Playlist for 4-29-06

Archive is here.

They Might Be Giants - No! (No!)
Feist - Mushaboom
SteveSongs - Elephant Hide & Seek (Marvelous Day!)
Nazare Pereira - Bonjour Pra Voce (World Playground)
Jayhawks - This Little Light of Mine (Down By the Riverside)
Sippy Cups - Give Peas a Chance (Kids Rock for Peas)
--song ID
Parker Bent - 26 Letters (I Am Your New Music Teacher)
Wayne Potash - Stunt Car (Don't Forget the Donut!)
Happy Monster & Friends - Baby Bumble Bee (Rhythm with Rhymes)
Brian Eno - I'll Come Running (Another Green World)
Beck - Funky Lil' Song (Dimension 5 Mega Mix)
--song ID/PSA (Eric Carle Museum event)
Dan Zanes - Let's Shake (Catch That Train!)
Asylum Street Spankers - I'm My Own Grandpa (Bottle Let Me Down)
--song ID
Daddy A Go Go - For Those About to Walk, We Salute You (Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate)
Dressy Bessy - Electrified (Electrified)
CandyBand - Get Up Already (Lollipunk)
Rebecca Frezza - I Know I'm Gonna Drive A Car (Road Trip)
Skankin' Pickle - I Missed the Bus (Skankin' Pickle Fever)
Billy Bragg & Wilco - My Flying Saucer (Mermaid Avenue Vol. II)
--legal ID 8:57
Chromotones - Scientific Method (Island of Life)
Kid Koala feat. Lederhosen Lucil - Fruit Belt (See You on the Moon!)
--song ID
Semisonic - Down By The Riverside (Down By The Riverside)
Frances England - Tricycle (Fascinating Creatures)
Lunch Money - Tricycle (Silly Reflection)
Pizzicato Five - Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy vs. James Bond (Made in USA)
Charity and the JAM Band - Super Hero (Rock Your Socks Off)
Milkshake - Happy Song (Happy Songs)
Jake - I Woke Up This Morning (Happy All The Time)
--song ID
Dan Zanes - Walkin' the Dog (with the Rubi Theater Company) (Catch That Train!)
Monty Harper - Roundy Round (Take Me To Your Library)
Fundraising PSA
Justin Roberts - Meltdown (Meltdown!)
Doug Barr - Little Cookies (Hello Everybody)
Gunnar Madsen - Summertime is Here (Old Mr. Mackle Hackle)
Mary Kaye - Spin Your Web (Spin Your Web)
Smoosh - But Now I Know
Johnette Downing - Riding My Bike (Music Time)
--song ID
The Quiet Ones - My Keyboard (Make Some Noise)
Telephone Company - Teeth (The King's Surprise?)
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies - Jambalaya (8-Track Stomp)
Mr. Ray - I'd Be a Dinosaur (partial)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Well, That Should Be Good

Hey, are you an aging Minneapolis hipster? Or are you merely aging, and wish that you were once a Minneapolis hipster? Or perhaps just aging? I think I'm in one of those categories, but I'm not sure which one. Probably the middle one.

Anyway, The Reuben Lindh benefit CD looks to be for you. (And, more to the point, for me.) Mason Jennings, Semisonic (together and Dan Wilson solo), Laurie Lindeen, Chan Poling (of Suburbs), Martin Zellar (of Geardaddies), and, wow this should be cool, the Jayhawks doing "This Little Light of Mine."

Ordered mine today. Probably won't have it in time for this week's show, but we'll see.

Oh, and we probably will have the new Dan Zanes (comes out in May) by Saturday. So listen!

Playlist for 4-22-06

Heya,

Here we are playing some music. Cool, no?

The archive MP3 is here.

