The Ketchup Report, Vol. 11

It's time for another roundup of all things ketchup related... OK, not really, it's just a variety of stuff that caught my eye (and ear) since, well, the last Ketchup Report. This one is an all-video edition. Except for these words right here. And the ones below.

First off, this is how you do a promo for a kindie album. A very effective teaser for Alastair Moock's forthcoming album These Are My Friends featuring Moock and Annad Nyack. If there was a tagline for the teaser, it might be "It's just crazy enough to work!"

The Green River Festival has come and gone, and all we have to remember it by are tons of YouTube videos. (And maybe a t-shirt.) By "remember" I mean, "experience it vicariously from, like, 3,000 miles away." Here's Barbara Brousal playing "Rockabout My Saro Jane" at the Meltdown stage -- I'm highlighting it because a) it's good to see Brousal performing live again, b) she's heard on Dan Zanes' version of the song on his new album Little Nut Tree, and c) I like it. (That's sufficient, right?)

Barbara Brousal - "Rockabout My Saro Jane" [YouTube]

Speaking of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, it seems there may be another compilation album in the works, a follow-up to Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti. I have no idea if this new Deedle Deedle Dees song performed by the Dees' Lloyd Miller will be on it, but it's worth a spin:

Lloyd Miller - "Marie Curie" [YouTube]

This one's just for the aspiring uke newbies. Left-hand fingering isn't my problem -- strumming is. Marcy Marxer, half of Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, comes to the rescue. (Seriously, teaching chords in a book is easy, but how to strum? Difficult.)

And finally, here's are a couple videos that are actually, like, videos. First one is about a year old, but it's a catchy (and self-promotional) tune from the Raytones. (Not that there's anything wrong with that -- have you ever heard "They Might Be Giants" from They Might Be Giants? That one's good, too.) The animation si from the Planet Sunday folks that do videos for Debbie and Friends and the Hipwaders.

The Raytones - "Little Ray" [YouTube]

And here's Mister G with the most globe-trotting kids music video outside of (and probably including) a Putumayo video. It's for the mellow, funky tune "Gonna Take My Hat" off his new album Bugs. Maybe the video makes all those vacations tax deductible.

Mister G - "Gonna Take My Hat" [YouTube]

Itty-Bitty Review Two-Fer: Mr. Leebot and Lloyd Miller

There are pitfalls in trying to be objective in reviewing music, especially in the close-knit world of kindie music, where if everybody doesn't know everybody (yet), the degrees of separation are small enough that it makes Kevin Bacon look like a loner. And while I deal with that constantly here, adding a layer of "good works" on top of it all, well, consider this then your grain of salt for the two albums discussed here.

First off is Austin's Mr. Leebot, whose latest album Erratic Schematic is fundraiser for an orphanage in Ethiopia from which Mr. Leebot (AKA Lee Davila) and his wife recently adopted two babies. As I've previously mentioned, the idea of adoption is important to me, so I was predisposed to like this album from the get-go. While Mr. Leebot's sound -- think of him as DEVO's kids music side project -- may not be for everyone, he's started to ever-so-slightly fill out his sound (I like the New Wave sound of "Cleaning Theme"). As a whole, it's Leebot's best album yet. And the track at the heart of the album -- "Our Family" -- should be heard far and wide. (Listen to it here -- just scroll down the page.)

The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can listen to samples here.

As for an album geared toward a slightly older crowd, how about Hamlet? That's for high schoolers, right? Well ,The Deedle Deedle Dees' Lloyd Miller would beg to differ, having helped his wife's second grade class to write a musical based on the play. Miller recruited Dog on Fleas' Dean Jones and a couple of the Dees to record the music along with kids in the class. The result, Hamlet: The Album, is alternately rockin' ("Something's Rotten!") and pensive ("Tush, Tush") -- a little bit like the play itself, no? In best Fleas/Dees fashion, the album is ragged around the edges, the Band or the Stones mixed with a Shakespeare and Sesame Street. I'd much rather listen to these kids sing than any number of auto-tuned KidzBoppers.

