Pop! For Kids (and Their Minders)

I'd like to think that finding pop (and classical and rock and reggae and hip-hop and so on) for kids is at the heart of what we do here at Zooglobble, but Dennis Greeuw, the guy behind The Pop! For Kids Project named his whole darn blog after the idea.

Greeuw's operating conceit for the blog is asking his favorite artists to record a family-friendly song for posting/downloading on his site. I posted something about his site on Facebook just after it debuted in late January, but I wanted to see what else he'd come up with. Now, nine songs in, I'm ready to declare Pop! For Kids worth your time.

Greeuw isn't trying to post something daily (more like weekly), so the site is sort of like a veeeeery slow compilation disk. And, like most compilation disks, the tracks here are of varying quality. Some are marginal (I could do without the Zipper live track), some pretty decent (see Vom Vorton's "The World is Round"), and some are just plain awesome (Mascot Fight's "Dance Like Robots" -- please download it now). The best part is that Greeuw is clearly just following his own personal interests, which makes for some pretty interesting discoveries. You and your kids won't like everything, but I'm pretty sure you'll like at least a couple tracks quite a bit.

Coal Train Railroad -- Their Podcast Is (Almost) a Series

I finally had a chance to listen to the first Coal Train Railroad podcast this week. Good stuff that I think'll keep the kiddos interested -- they played "Bicycle" by the Jellydots, talked with some Nashville-area kids about bikes, and then wrapped it up with a really cool version of "Bicycle" performed by Coal Train Railroad themselves. (Now how about having Coal Train cover another kids artist with a video from Readeez? -- there's precedence for it.) More of that, please.

Anyway, listen here or subscribe via iTunes here. Podcast #2 is due out this weekend.

To get you in the mood for CTR's jazz ("short sets for the short set"), why not listen to the debut disk right here...

Even More Free Holiday Music From Jitterbug.tv

In the midst of Hanukkah, and only a week or so before the solstice, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, it's prime time for holiday music. No sooner do I post about a free track than the folks at Jitterbug's let me know about their holiday playlist. It's a good one and even better, it's a free one, available for downloading or streaming. Music from The Hipwaders, Brady Rymer, Didi Pop, Gustafer Yellowgold, Princess Katie & Racer Steve, Rock Daddy Rock, and David Tobocman. Good stuff (I've already talked about a few songs on the list), downloadable here and in a few cases, nowhere else.

Listen To This: Little Miss Ann Nodcast Podcast

I didn't get to this earlier, but Little Miss Ann's Land of Nod Nodcast Podcast is a fun little listen, featuring some of Ann's best songs from her albums Clap For Love and Music For Tots. Besides some trivia regarding Ann's hometown, Chicago, I also found out that offering cupcakes and fruit tarts as prizes in trivia contests seems to work very well. A tip for aspiring kids musicians out there...

"Pokey" Does Not Mean Shipping Times

As many of you know, I lend my reviews to another retailer, but I've always been happy to mention The Pokey Pup as another place to get the best in music for kids and families. The Pup's owner, Bryan Townsend, has been a great supporter of kids music, participating in the Fids & Kamily Awards (you can purchase all of this year's winners), and even releasing a few albums (yay, Jellydots!). (And the number of other kids music fans who've noted these things in the past 24 hours speaks to how well he's regarded.)

Anyway, if you feel like spending your hard-earned cash on music (or the occasional DVD) for your kiddos, you could do far, far worse then heading on over there to do so (especially with, er, the free shipping).