2008: Our Favorites

My Fids & Kamily choices, with commentary, here.

2008-12-27 Playlist

Listen on-demand at WRSI.com!

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - C is for Conifers (Here Come the ABCs)
The New Standards - Oh Tannenbaum (Candy Cane)
Brian Wilson - Vege-Tables (Smile)
ID
Steve Lee - Wake-Up (What Did You Do Today?)
ID

Segment 2
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - The Hanukkah Waltz (Jingle All the Way)
Lyle Lovett - Straight Up and Fly Right
Matt Surowiec & the Tricentennial Band - BarBQ (Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas)
ID/prep to rock
Bzots - Join the Party (It's New Year's Eve!)
ScribbleMonster - Chocolate Milk
ID

Segment 3
ID
Uncle Rock - Sugar Talkin' (Plays Well With Others)
Princess Katie & Racer Steve - Holidays (Fast & Feisty)
The Boogers - This Song Is About Transportation (Road to Rock)
ID
Recess Monkey - Pedal Power (Tabby Road)
John Carlin - A Dinosaur Named Fred (Welcome to the Kids Music Underground)
Talking Heads - Wild Wild Life (True Stories)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
Bunny Clogs - Confessions of a Teenage Lima Bean (More! More! More!)
Prince - Get on the Boat (3121)
Booker T & the MGs - Green Onions
Of Montreal - I Want to Have Fun (For the Kids Three)
ID (backsell River Rack)

Segment 5
Lunch Money - It Only Takes One Night (To Make a Balloon Your Friend)
Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am
ID
Maria Sangiolo - Mermaid Molly (at Cup & Top on 1/10, 11:00 AM)
ID/Book time with Ella
Laura Freeman - Purple (Color Wheel Cartwheel)
Michelle Shocked - When I Grow Up (Short Sharp Shocked)
ID

Segment 6
ID
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Luck (Easy)
Sippy Cups - Springtime Fantastic (Electric Storyland)
ID
Deedle Deedle Dees - Ina Mina Dika (Let It Dee)
Elvis Costello - What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding?
ID
TMBG - Experimental Film (The Spine)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Best-Selling Kids' Music

I sometimes forget that we really don't play All The Hits, All The Time.

Until I see this kind of list.

Hmm.

But: Good on TMBG and BNL!

Tomorrow's show...

...is pretty great.

Most notably, we have new music from the Bunny Clogs, the new kids' side project from Adam Levy from The Honeydogs.

Plus, a holiday song from The New Standards, the very cool group with John Munson (Trip Shakespeare/Semisonic), Chan Poling (Suburbs), and Steve Roehm (Billygoat).

Also, new music from Bzots (!), John Carlin, Boogers.

And more.

Rawk.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

In case you missed it, you can listen to our mostly holiday music show from last Saturday any time.

And we'll be on this Saturday with something. My voice is nearly gone and has been for a day or two, but I woke up feeling a little better, so hopefully I'll be ready to go for that.

Finally, if you're not already following Santa on NoradSanta.org (or via its very cool Google Earth thingy), you should be.

Have a great holiday, everyone! We really do appreciate all of you listening and reading and look forward to another great year!

(Note: I wrote this on Christmas Eve. Blogger has been very bad and isn't publishing it, but I'm hopeful it will now, on Christmas. Merry Christmas!)

Playlist for 2008-12-20

If you missed the show live, you can stream it at WRSI.com.

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Liam ID
TMBG - Happy Doesn't Have to Have an Ending
Fountains of Wayne - Chanukah Under the Stars
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole... - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World
ID
Robbi K - Favorite Things (Music Makes Me Happy)
Shawn Colvin - All The Pretty Li'l Horses (Holiday Songs and Lullabies)
ID

Segment 2
Low - Just Like Christmas (Christmas)
Trip Shakesepeare - Snow Days (Across the Universe)
ID/prep to rock
Ralph's World - Santa Please (unreleased)
Justin Roberts - Way Out (Way Out)
ID

