The Ketchup Report, Vol. 12

Time for the Ketchup Report, kids' music favorite collection of news bits and videos I couldn't figure out how to write about on its own or didn't have the time to do so! (Yay, adequacy!) But I feel confident that at least one of these items will be of note to you...

Tomorrow, Todd McHatton will be guest-hosting Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, which, well, y'know, wouldn't be something I'd normally note. But in honor of the guest spot, McHatton's also donating 100% of profits raised this week from his new album Galactic Champions of Joy to the Haitian People's Support Project, the beneficiary of Spare the Rock Records' excellent Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti compilation. Go here, name your price (at least a buck), and get a download of the album and benefit a worthy charity. The offer ends tomorrow, October 8th. So tarry not.

-- Jim "Mr. Stinky Feet" Cosgrove has done the crowd-funding thing, now he's doing the crowd-sourcing thing, looking for fans to produce his next video. He's encouraging everyone -- including families -- to give it a shot for one of four songs from his most recent album Swimming in Noodles. And in addition to "fame, glory, [and] warm-fuzzy feelings," Cosgrove is also offering cash prizes for the top three videos. Finished videos are due November 14th. All the details are at the link above.

A video and a very long-form video after the jump...
-- This video from Australian band The Mudcakes is pretty simple, but I find the uke (and the animated images) a wee bit hypnotic.

The Mudcakes - "Crocodile" [YouTube]

-- The Kennedy Center brings in music 365 days of the year and sometimes family music makes the cut -- DC gypsy-roots band Cake for Dinner, whose debut was one of those albums I just didn't quite get around to but definitely had merit, played the KC stage earlier this year. You can watch the whole darn thing here.

Interview: Sherry Rich Plant (The Mudcakes)

It can be hard to see half a world away, but there's an entire kids music scene in Australia apart from the Wiggles. It's small, but it's kicking, and trying to be heard. If there's a ringleader to the movement, it's probably Sherry Rich Plant, half of The Mudcakes. I've always enjoyed the Mudcakes' music, even from afar, and wanted to get Plant's view on kids music down under. Read on to hear Plant talk about her star-studded high school band, pirate TV, taking matters into her own hands, and other Australian music recommendations.

Zooglobble: What are your musical memories growing up?
Sherry Rich Plant: I grew up on an Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. My mother Noelene Rich was a country folk singer in the 60's who toured and appeared on TV variety shows and clubs ... with the Bee Gees when they were first starting out! She was also a Girl Guide [Girl Scout] leader in charge of many large campfire singalongs and a guitar/ukulele teacher. So my brothers and I were surrounded by music whether we liked it or not! I started singing with my Mum onstage when I was 7 but I felt very shy and didn't like it much. Then when I hit my early teens my brother and I decided it was cool to play, so we learnt bass and guitar and started a high school band - which funnily enough also included Keith Urban!

What made you want to first start making music for families?
When my son Ramsay was born we were living in Nashville and I was working as a songwriter for BMG. Rick was a pro guitarist touring and doing studio work. With a new baby I lost the brain space to write anything but the little ditties that I made up to sing to him. I wrote the song "We're Going to Playschool" to help Ramsay get over his anxiety about going to childcare. Folks liked it and Rick and I decided to record some others for posterity. Before we knew it we had a whole album [Songs For Little Monkeys] and The Mudcakes were hatched. It was never a conscious decision to start making family music, but more like a natural shift in what I was writing about. I've always thought that the best art follows life.

What sound (or band) did you have in your head when you started making family music? Has that sound in your head changed at all over time?
No particular band influenced me at the start. Like I said I was just writing about my experiences as a mother. Musically we knew that we wanted to try out different styles but keep it organic/acoustic and have fun with some of the sillier instruments we'd never been able to use on our "adult music" recordings. It was later on that a friend introduced me to Dan Zanes and I really related to his refreshing approach to children's entertainment.

You've lived (and recorded music) in both the States and Australia -- what are the biggest differences between the countries in their family music scenes? What are Australia's advantages
The difference in the population. In the US there are so many big cities that you could tour 52 weeks of the year and be able to grow a niche following. In Australia the big cities are fewer with large distances in between and less people - that makes it more challenging. There are also less opportunities to get played on kids TV here.

Because there are fewer acts in Australia doing what we do [alternative independent family music] we stand out more.

What about the Australian kids music scene has frustrated you the most?
Right now I am particularly peeved about the lack of support from the huge national government funded broadcasting network here [similar to PBS Kids in the US]. They currently have an exclusive policy where only acts already featured in some aspect of their programming will get their video clips played. They try to justify it by saying if they played our clips it is like advertising but continue to make statements about how much they care about Australian children and Australian content. I think it's a shame because Australian families are missing out on finding out about the great bands that are working right here right now. Acts who, if given some airtime, may have people come out and support them instead of going to see the Dora the Explorer doll appearing at a mall somewhere.

