Video: "Gotta Get Up" - Sugar Free Allstars

Oklahoma's Sugar Free Allstars are celebrating today's release of their new album All on a Sunday Afternoon with their first video from the album.  Directed by Kyle Roberts, it's for the funky "Gotta Get Up," and it's like a live-action Toy Story with a touch of Soul Train.  Shawana Kemp from Shine and the Moonbeams and Jack Forman from Recess Monkey (I like the surfeit of monkey-themed toys in the video) lend a hand musically, but really, what other reason do you need for watching besides action figures cooking omelettes?

Sugar Free Allstars - "Gotta Get Up" [YouTube]

Itty-Bitty Review: Radio Jungle - The Pop Ups

Radio Jungle album coverHas any kids' act in the modern, kindie era raised such a ruckus with their debut album as the Brooklyn duo The Pop Ups with Outside Voices?  You remember that album, right? So did everyone else.

Expectations are high, therefore, with the release of Radio Jungle, the follow-up up to that 2010 album.  Can they meet them?

Pretty much, yeah.  At their very best, nobody makes better modern pop for preschoolers than the Pop Ups.  Leadoff singles "Connect the Stars" (featuring Shine and the Moonbeams' Shawana Kemp on vocals plus Oran Etkin on tenor sax) and '80s throwback "Box of Crayons" should rule kindie radio airwaves through fall.  And if that's enough, "Pop Up City" (with hints of Prince and Springsteen) and the flamenco'd tune "The Bat" there to extend the band's dominance through 2013.  These songs should be blasting out from every lemonade stand and driveway art show.

The rest of the album, starting with "Math Rock," isn't as pure pop joy as those first four songs, but do have their own charms.  All these songs are probably part of the forthcoming Pop Ups puppet show, but it's more obvious with these latter tracks, such as the counting on "Math Rock," the color matching on "Color Wheel," and the phonetic spelling of words on "Elephant."  These last six songs are more Broadway than Brill Building.  (OK, off-Broadway.)

The 38-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7.  You can hear the album at the band's Bandcamp page (or stream below).  Radio Jungle is a solid follow-up to, and equal of, its storied predecessor.  It's a little more showtune-y than Outside Voices, so your family's personal preferences may vary, but you'll probably still swoon over most of these tracks, too.  Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of the album for possible review.

Kickstarter Update: The Kindie Crowd-Funding Continues

Not sure why, but these Kickstarter kids music projects come in clumps. Another fine batch of kindie projects from Kickstarter and its kin, so let's hop to it.

First up is the Kickstarter project from New York's Shine and the Moonbeams. Anyone who saw them at Kindiefest last year knows just how awesome this album could be. Yes, it's a debut album, but with folks like Dan Zanes and Tor Hyams lending their support, it's gonna be pro all the way.

Baltimore's Milkshake's concept for their Kickstarter project features a bunch of music one minute (or so) in length.

Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band's Kickstarter project doesn't officially launch until Friday, but you can watch the preview video now. [And here it is!]Rather than raising money for the album itself (I'm So Glad! comes out April 3), Alex Mitnick and crew are raising money for videos for the album. As someone who likes videos, I say, woot!

Kickstarter doesn't have a monopoly on kids' music projects -- Athens, GA band Like Totally! are pitching their project on IndieGoGo. I've actually been following the band for a little while now and I'm curious to see what a focused producer does with their Elephant-Six-meets-The-Polyphonic-Spree-meets-Sesame-Street vibe.

Now, in the category of "just lettin' ya know," Ralph Covert, aka Ralph's World launched and successfully funded his Kickstarter project to film a pilot for a new TV show called Time Machine Guitar, which features, er, a guitar that allows Ralph to travel Back. In. Ti-ime.

Also, there will be puppets.

The whole project looks pretty cool, with some top-notch talent backing Ralph up to make the pilot really cool. So keep your eyes out for that.
Finally, I've been geeked for a couple weeks now because it looks like the long-discussed Luscious Jackson kids album will -- at some point -- finally make its way into this household. The band has turned to PledgeMusic to help fund its new album and while it has nothing to do with kids music, one of the rewards (beyond new music from LJ, which is also a Good Thing) is a copy of that 6-year-old (unreleased) kids' album, Baby DJ.