Segment 3
Yosi & the Superdads - She Just Doesn't Get It (...and a Happy New Year)
Jingle Punx - You Gotta Get Up (Coal)
ID
Lunch Money - Cookie As Big As My Head
Candyband - I Want a Big Fat Cookie for Christmas (single)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Obedience School (Freedom in a Box!)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
G. Love - Julius Coolius (World of Happiness bonus track)
Lyle Lovett - Church (Joshua Judges Ruth)
Asylum Street Spankers - You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (A Christmas Spanking)

Segment 5
Miles Davis - Godchild (Birth of the Cool)
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Linus & Lucy (Charlie Brown Christmas)
Ivy - Christmas Time is Here (Maybe This Christmas)
ID
Uncle Rock - Too Many Presents (Uncle Rock U)
TMBG - Santa Claus (Holidayland!)
ID

Segment 6
Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang - Channukah Medley ('Tis the Season to be Rockin')
Mates of State - Jellyman Kelly
ID
ScribbleMonster - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Danny Adlerman & Friends - Two Sets of Footprints (...and a Happy New Year)
Polyphonic Spree - Happy Xmas (War is Over) (Maybe This Christmas Tree)
ID
TMBG - O Tannenbaum (Holidayland)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Ralph's World Says Merry Christmas

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo: the Return!

Sunday, February 1, 1:00 doors, 1:30 show, First Churches - Lyman Hall - $7.

Those of you who came before know it was awesome. Those of you who didn't, you must come.

Free Hairy Beasties

A little holiday gift to you from the nice folks in Wee Hairy Beasties (Jon Langford & Sally Timms from the Mekons, plus Kelly Hogan, backed up by Devil in a Woodpile): a free -- yes, free -- MP3 of the title track from their new, and ludicrously fun, CD, Holidays Gone Crazy.

Download it here (control-click or right-click and go to "download file" or somesuch).

Thanks to the band for sharing the song!

This week...

Great holiday music this week, including new (well, old, but new to the world) music from Ralph's World; new music from Yosi & the Superdads, new music from Danny Adlerman & Friends, new music from G. Love, plus lots of other stuff from various favorites.

Also, as a reminder: this Sunday is the First Churches of Northampton Christmas pageant, "Journey On," mostly written by Lloyd Miller, a/k/a Ulysses S. Dee, in conjunction with kids and other members of our congregation. It is a terrific pageant; Lloyd will be playing with the kids.

Playlist for 2008-12-13

As always, you can stream the show on demand at WRSI.com.

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Nine Bowls of Soup (Here Come the 123s)
Wee Hairy Beasties - Dinosaur Christmas (Holidays Gone Crazy)
ID
Semisonic - Down By The Riverside (Down by the Riverside)
Elizabeth Mitchell - Peace Like a River (You Are My Little Bird) (NCMC 2/21)
Justin Roberts - Henrietta's Hair (Pop Fly)
ID/River Rack backsell

Segment 2
Spare the Rock at Hot Chocolate Run
Smoosh - But Now I Know
Sippy Cups - Ladybug Beat (EP)
ID/prep to Rock
Fountains of Wayne - Alien for Christmas (Out of State Plates)
Suburbs - Cows (In Combo)
ID
Lunch Money - Tiny Dinosaurs
ID

Segment 3
Deedle Deedle Dees - Underground Railroad (Let It Dee)
ID
Fleshtones - Super Rock Santa (Stocking Stuffer)
ScribbleMonster - Doing the Right Thing Isn't Always Easy, Doing the Easy Thing Isn't Always Right (Songs With No Character)
Ellen and Matt - Side By Side (Best Friends)
ID
SteveSongs - Fast Monkey (DVD Bonus CD)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
Hipwaders - Educated Kid
Raveonettes - Christmas Song
Eric Herman - My Lucky Day (Snow Day!)
ID
Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis (Very Special Christmas)
ID/Book time with Ella

Segment 5
Randy Kaplan in-studio
No Nothing
Shampoo Me

Segment 6
Aric Bieganek - Doo Doo Doo Doo (Bright Lights, Big Kitty)
Spanglish Wrangler - Desayuno Boogie (Spanglish Wrangler)
Dan Zanes & Friends - Colas (Nueva York)
Allen Toussaint - Yes We Can Can
ID (thanks again to Randy Kaplan)
TMBG - The Ballad of Davy Crockett in Outer Space (Disney Music Block Party)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Pictures from Dog on Fleas show

Took me a while, but they're up here. Yes, there was limbo under a trombone.

