The Ketchup Report, Vol. 7

I see a lot of stuff. I don't always have time for a separate post. Here, then, is a collection of random pieces of information -- videos, downloads, news -- that never made it into its own neatly-titled post.

-- Aaron Nigel Smith is offering up a free mp3 of his song "In a Book," a slow reggae jam not featured on his forthcoming Let's Pretend album. Pick it up here.

-- I'd read somewhere -- probably a comment on its Facebook page -- that there was going to be a Kidzapalooza in Chile this year. That struck me as odd, but sure enough, yes, there is. April 2nd and 3rd, while Lollapalooza entertains a whole bunch of folks in Santiago, acts such as Achú, Cuchara, Fractal + Joe Vanconcellos, Los Pulentos, Los Plumabits, and Magictwins will be rocking the Kidza stage (though in the case of the Magictwins, I'm not sure "rock" is the word, even though they rock... magically). Kidzapalooza co-founder Tor Hyams reports he is indeed making the trek down to South America to produce the stage, a trek which makes the cross-country flights folks like Hyams and myself will make for Kindiefest seem like small potatoes.

And, Tor, please see what you can do about bringing Los Plumabits -- featured on a Chilean kids' TV show which seems to be somewhat analagous to Yo Gabba Gabba! -- to the States.

Los Plumabits - "Disco Laser" [YouTube]

More -- much more -- after the jump.
-- We're big fans of the KC Jiggle Jam 'round here, and they recently announced their lineup for Memorial Day weekend (May 28 and 29). The lineup was strong enough as it was -- Justin Roberts, the Verve Pipe, Okee Dokee Brothers, Brady Rymer, Funky Mama, Mayor of Kansas City (it seems like) Jim "Stinky Feet" Cosgrove, and more -- but they added one more via voting on their Facebook page. A nifty idea, I thought, which led to the Not-Its joining the lineup. For the price -- $15 for both days -- it's a great deal.

-- First Seattle, then Los Angeles, then San Francisco, and now Portland, Oregon. A bunch of Portland's family musicians are banding together for a couple shows on April 23 and 30. See folks like Matt Clark, The Alphabeticians, and Mo Phillips on the cheap. More details here.

-- I have wanted to mention the newsletter LA kids' musician Groovy David does on a weekly basis because I think it's an example of the way musicians can create community even without doing shows together and so forth. His newsletter features links to family-friendly activities, interesting sights on the web, and links to his podcast. The podcast features interviews with other kindie artists and often new songs (I heard a new song from the Jimmies a while back). If interested in getting on the list, send an e-mail to soundssweetshow AT gmail DOT com.

-- Morgan Taylor, creator of Gustafer Yellowgold, has been releasing a series of entertaining "behind-the-scenes" videos. Today's release looks at pterodactyl evolution. At least in animation. (Plus also: a look at the very first Gustafer Yellowgold product, dating all the way back to 2004.)

-- Finally, two videos: The first is from Chuck Brown and the Chuckleberries and the second is from Groove Kid Nation. Both will amuse your kids, I think.

Chuck Brown and the Chuckleberries - "Yellowberry Jam" [YouTube]

Groove Kid Nation - "Itsy Bitsy Spider" [YouTube]

Billboard 2010 Top Kids Albums Announced: Like Another World

I know that people sometimes criticize the Grammys for being not quite attuned to the "real world," especially in the genre categories, but most readers of this site would probably look at this year's list of kids music nominees as being more familiar and representative of the year in family music than the list of Top Kid Audio (as Billboard calls it).

The Top 25 list is headed up by Kidz Bop 18 and followed up by... er... Kidz Bop 17. Kidz Bop gets a total of 4 albums on the list. Disney gets a stunning 15 albums on the list, including 3 Hannah Montana-related disks (one being a karaoke disk). Add a couple Nick/Viacom show soundtracks, the Chipmunks, Charlie Brown Christmas, a Cedarmont Kids album, and a no-name collection of kids' Christmas sing-along songs, and what you're left with in terms of what you might think of as an actual independent artist hitting the charts is, er, nothing.

Now that's not entirely true. One of those Nick/Viacom soundtracks is Music Is Awesome, Vol. 2, the Yo Gabba Gabba! collection, though it could be argued that that's just a college rock album marketed slightly differently. The other album is They Might Be Giants' Here Comes Science album, which has spent a whopping 52 non-consecutive weeks on the Kid Audio chart since its release in September 2009. But it could be argued that TMBG's other fan base helps out considerably as does Disney's distribution power, which no doubt helped get the album in places most kindie artists can only dream of.

Compared to last year, the genre didn't do appreciably better when compared to the industry as a whole, given that 3 of the Top Kid Audio albums charted in the Billboard 200 in both 2010 and 2009. But the broader issue is that it's impossible to fully measure the genre's impact. I wouldn't be surprised if Justin Roberts' Jungle Gym (which reached as high as #10 and spent a couple weeks on the Kid Audio chart is being underreported if a lot of his album as sold via toy stores, for example, or at Justin's shows (I don't know if he's self-reporting to SoundScan). And Laurie Berkner's Best of... must have just missed the cut-off, because her album spent a full 3 months in the Kid Audio Top 10, and has spent 28 weeks there total since being released in late June.

One wonders, however, whether kids' music would have wider visibility in the industry if it figured out some way to better quantify all the albums being sold (or if SoundScan reduced the fee to become a reporter). I would guess that the percentage of "unreported" sales is higher in this genre than in others, and that maybe a few more artists (rather than TV and movie soundtracks) might squeeze their way in were those "unreported" sales finally reported.

Grammy 2011 Children's Concert

Now that the 2011 Grammy nominations have been announced, it's time once again for the now-annual concert featuring many of the 2011 Children's Grammy Nominees. On Saturday, February 12th, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am at The Mint in LA (as opposed to the Grammy Museum). For this year’s concert, the nominees are donating their performances, with net ticket proceeds going to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Music nominees confirmed include Justin Roberts, The Battersby Duo, and Judy Pancoast. Spoken word nominees include Bill Harley and Steve Pullara (with Oran Etkin). More folks will be announced soon. Tickets are $12.50 in advance, $15 at the door, with non-walking babies ages one and under free. (Is there a test on this last part?) Should be fun. There's also a networking lunch after the show for folks in "the biz." If you're interested, drop Beth Blenz-Clucas at Sugar Mountain PR a line.

Live Video: "Fruit Jar" - Justin Roberts with Robbie Fulks

Justin Roberts' "Fruit Jar" (from Pop Fly) is easily in my list of Top 5 Roberts songs. And while I love love love Nora O'Connor on the original, I gotta say that Robbie Fulks is not a bad substitute. Here he is singing with Roberts at a show he did with Fulks Monday night. Mostly Fulks-related, but Roberts got in a few of his songs, too...

Justin Roberts with Robbie Fulks - "Fruit Jar" (Live at the Hideout) [YouTube]

But wait, there's more!
Fulks also took lead on a couple of Roberts' songs...

Robbie Fulks with Justin Roberts - "Obsessed By Trucks" (Live at the Hideout) [YouTube]

Robbie Fulks with Justin Roberts - "Never Getting Lost" (Live at the Hideout) [YouTube]

Listen To This: "Trick or Treat" - Justin Roberts

I yield to nobody in my admiration of "Trick or Treat," Justin Roberts' ode to Halloween trick or treating. Seriously -- I've got a long history praising the song. So if Roberts decides to post the song for streaming for this Halloween season, who am I not to let you know? Go here or just stream it below...

Trick or Treat SINGLE by JustinRoberts