2008-08-30 Playlist

Stream it here.

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Istanbul (Riversound Cafe)
Sesame Street - What's the Name of That Song? (Songs from the Street)
L'autobus a Vapeur - Bonjour Bonjour (French Playground)
ID
John Hiatt - Ride My Pony
Frances England - Sleepyhead Mommy (Family Tree)
ID

Segment 2
Kimya Dawson - Happy Home (Keep On Writing) (Alphabutt)
Dog on Fleas - Green Grass of Summer (When I Get Little)
ID/prep to rock
Justin Roberts - Day Camp
ScribbleMonster - All Ready to Go! (Songs with No Character)

Segment 3
Elvis Costello - What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love & Understanding?
Blitzen Trapper - New Shoes (For the Kids)
ID
Paul Westerberg - Meet Me in the Meadow (Open Season OST)
Sippy Cups - Springtime Fantastic (Electric Storyland)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
The Nields - Who Are You Not to Shine (Rock All Day Rock All Night)
Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke (Definitive Collection)
Arlo Guthrie - Bling Blang (Sing Along w/ Putumayo)
Ralph's World - The Coffee Song (At the Bottom of the Sea)
ID

Segment 5
Will Thomas - Broccoli (Spanglish Wrangler)
Dan Zanes - Pollito Chicken (Nueva York)
ID
Presidents of the USA - Peaches
Uncle Rock - There's Love in My Food (Uncle Rock U)
Nields - Organic Farm (Rock All Day Rock All Night)
ID/book time with Ella

Segment 6
NRBQ - Rats in My Room
Ben Rudnick & Friends - Supercaligragilisticexpialidocious (Blast Off)
Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
Recess Monkey - 3 R's for Ours
ID
They Might Be Giants - One Everything (Here Come the 123s)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Oh, hey, that is a good idea.

Princess Katie is looking for CDs and DVDs for kids in hospitals. Go do that, everyone.

(via GBK.)

Coming up...

This week: brand new music from The Nields, from their terrific new two-disc set, "Rock All Day, Rock All Night."

Plus! Brand new Kimya Dawson, from Alphabutt.

And! More new Scribblemonster.

But wait, there's more! Soon, you'll occasionally hear me on the River not just during Spare the Rock; I'm now going to be a part-timer there. No regular shift, just filling in for folks. Still, cool.

And...soon, there may be pretty big news.

Hey, I didn't notice that...

...but we just had our third anniversary.

Anyone remember that first show? Ella said like two things ("Ella" and "Hi," if memory serves). Playlist from that first show is below. Lots of the artists that have become the foundation for the show are already there. Also, it was the only time that TMBG wasn't the first thing we played, for a simple reason: I hit play on the wrong CD player.

It's been a fun three years, and here's to more to come!

Laurie Berkner - Victor Vito
They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm
Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
Milkshake - Happy Song
Sara Hickman - Radiation Man
Skankin' Pickle - Onyonghasayo
Dan Zanes - Siyahamba
Sweet Honey in the Rock - Shoo Fly
Frank Black - Jumpin' Beans (from the Rev-105 Radio Archive CD)
Matthew Sweet - Scooby Doo
Cake - Mahna Mahna
Justin Roberts - Day Camp
B-52s - Wig
Alejandro Escovedo - Sad & Dreamy (The Big 1-0)
Kelly Hogan - Senor El Gato
Asylum Street Spankers - I'm My Own Grandpa
Ella Jenkins - Angry Words
Brian Eno - I'll Come Running
Lucas Miller - Livin' in a Wetland
Joe McDermott - My Cat Can Fly
Elizabeth Mitchell & Lisa Loeb - New Morning
They Might Be Giants - Particle Man
Pizzicato 5 - I (but I meant to play Twiggy)
Ralph's World - Bellybutton
Chic St. Man - Everybody Be Yo' Self
Michelle Shocked - Flying Lesson
Gear Daddies - Dream Vacation
Dan Zanes - Wonderwheel
Candy Band - Get Up Already
Shonen Knife - Frogphobia
8 1/2 Souvenirs - Happy Feet
Talking Heads - Stay Up Late
Suburbs - Cows
Justin Roberts - In the Car
Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxler & Brave Combo - I Will Never Clean Up My Room
Buckwheat Zydeco - Mardi Gras Mambo
Replacements - Buck Hill
They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm (yep, again).