Oh, hey, I didn't mention this.

I'm now doing Sundays from noon to 3 on 93.9 The River. Not kids' music -- regular River music -- but regular River music is pretty darn good.

Liam will be your new mayor

That was the conclusion at the Hot Chocolate Run, though he's apparently not interested:



(We'll play this during the show on Saturday the 13th, so don't worry if the player won't work for you.)

Playlist for 2008-12-06

You can stream the show on demand at WRSI.com.

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - One Dozen Monkeys (Here Come the 123s)
Sufjan Stevens - The Friendly Beasts (See You on the Moon)
ID
Nields - Come Go with Me (Rock All Day Rock All Night)
Laurie Anderson - Excellent Birds
Lunch Money - Wake Up World (Dizzy)
ID

Segment 2
Buddy Holly - Everybody
Trout Fishing in America - Big Round World (Big Round World)
ID/prep to rock
Sippy Cups - Move Your Pants (Electric Storyland)
Papas Fritas - Vertical Lives (Buildings & Grounds)
ID

Segment 3
Justin Roberts - Meltdown (Meltdown)
Hank Hooper - ABC-234 Song (Playground Fortune Teller)
ID
Asylum Street Spankers - Everybody Loves My Baby (Live at Iron Horse for Spare the Rock)
Madness - One Step Beyond
ScribbleMonster - Winter Wonderland (single)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
Brave Combo - No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha
Milkshake - Boom, Boom (Bottle of Sunshine)
Slavic Soul Party - Never Gonna Let You Go (Teknochek Collision)
Yosi - Bulbes (What's Eatin' Yosi)
Chris Kenner - I Like It Like That (New Orleans Playground)
ID

Segment 5
Wee Hairy Beasties - Holidays Gone Crazy (Holidays Gone Crazy)
Ralph Covert - Fools Will Try (Park Slope Parents Vol. 1)
ID/book time with Ella
Mike Doughty - More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle (Golden Delicious)
AudraRox - I Can Do It By Myself (I Can Do It By Myself)
ID

Segment 6
David Bowie - Changes (Essential)
SteveSongs - Library (Little Superman)
ID
School for the Dead - Beautiful Day in the Woods (Ayla) (live at Spare the Rock)
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - Have Fun (Easy)
ID
TMBG - Destination Moon (John Henry)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Hot Chocolate Run!

Hey, so Dena's running and the kids and I are walking in the Hot Chocolate Run this morning to benefit Safe Passage. So if you're going to be out, keep an eye out for us!

Grammy Nominations...

...are here.

TMBG, Trout Fishing in America, Beethoven's Wig, Brady Rymer, and the Seattle Symphony.

Music Video Site for Kids

Okay, so, Jitterbug.TV is pretty darn cool. I never would have predicted the existence of a website dedicated entirely to music videos for good music for kids, but there it is.

Deedle Deedle Dees Demos

Go listen.

Wednesday - don't forget Randy Kaplan!

The Brooklyn Paper called him a "national treasure," and you can see him for free this Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 at Cup & Top Cafe in the center of Florence:

Randy Kaplan.

We'll be recording a bit with him for broadcast in the future (probably a week from Saturday).

Come on by, won't you?

Updated/Canceled: Coming A Very Long Time From Now: Astrograss

Bah! I totally missed on our calendar that we will be en route to SXSW on March 14, so that Astrograss show will not be happening then. We will reschedule for later in 2009.

Still keep 3/28 open, though.

Saturday, March 14, at 2:00 at Lyman Hall (First Churches) - Astrograss will bring their awesome newgrass for kids to Northampton.

And keep March 28 -- all day -- free, if you would. Not ready to make the formal announcement, but it'll be good.