Yes, I mean commercially viable but more specifically I mean music featured in commercials of late. Of course you could do a whole blog on this (hey, what a great idea!) but I'll just do one (or two) posts on the subject because while some of the songs featured in commercials may be enjoyable enough to hear on television and in your car, most are not. My husband and I have often marveled at the stuff that makes it on to commercials, we figure most of the agency folk these days are our age or slightly younger and they're pimping their favorite tunes. How else to describe Iron and Wine covering the Postal Service in an M&M commercial?
By the way that song is freaking amazing, commercial or not. The lyrics! Loved it originally and love the cover. But I digress.
I had a chat recently on the subject with a musician friend of mine who said we shouldn't fault Sam Beam or any of these other musicians because for an independent artist (or semi independent) a commercial, one little ol' commercial, can be enough money to support said musician for 6 months to a year. That way they can continue to make music full time without slinging coffee. Or they can sit on their couch smoking dope all year, whatever is their fancy. And hey, I agree. It may potentially harm their career, but more likely, it won't and people like you and I will talk about how weird it is that that song is in a freaking M&M commercial.
As a side note, I have done a fair amount of ad agency work myself and most notably freelanced for an agency that does a lot of Target stuff. I contributed my list of songs that I thought should have been used in a few commercials they were crafting and well, they didn't pick mine. Maybe I'll post some of my Target choices tomorrow (and the songs they went with instead- you decide who is smarter, me or the big bucks agency!) Or maybe I will hop, skip and jump away from this topic altogether. Whichever way the wind blows.
I meant to write about this earlier but forgot, so here goes. The new cartoon flick, Over the Hedge, features a buncha new songs (and a redux of an old one) by Ben Folds. I like Ben Folds. These songs are typical of the kid movie genre and therefore aren't as good as Ben Folds is in general, but still, they're catchy, pop tunes that will probably snag the ear of your little one, especially if they've seen the movie. And I'll take Ben Folds over say, The Cheetah Girls, any day of the week. So having said all that, I Guess I'm Floating has the tunes, so go get 'em.
I'm trying to see if I can mention Heather from I Am Fuel, You Are Friends more than any other blogger so, here is my second mention of her for today: She did a post last Friday about good music from kid film soundtracks. I nabbed me a couple I didn't have, I bet you don't have 'em all either. By the way I'm gonna have to mention Heather a whole lot more often to win that prize.
Many months ago I heard the Nash Rambler song ("Beep Beep") and for some reason it made me think of the Sailcat track "Motorcycle Mama." Honestly, I'm not sure why, Nash Rambler song is from the 50s, the Motorcycle Mama song is sooo from the 70s. They both are story songs about vehicles though so I guess that's where my mind was traversing. But then it gets more complicated because I really prefer the Sugarcubes' version of the song, which is from the 90s. My daughter likes both, she finds the kick back vibe of the Sailcat version "sweet." Then again, you can never go wrong when you match Bjork up with the kiddles. Check her out with her tongue out, she actually looks like my kid.
So, a while back I couldn't find the Sugarcubes version (it was from an Elektra double CD called "Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary" where new artists covered old artists and I've long lost the CD) and I happened to mention this to Heather from I Am Fuel, You Are Friends and lo and behold she delivered me the song via email within a few hours. Needless to say, she rocks it like a hurricane.
I've had half a dozen crying jags in the last 24 hours, mostly, at least on the surface, induced by the kindergarten dilemna (my local one kind of sucks) but really brought on by the wackadoo inner workings of my downward spiraling mind.
The most lovely song for singing your itty bitties to sleep could arguably be "What A Wonderful World." It's a purty tune with a lovely sentiment and it's been covered from here to the moon and back. Yesterday I posted on Victoria Williams (and I heard from no one thankyouverymuch) and she covered this tune on the very same CD I nabbed those two songs from. But I'm not posting it here. Instead, I've chosen another six versions, each wildly different. For just listening pleasure, I'll take the Shane and Nick or the Flaming Lips version but for soothing babies? The Innocence Mission wins hands down. Although there is no arguing with Louis.