New bits on the station

These are airing on the River occasionally:





I especially love the second one. Hooray for PWOK* listening!


*People WithOut Kids

Family Music Meltdown 2 Details

I noticed that we've started to get some visitors from the awesome KidEvents.com website, which is chock full o' kid activity goodness in the Austin area. So, some details:

The lineup:

Mr. Leebot
Telephone Company
Laura Freeman
Joe McDermott
Super Pal Universe

Saturday, September 27, 6:00, at Ruta Maya Coffee House, 3601 South Congress. All of that for just $5. Five bucks, people! How awesome is that?

Co-presented with Zooglobble.

Rock!

Flans on Kids Music

A must read.

Playlist for 2008-08-23

Listen on-demand at WRSI.com.

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Can You Find It?
School for the Dead - Superhero (live at Spare the Rock)
Liz Mitchell - Little Liza Jane (You Are My Little Bird)
ID
Mates of State - Jellyman Kelly (For the Kids Three)
Syd Barrett - Effervescing Elephant
ID

Segment 2
Bob Marley - Jamming
Biscuit Brothers - This Old Man (Meet the Biscuits!)
ID/prep to rock
Daddy A Go Go - I Wanna Be An Ction Figure (Big Rock Rooster)
The Not-Its - Helicopter
Frank Black - Abstract Plain
ID

Segment 3
ScribbleMonster ID
ScribbleMonster - I'm a Utility Pole (The World's Worst Dance Song) (Songs With No Character)
ID
Egg - Flip Flops (Sunny Side Up)
Pop Rockets - TRUCKS
U2 - Beautiful Day
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
White Stripes - We Are Going To Be Friends (White Blood Cells)
Board of Education - Rise and Shine (s/t)
Princess Katie & Racer Steve - Sid the Bully (Songs for the Coolest Kids)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Teddy Days (Freedom in a Box)
ID/Book time with Ella

Segment 5
Michael Franti - East to the West
Greg Loop - Hurley Burley Stew (Duke Puddintown)
ID
Telephone Company - Old Man (Panda Brain)
Music for Aardvarks - Bellybutton Song (Sing Along with Putumayo)
ID

Segment 6
REM - Driver 8 (Fables)
Peter Rundquist - The Monkey Dance (Bug Feathers)
ID
Joe McDermott - Our Family Car is a Helicopter (Everybody Plays Air Guitar)
ID
TMBG - No! (No!)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Know what I've got?

Do you know what I've got for this week?

Hmm?

New ScribbleMonster, from the forthcoming Songs With No Character.

Not sure which song we'll be playing, but it will rawk.

Here Comes Science

Our pals at TMBW.net note an interview with John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, confirming what we noted back in January.

Whoo-hoo!

Playlist for 2008-08-16

Listen to the stream at our page at WRSI.com!

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - I Can Hear You (Factory Showroom)
Lunch Money - Umbrella (Silly Reflection)
Submarines - Swimming Pool (live at Spare the Rock/Riversound Cafe)
ID
Jon Langford - Take This Hammer (Old Town School of Music Vol. 1)
Split Lip Rayfield - The Weasel, the Bean, the Frog & The Dog (Bottle Let Me Down)
George Carver - Down at the Zoo (Down at the Zoo)
ID

Segment 2
Randy Kaplan - Clothes Dryer (Loquat Rooftop)
ID
Astrograss - Who Says Pluto's Not a Planet?
ID/Ellen & Matt interview/prep to rock
Ellen & Matt - Drive-Thru world premiere
Super Pal Universe - Microphone
ID

Segment 3
The Not-Its - B.A.T.H.
Hipwaders - I Like Summertime (s/t)
Milkshake - Bottle of Sunshine (Bottle of Sunshine)
ID
***hole Surfers - Underdog (Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits)
Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
Mr. Richard - Gimme Back My Toes (Tummy Talk)
Moey's Music Party - I Always Sit when I Eat (Moey's Music Party)
Erin McKeown - Thanks for the Boogie Ride
Funky Mama - Log Frog (Grandma's House)
Book Time with Ella

