Does this work?

Hey, hit play on this and let me know if it works for you:




You can just post a comment. Assuming it works for a few, you don't have to keep posting. (It's just last week's show; I'm testing on-demand streaming.)

Googly Fun

Over on the right there, you'll see a couple of new things.

First, there's a link to our new mailing list ("Pioneer Valley Kids") for regional kids' music events. It's announcement only and I promise it'll not be over-used. But it's a good way to hear about upcoming shows that we think you should go to, whether it's stuff we're presenting or not.

Second, there's a link to subscribe to our new Google Calendar, which, as you can see over on the right as well, replaces our old hard-to-update-schedule-in-the-right-column also called "Pioneer Valley Kids." That'll tell you about our upcoming guests, again upcoming shows, and so on.

We recently switched over to using the Mac iCal program, and if you use SpanningSync, you can sync up with Google calendars. Very cool. I'm sure there are equivalents for other calendaring systems, too.

All right, there you go then.

Facebook? Okay.

I'd forgotten I even set up a Facebook profile, but a couple of people found it, so I suppose I should link to it. There you go.

(That is not the "big announcement" I referenced earlier. That'll probably come next week.)

Barenaked Ladies' Kids CD Coming in May...

...May 6, to be precise, and it's called Snacktime.

Should be fun.

Cup & Top is Turning Two

We heart Cup & Top Cafe. They were one of the first non-pizza places to open in Florence after we moved here (we don't consider ourselves the cause, but we're glad for the timing); they've hosted a ton of artists we've had on the show; and their food and atmosphere are terrific. So we're glad to plug their second anniversary activities, and we're hoping to have Elena and Russ come by the show that morning too:

The Cup and Top Cafe is turning 2!

Come celebrate us reaching the toddler stage with a day full of free events on Saturday, February 2nd 9th:

10am: Northampton's Elena Ciampa and Russ Neiman perform spanish & latin music for the kids!

1pm - 3pm: Rhymes with Orange cartoonist Hilary Price book signing!

4pm - 6pm: Art Opening for Cummington Artist Leni Fried with live music by Cummington's Radio Free Earth!

Also, we will unveil the whimsical mural that Leni painted for the cafe playspace!

First 100 kids get a balloon!

Prizes and giveaways!

Free Cake!

All events are free and open to the public. SPREAD THE WORD!

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE CAFE ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH!

Little Red Airplanes and Deedle Deedle Dees

So last spring, Stefan ran a very cool contest, where the winner could suggest a historical figure about whom the Deedle Deedle Dees would write a song. Katy won and gave four suggestions.

If you haven't listened to yesterday's show yet, you should, as they play it on there, and it's pretty great. "Little Red Airplane" is about one-time Northampton resident Amelia Earhart (who, you may recall, Ella dressed as for Halloween in 2006).

You can see a very brief clip of the song live at the big rock show yesterday here:



...and you can see a set of pictures from both the radio show and the public performance here. As you can see, the littlest Dee (little two-year-old Hazel) needed some time with Ulysses S. Dee, and a concertgoer was kind enough to lend them a front carrier. So be especially impressed by the rawking abilities when also carrying a toddler.

We raised a nice chunk of money for Flywheel, and I can't wait for them to reopen.

(Keep your eye on this space, by the way. Big announcement coming soon.)

Playlist for 1-26-08

What fun having the Dees in studio and what a great show later in the morning. Well over 125 people rocking out. Pictures and such to come.

Fun show today, too! Listen here.

--Legal ID (8:00)
They Might Be Giants - It's Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (Severe Tire Damage)
Be Good Tanyas - Littlest Birds (Animal Playground)
Harmonica Pocket - Firefly (Ladybug One)
Michael Franti - Firefly (Songs from the Front Porch)
Ellis Paul - Dragonfly Races (Dragonfly Races) (Iron Horse on Feb. 23)
Tom Waits - Mockin' Bird (Early Years Vol. 2)
--song ID
Steve Weeks - Zed and Zoey (Alphabet Songs Vol. 3)
Lemonheads - Outdoor Type (Car Button Cloth)
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - This Land is Your Land (Naturally)
-song ID
B-52s - Wig (Nude on the Moon)
Salteens - Crash the Market (Short-Term Memories)
Jellydots - Bicycle (Hey You Kids!)
Lunch Money - Tricycle (Silly Reflection)
Justin Roberts - Taking Off My Training Wheels (Meltdown!)
Folk Implosion - I'm Just a Bill
Troubled Hubble - I'm Pretty Sure I Can See Molecules
Bzots - Gotta Get a Gig (Powered Up!)
--legal ID (8:59)
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
CandyBand - Octopus on My Head (Calling All Kids)
Ellen and Matt - Under Construction (Best Friends)
-song ID
Guided by Voices - Teenage FBI (Do the Collapse)
Medeski Marti & Wood - Where's the Music? (Let's Go Everywhere)
Baby Loves Jazz Band - Go Baby Go (Baby Loves Jazz)
Lyle Lovett - Church (Joshua Judges Ruth)
Les Chauds Lapins - Swing Troubador (Parlez-Moi D'Amour)
Ambrosia Parsley - Everybody Came (For the Kids Three)
-song ID
-Deedle Deedle Dees live in-studio:
Deedle Deedle Dees - Little Red Airplane
Jason Mraz - Rainbow Connection (For the Kids Three)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Tub Tub Tubman
Spoon - The Underdog (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good)
-song ID
They Might Be Giants - Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - They Got Lost (Severe Tire Damage)