The album will be most appreciated by kids ages 6 to 11. And if the story behind the album isn't appealing enough, perhaps you'll be heartened to hear that all profits from the album will go to Japan earthquake relief. Listen (or order the album) below.

While neither Erratic Schematic nor Hamlet: The Musical have a broad enough appeal for me to endorse the albums unreservedly for all listeners, both are solid enough albums to merit a listen even without the totally worthy backstories. I think a lot of readers will find a lot to like here. Give 'em a spin, maybe even your ducats. Recommended.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Erratic Schematic for possible review.

Share: "Sing-a-Long With Lloyd, Vol. 1" - Lloyd Miller of the Deedle Deedle Dees

Here's a nice early Christmas (or late Hanukkah) present -- a free album from Lloyd Miller of New York's Deedle Deedle Dees. It's a bunch of recordings from Miller's community sing-a-longs in Brooklyn this November. They're chaotic, and I'm pretty sure that if he'd have done this in December (or January, or June) it would've sounded different. They're also lots of fun (who wouldn't to sing along with the version of "Wheels on the Bus"?), and I don't think that changes from month to month. Pick it up here for the price of an e-mail, or just stream it below.

A Very Brooklyn Hanukkah

No sooner than I suggest that there wasn't much in the way of new Hanukkah music than I'm reminded of a couple YouTube videos and another song is released. Both releases, as it happens, come from Brooklyn and from folks who are, I'm pretty sure, not Jewish. But I think you'll like 'em regardless of whether you (or they) are lighting the menorah the week.

First up is Dan Zanes, who recorded a new track, "Ner Li" with collaborators Rob Friedman and Sonia De Los Santos. It's a Hanukkah song that Wikipedia reports as being popular in Israel. Zanes' version is characteristically lovely. Download it here.

Second up is Lloyd Miller from the Deedle Deedle Dees. He offers up another couple traditional tunes on his YouTube channel. Simple, but fun.

Lloyd Miller - "Oh Hanukkah!" [YouTube]

Lloyd's other video after the jump...
I love the way Miller sorta turns this into a country song.

Lloyd Miller - "The Dreidel Song" [YouTube]

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 2

I optimistically titled my first attempt at a generic roundup of Volume 1, but, hey, here's Volume 2! All the news too small for its own post, super-sized for you.

-- As previously noted, Tor Hyams was developing a new podcast and the first episode of Kindiecast premiered last weekend. Thirty minutes, 8 songs -- stream or download it here. (And today the website notes that Recess Monkey has another batch of songs ready to go, but those guys write songs in their sleep, I think.) Anyways, iTunes podcasting will be happening shortly...

-- Speaking of Hyams, Frances England's Mind of My Own (produced by Hyams) is released Nov. 9th and she's got a lot of new stuff associated with the release. This weekend she's got a new show on Sirius-XM's Kids Place Live (check there for details), she's selling artwork, and, while I have a vague memory that Frances told me about these "Creative Family Challenges" contests, the first one is now here and embedded below:

-- Speaking of upcoming albums, The Baby Grands release their new album The Baby Grands II on Nov. 16, and today only they're running a deal on Plum District's Atlanta site to get that and their debut album for just $9 plus shipping... I like the creative thinking on getting their music out in front of a wide audience...

-- To complete the upcoming album trifecta, The Boogers' second album Let's Go! comes out Nov. 23rd and they're letting you have one of the energetic album's best tracks, "Otto's Orange Day," for the price of an e-mail address. Go here to grab it.

-- The Deedle Deedle Dees' Lloyd Miller will be recording his November sing-a-alongs in Brooklyn for a new album to be released soon. For free. Woot!

-- Gustafer Yellowgold has a blog. Yes, a blog.