Review: Color Wheel Cartwheel - Laura Freeman

I've been waiting a long time to review this album, longer than I should. I'd been waiting for Austin, Texas artist Laura Freeman to release the follow-up to her 2005 album Color Wheel Cartwheel, thinking I'd include that album in a review of the new album.

Well, forget the new album (which will come out someday, just not today), because Color Wheel Cartwheel is pretty special; to wait any longer would just be wrong.

The album is, as you'd expect from its title, a concept album, dealing with colors. Down through the rainbow the songs move, from "Red" to "Orange," on through "Yellow," "Green," "Blue," and "Indigo and Violet." ("Purple" is thrown in there for good measure.) It'd be pretty easy to make color songs just by listing things that are of that particular color, but the what makes this album so much better are the differing stylistic approaches for each song. "Red" is loud and brassy, "Orange" is sassy ("You take a little yellow / you take a little red / Mix 'em up together and voila! / Orange, oh orange / Orange makes me wanna cha-cha-cha"). "Yellow" is a mellow, bluesy little tune, while "Green" is set to classic country music.

Certainly listing different items of particular colors help drive home the point for each song, but Freeman is also using the colors for jumping off into other stories (a philosophical discussion on blue jeans in "Indigo and Violet," for example). The differing approaches, the use of color to, well, color the songs, they give all the songs life. Interspersed between the songs are friends and musicians reciting the colors of the rainbow in various languages. I don't think there's any thought that kids will actually learn colors in a foreign language, they just subtly drive home the point about colors being all around us in the world. Freeman went to New Orleans to record the album, and she's pulled in contributions from a whole bunch of musicians.

Kids ages 2 through 7 will most derive educational value from the songs. You can hear samples of the songs at the under-30-minute album's CDBaby page.

I mentioned to Laura Freeman recently that Color Wheel Carthweel was a fun little album and she replied, "Well, we had a lot of fun making it." That fun is evident on this excellent little disk. I hesitate to call it an "educational" album, because every album is educational, but also because it unfairly narrows down the prospective audience. This is one of the rare "educational" CDs your family will listen to long after they've mastered the concepts inside. Definitely recommended.

Family Music Meltdown 2 Preview

I've written a lot about the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at this weekend's Austin City Limits Festival, but I'd be derelict if I didn't mention Family Music Meltdown 2, the show Bill and I are throwing early Saturday night at Ruta Maya Coffeehouse. Five great Austin bands for just five bucks. That's a great band per buck (or for free if you're an infant). Regardless of how you spell it, it will rock.

The set order will be as follows:
Super Pal Universe (acoustic)
Mr. Leebot
Telephone Company
Laura Freeman
Joe McDermott and the Smart Little Creatures

There's no better excuse to keep your kiddos up late than to have 'em dancing 'til 9 PM. Heck, even if you can only stay for an hour or so, it's a heckuva deal. For more details on these fine Austin artists, read on...
Super Pal Universe, the brainchild of the wonderful Sara Hickman, are a group of kids that rock out (seriously, I saw 'em at AKL last year, and they were loud). But for this show, they're gonna drop it down a notch and play acoustic. You can watch a bunch of videos of the band here, or watch the stop-motion video for their theme song below:

Mr. Leebot brings together the sounds of They Might Be Giants, Devo, and Diana Krall... uh, OK, just TMBG and Devo. He's also the creator of this program's name. Check out his tunes on his Myspace page or YouTube page, or just watch the live video of "Ants in my Pants" from the same Ruta Maya stage he'll playing Saturday...

I wish I could describe the Telephone Company's music, but it's, just, difficult. Surreal and fun. Go to their website to watch their video for "Mustache," or, if you'd prefer, watch the documentary below. They played this show last year, and we're glad to have 'em back!

Laura Freeman played this show last year, but this year I think she's also bringing along Heather Jarry, so I think there will be some puppetry involved. It's a bit too simplistic to call Laura's music folk music... but I'm feeling lazy at the moment. Check out this live version of the awesome "Orange":

And last but not least, Joe McDermott and the Smart Little Creatures. I've seen Joe play a couple times (including this show last year), and he's a great showman. His kids-pop music sounds great with the full band. The video below shows some snippets of Joe playing solo, but he and the band are a great way to end the night of music.

New Biscuit Brothers in 2009

No secret that we're big Biscuit Brothers fans 'round these parts. Currently we're watching their Go Make Music Vol. 1 DVD just about daily, with Little Boy Blue asking constantly, "Watch tuba?" (one of the episodes is loosely tied around a tuba that is inexplicably producing high notes rather than low ones).

So it was with a "woohoo!" that I read in the Brothers' latest newsletter that they're working on new Biscuit Brothers episodes to air starting in early 2009. Not only that, they've produced Christmas and Holiday specials for airing this year. Perhaps a DVD for those of living in areas with PBS stations insufficiently clued in to start airing the show isn't far behind...

I'd also note that although I happen to think our soiree in Austin next weekend will be lots of fun (6 PM Saturday the 27th at Ruta Maya, just $5, hint hint), I'm also very impressed by the lineup the Brothers have put together for their Austin Family Music Festival the following Saturday, October 4th. Besides the Biscuit Brothers, the Festival will feature performances by Mr. Steve (aka SteveSongs), Lucas Miller, Super Pal Universe, and maybe coolest of all, Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison. Plus lots more.

So go to Family Music Meltdown a week from today and AFMF two weeks from today. Or move to Austin.

Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Preview: Big Don

We're continuing our ongoing series of previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival. Today it's Big Don. (Previous artists: Buck Howdy with BB, Uncle Rock, Jambo, The Jimmies.)

First, the technical specs...
-- Official Website
-- Videos
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives, though this entry is it for the moment.

For those of you thinking you can't break into Austin Kiddie Limits, Big Don (aka Austin hip hop artist Don Robinson) proves ya wrong. How do I know? When I was at Austin Kiddie Limits last year, I got a copy of Big Don's Big Beat... because somebody was passing them out to any interested party. I'm assuming Tor Hyams was one of those people who got the CD, too. Anyway, the album is nothing too complicated, just good, solid hip hop for preschoolers, mostly. I have no idea how he'll be in concert, but I'm looking forward to bopping along.

Big Don plays at 2:30 on Friday and 11:30 Sunday.

Big Don - "Humpty Dumpty"

Family Music Meltdown 2: Return of the Poster

Everybody loves cupcakes, blowing out the birthday candle, and most of all, great music.

Jay from Lunch Money outdoes himself (last year's poster) with this, the poster for this year's Family Music Meltdown. (Though the type is sorta hard to read in this JPG version, it looks awesome in its 18 MB glory.)

Saturday, Sept. 27th -- doors at 5, show at 6, and tickets just $5 (infants free). With Super Pal Universe, Joe McDermott and the Smart Little Creatures, Laura Freeman, Telephone Company, and Family Music Meltdown name-creator Mr. Leebot. (And who knows who else might show up?)

Woo. Hoo.