Friday, January 22, 2010 at 5:21AM The Bay Area's Sippy Cups have been running a series of video podcasts this fall and winter on their website, iTunes, and YouTube. They're not always music-based, and the one below ("Hair Professor Meets the Flower Tower," #7 of a planned 13) isn't really, either. But the moment at about 2:26 into the podcast made smile a big grin.
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 5:37AM 
You know, if Bob Dylan can record a Christmas album, why can't Lou Reed?
What's that? He hasn't released a Christmas album? But I swear, this sounds just like Lou Reed!
Oh, it's just the Bay Area's Sippy Cups, returning to their song-parody roots by reworking "I'm Waiting For the Man" into "Waiting For My Man (The Santa Claus Mix)." And it's free for the downloading or streaming here. (What, "The Gift" wasn't appropriate enough?)
Photo credit: Peter Ellenby
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 2:14PM 
The kids music resurgence has been relatively brief, and so we haven't necessarily had the time to watch too many bands mature and change their sounds over time. An exception is the Bay Area band The Sippy Cups. They started out doing nothing but covers, primarily of '60s and '70s psychedelic tunes. They then moved to mostly original '60s and '70s-sounding psychedelic tunes. It's only been on their last couple albums that they've developed a fuller sound (and added some skits to the mix).
All of which has been to the good. Their latest album The Time Machine is at times both their most conventional-sounding and also their most adventurous. Although it's not quite a concept album, there a number of songs about about growing up (hence the title). As a result, based on subject matter alone, this definitely their most typical "kids album." Of course, I happen to like some of those songs the best. The power-poppy "My Angry Voice" describes anger in easily accessible phrases ("Breathing fast / My heart is racing / I won't look you in the eyes / What's that sound? / It's someone shouting / That sounds like me / What a surprise") while "Don't Remove the Groove" ameliorates whatever preachiness a song about environmental warming might contain by being, well, groovy and turning it into a "freeze dance" song. "Seven Is The New 14" will likely go over heads of the 14-, er, 7-year-olds the song is targeted at, but its amusing spin on "age is nothing but a number" will draw chuckles from the parents.
For those of you originally drawn to the band for its original more psychedelic sounds won't be disappointed -- the title track and concluding track "Awake" (the latter clocking in at 6 minutes) are definitely could've been recorded 35 or 40 years ago, while "One Day Soon" is an excellent pastiche of Sgt. Pepper's-era Beatles. If there's a downside to the songwriting here it's that at times I felt like they were relying too heavily on the metaphorical imagery to the detriment of more sharply describing the experience of growing up. The worst tracks here are still better than 60% of the songs in the genre, but their excellent songs make the just adequate ones stand out. (As for the skits, I like 'em, and I typically haaaate skits, but I realize that your mileage may vary.)
The 44-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. You can listen to some tracks here or samples at the album's CDBaby page.
The Sippy Cups have developed into one of the most adventurous kids bands on today's scene. With a strong catalog of songs and an energetic live show, they seem set to be around making music for years to come. The Time Machine is, appropriately enough, evidence of their continuing evolution, and shows that growing up is usually a pretty good thing. Definitely recommended.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 2:28AM I post plenty of heads ups on free mp3s, but this one is a bigger deal. The Bay Area's The Sippy Cups have managed to get themselves the first free iTunes download in the Children's Music category. For the next week, iTunes users can go here to download "Seven is the New 14," one of the better (and funnier) tracks from their new album The Time Machine. ("Three and three? Not seven.") I expect a lot of clueless comments on iTunes from folks who aren't really part of the kids music demographic, but I think most readers here are going to like it. The Time Machine is out today as an iTunes exclusive, next week everywhere.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 1:20AM Today it's time for contests in the Pete Seeger Region of KidVid Tournament 2009. In this contest we have the top seed, The Sippy Cups' "The Day After Halloween" from their One Day Soon EP matched up against "Circle and Square" from the Readeez Volume One DVD.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per person, please. Votes due by midnight tonight (Wednesday) East Coast time. And, as always, play nice!
The Sippy Cups - "The Day After Halloween"
Readeez - "Circle and Square"