Victoria Williams has one of those voices that you either enjoy or you can't stand. It's nasally and high-pitched at times and sounds as if it belongs to a cartoon character from the 30s. Her songs, especially her older ones (since I haven't heard a lot of her newer work) are southern yarns, tales of crazy characters from small towns. Victoria has MS and as a musician didn't have health insurance and so there was a benefit CD released for "Sweet Relief" which is an organization that was created after the tracks were laid down to provide insurance to such artists. The benefit CD is pretty interesting as it has a lot of 90s bands and artists like Pearl Jam, the Waterboys, Matthew Sweet, Evan Dando and Michael Penn covering her weird songs. Nowadays she performs with her husband, former Jayhawk Mark Olsen, as the Creekdippers. (FYI- Mark and fellow Jayhawk Gary Louris just finished doing some dates on the west coast as an acoustic duo.) These two story tracks are from the 90s Swing the Statue CD. They're very childlike and I don't just mean their content, but the instrumentation and the composition and delivery too. You either will really enjoy them or hate them, I suspect there will be little middle ground. Ditto for the kiddles.
You can't blame me, really, and I'm still giving you music at the end of the post.
So today I'm gonna start with a little self-promotion that just may carry on through for the next few weeks. My latest books, "I WANNA" are coming out on Simon & Schuster on June 6th. You can pre-order I WANNA Make My Own Clothes on Amazon. And you should if you know any 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 year old girls who are crafty or have a remote desire to be crafty. This is the start of a series of four books. There is one on making Clothes with no more than a needle and thread (#1) and another on re-doing your Room (#2), again with no real big tools or equipment. They both release on June 6th and yes, that's in like two weeks. Then there is one on making Gifts for all your friends and family (#3) which is my favorite and it releases in October and another on Accessories (#4) and quite frankly I don't know when that comes out. I'm done, I can tell you that much. My illustrious book career has been anything but, however this will make NINE books I have published which I am proud of, even if very few people have actually purchased them. Have I guilted you in to pre-buying yet?
FYI- A few years back I also wrote a fiction series for the same age group called The Goddesses, which are about the Muses, you know from Greek mythology, and how three of them piss off their pops (Zeus) and he sends them off to Athens as punishment, only he's getting rusty at that God stuff and accidently sends them into the future. And to Athens, Georgia.
No, seriously, that's what it's about.
It's pretty funny for middle reader fiction, I think, and you can still get them on Amazon. In fact, wanna buy Goddesses Book #1: Heaven Sent now? Heh heh. My first book is out of print, but I have a zillion of them in my garage. It's called Hey Day: 365 Ultra-Glazing, Super Amazing Things to Do, Make & Ponder. Or something like that. Same age group, maybe a touch older. An excellent tome and you can get one, just email me. Maybe send me a few bucks for postage if you're so inclined.
Now on to the music.
I thought I'd just do a basic indie pop hits for kids post today. The family went out this weekend and trolled one of our favorite neighborhoods, a place now called "South Park" but really is just the northern end of Golden Hill, a neighborhood I lived in for like eons pre-marriage / child. It's got more and more cute shops and cafes now and it is home to our favorite record / CD shop M-Theory. Inside one of their outposts (they have two in the neighborhood) my daughter pogo'd to the song coming out of the speakers and loudly and proudly announced that "We have this song." It was the Raconteurs, "Steady As She Goes." She makes her Mom proud.
Later that same evening we danced up a storm to a new playlist I made for working and a favorite of that set was the outrageously poptastic sounds of Belle & Sebastian in the form of "Funny Little Frog." Such a great song, such a smash pop hit. I know that my wild dancing to the song makes her like it even more. I got so crazy, I hurt my toe and we got to watch it swell up before our very eyes! Good fun I tell you.
Lastly, a song I got off a blog recently and I am sorry I can't remember whose, but it's by the also poptastic Apples in Stereo and it's their "Theme Song." You can never go wrong with a snappy theme song. Oh, made a rhyme! I do it all the time! Somebody call a mime!
Once again I was gonna post something else, something I've been meaning to and then this:
I'm giving my daughter her bath and we're chatting it up as we do. I say, "Hey, I wanna try reading to you from a book with no pictures." And then I explain that, "You can use your imagination to think up what the characters look like" and then she says:
"Oh, I already do that Mommy, with songs."