So we are in the process of joining forces with some other "indy kindy" bands in creating a 'pirate TV' pilot for a Melbourne based public TV station. There are many summer music festivals around Australia which are great fun to play but we find that in general the kids stages never get as much funding or credibility as the "real bands." So even though we're attracting a good crowd we rarely get our photos or name in the marketing for the event. There are one or two large children's festivals but they tend to have a line-up packed with the big corporate branded acts like Ben Ten. Unfortunately Australia still suffers from the general attitude that anything from overseas is better even though there are many sensational artists in all genres working here.

Have you noticed any improvement here in the past couple years?
I've only noticed improvement because The Mudcakes have worked very hard. We are getting respect and notice from people who appreciate the quality and content in what we are doing and therefore we are offered bigger, better gigs that are supported by large cultural arts organizations. So we get to play in the amazing Melbourne Recital Centre and lovely theatres as well as doing workshops in fantastic well-funded arts spaces. We still do kindergarten shows and festivals too. But we never do children's birthday parties!

What other Australian family music artists are you fans of?
The Mighty Buzznicks, Nadia Sunde, Justine Clarke, Peter Combe, and music from the television show Playschool.

What's next for you?
Developing The Mudcakes is my main focus, but I am excited to say that I have an album coming out of "singer/songwriter" country rock songs I wrote while living in Nashville and recorded in Chicago 10 years ago with Jay Bennett [ex-Wilco] producing. It's been on hold for ages while I worked on other projects. I also work in a psych-folk duo called The Grapes and we have a CD out this year as well. The Mudcakes are busy compiling a DVD of music video hits and continuing to lead the revolution of change for family music here in Australia. We hope to come to the US and play some of the kids festivals there in the next few years.

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 5

Back with another list of random notes from around the kids music world...

-- I'm a fan of Symphony Space's Just Kidding series, even 3,000 miles away, but I don't typically talk about single shows in that or any series. Having said that, I have it on good authority that Elizabeth Mitchell is planning on attending the Lunch Money Just Kidding concert on Saturday, January 29 (at 11 AM) and make a "guest appearance" for some songs. NYC fans, I expect you to be there -- not to be missed, I'm telling you.

-- Continuing in the category of single shows meriting mention, if you're not tired out after the Lunch Money show (or if you're busy that morning), there's another show in NYC that afternoon. It's an event called "KIDS ROCK!" -- it's a big 'ol benefit concert for KIDS NEED A MELODY, which provides developmental music classes to young children living in the shelter system. It's also Saturday the 29th (from 1 to 4 PM) at Crash Mansion in the Bowery in NYC. It's hosted by Bob McGrath and will feature performances by Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck, Suzi Shelton with guitarist Steve Elliot, Jeremy Plays Guitar, The Fuzzy Lemons, Joanie Leeds, and Baze and His Silly Friends. Not bad, eh?

-- Moving out of the city (sort of), word from Florida's Mr. Richard that he's leading David Weinstone's Music For Aardvarks classes in Orlando. Mr. Richard isn't the first kindie musicians with his own career to participate in these types of classes. Audra Tsanos has done MFA classes in NYC for years, Rebecca Frezza got her start doing Music Together, and Enzo Garcia is another. But Mr. Richard, who's definitely on the shortlist for the title of hardest-working guy in kids music, may be the first to join those types of classes after starting his own, independent kindie career.

-- I noted this on Facebook yesterday, but the first video from Moona Luna is up. You can watch the currently exclusive video here (or just go straight to YouTube here).

-- Frances England has a whole bunch of creative resolutions (designed very, er, creatively of course) and not only that she's pulled in a bunch of creative resolutions from folks like Caspar Babypants, Drew from Recess Monkey, Joe from the Okee Dokee Brothers and lots, lots more. Worth a perusal.

-- Finally, in the category of self-promotion, Australian newspaper The Age dips its toes into the world of Australian kindie music and picks out the two best, Holly Throbsy and The Mudcakes. (It also cites this site, but not in a policeman-sort-of-way. The good way.)

Seven Sleepy Lullaby Albums (The Sequel)

A couple years ago, I put together a review of seven lullaby albums. It's time to do another review of lullaby albums that have crossed my desk in the past six to nine months and, what do you know?, there are seven more. Must be a lucky number.

The most striking lullaby album in this collection is Until the Light of Morning, the recently released album from New Yorker (via London) Essie Jain. As Jain notes in her liner notes, the 35-minute album is "designed to unwind itself as it goes along, as the music becomes softer and more relaxed, eventually becoming as instrumental as the heart beat." It's definitely the best-constructed lullaby album here, perfected for moving from evening play time to sleep time. The music and lovely packaging make it a good choice for gifting to the new parent... or maybe even your own family. (Listen to a couple songs here and 3 more from a live Daytrotter session.) Definitely recommended.