Segment 5
Buckwheat Zydeco - Iko Iko (Music for Little People 15th Anniversary Collection)
Michael Franti - Say Hey (I Love You)
ID
AudraRox - I Like to Pretend (I Can Do It By Myself)
Dan Zanes - Dame La Mano Paloma (Nueva York)
Jonathan Richman - New England
ID

Segment 6
Young-Holt Unlimited - Soulful Strut
Ralph's World - Gotta Be Good
Bob Dorough - Three is a Magic Number
Trout Fishing in America - You Can't Go (InFINity)
ID
TMBG - Mammal (Apollo 18)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Radio 8 Ball

That's the name of a very cool and kind of odd radio show out of Seattle. The concept:

The Pop Oracle is a musical divination format where questions are answered by picking songs at random and interpreting the randomly chosen song as the answer to the question, like picking musical tarot cards.

Coming up on August 22, they'll have Recess Monkey as the guest. And Recess Monkey will be calling none other than Ella to hear a question and discern the answer through the random selection of a song!

What a hoot.

Hey bands, read this

Do you have anything coming out in November or December? If so, please contact me -- show AT sparetherock DOT com.

Thanks.

About that ad over there

Yep, we have a sponsor for the blog/website from now through September, Rounder Records. Nobody's getting rich, that's for sure; I'm probably almost even from paying for the server costs over the past few years.

Thanks to Rounder for their support!

Song of the Summer

This song makes me wicked happy.



We'll play it Saturday, even if it's not really kid-oriented. I dare you to watch it and not smile and at least bop your head.

This week...

It'll be another good one, friends. We'll have brand new music from The Not-Its (must put the hyphen in the right place there, or it'd be a whole different type of band), plus a premiere from Ellen and Matt.

Will there be rock?

Oh yes. There will be rock.

Also, I will try to talk slower.

Playlist for 2008-08-09

You can stream this week's show here.

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Particle Man
Spearhead - Hole in the Bucket (Rev 105 Radio Archive Vol 1)
Mark Kozelek - Leo & Luna (See You on the Moon!)
Owen Duggan - Codfish Ball (Elephant Never Forgets)
Laura Freeman - Orange (Colorwheel Cartwheel)
ID
Parker Bent - FROGGY (I Am Your New Music Teacher)
Lead Belly - Polly Wee (Sings for Children)

Segment 2
Feist - Mushaboom (Mocky Remix)
Harmonica Pocket - Spiders in my Breakfast (Ladybug One)
ID/prep to rock with Elijah
Terrible Twos - Old Man Miller (Jerzy the Giant)
Fountains of Wayne - Better Things (This is Where I Belong)
Quiet Ones - My Keyboard (Make Some Noise)
ID

Segment 3
CandyBand - Fashion Show (LolliPunk)
Danny Adlerman & Friends - School Bus Driver (One Size Fits All)
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers (Volunteers)
Mr. Leebot - Bathtub Superstar (Activate!)
Devo - Whip It (Freedom of Choice)
Imagination Movers - Calling All Movers (Calling All Movers)
ID


Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID (Tanglewood on Tuesday)
Wilco - What Light
Monty Harper - Villa Villekulla Hula (Paws Claws Scales & Tales)
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Luck (Easy)
Ethel Merman & Ray Middleton - Anything You Can Do (Future Idols compilation)
ID

Segment 5
Staples Singers - I'll Take You There
Wee Hairy Beasties - Animal Crackers (Animal Crackers)
Little Mo McCoury - Man Gave Names to All the Animals
Enzo Garcia - Hand Over Hand (Field Trip with Enzo)
Telephone Company - I Don't Want to Shop (The King's Surprise?)
ID/book time with Ella

Segment 6
Farmer Jason - He's a Hog Hog Hog (A Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason)
ID
Replacements - Seen Your Video (Let It Be)
Dan Zanes - Wonder Wheel (For the Kids)
Backsell River Rack
Justin Roberts - Pop Fly (Pop Fly)
ID
TMBG - Experimental Film (The Spine)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Not to kick a huge multinational behemoth when it's down, but...