Here Come the Muons, Gluons, and Quarks?

So John Linnell said in an interview on Gothamist that TMBG is already working on a science-themed record (this before Here Come the 123s is even out!).

And then here's this super short video of a TMBG song "Planets." Maybe from the same record?

The TMBW folks don't know.

Ella wants to challenge them to write an entire song about gluons.

Playlist for 1-19-08

Hooray! We appear to have finally worked out the audio recording bugs that were making our show sound, well, icky.

Check out the archive here. And be sure to come see the Deedle Deedle Dees next Saturday!

Legal ID (8:00)
They Might Be Giants - It's Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm (Severe Tire Damage)
Ralph's World - The Coffee Song (At the Bottom of the Sea)
Miss Joanie - Everybody Does It (Potty Party)
Asheba - Ahmalittle Pumpkin (Children are the Sunshine)
Excerpts from MLK I Have a Dream
Baby Loves Jazz Trio - You Are My Sunshine (Baby Loves Jazz)
Father Goose - Island in the Sun (It's a Bam Bam Diddly)
-song ID/PSA for MLK show + upcoming kids' shows
Medeski Martin & Wood - Let's Go Everywhere (Let's Go Everywhere)
Opus Ditty - Folsom Preschool Blues (Joyride Jet Engine Bus)
-song ID
Deedle Deedle Dees - Teddy Days (Freedom in a Box)
Tiny Masters of Today - Hey Mr. DJ (Bang Bang Boom Cake)
Dressy Bessy - Electrified (Electrified)
Paper Moon - Your Attitude Towards Cuttlefish (For the Kids Too!)
Tanya Donnelly - Laluna the Loon (Rock 'n' Roll Coochicoo Revue)
Throwing Muses - Counting Backwards (EP)
Breeders - Full on Idle (Title TK)
-legal ID (8:59)
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
-song ID
CandyBand - Pancake Mountain (LolliPunk)
Uncle Rock - Superhero Medley (Uncle Rock U)
Mates of State - Starman (All Day EP)
Barenaked Ladies - If I Had $1,000,000 (Gordon)
-song ID (PSA for MLK programming)
Recess Monkey - Down Down Down (Wonderstuff)
Lunch Money - Roller Coaster (Silly Reflection)
Joe McDermott - Roller Coaster (Everybody Plays Air Guitar)
Pizzicato Five - Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy vs. James Bond (Made in USA)
-song ID
Telephone Company - Babaghanoush (Panda Brain)
They Might Be Giants - I Am Not Your Broom (No!)
Terrible Twos - A Rake, A Broom, A Mop, A Shovel (If You Ever See An Owl)
Sippy Cups - Magic Toast (EP)
Miz B - I'm in Love (Raise the Brain)
-song ID
Astrograss - Drunken Sailor (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Live at Jalopy)
Paul Westerberg - Love You in the Fall (Open Season OST)
Asylum Street Spankers - Sliver (Mommy Says No!)
Aquabats - Turn Off the Idiot Box
Justin Roberts - Meltdown (Meltdown)
-song ID
They Might Be Giants - Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - The Guitar (Apollo 18)

A Correction...

Dan Zanes's PR person got in touch to let me know I have the wrong name for Dan Zanes's new record -- it is ¡Nueva York!, not ¡Nueva New York!.

Honestly, I like the latter better, but they're both good, and the CD -- what I've heard so far -- is terrific.

Highly Anticipated

Frances England was nice enough to send along the cover art for her forthcoming CD, Family Tree:



I've heard most of it now in rough mix form, and it's just wonderful. I don't expect to hear a CD I'll like more this year, honestly. We'll hear it on the show soon, I think.

Amusements in Mishearing

So the other day I'm making dinner and we're listening to The Current. On comes the Teddy Bears with Iggy Pop singing Punk Rocker with the "I'm a punk rocker, yes I am" chorus.

