Itty-Bitty Review: Music is... Awesome! (Yo Gabba Gabba!) - Various Artists

I am perhaps not the best person to judge a Yo Gabba Gabba compilation, as I've never seen a complete episode aside from the premiere I received on a screener DVD a few years back. (That's what a lack of cable will do.) A soundtrack album -- that's pitched at the true believers, not at the casual fans, right? So, if anything, I started listening expecting not to like it so much.

Wrong. Even if you've never watched an episode and don't know your Brobee from your Muno, you and your preschoolers could definitely enjoy their new compilation Music is... Awesome!. For the most part, the disk alternates songs from the series with those from a list of artists with serious street cred; often they're set up as pairs. So a basic YGG song like "I Like to Dance" is followed up by Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark doing a cool "Robo Dancing," an angular dance tune with lots of bleeps and bloops. "Don't Be Afraid" is followed by I'm From Barcelona's swirly pop on "Just Because It's Different Doesn't Mean Its Scary." Generally, the best songs are from the guest artists -- the Roots' incredible "Lovely, Love My Family" or Chromeo's funky ode to handwashing "Nice 'N' Clean" or the sunny "Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play" from The Little Ones (a song which is destined to find its way onto a lot of hipster mix CDs yet is somehow totally appropriate for the 3-year-old in your life). But there are a few decent songs from the YGG folks, even if you're not a fan of the show (the cute "Party in my Tummy," or the shiny pop of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," credited to the Yo Dazzlers, but really just another YGG tune).

You can find the 37-minute CD at the usual places, including Amazon and iTunes. Besides your hipster 30-year-old friend with the chunky eyeglass frames, the album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 5.

I'd love to say that Music is... Awesome! is awesome. Unfortunately I can't pull the trigger on that obvious pull quote as some of the YGG tunes are just too dry to enjoy apart from the visuals. But a lot of the music is indeed awesome, which makes it the kids music compilation of the year. Definitely recommended.

Yo Gabba Gabba on CD Is Awesome (Album Due Oct. 20)

We can have a long debate over the merits of Yo Gabba Gabba the TV show, but there's little doubt that it's exposed a bunch of preschoolers to a lot of artists that normally would have little exposure to a bunch of preschoolers. The Shins, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mates of State -- the list is long (and kinda cool). Now comes word (via Pitchfork) that Filter US will be releasing a Yo Gabba Gabba compilation entitled Music Is Awesome on October 20. It'll be both a CD and iTunes release. To some extent, it overlaps with the iTunes exclusive compilation released last year. But at 21 tracks in length, including stuff from Chromeo, Of Montreal, and the Shins that weren't on that release, there's a fair amount of new material. Track listing after the jump.
YO GABBA GABBA!: MUSIC IS AWESOME! Track listing:

1. YO GABBA GABBA! Theme
2. YO GABBA GABBA! - Party In My Tummy
-- 3. THE SHINS - It’s Okay, Try Again
4. YO GABBA GABBA! - I Like To Dance
-- 5. MONEY MARK - Robo Dancing
6. YO GABBA GABBA! - Get The Sillies Out
-- 7. BIZ MARKIE - Biz’s Beat Of The Day #1
-- 8. CHROMEO - Nice ‘N’ Clean
9. YO GABBA GABBA! - Try It, You’ll Like It
-- 10. THE ROOTS - Lovely, Love My Family
11. YO GABBA GABBA! - Don’t Be Afraid
-- 12. I’M FROM BARCELONA - Just Because It’s Different Doesn’t Mean Scary
13. YO GABBA GABBA! - Bubbles
-- 14. OF MONTREAL - Brush Brush Brush
15. YO GABBA GABBA! - Nice & Easy
-- 16. THE LITTLE ONES - Hey, Won’t Somebody Come And Play
-- 17. WEIRD SCIENCE - Go Crazy Remix
-- 18. YO DAZZLERS - You Can’t Always Get What You Want
-- 19. MARK KOZELEK - Bedtime Lullaby
20. YO GABBA GABBA! - Goodbye Song
21. YO GABBA GABBA! Closing THEME

The Shins' New (Old) Yo Gabba Gabba Video

Many months ago, I mentioned the Shins had recorded a new song -- "It's OK, Try Again" -- for the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!.

And then I told you that a video for "It's OK, Try Again" had been posted.

Well, for those of you who prefer to watch your kids' music videos on larger than iPod-sized screens, help is at hand. The Yo Gabba Gabba episode that actually features the video debuts on Friday, May 23rd in an episode titled "Imagine." (I doubt John Lennon had a hand in the episode.) Oooh, the Shins on a TV size of your choice!

And for those of who are OK with iPod-sized videos and who don't want to watch the show (or wait for it), watch the video here.

The Shins' New Yo Gabba Gabba Video, or, Why Won't Somebody Think of the Mac Users?

Remember I told you about new music from the Shins? Yeah, well Nick Jr. has now posted a sneak peek music video from the band here, no, here.

Great, right?

Yeah, unless you're using a Mac, in which you're screwed because apparently the "technology... to support Parents TV on a Macintosh" is not available.

"So, uh, what do you think?," says this MacBook user.

New Music from the Shins: "It's OK, Try Again" (from Yo Gabba Gabba!)

I think most people would probably consider me a fairly straight-laced guy. Sure, I occasionally drive faster than the speed limit and go back for a second donut in the office lunchroom, but for the most part, I think "goody two-shoes" would not be a wholly inappropriate appellate for me.

Which gives you an indication of exactly why I'm not going to be posting a copy of new music from the Shins, people! You heard me, the Shins!

I totally understand one of the impluses behind mp3 and .rar blogs -- new music falls into your lap and all you want to do is share it with others. Preferably before anyone else does. But even though the record industry's approach to file-sharing seems somewhat... misguided... to me, I've always felt that the copyright holder should get to call the shots.

So that means I'm not going to post the 2-minute track from the Shins from the new Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba!.

Well, there is one other reason. Although it's a good track that sounds like the Shins (particularly a soaring la-la-la part near the end), it's not an awesome track. It's not even the best track on the 9-minute sampler CD I received. Perhaps at even just 2 minutes in length it's too long to convey a message which is -- literally -- "Sometimes you win / sometimes you lose / sometimes you win / sometimes you lose / But it's OK / you try again."

That honor of the sampler's best track goes to the LA band I'Kona, which turns in a strutting, funky 90-second song called "Hello, Goodbye" that G. Love would be proud to call his own.

The band Paco (whose lead singer Dominique Durand also sings in Ivy with Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger) turns in a nicely muted "Listen," which is about 180 degrees from the Aquabats' hyper "Pool Party." (Aquabats lead singer Christian Jacobs is also a co-creator of Yo Gabba Gabba!.)

The list of artists appearing on camera or turning in songs for the show is enough to keep music-minded parents intrigued -- Mya, Sugarland, Smoosh, Cornelius, the Postmarks, Dean & Britta, Jason Falkner, Low, Jason Lytle, Mark Kozelek, among others.

I have no idea how the on-camera appearances or videos will turn out. Nick Jr. reps have indicated that the Shins video will be posted to the Nick Jr./YGG website shortly, so you can judge that song for yourself. (And for those of you just wanting the CD, they're hoping to put one together sometime in the future.)

I've also seen the first episode, schedule to debut Monday, August 20th. But I'm gonna need a little time to process that one...