Just to add to the consensus of "Disney didn't do a good job here" discussions, I note this post at the New Haven Register's blogs and Amy's post.

I do have to say, I'm befuddled by not just the lack of comment (which seems not-crazy) but the complete lack of mention on the tour's website. If you're still answering whether people can get backstage passes (Answer: "No."), maybe you should put a little note on the front page. Costs you nothing and might reduce the number of people who show up expecting a show.

See Laurie Berkner Videos, So Long As You Don't Mind Being Sold Stuff To Restore Your Beauty Stolen By Motherhood

Okay, on the one hand, the videos here, on Wal-Mart's site, are pretty good at capturing her charm and energy. On the other hand, the video starts with an ad for Suave asking "Is motherhood messing with your beauty? Suave can fix that, available at Wal-Mart."

Ahem.

Anyway: just go to the individual songs and you won't get that ad (just the prominent "Suave" and "Wal-Mart" logos), plus an interview.

More on the Disney Block Party cancellation...

Live Daily reports a bit more, though without any details. It does note that the dates that remain are a benefit set of dates; maybe they decided the positive PR would help justify?

A Hartford TV station has this report noting the sad fact of people showing up to an empty field, and that Disney refused comment.

Speculation: It's hard to imagine there are really any unforeseen circumstances except "we didn't sell many tickets." Anyone who attended other dates -- were they crowded? Empty? Even at $36 a pop, they were going to need to sell a lot of tickets to break even, I'd think. I can't find any good crowd pictures from other dates (and it amuses me that the Google image search for "Disney Block Party Tour" largely features pictures from this site).

Update: Gwyneth reminds us in the comments that she has pictures up. Yeah, that doesn't look like enough people to pay all those acts, the venues, the sound people, the ads, etc., though it's hard to tell. This one looks like there were maybe a few hundred people there; let's say 500 at $36 a shot is about $18,000 in revenue (plus obviously sponsorships, etc., but still). It's hard to make that math work with that many headline-level bands.

Ah well. Again, glad we weren't planning to go. Two fun grownup shows this week (New Pornographers [with Neko!] Thursday and TMBG Saturday). Oh, and! I went to see the Avett Brothers last Saturday. My heavens, they were terrific.

Disney Block Party Tour Mostly Canceled

Huh. Wonder why.

Guess it's good that we weren't heading down to Hartford for it. That would've been disappointing.

(Anyone heading to TMBG at Mohegan on Saturday? I'll be there...)

Playlist for 2008-08-02

Why, yes, the show did air a half hour early on the River today. Dunno why. But you can stream the show on demand at WRSI.com.

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - I Am a Grocery Bag
ID
Asylum Street Spankers live at Iron Horse for STR
- Everybody Loves My Baby
- Boogers
- Sidekick
- Mommy Says No!
Interview

Segment 2
Spare the Rock visits Look Park
Deedle Deedle Dees - Brooklyn Bridge Song
Ella Fitzgerald - Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer
ID/prep to rock
Egg - Night Time Party
Polyphonic Spree - Section 12 (Hold Me Now)
ID

Segment 3
ScribbleMonster - Superhealthy (Chocolate Milk)
Pencilhead and the Playground Punks - Free (Punk Salad)
Terri Hendrix - Get Your Goat On (Celebrate the Difference)
James Brown - I Got Ants in My Pants
Jimmies - What's On Your Shirt (Make Your Own Someday)
Uncle Rock - Sugar Talkin (Plays Well With Others)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
War - Low Rider
Keb Mo - Love Train
Pam Blanchard & the Sunny-Side Up Band - Grabbed A Hold of My Heart (Let's Share It)
Opus Ditty & the Joyride Jet Engine Bus - What If?
ID/book time with Ella

Segment 5
Recess Monkey Live in studio
-
- Boogie Monster
- Sleepover

Segment 6
Leonardo - Tools (Makin' Lemonade)
ID
Board of Education - The Many Uses, and Dangers, of Commas (Board of Education)
Four Tet - Go Go Ninja Dinosaur
Lord Invader & the Calypso Orchestra - Merrily We Roll Along
ID
TMBG - We're the Replacements (Misc. T)
TMBG - Spare the Rock