Ella asks me (from the next room) what he's singing. I tell her. She is clearly confused. Turns out she thinks it's "I'm a plump rocker, yes I am." Which is funny in its own right, but extra so given Iggy's decidedly non-plumpness:



Iggy. Dude. Eat a donut or three.

New column...

I've got a new column up at Little Rock Family, with brief reviews of the new records by They Might Be Giants; Medeski, Martin & Wood; Hawaiian Playground (from Putumayo); Jellydots; and Brady Rymer. (Presumably it'll be up soonish at Minnesota Parent too...)

And in case I didn't link to it before, here is my column with my top ten for 2007. The list is below, but you should go read it too.

1. Freedom in a Box - Deedle Deedle Dees
2. Mommy Says No! -Asylum Street Spankers
3. It's a Big World - Renee & Jeremy
4. Have You Never Been Yellow? - Gustafer Yellowgold
5. Educated Kid - Hipwaders
6. Have You Ever Seen an Owl? - Terrible Twos
7. Alphabet Songs Vol. III - Steve Weeks
8. Calling All Kids - CandyBand
9. Make Your Own Someday - The Jimmies
10. Play - Various Artists

That schedule's getting busy...

We haven't done a lot of book-related stuff on the show, but given the fact that Ella's reading for at least a couple of hours every day, we probably should.

So on February 9, in addition to the guest DJ set, we'll be interviewing JoAnn Dawson, author of the Lucky Foot series of books.

She was also "burnt teacher" in The Sixth Sense. Seriously.

New Lunch Money Music

...is up at their MySpace site. It's "Tiny Dinosaurs," which they played at their Flywheel show back in late 2006 (and I think we've played the live track a couple of times since then), but it's fun to hear a studio version!

Don't Call it a Comeback

Princess Katie & Racer Steve, in addition to playing a show on March 8 (you're going, right?), will be guest hosting again on February 16 while Ella and I head off to Arkansas.

Playlist for 1-12-08

Just me and Liam today!

We're heading out the door, so I'm putting up a temporary (i.e., quickly recorded, unedited, bigger-file-than-usual) archive here (link fixed; that'll teach me to try to get it posted on the way out the door!). Note that it has probably a full minute of silence at the start before Liam starts talking. Be patient. It's worth it; it's a fun show.

Legal ID (7:59)
They Might Be Giants - It's Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - Infinity (Here Come the 123s)
Harmonica Pocket - Ladybug 123 (Dub) (Ladybug One)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Major Deegan (Freedom in a Box!)
Son Volt - Windfall (Trace)
Martin Medeski & Wood - The Train Song (Let's Go Everywhere)
-song ID (PSA for Flywheel show, Uncle Rock show)
Sippy Cups - Little Puffer (Electric Storyland)
Brady Rymer & the Little Band that Could - Road Trip (Here Comes...)
-song ID
Breeders - Divine Hammer (EP)
Charity and the JAMband - Super Hero (Rock Your Socks Off)
Mr. Richard - Pots 'n' Pans (Polka Dot Puzzle)
Kinks - Picture Book (The Kings Are the Village Green Preservation Society)
Danny Adlerman & Friends - In the Future (Listen Up!)
Teenage Fanclub - Star Sign (Bandwagonesque)
Marty Beller w/ AudraRox - D is for Drums (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Live at Jalopy)
They Might Be Giants - Heart of the Band (Here Come the 123s)
-Uncle Rock PSA
Uncle Rock - Rock and Roll Babysitter (Plays Well with Others)
Baze and His Silly Friends - All My Silly Friends (One Little Smile)
-legal ID
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
-song ID
Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
Madness - One Step Beyond
Supersuckers - Rubber Biscuit (Play)
mystery song (not sure what we played here) (sounds like "You Can Get It If You Really Want," but I don't know who did it. It's not the CD I meant to play, but it's nice enough.)
Mr. Leebot - Hot Diggity (Activate!)
Joe McDermott - Come to Hawaii (Hawaiian Playground)
-song ID
Lunch Money - Are You a Rabbit? (Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Live at Jalopy)
Frances England - Tricycle (Fascinating Creatures)
Seth Decker & the Missing Piece - Open the Door (Intergalactic Tour)
Monty Harper - Paws Claws Scales & Tales (Paws Claws...)
Father Goose - Long Time Gal (It's a Bam Bam Diddly!)
-song ID
Dream Jam Band - That's Enough for Me (Dream Jam Band)
Hipwaders - Spare the Rock and Spoil the Child
Hipwaders - Geometry (Educated Kid)
Big Jim's Tangy Tunes - Area (Tangy Tunes)
fIREHOSE - Whisperin' While Hollerin' (fROMOHIO)
Jimmies - What's That Sound? (Make Your Own Someday)
-song ID
Les Chauds Lapins - Vous Etes Jolie (Parlez Moi D'Amour)
Duplex! - DNA (Ablum)
Astrograss - The Homework Machine (Astrograss for Kids)
Rocknoceros - These Hands (Dark Side of the Moon Bounce)
-song ID
They Might Be Giants - Spare the Rock
They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants (Flood)

Anyone Rambling?

