Christmas and Holiday Kids Music 2017

Every year when I put together these lists of Christmas and holiday-related kids music, I walk the fine line between trying get this up early enough to be of use and late enough to be of use.  What I mean by that is, if I publish on, say, November 28th, people complain it's too early and I'll have about 3 songs or albums from some very planning-oriented musicians.  And if I wait for December 23rd to make sure I get all the music included, everybody's just about sick of Christmas music and Hanukkah might already be done for.

So I'm trying to hit a sweet spot here.  I'll update it as necessary, but hopefully too many musicians aren't thinking, less than 2 weeks before Christmas, that maybe they should try to record something.

Radio Playlist: New Music May 2017

Summer is drawing nigh, and kids music continues to cross my doorstep (and iTunes and Spotify and Bandcamp playlists).  Ten songs, less than 30 minutes, and if you don't like these -- well, I think you'll like a lot of these, but if the ratio is insufficient, feel free to check out the April list 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 May 2017 (May 2017 Kindie Playlist) ****

"I'd Like to Live in Your Hat" - Froggins & Bug

"Shooting Star" - Shine and the Moonbeams

"Marco Polo" - Walter Martin

"Jack and Jill" - Matthew Valcourt

"Poppy" - The Salamanders

"Poopy Dogs" - Spring Bees

"Squirrel Fight" - Michael and the Rockness Monsters

"I Despise Flies" - Todd Downing

"Jump and Jive" - Dana

"Tipping Point" - Matt Heaton

"Plastic Duck" - Remington Super 60

Video: "Used to Be" - Spring Bees (World Premiere!)

Spring Bees album cover

I love to get word of musicians trying their hand at the kids music world for the first time -- so much promise and uncertainty.  So when self-described "indie rock Texpatriate" Monte Holman (he lives in Kansas City at the moment) sent me a copy of his debut album recorded as Spring Bees and cited folks like Dolly Parton, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Joao Gilberto as musical reference points, I was eager to hear it, to see what came out of it.

Almost as cool as hearing new music from new bands is seeing that they've got their act together, and in this case, Holman already had his debut video lined up.

The first video from Spring Bees' self-titled album, "Used to Be," is a celebration of a love that will last a long, long, looooong time.  The lyrics suggest a series of lifetimes that the singer has lived through caring for someone else, suggesting a love that survives reincarnation.  But because those lifetimes feature, say, giraffes and alligators, it gives the weighty concept a much lighter feel.  The video was created by animator Cody Ground, who used stop-motion animation featuring what I like to think of as all those "zoo in a tube" tiny plastic animals you're stepping on when you're not stepping on your kids' Legos.

I'm guessing that the band name is inspired by the name of Monte's daughter (which starts with the letter "B"), and unsurprisingly given that track above, there's a strong feeling of love suffusing the entire album.  And those references above?  Totally earned.  (Just wait 'til you hear "Burp," which feels like a missing track from Getz/Gilberto.)  The album definitely will give you warm and fuzzy (and fuzzed out) indie rock feelings, but not in a too-cool-for-school way.

The self-titled debut is out April 21, but in the meantime, I'm happy to world-premiere this video and help get Spring Bees' music slowly out into the world.  I'm eager to see (and hear) what will happen.

Spring Bees - "Used To Be" [Vimeo]