"Part Yellow, Part Gold, All Gustafer"

News that Gustafer Yellowgold, or at least his nifty creator Morgan Taylor, has been signed to V2's new kids' imprint Little Monster Records comes amid changes at Gustafer's Myspace page.

That's right, folks, he now has 710 friends, the most important of which seem to be from "Sesame Street," primarily.

Oh, and there are a couple new tracks streaming there for your listening pleasure. "Cooler World" is sort of an introductory song, OK, but nothing special. "Birds," however, is a blast of Beatles-ian (or, if you're younger and/or hipper, XTC-ian) pop confection. ("Rocket Shoes" is also new, but has been streaming on the site for many months now.) Could "Mellow Fever" be the working title for the next DVD or CD following the rerelease of Wide Wild World?

In addition, there's an amusing video promo for Gustafer which includes news that Taylor's working on the next DVD (Have You (N)ever Been Yellow) -- which I think I knew, or maybe that was just a falling-on-cake-inspired reverie -- and an illustrated book (natch) called The Inifinity Sock, which was news to me. (Love that title, in spite of or perhaps because it makes no sense whatsoever.)

But the best part is that the first half of the video is done as if it were a preview for some awful Michael Bay flick.

"Part yellow, part gold... all Gustafer." I'm still chuckling.

How Do You Like Dem Apples, Gustafer?

News is slowly trickling out about V2/Artemis Records' new kids music imprint, Little Monster Records. And so far, they're batting 1.000. (See? It's baseball playoff time, and I made a baseball reference? Get it? Yeah, OK.)

Not only have they signed up Gustafer Yellowgold, as previously rumored (they'll be re-releasing Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD in March), they've also signed Robert Schneider, leader of the indie rock band The Apples in Stereo. Schneider's alter ego Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine (with the year's best PR line -- "If the number of B's in a name represented fun, Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine have cornered the market!") will release an album for Little Monster in spring 2007.

They'll be performing together at Joe's Pub in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 4. Should be a blast -- if you're in NYC, go.

Gustafer Yellowgold, Real Estate Agent

One takes publicity in the New York Times wherever one can. Morgan Taylor, the man behind Gustafer Yellowgold, and his wife Rachel Loshak, appeared in the "Habitats" section of the Times on Sunday. It's a nice little profile of the couple. (Thanks to Bill for the link.)

It also contains an interesting tibit of info -- "They are also negotiating a contract with the V2 label’s new children’s imprint, Little Monster."

Good on them.

Welcome Interstate Managers, er, Salon Readers

Welcome to those of you finding us because of the Salon article on "kindie rockers". (Welcome also, as always, to people looking for downloads of and lyrics to "Great Big World," from Hoodwinked. I still can't help you with those, despite your insistent pleas.) Thanks, Salon, for the link, and for posting some fabulous mp3s from said rockers. (Scott Lamb's article is worth sitting through the Honda ad non-subscribers will have to watch in order to read the article -- it's a nice summing up of the current state of kids' music.)

If you're new to the site, I encourage you to look around -- links to other kids'-music-related blogs as well as to every full album review (including Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, and Milkshake) can be found on the right. If you're wondering what to get that 4-year-old nephew for his birthday, check out my page of album recommendations by age. I treat kids' music the way any parent who really likes music would -- with my own set of interests but with an understanding that perhaps not every song off Spoon's Gimme Fiction is going to appeal to my 5-year-old (let alone my 1-year-old).

There's so much great kids' music being made, and not just by the rockers mentioned in the article who have made their way to kids' TV screens. Dig in -- you're bound to find something you and the kids in your life will really like.

Saturday AM edit: You know, I could actually help readers "dig in" if I specifically mentioned a few artists and albums that readers might not be familiar with if they're only sticking to the TV/Noggin crowd. No disrespect meant to the Noggin crowd -- Zanes, Roberts, and TMBG, in particular, are all among my favorites kids' artists -- but these four albums are tremendous, too.
Silly Reflection, by Lunch Money (review)
If You Ever See An Owl, by the Terrible Twos (review)
Fascinating Creatures, by Francis England (review)
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD, by Morgan Taylor (review)

I Hear The Kids (Music Artists) Love This MySpace Thing

Did you know Gustafer Yellowgold has his own MySpace page? And blog? Who knew he was a Ween and Sun Kil Moon fan? And does he have latent cheese anger? (The blog, while not inappropriate, is really for the adults, not for the kids.)

You can also check out his music page, from which you can stream 3 songs, including a new track, "Rocket Shoes," which is a sparse, melodic track reminiscent of the first DVD's songs. Stills from the upcoming DVD are also available.

Incidentally, the Hollow Trees also have a MySpace page. But it's not quite as... different... as the Yellowgold pages.