New Season of the Biscuit Brothers Starts Tomorrow. For Austin, Anyway

Austin's Biscuit Brothers start their 3rd season of their awesome TV show tomorrow morning (Sept. 8th) at 8 AM on Austin's KLRU. Fans in the rest of the country where the show airs will have to wait until October.

As for fans in the other parts of the country where the show doesn't air, write your PBS station and tell them to get the show on the air, pronto. You can tell them they can have it for free. (Really.)

Oh, and even if you don't live in Austin, check out Tiny Scarecrow's latest blog entry. "Except I did not get to go to Singapore." Dude kills me.

Free Music Is Good

There's free music all over the place, but here's an opportunity to get it all in one place...

The first 100 people to fill out this survey who filled out (the survey is over) will receive an 8-track -- WAIT A MINUTE, PEOPLE, LET ME FINISH -- an 8-track CD featuring 4 songs from the Blankies and 4 songs from Teacher and the Rockbots. The two groups are kinda a like Gorlliaz for the elementary school set, with the Blankies more of a pop/R&B approach and the Rockbots more, uh, a rock approach. (I tended to prefer the Rockbots tracks, but that's just me.)

If you like kids music with an educational approach (or at least a more overt educational approach), this may be right down your alley.

Review: Educated Kid - The Hipwaders

Spend 2 minutes and 16 seconds, listening to "Educated Kid," the title track and leadoff single from the Bay Area trio The Hipwaders' latest CD, Educated Kid, and try not to move or sing along in some way. Go ahead, try.

See, can't do it.

It's a great example of a pure power-pop song retrofitted just enough to allow the kids to groove to it, even get something out of it lyrically ("pursue your passion / do what you love / perservere / you'll rise above"), while retaining enough musical flourishes (the "uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh" of the chorus, the handclaps) to make the older power-pop fan smile broadly.

While the rest of the disk doesn't quite reach the sugary heights of the title track, there are a number of other good songs on the CD, which was released this week. "Little Baby Brother" has a snappy "ba-ba-bas," "whooooos" and a dead-on kids-eye view of a child's response to a little brother ("Please don't break my toys / And I'll love you forever"). "Aidan's Train" is a sweet Beatle-esque melody. A lot of the tracks have a very XTC vibe -- "The History of Declan Rae" sounds like something from XTC's later period while the angluar "Art Car" and "Speed of Love" have early XTC influences -- in other words, it sounds like a Futureheads kids CD. Guitarist and songwriter Tito Uquillas continues his fascination with sharing educational facts in some songs. It could drag the disk down but it usually doesn't -- the facts typically come off as "hey, here's this really cool fact!" rather than overly didactic and some songs ("History of Declan Rae," in particular) pull it off rather well.

Kids ages 5 through 10 will most likely appreciate the songs and subject matter on the 39-minute CD. You can hear (and download) four of the tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples of all tracks at the album's CDBaby page.

Educated Kid marks a big step forward for the band. In reviewing their previous, self-titled CD, I said "they're not at a Ralph's World level of polish and songcraft yet, but give The Hipwaders time. They may just get there. " Folks, they're getting pretty close. Definitely recommended.

Listen To This: "My Pet Rock" - Recess Monkey

Clearly, I'm a big fan of Seattle's Recess Monkey, so I won't apologize for posting every time a band member sneezes, but they've put a new song from their upcoming double album Wonderstuff on their Myspace page, and "My Pet Rock" is a simple, Beatles-y blast. I love me some "la la la la" choruses.

Oh, and for those of you needing video stimulation, watch Jack do his best Buddy Guy impersonation -- not playing blistering blues guitar, mind you, just leading kids on a conga line during "Monkey Bars" while the rest of the band vamps

Monkey Bars Conga Line at the Fremont Fair

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What Day Do Kindergarteners Have Their "Meta" Class?

Hey, I'll have stuff from my whirlwind Austin Kid's Day sojourn coming up soon, but for now, why don't you stop by Offsprung and watch Neal Pollack and his son Elijah consciously (and badly) rip off Adam Sandler. (Elijah's by far the more natural talent.)

Oh, and if you haven't visited lately, more Offsprung columns are being added weekly, it seems. Shopping, movies, health, it's all there.

Finally, check out my swanky new Offsprung banner. I'm so proud. (Or, rather, as proud as anyone who had very little to do with the actual putting-together of said banner can be.)