Monday, January 22, 2007 at 12:49PM I spent the weekend playing in the snow, but it's time to get caught up on some stuff. I've got reviews of some great new stuff, plus lots more.
And if you haven't thrown your hat into the ring for the four Free Ralph's World tickets, you have until Thursday night to do so. Go ahead -- make me jealous there's not a House of Blues location near Phoenix.
Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 8:18AM OK, time for me to take a break and enjoy time with my family listening to and making music. I'll be back before the New Year with a review or two, another installment of the "Top 50" songs, and one or two other things.
And I've got a few surprises up my sleeve for 2007.
Thanks to everyone for reading. Happy Holidays!
P.S. -- There's one wrapped for me that'll go under the tree on Sunday, but if you didn't get yours last time, Dan Zanes has got a new shipment of ukeleles. You'll have to wait 'til January, though...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 12:55AM To those of you new to the site and getting here via the NPR interview, welcome. More details on the site are here.
I'm getting a bunch of new CDs, but am always in interested in hearing more. Want to add to my listening pile? Find out how here.
For the rest of you, I promise I'll be getting to the Top 50 Kids Songs very soon. In the meanwhile, read my review of They Might Be Giants' Bed Bed Bed book/CD or read how Mates of State parent.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 7:00AM Welcome to those of you finding your way here due to my interview with Melissa Block on Wednesday's All Things Considered, her post on her family's favorite recent kids music, my post on my favorite recent kids music, or because you accidentally typed "Zooglobble" instead of, say, "Aniston and Vaughn break up" into your favorite search engine.
Whatever the reason, I'm glad you're here. There's lots of great music for kids and families being released these days, and it's easier than ever to find out about it. I'd like to think this site's played a small role in that -- this site's been active since 2004, and since that time I've reviewed more than 140 CDs, conducted several interviews, and generally spread the word about kids music and musicians.
You can find reviews under the artist links on the right-hand side sidebar. If you're looking for the cream of the (recent) crop, here's my list of the year's 20 best albums, with links. For an even more broad-based approach, check out the 2006 Fids & Kamily Poll, a collection of Top 10 lists from a whole bunch of people who've spent a fair amount of time listening to kids and family music. (My reviews of the winning albums are here, but you should definitely check out the F&K site.)
You might also be interested in the following links:
-- Reviews of the Wee Hairy Beasties' Animal Crackers, Johnny Bregar's Hootenanny, the Jellydots' Hey You Kids!, and Sam Hinton's Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts, all mentioned in the interview. Also, another fall album worth checking out is the Sippy Cups' Electric Storyland.
-- Links to my reviews of albums mentioned by Melissa Block in her listing of her family's favorite kids CDs.
-- Interviews with Dan Zanes, Justin Roberts, and others.
-- My beliefs as they relate to kids music, both for a slightly younger and slightly older crowd.
-- Some Frequently Asked Questions
I have a Myspace page, too. No, I'm still not quite sure why, but if you want to be my "friend," drop me a line.
If you're an artist and are interested in submitting an album for review, I'd love to hear it. Find more details on how to go about this here.
Finally, there are some dedicated writers on kids and family music included in the sidebar there to the right, and I encourage you to check 'em out, but I want to highlight sites run by my fellow Fids & Kamily organizers Amy Davis and Bill Childs, The Lovely Mrs. Davis Tells You What To Think and Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. Amy reviews a lot of the same music I do here, but also pays attention to other kid-pop cultural stuff with a breezy writing style. And Bill and his 7-year-old daughter Ella have a great kids radio show that's available via podcast every Saturday (with fun updates during the week).
If you've made it this far, I'm amazed. Have fun exploring and thanks for stopping by.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 1:08AM Tries not to say anything really silly.
If you glance today at the rundown for Tuesday's NPR afternoon/evening newsprogram All Things Considered, you'll see a note that the Wednesday Dec. 6 show will include a piece with some guy talking about kids' music... hey, wait, that's me!
Yes, I did really say "on their own time and their own dime." My wife said, "But that's so cliched!" I pointed out that I actually combined two cliched phrases. Which makes it not cliched.
You can go to the rundown page above after 4 PM EST today for a link to my interview, which will also include an audio link after 7:30 PM EST. If, you know, you don't actually listen to National Public Radio on the radio.