And before I can even break into that gigantic smile that you know came upon me right quick, she continues, with not so much of a breath:
"Like on that Rockin' Robin song, I thought it was a girl singing but it's not, did you know that it's a boy? Daddy told me, and I imagined it was a girl singing and she wore a dress like Snow White, only not the one with the puffy sleeves, but the one that looks like it has rips in it and it's purple, like a light purple, maybe violet and her hair is in a bun and it's yellow and I thought, yeah, she is probably singing this song about her bird friend and I thought she looks like that but she's not a she, she's a boy."
The zoo was exhausting, but oh so fun. There are these two polar bears there and one of them was playing with a bright orange cone, dunking it and then pushing it back down with it's giant paws. Up and down, each splash bigger than the next. My daughter and her friend had their faces pressed to the glass and one time that enormous bear came up and just stared them straight in the eye, for a good 1-2-3 count, before dipping back down and resuming his game. The girls were stunned still, I don't think they took a breath for more than that 3-count. It was awesome. One time, at Sea World, the polar bear ate a duck in front of us... well I changed the subject and pushed me daughter in the opposite direction so she didn't see, but um, ick.
Something different since I didn't prepare anything and I'm truly tired. Wilco, yes my most favorite band, were on Conan earlier this week and they did a new song. It's such a great ode to the everyday perils of marriage and coupling. The small jealousies, the little insignificant fights that add up, the occasional nasty look.
Is that the thanks I get for loving you? Is that the thanks we get for falling in love?
Most of us, even those of us who are in lovely relationships with lovely people who are truly partners in every sense of the word, feel this way sometimes.
Pitchfork I think it was, said something like this about the song: "Jeff Tweedy's still writing notes he can't hit," or something like that and you know what, they're right and thank goodness he does that because it makes this light soul-pop song shiver with personality and poignancy that it may not otherwise have if he had that golden voice other (lesser - ha ha) people strive for.
The whole thing ends with the sing-a-long refrain, "We can make it better." Damn straight.
We're off to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow. It's a field trip with school and I'm stoked. It's actually a really beautiful setting, right in Balboa Park. I love the zoo with my kid, and it's super fun with all her little friends in tow. My daughter's teacher asked the class which animals they want to see most since the place is so big and the following animals were the winners:
Snake - Zebra - Panda
In that order. So funny. The snakes? Um, okay. So the snakes are first up tomorrow. How about some songs to get us all in the mood? You can be there in spirit.
In case you're one of those Dan-naysayers, let me just get this out in the open—ptfffhpt on you. I mean, I think he's great. Better than great. I think he fills that old-fashioned familytime singalong hulabaloo void that, at least when I was a kid, was satisfied by listening to Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie or even that Leadbelly kids record. All good times and the whole fam enjoyed. I don't think it's great instead of say Wilco (my personal favorite band, you can insert your personal favorite band in here), I think it's in addition to. There are times when my daughter wants to mellow out, there are times when she wants to rock out, there are times when she wants a singalong. The latter is ideal for Mr. Zanes. And he is leaps and bounds above all the other neo-family-folksters in my mind and that is in part to his assured mostly deadpan delivery, his vegan Brooklyn idealism and his funked up hair. And he truly puts on a great show, one that has brought me to tears more than once. It makes you feel a part of something bigger, and that something has your little one so hopped up on a good feeling you can't help but smile till the tears eke out.
The new CD is here, out today, and it's pretty lovely. We've listened to it twice through and Tuesday gives it the thumbs up (oh, literally, that's her favorite thing of late, throwing the thumbs up when she likey-likeys.) They do the Louis Jordin 40s classic, "Ch-Ch-Ch-Boogie." The Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" with Natalie Merchant, a southern spiritual, a Miriam Makeba song and a tune I know as a Leadbelly standard. There is a lovely Barabra Brousal tune, "Mariposa Ole," a South African tune that's lovely and a handful of Zanes originals. And the big guest star this time? Um, Nick Cave. No, really.
I have to post the track "Walkin' the Dog" since yesterday, coincidently, I posted about Rufus Thomas. Plus, it's possibly my fave of the CD. (No quick judgments just yet, I have only listened to it twice.) I'm not gonna post anymore because I want you to go out and buy this CD. You can download it on eMusic.com too, but then you don't get the lovely packaging and he switched it up a bit this time, it's a fold out thing instead of a book. My husband, the package designer, told me to say that. But he's right.