Sing Me To Sleep from American Laundromat Records is the latest in the time-honored tradition of getting indie rock artists to record music for kids. The For the Kids series can cross "lullaby disk" off their to-do list, because this fits the bill. The indie artists here such as Stars, Dean & Britta, and Tanya Donelly cover others' songs for the album. As you might expect given the compilation nature of the disk, the definition of "lullaby" gets stretched considerably. I love The Leisure Society's take on "Inchworm," but it gets far too peppy to be a lullaby, and I'm not sure "Little Boxes" is really a lullaby in any sense of the word. (Also, can we please put a five-year moratorium on covers of "Pure Imagination" and "Rainbow Connection," both covered here and a billion other kid-related comps?) Far better are Dala's take on "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and Telekinesis' version of "Can't Get It Out of My Head," along with a number of other tracks.

There's a limited edition with tracks from Julie Peel and the Coctails, and more -- the tracks from those artists in particular definitely aren't throwaway tracks and are probably worth the extra cash, along with a gorgeous instrumental version of "The Sound of Silence" from the Abbasi Brothers. Peter Broderick's "You Are My Sunshine" may induce nightmares, though, and count me among those wondering why Say Hi covered the Violent Femmes track "Kiss Off" (it does make for interesting listening, though, I'll give it that much). Proceeds from the album will go to The Valerie Fund, which provides support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. (Listen to songs from the album here.) It might not be a perfect album, but you can certainly find a good 30 minutes of excellent lullabies. Recommended.

I think these two albums are the cream of this particular crop of disks, but there are 5 more after the jump -- you're bound to find at least one of these that appeal to you...
Australia's Mudcakes weigh in with Songs For Little Sleepyheads, the album most likely to sound like the album you or I might make. OK, you probably wouldn't have simple accompaniment on ukulele or lap steel guitar. (Definitely not the lap steel guitar.) But the songs -- "I See the Moon," "Twinkle Twinkle," or "Froggy Goodnight" (a reworking of "Goodnight Irene") -- are the type you might have in your repertoire. There are some originals worked into the mix as well, and there's a nice winding down effect. (Listen to songs from the 38-minute album here.) Recommended.

New York-based trio Tres Leches are a one-man, er, three-woman Putumayo crew on their debut 2009 disk Songs, Chants & Lullabies for All Our Relations. The opener African song "Samina" is bright uptempo, but the rest is mostly cooldown music, with harmonies the focus. High points include a sweet and indirect "Itsy Bitsy Spider," the traditional Afro-Yoruban song "Yemaya," and the original "Coo Coo." By the end of the 31-minute album, it's mostly a capella, so it's a good thing the voices and harmonies sound so lovely. (Listen to the album at the band's website above.) Recommended.

Blue Sky Lullaby is from New York's Hammond Sisters, who, being Amy Koza and Davita Robinson, are neither named "Hammond" nor are sisters. It's a collection of original '30s-inspired folk ballads written by the duo that are more quiet-time songs than lullabies. Which isn't to say some of them aren't gorgeous, just that you may find that the songs work better near the front of your personally-crafted lullaby mix CD rather than the sleep end. The 43-minute album is a benefit for Mapendo International, which protects and cares for at-risk refugees in Africa. Fans of Hem I think will particularly enjoy this album, as will folks looking for something to listen to a cold winter afternoon. (Listen to a couple tracks, including the lovely "Baby Mine," here.) Recommended.

Jazz singer Maci Miller's Butterfly Moon is the album for those who like their lullaby albums to have a bit of shine to them. It's partially a benefit for The Mercy Centre, a Bangkok organization working with kids and families. Save for the title track, these are all covers, some of popular songs ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "It's a Small World,"), some more traditional (Brahms' "Lullaby," "Down In The Valley"). It's a bit too slickly produced for my own lullaby tastes, a little too "tinkly." But it's a lot less schmaltzy and restrained than other stuff in the same vein and mostly remembers the notionally lullaby nature of the disk, which sometimes trained singers forget. I don't think fans of Sing Me To Sleep or Essie Jain will necessarily like this, but if for some reason those albums don't speak to you or your kids, this one might. (Listen to 3 tracks here or clips here.)

Finally, Bedtime with the Beatles, recorded by pop-rocker Jason Falkner and released in 2001 on the Sony Wonder. Long before Rockabye Baby came along was this album, in which Falkner goes all Mantovani on us and creates smooth (and synthesized) orchestral versions of 11 Beatles classics. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about these versions, either in concept or compared to the originals, but they're not too tinkly and would be a pleasant diversion while trying to soothe a baby at 2 AM. Just don't expect it to replace your actual Beatles albums.

[With the exception of the Jason Falkner album, I received copies of all albums discussed here for possible review.]

Video: "Hug" - The Mudcakes

Perhaps the production values are slightly below that of They Might Be Giants or a certain Super Bowl ad, but as videos featuring sock puppets go, this ain't a bad one. It's from the Australian band The Mudcakes -- the song is "Hug" and off their debut disk Songs For Little Monkey.

The Mudcakes - "Hug" [YouTube]