Listen To This: "Wesley Werewolf" - Skelly and the Punkins

Halloween is just a month away, so it's time to start rolling out kindie's 2011 Halloween tunes. This is a particularly nice cut from a group called "Skelly and the Punkins." The group, OK, it's a one-off track from the folks at Cordovan Music, but don't let that put you off. Your kids will pogo.

You can grab the tunes at Amazon's UK site (!?) or on eMusic get the mp3 pretty much anywhere digital tunes are sold. Or just hit YouTube repeatedly.

Skelly and the Punkins - "Wesley Werewolf" [YouTube]

Now Hear This: "Kansas City Rag" - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer (w/ Adam Hurt)

Swam this morning, but didn't feel that excited about it. If only I'd seen this simple back-porch video of Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, joined by Adam Hurt on fiddle, playing "Kansas City Rag," before my workout, I'd probably have lasted a few more laps.

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer with Adam Hurt - "Kansas City Rag" [YouTube]

Songs for Moms (Mother's Day 2011)

It's time once again for my kinda-last-minute (but not entirely so) list of songs for mothers or songs about mothers. As with last year's list, this list is in no particular order and I've avoided lullabies (songs by moms, typically), as well as songs about general parentual units, or songs about moms and dads.

If a song isn't on the list, it's because of one of the three "O"s: Oversight (I knew about the song and just forgot), Omission (I knew about the song and chose to exclude it), or Obtuseness (I didn't know about the song at all). I expect the third category to be fairly large -- it is every year -- so feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section. List after the jump...
"Mama Don't Allow" -- numerous versions; try Brady Rymer's version off of Every Day Is a Birthday
"Mama Hug" -- Brady Rymer, Every Day Is a Birthday
"Mama Is Sad" -- Justin Roberts, Yellow Bus (it's a song about divorce, so I'm guessing it's not gonna go on too many mix tapes)
"Five Little Ducks" -- try version on the Old Town School of Folk Music's Songs For Wiggleworms
"Thank You Mommy" -- The RTTs, Turn It Up Mommy!
"The Coffee Song" -- Ralph's World, At the Bottom of the Sea (not really about moms specifically, but it was the first song that came to my wife's mind when I mentioned the topic of the post)
"Hush Little Baby" -- try version on the Old Town School of Folk Music's Wiggleworms Love You, though it's just as often that Dad is the person buying baby that billy goat
"Mother and I" -- Bill Thomas (and a Circle of Friends), Time Can Be So Magic
"Hope My Mama Says YES!" -- AudraRox, I Can Do It By Myself (more about the kid than the mom, but that's what Mother's Day sometimes ends up being, no?)
"Mommy She Loves Me" -- Ginger Hendrix, Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo
"Nerves" -- Terri Hendrix, Celebrate the Difference (not really celebratory, but the recipient mom will nod her head in understanding, then ask you to get her a beer)
"A Dozen Roses" and "I Made It For You" -- Peter Himmelman, both off My Green Kite
"From Scratch" -- Justin Roberts, from Pop Fly
"Sleepyhead Mommy" -- Frances England, from Family Tree
"Multi' Taskin' Mama" -- Funky Mama, from Moo Juice
"Meltdown" -- Justin Roberts, from Meltdown! (A reader: "Like "Nerves," not celebratory, but a song every mom can relate to. Pass me another beer.)
"Kiss Ya Mommy" -- Ralph & Ralph (single)
"Mama Loves You" -- Solange Knowles (from Yo Gabba Gabba!)
"Two Mommies" -- Alastair Moock, from A Cow Says Moock (though this is more a family song)
"Mommy" - Supernova (Greasy Kid Stuff 2)
"Mama's Pajamas" - Mommie (Mommie's Dearest)
"Stacy's Mom" - Fountains of Wayne (Welcome Interstate Managers -- just kidding!)
"I Want My Mommy" - Imagination Movers (Juice Box Heroes)
"If Mama Had Four Hands" - Sarah Lee Guthrie (Go Waggaloo)
"Mama Loves You" - Earthworm Ensemble (Earthworm Ensembler)
"Mama Said No" - Dean Jones (Rock Paper Scissors)
"Never Getting Lost" - Justin Roberts (Jungle Gym, though it's really about the comfort of moms)
"All of Us" -- The Jellydots (Jelly Jukebox)
"Always Mom" -- The Hipwaders (Goodie Bag)
"Happy Mother's Day" - The Harmonica Pocket
"Cranky Momma" - Alexandra and the Good Batch
"Mama's Goin' Green - Alexandra and the Good Batch
"No one loves you any better than your m-o-double-m-y" - John Lithgow
"Mama Be Right Back" - The Doo-Dads
"Mom is a Rockstar - David Tobocman
"Mama Tooted" - Keller Williams
"Mama Said No" - Dean Jones
"Your House is Strong" - The Nields
"Mama" - Joanie Leeds
"Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom" - Parry Gripp

Listen To This: "Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes" - Kristen Andreassen

The kids music genre includes, of course, those songs explicitly written for kids. But it also includes those songs re-appropriated for kids, though perhaps not originally intended for that audience.

It was in the latter category that I thought "Crayola Doesn't Make a Color For Your Eyes," from Boston-based artist Kristin Andreassen and her solo album Kiss Me Hello, fell into when I first heard it (or, rather, saw the YouTube video below).

It's a love song, ostensibly, but it's about crayons. What a perfect re-appropriated song!, I thought.

And then I found out it won the "Children's Song of the Year" in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest back in 2006. Other winners in the category include Joe McDermott, Thaddeus Rex, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, so clearly it's not some out-of-left-field award. Andreassen wrote the song when she was teaching dance in grade schools.

Oh, well, loss of my preconceived notion is your gain, as you can go to the link above and download the track. Lots of fun.

Or you can just be mesmerized by the live rendition of the patty-cake on the album track. If your kids are anything like Miss Mary Mack, they'll be fascinated by the fact they keep that up for nearly 4 minutes.

Song of the Day: "Alphabet of Nations" (A Video Review)

Many months ago, I had a feature I called "Song of the Day," where I'd ramble on about a song I'd heard recently that I was digging a lot. Now I have no time for such things as that, but I'm going to make an all-video exception today for one of my favorite songs off of They Might Be Giants' excellent Here Come the ABCs CD, "Alphabet of Nations."

What spurred this is the appearance on YouTube of TMBG's performance of the song on last week's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I've always loved the second verse they add to their live shows, and along with Linnell's physical stylizing, it makes up for the fact that somebody pointed their camcorder at the TV screen and pushed "record."

There are a bunch of other live versions on YouTube, with similarly dubious recording qualities, but rather than link to them all, I'll just send you to the original...