As a side note, when I was younger, I loved Asleep at the Wheel's version of "Ch-Ch-Ch-Boogie." I could have posted that song, since I only posted one song today, but instead I'm following my non-linear mind's eye and am gonna post my most favorite Asleep at the Wheel song from my childhood and that is this Death Row ditty:
I may just make this week soul week here at (sm)all ages. Course I've said stuff like that before and never kept my word, so maybe not. Today we bring you the dance routines of one Rufus Thomas. "Walking the Dog" is an obvious one (which I have not included below), as is "Funky Chicken" (which I have.) You got to-got to-got to love the songs that give the kids some clear explanatory dance moves to follow along to. Now we have a lot of versions of "Old MacDonald" here at our house and his is one of the best (although perhaps not the best). And then I remembered some twist-redux on the Chicken song and sure enough, it's the "Funky Penguin," here from the Wattstax: Living Word soundtrack. Not nearly as Funky but hello, it's about a penguin! He so was on that whole March before anyone else.
I misspoke. My daughter now loves the "There Aint No Bugs on Me" track by Garcia & Grisman. She says it's, "like a cowboy song." She's been singing it all day under her breath.
Asylum Street Spankers. Austin band. Vaudevillian, ragtime alt-country band. Kind of a dirty band. Yeah, lots of dirty tunes that are so inappropriate for the kids. But then again, many a good song for the kiddles too. Here are a few that are Mr. Clean Jeans cause this is old timey fiddlin' fun folks:
And lastly, a cover that is so not okay to play for the kids but freakin-A, it's funny:
Cristina Marrs (of A.S.S.), "Darling Nikki" (Yes, that one!)
**Bill over at the great radio show, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, has informed me that the Spankers upcoming album will be made with the childrens in mind. We will be on the lookout. Check out Bill's radio show for sure folks, it's a goody.**
It was inevitable that I add a few of these songs to the blog, but let it be said, I'm not a huge Jerry Garcia fan. I mean, I love his ice cream. :) And I always admired his politics and his attitude, but the Dead? Pass. His work with David Grisman is pretty traditional (the whole "Old and in the Way" stuff) and in fact, this record (Not for Kids Only), which was intended for children and adults alike, is equally traditional: lots of picking and grinning, sweet and easy and old fashioned. In other words, my daughter doesn't like it one bit. But perhaps yours will. It's quite nice for the little-er children because it's gentle and soothing. These are classic songs done up pretty classic folky style and they're just nice, ya know. Nice.
The ideal band for me to write about, why hadn't I thought it up sooner?
The Woggles, no that's not a typo, are a garage band that has been around for years (since 1987) and have been putting out a huge catalog of hip shaking, rousing good fun dance music. They are the type of band that all have fake silly names (like "The Flesh Hammer" and "The Professor"), wear matching outfits and record for labels like Estrus and Telstar. I like bands like that. I mean, I don't want to follow them around the country, extolling their brilliant lyrical content, but a few songs on a dance party compilation is damn good fun. And you cannot believe how good this "Red Light, Green Light" song is. My kid loves it and she innately knows how to shimmy and shake like she was on Ready, Steady, Go!
PS- Most of their full-length stuff is on eMusic.com, ready for download. PSS- The Contrast Podcast is anew once more. We're not on it this time 'round, which makes it all the better. Topic? Part One of the "best of the year thus far."
I got a couple of comments on the "I Love Them" post with suggestions for songs so I thought today, since I'm getting a later than usual start to this blogger thing, I'd feature those songs. The first comes from Phil over at A Family Runs Through It a great blog about being a stay at home dad. (And by the way, he has an mp3 up of the extended version of the "House of Mouse" by Brian Setzer, a fun one for 'round the house.) He's sweet on a song from Mull Historical Society AKA Colin MacIntyre. I like that band too.
The second tune comes courtesy of reader Krista who has sung the praises of Tom T. Hall to me. I do admit, I like his song "I Like Beer" although admitedly it's not so appropriate for this blog.
