Monday Morning Smile: "Peggy Sang the Blues" - Frank Turner

Thank Bill for this one. It's from English singer Frank Turner, whose album England Keep My Bones will almost certainly end up in my top five albums of 2011 and who I was first introduced to by Bill. It's punk with a county/folk edge, or perhaps it's country/folk with a punk edge. Totally tuneful and joyful (except when he's not trying to be joyful) and an excellent live.

Not all of the new album is appropriate for kids, and the lead single, "Peggy Sang the Blues," concerns a visitation in Turner's dreams by his dead grandmother. Which is fine by me, because it's got the best damn chorus of the year, including the lyrics "It doesn't matter you come from / it matters where you go / and no gets remembered / for the things they didn't do." I hope my own kids know that.

Frank Turner - "Peggy Sang the Blues" [YouTube]

Listen To This: "Wesley Werewolf" - Skelly and the Punkins

Halloween is just a month away, so it's time to start rolling out kindie's 2011 Halloween tunes. This is a particularly nice cut from a group called "Skelly and the Punkins." The group, OK, it's a one-off track from the folks at Cordovan Music, but don't let that put you off. Your kids will pogo.

You can grab the tunes at Amazon's UK site (!?) or on eMusic get the mp3 pretty much anywhere digital tunes are sold. Or just hit YouTube repeatedly.

Skelly and the Punkins - "Wesley Werewolf" [YouTube]

Listen To This: Smile - Mike Park

I got an e-mail the other day from Mike Park, who, with some understatement, introduced himself as a "longtime musician in the punk world." This would be somewhat akin to saying Tom Brady is a "longtime player in the football world." Even I, not very tuned into the punk scene, recognized one of the bands he once played in (Skankin' Pickle) and a few of the bands he releases records for on his Asian Man Records label, bands like the Alkaline Trio and Smoking Popes.

So I was pretty interested in hearing his new project, a kids' album called Smile. And you can hear it, too, over at Punk News. It's a short, sharp blast of punk married to preschool-friendly topics and lyrics. If you only have time to check out a track or two, I'd suggest perhaps "1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... Drums" or "Everybody Loves to Jump."

And welcome to the kids' punk world, Mike.

Listen To This: "Cousins" - Dean Jones, Grenadilla, Recess Monkey

Five things to love about this video for "Cousins," a song recorded a couple weeks ago in New York by Dean Jones, Grenadilla, and Recess Monkey.

1. Dean Jones
2. Grenadilla
3. Recess Monkey
4. The fact that these three groups got together to write and record a song.
5. The discussion of "homophone."

Dean Jones, Grenadilla, Recess Monkey - "Cousins" [YouTube]

New Dan Zanes Album: Contradance (Music from the Pilobolus Dance Performance)

I spilled the beans about this last week, but it turns out that the new Dan Zanes album I stumbled onto shouldn't have been on Spotify just yet. It's so easy to flip that digital switch these days. But now it's officially here.

It's called Contradance: Music from the Pilobolus Dance Performance, and it's, well, exactly that. Zanes had worked with the dance group Pilobolus to create a new show. It premiered last year. And now you can listen to (and buy) the eight tracks of the EP at Zanes' store. The album leans toward his American Songbag work, but if your family is a fan of Zanes' work in general, Contradance will be right up your alley. (Give extended samples a spin using the player on the right-hand side of the page here. Or use Spotify to listen to the whole darn thing.)