Listen To This: "Le Grand K" - Pointed Man Band (World Premiere!)

“Le Grand K” single cover

Who’s in the mood for a jaunty song about the weight loss of a tiny Parisian cylinder made of platinum and iridium!?!?!

Believe it or not, YOU are.

That’s right, Dan Elliott and his allusion-dense chamber-pop-for-kids music of Pointed Man Band have a song for you based on this very topic. It is ten tons of fun, or, er, one kilogram of fun, or, er, ever so slightly less than one kilogram of fun.

Elliott wrote the song a number of years ago, around the time of Flight of the Blue Whale, but never recorded it. Now as he went into the studio to record new music earlier this year, he dug the song out and the result is the track “Le Grand K” below, a world premiere for you!

And, yes, there’s more new music from the Portland band on its way — Amongst the Tall Trees will get a release later this year, tentatively set for late spring. Until then, consider “Le Grand K” a bonus track for your edification and enjoyment.

Pointed Man Band - “Le Grand K” [Soundcloud]

Kids Listen: A New Advocacy Organization for Kids' Podcasts

If you've read this site over the past two or three months, you'll note that I've devoted no small amount of attention to podcasts created specifically with kids in mind.  From charts to reviews to bemoaning the poor state of discovery for kids podcasts, I've written about this comparatively new art form.  I've even attempted to provide a relatively comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

The thing that struck me most forcefully while I immersed myself more deeply in the field was its similarity to independent (especially non-folk) kids music of ten or maybe fifteen years ago -- it's populated by a small group of talented creators who may feel isolated, face challenges in getting their work out in front of the broader world, and deal with the attitude of "they make podcasts for kids?" on a daily basis.

So that's why I'm very glad to be part of the founding membership for Kids Listen, an advocacy organization for kids' podcasts, which launched this morning.  You can read the entire announcement, but the goal is to build community amongst producers, advocate for growth of medium itself, and help develop standards and ethics for an audience for whom those standards and ethics are particularly important.

On top of that, the list of founding members are a starter pack of kids podcasts worth your family's time.  They include popular podcasts Brains On, Ear Snacks, Tumble, Sparkle Stories, Book Club for Kids, Story Pirates, and The Show About Science.  And it includes me, who's spent much of the past fifteen years advocating for high-quality audio entertainment for kids and families.  (And who's also attempted a podcast or three in my time.)

You as a parent or interested family member probably won't be that interested in the formation of an industry group other than having a vague hope that it's successful in its goals and there are even more podcasts created specifically for kids and families.  But I do hope you'll be interested in taking a minute (literally, like, a minute) to fill out this survey on your family's podcasting habits.  It would be tremendously helpful in giving the group some idea of who's listening and how.

And if you're a musician -- don't worry, I'll continue to write reviews, post videos, and conduct interviews in the kids music field.  But I hope you'll think about whether podcasting might be yet another way to share your creative output with the world...

Podcast Review: "Shabam!"

Shabam logo

There are lots of really good science-based podcasts for kids, and I'll get to them in the not-too-distant future as I start to review podcasts for kids, but I'll start off with Shabam! because who knows how long before the zombie outbreak takes over?

I should probably explain that Shabam!, produced by a collective known as Foolyboo, differs from a lot of science-themed podcasts in that it folds its non-fiction topics -- pathogens, epidemics, cognitive biases -- in a fictional wrapper, that of a zombie outbreak.  I think the mix serves the podcast well -- the fiction does provide sufficient context for the non-fiction components, while the non-fiction parts ground the fiction (which I'll remind you is about a zombie outbreak, so take the phrase "ground the fiction" with a grain of salt).  It's possible to tell interesting stories about, say, epidemiology, in a non-fiction setting, of course -- yay, John Snow! -- but this fictional story works well for that subject, too.

I'm going to peg the age-appropriateness of the show at best for kids 8-13.  That's based on the science and zombie-ishness thus far, which isn't for younger kids, but definitely lacks Walking Dead-like grossness.   The iTunes link for the show is here.  Episodes are roughly 25-30 minutes in length, and it's as yet unclear how frequently they'll be released -- I'm guessing monthly from here on out.  Aside from a brief statement near the beginning and the end of the show that it's partially sponsored by Google, there are no ads during the show.  (Also of note: they do a really good job of editing the closing credits, telling the story in between all the various credits, giving the listener a reason to not hit the fast-forward button.)

The other reason I wanted to lead off my podcast reviews with Shabam! is that in its narrative structure, it's going to be best if you listen from the beginning.  Since they're only 3 episodes in, now is a good time to jump in and listen with your kids.  You know, before the zombie outbreak hits your town.

Video: "Manta Ray" - The Whizpops

I can't say that I'm on a first-name basis with Hank Green, the scientist who just seems to have way more time in the day than I do because he runs VidCon, NerdCon, and a whole bunch of other entrepreneurial efforts, even though I did recently attend NerdCon: Stories.

Still, the name "Hank Green" means more to me than it did, say, 18 months ago, and so when I heard that Montana kindie band The Whizpops were featured on a recent SciShow Kids episode of Green's, I figured, it'd be worth checking out.

And so it is!   It's for the song "Manta Ray," and it features some sweet animation and, well, manta rays. Win all around! Go science!

The Whizpops - "Manta Ray" [YouTube]

Video: "Water Cycle" - The Bazillions

Welp, it's another winning video from Minnesota band The Bazillions.  Their latest effort with eg design is for "Water Cycle" off the band's latest effort, the fine album On the Bright Side.  Appropriately enough for a song all about the movement of H! 2! O! throughout our atmosphere and geography, it uses watercolor images.  It's lovely.

The Bazillions - "Water Cycle" [Vimeo]

Itty-Bitty Review: On the Bright Side - The Bazillions

The Bazillions - On the Bright Side album cover

Minneapolis band The Bazillions have an ear for power-pop hooks.  Or, like, 23 ears, because each album of theirs has more hooks than one ear could possibly handle -- even one of those punks' ears with safety pins all over.

Their third album, the recently-released On the Bright Side, does not stint on the hooks.  "Superhero Rock Band," which kicks off the album, is like one of those movie pitches ("They're superheroes from DC and Marvel... but they play in a band!") that is so high-concept that song quality would scarcely seem to matter, but luckily for the power-pop enthusiast in the family, it's got crunchy guitars and a catchy singalong chorus, too.  That's followed by "Family Tree," a roots-pop song celebrating, well, family -- along with the album closer "Sons and Daughters," it's the first I've really heard the band try for something more emotional.

Of course, at this point, it wouldn't be a Bazillions album without several educational songs, including the jangly "Use a Contraction," the shimmering "Ed (Been There, Done That)," and their first science-related tune, "Water Cycle."  Longtime readers will know my general antipathy towards songs that have such an explicit educational bias unless the melodies and lyrics are really tight, but listen to the chorus for "Favorite Book," which is really just a reading-positive song, and tell me it isn't precisely constructed for maximum earworm.

The 37-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 10; you can hear three of the tracks from the album here.  As with their previous albums, On the Bright Side includes a number of power-pop and jangle-pop melodies that stand up to repeated spins, regardless of whether you need to learn some 2nd grade concept.  Whatever educational value they have (and is enhanced by their catchiness) is just a nice bonus.  Definitely recommended.

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