Not enough music? Fine... in further news, also related to last week posts, check out the Sesame songs I've found on other blogs:
** The Rich Girls Are Weeping has put up a few more tunes. ** And, a fantastic record blog called The Record Robot posted part of the LP from Roosevelt Franklin who was a puppet voiced voiced by the original Gordon, Matt Robinson. Very cool stuff. And um, funny.
Lastly, this weekend when at a party someone asked my daughter how old she was. She answered, "Four and three pennies."
The other day I hit my local excellent used record and CD store, M-Theory, and among other things, picked up a copy of Wings' Greatest on CD. This made my husband very happy, it made me very happy and it too made my daughter quite happy although I didn't know it would do that at the time. I put it in the player and hit "Jet" thinking that would be the song for her, what with the anthemic chorus and all, but no, she wasn't having it. I tried "Hi Hi Hi" because it's rousing, but still no. She turned up her nose. Then I played track 7, my favorite as a child, the odd "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." She loved it! She said it reminded her of Yellow Submarine. She asked if the meanies were in this song. She asked if it was the same guy singing... life is swell, she has learned well, thee young grasshopper.
She has now listented to that song far too much, though, somewhere in the neighborhood of 47 times. Over just a few days. In the interest of our sanity (because face it, 47 times of one song, one odd little song, is not really doing us any favors and defeats the point of all this a bit really) my husband introduced a few more from the CD and she landed on another: "Silly Love Songs." Which is frankly a dated late-70s sounding silly fluff of a song. But here's the key to its success in her eyes: the lyrical repeat of "I love you."
We say "I love you" A LOT in our house. I'm sure I overuse it, but I like the way it makes me feel warm each and every damn time I say it and so I say it a lot. And she almost always smiles at me sweetly and returns the gesture. When it rears its head in song, she's as happy as if her whole family had gathered around, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, and said it to her and only her.
There are other bands and artists that have "I love you" in their lyrics: Eminem, Celine, Jewel. But I don't like them. And frankly neither should our children.
Ah, but we know another tune, one she lobbed on to some time ago that has the same effect and frankly is better than all these other tunes (in my thouroughly subjective opinion) and that my friends, is the Pixies, "La La I Love You."
Oddly there is one more song that intones a bit of love that she really truly enjoys. And I'm not making this up and it's kind of funny really. Dogs Die in Hot Cars, "I Love You Cause I Have To." Like I said, pretty funny considering how many times I day I tell her I love her. What am in for when she's 13?
As usual, I had this other post I was gonna do today and then I read something on someone else's blog that made me go "oh-oh-oh!" And now I'm on to another tangent. The blog was Rich Girls Are Weeping. She was actually posting on something she saw on yet another blog, Ugly Floral Blouse. The item in question? Johnny Cash on Sesame Street. The song that UFB posted is "Five Feet High And Rising" which I have re-posted at the end of this post for your listening pleasure. Cash performs that with Biff a seriously lesser Muppet that I only vaguely remember. And I was an addict back in the day so really that's saying something. They mention briefly the episode in which Johnny sings with Big Bird as well, that song is "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" refashioned as "Don't Take Your Ones To Town." YouTube has that video, which I watched a few weeks back and got a good chuckle over. I have the audio to that too, below. But the real wacky Johnny Cash sighting wasn't on Sesame Street, it was on the Muppet Show. (Which by and large had much crazier musical guests and loopy song interpretations... Elton John in a swim cap anyone? Vincent Price covering Carole King? Alice Cooper singing with a laugh track behind him. Possibly my favorite, Buddy Rich vs. Animal in a drum-off! YouTube has a lot of them.) But back to Johnny. The song he sings on the Muppet Show is "Dirty Ol' Egg-Sucking Hound," and it mentions kicking the dog in the head and shooting it. Yep! Poor Rowlf gets to play piano alongside Johnny fearing for his life. Seriously. Check it out, below, and I've added the audio as well, as a separate file. I'm not playing this one for my kid, I think she'd seriously be disturbed. But hey, good parenting is subjective so do with it what you may! Also at the end, you'll find a couple more muppet audio gems. I have a ton of this stuff, so this is just the tip o' the iceburg. More at a later date. Now for that video...
Hello and howdy, this is Clea of smALL AGES. Oye veh. I hate my voice, I don't know why I even try these podcast things.