After the show tomorrow, we'll be heading to the Levon Helm Ramble with Medeski, Martin & Wood kicking off their terrific new CD (which you'll hear some of on the show, and Chris Wood, as noted below, will be doing a guest DJ set for us next month). Anyone else coming? Let me know...

Coming Soon...

We just confirmed a February 9 guest DJ set by Chris wood, bassist extraordinaire of Medeski Martin & Wood, who just released the terrific Let's Go Everywhere. Stefan's got a review up, which matches my views (which will be in upcoming columns) -- it really is great. I can't wait to hear what Chris picks for his guest set.

In other news, remember that we've got the return of the Deedle Deedle Dees (January 26, Lyman Hall at First Churches), Uncle Rock (Feb. 2, Florence Civic Center), Pop Rockets (Feb. 9, Holyoke Children's Museum) and Princess Katie & Racer Steve (March 8, Lyman Hall).

The New Dan Zanes Record's Name...

...is ¡Nueva New York!.

(This might be the first time it's been announced. It's the first I'd heard it.)

And that's a perfect name. As you'll recall from when we interviewed Dan last month, he described the new record as sounding like "New York in the new century," and -- from the couple of tracks I've heard so far (one of which you can hear on Dan's blog) -- that's exactly right.

New York is Nice, But Colder Than Hawaii

Hope you all enjoyed Princess Katie & Racer Steve's guest show; we sure did.

New York was fun; and it was extra cool to go see the Moonlighters and Joe McDermott play a CD release party for Putumayo's excellent Hawaiian Playground. A couple of pictures from my phone:

Broadcasting From High Atop Her Castle...

Here's the playlist for this week's terrific guest hosting show from Princess Katie & Racer Steve.

And the archive is here.

Anyone in New York who's going to the Joe McDermott/Moonlighters show at Joe's Pub on Saturday at noon (or at Mike Doughty DJing at the Knitting Factory Thursday night), send me an e-mail!

Legal ID
TMBG – It’s Spare the Rock
TMBG – One Dozen Monkeys
HELLO – Skit
Princess Katie & Racer Steve – Sneakers (Fast & Feisty)
The Beatles – And Your Bird Can Sing (Revolver)
The Sippy Cups – Little Puffer (Electric Storyland)
Renee & Jeremy – It’s a Big World! (It’s a Big World!)
Recess Monkey – Aquarium (Aminal House)
The Cure – Why Can I Be You? (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)
Rosemary Clooney – C’mon A My House (Back to Back)
--Song ID—
Stevie Wonder – Superstition (Original Musiquarium)
Ernie & Neal – My Life (Rock the House)
Aric with an A – Central Park Kitty (Bright Lights, Big Kitty)
--Song ID—
Peter Bjorn & John – Young Folks (Writer’s Block)
Steve Weeks – Monkeys (Alphabet Songs Volume II)
Skatalites featuring Bob Marley – Simmer Down (Foundation Ska)
OVERTHROW - Skit
Gustafer Yellowgold – Rocket Shoes (Have You Never Been Yellow?)
Yosi – Just Desserts (What’s Eatin’ Yosi?)
Prince - Starfish & Coffee (Sign o’ the Times)
Legal ID
Scribble Monster – Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Princess Katie & Racer Steve – Hide & Seek (Fast & Feisty)
B52’s – Legal Tender (Nude on the Moon)
--Song ID—
Elvis Presley – Snowbird (Elvis Country)
Rebecca Frezza – Snow Day (Special Kind of Day)
The Go Go’s – We Got the Beat (Beauty and the Beat)
Danny Adlerman – Hundred’s Day (Listen Up!)
Jack Johnson – Imagine (Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur)
--Song ID—
Jellydots – San Diego (Changing Skies)
The Apples in Stereo – Energy (Magnetic Wonder)
Robbie K. – Eating Some Pizza (Music Makes Me Happy)
Uncle Rock – Rock Out (Plays Well with Others)
THE PHONE CALL – SKIT
Cat Stevens – Peace Train (Cat Stevens: Greatest Hits)
There is a Mountain – Donovan (The Essential Donovan)
Ben Kweller – How it Should Be (Sha Sha)
Lunch Money – Roller Coaster
Elvis Presley – Bossa Nova Baby (Elvis 2nd to None)
Princess Katie & Racer Steve – We Dress Ourselves (Fast & Feisty)
TMBG – Spare the Rock
TMBG – Pirate Girls Nine (Here Come The 123’s)