustrations and sheet music.

One need not be a country fan to enjoy Frog Trouble ; a kid-like sense of humor and occasional taste for the absurd will suffice.  It's my favorite Boynton-Ford album.  Definitely recommended.

Note: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review.