Oh wait, I do know. Cause Tim is cool. This Tim I speak of is the guy who puts on the Contrast Podcast, mentioned it a few days back and now the latest is out. The theme? COLOR.
OK here are a few important pieces of info I left out of my intro: That's guest vocalist Miho Hatori (of Cibo Mato) on the track, not Ron Foutainberry singing. Probably should have said that on the commentary track, I just got so distracted by my daughter's laughter which overtakes it all.
So go to Tim's site for the Contrast Podcast now and you can sign up for the feed or just click the link. Once again, a great collection of songs, a great idea well executed.
In other news:
I heard from Asha over at Parenthacks.com, which is a funky little collection of parenting info that I quite like. She was just saying hi and so I'm saying hi back. Check out the site, it's got lots of interesting info for parents.
One of the cool things this Portland momma mentioned on the site was a documentary currently in the making by Jackie Weissman called Rock and Roll Mamas about several women musicians (Did you know Kristen Hersh has four sons, ages 2-19?!) who are balancing motherhood and a creative life often led on the road and how it isn't that different from the rock and roll lives we all lead as moms. Watch the trailer on their site. And if you're in Portland (Michelle! Teri!) then maybe you should think about going to their CD release party! I could seriously go on and on about this but I won't. Just go check it their blog, momma musician profiles, news & more.
How I do love those scrappy Portlandites and their brethren, the we-came-from-somewhere-else-but-now-we-live-and-breathe-Portland.
In more other news:
How about some music? Here are the songs I could have played on the COLOR podcast, but decided they were too obvious / annoying / un-representitve of what we do here. For your listening pleasure.
I've been receiving a a whole bunch of CDs from artists making music for families and most of them are enjoyable and wondrous things. I haven't had a chance to listen to everything yet, but here is one of the very first ones I got. The band is The Hollow Trees, they are from LA and they make lovely classic folk music that appeals to the kiddles and, if you're partial to the banjo, adults as well. I like the banjo. And I like a gal on a stand-up bass and this band has both. Greg is on guitar, Laura is on Bass, love the dress by the by at right (with Rick sometimes on Banjo and Dave on a snare.) They cover many a classic and have a few originals. They play the Atwater Farmer's Market sometimes and that sounds like a nice outting, if you're in that part of the country. They often play at the Los Feliz kids' store Dragonfly DuLou, if you're familar. And finally, they'll be hitting the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest on May 21st. Sounds like a hoot to me. This is quintessential Sunday afternoon outdoor music. They have a CD for sale on their site (and they are available for private events in the LA area, if you're so inclined to have a hoe down for your honey's birthday.)
About two hours south, in San Diego, we have a Sunday Farmer's Market in the Hillcrest area that we like a whole bunch. The band that plays there usually is called the 7th Day Buskers. I love 'em. They are playing to the whole crowd with their banjo, guitar and mandolin renditions of both kids' songs, original stuff and cool covers (Replacements' tunes are almost always performed). Yesterday we went and we sang along to the Cake song, "She Ain't No Good For You" and the classic, "Old MacDonald" plus we ate some of the best apples I've ever tasted and it ain't even apple season really. Good times people. If you're in our neck of the woods I highly reccommend it.
I have posted MP3s for sampling purposes. Many are old school and not available on CD. But some aren't. Some are current. Support the bands you like by buying their CDs, seeing them live, wearing their tees. I'm gonna leave songs up for about a week or so. Then, poof. If you own the song and object to it's placement here, by all means, let me know. I'm happy to remove.
Yes, I mean commercially viable but more specifically I mean music featured in commercials of late. Of course you could do a whole blog on this (hey, what a great idea!) but I'll just do one (or two) posts on the subject because while some of the songs featured in commercials may be enjoyable enough to hear on television and in your car, most are not. My husband and I have often marveled at the stuff that makes it on to commercials, we figure most of the agency folk these days are our age or slightly younger and they're pimping their favorite tunes. How else to describe Iron and Wine covering the Postal Service in an M&M commercial?
on Amazon. And you should if you know any 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 year old girls who are crafty or have a remote desire 
I have published which I am proud of, even if very few people have actually purchased them. Have I guilted you in to pre-buying yet?