Legal ID (7:59)
They Might Be Giants - Whirlpool (Why Does the Sun Shine? CD single)
Rebecca Frezza - Saturday (Road Trip)
Bill Harley - There's a Pea on My Plate (There's a Pea on My Plate)
Todos Estellas - Mami Me Gusto (Cuba)
Happy Monster & Friends - Do Your Ears Hang Low? (Rhythm with Friends Vol. I)
Charity and the JAM Band - Jump Into the Middle (Rock Your Socks Off)
Song ID
Chromotones - Bullfrog (Island of Life)
Jay Mankita - Wide Mouthed Frog (The Day the Library Went Wild)
Lucas Miller - I Don't Wanna Be Part of the Food Chain! (There's a Chicken on My Head!)
PSA - Women's Sports Foundation
Frances England - Blue Canoe (Fascinating Creatures)
Lemonheads - Outdoor Type (Car Button Cloth)
Song ID (Congratulations to Wayne for winning the Justin Roberts CD!)
Suburbs - Cows (In Combo)
Kevin Kammeraad - Best Poem Ever (Tomato Collection)
Scribblemonster - Chocolate Milk (Chocolate Milk)
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
Ween - The Mollusk (First Avenue Bootlegs Vol. 1)
Daddy A Go Go - Kids' Beat Bop (Blitzkrieg Bop) (Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate)
Bzots - Two Months Security Deposit (Powered Up!)
Song ID
Deedle Deedle Dees - Major Deegan (How Ya Feelin) (Live at Flywheel)
Ben Rudnick & Friends - I Got A New Friend (Blast Off!)
Justin Roberts - My Brother Did It (Meltdown!)
Burchie Green - I Wanna Bring My Dog To Dinner (Taking My Dog to Dinner)
Ticklefish - Slug Bug (Icky Sticky)
Milkshake - Bottle of Sunshine (Bottle of Sunshine)
Song ID
Mary Kaye - B.B. Dickinson (Spin Your Web)
Mr. Ray - The Um Song (Songs From the Kids' Lounge)
Devil in the Woodpile - Funky Butt (Bottle Let Me Down)
Frank Black - Jumpin' Beans (Rev 105 Archive Vol. I)
Xtatik - Music Farm (World Playground II)
Song ID/PSA (VFR fundraising)
Steve Weeks - Kiki Kangaroo (Alphabet Songs Vol. II)
Laurie Berkner - I Know A Chicken (Whaddya Think of That?)
Imagination Movers - Shakable Fruit (Good Ideas)
Imagination Movers - Everybody's Game (Good Ideas)
St. Etienne - Let's Build a Zoo
Keith Munslow - Accidentally (Live at VFR)
Song ID
They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm (Severe Tire Damage)

Hi There, Justin Roberts Newsletter Recipients

...and thanks to Justin for linking to us, as well as to (among others) our friends at Zooglobble.

If you're new here, we occasionally post stuff about kids' music, but mostly we're a radio show on Saturday mornings. You can listen from the stream (go to valleyfreeradio.org) or via the podcast (put "http://feeds.feedburner.com/SpareTheRockPodcast" in your podcast client), or you can just check out the archive MP3s.

Get in touch if you have questions or suggestions - show AT sparetherock DOT com.

Playlist for 4/15/06

Archive is here.

They Might Be Giants - New York City
L'Autobus a Vapeur - Bonjour, Bonjour (French Playground)
Stevie Wonder - 1-2-3 Sesame Street (Songs from the Street)
Chromotones - Living Things (Island of Life)
Ira Marlowe - The Planets' Song (The Teasing Bird)
Ella Jenkins - Quiereme Mucho (Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins)
Song ID
Frances England - Charlie Parker (Fascinating Creatures)
Miles Davis - Godchild (Birth of the Cool)
Ella Fitzgerald - It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)
Great Lake Swimmers - See You On The Moon! (See You on the Moon)
PSA (Women's Sports Foundation)
Mr. Nicky - Look Up at the Clouds (Science Project)
Song ID
Dan Zanes - Jamaica Farewell (w/ Angelique Kidjo)
Song ID
Maya Bond - Cute Papa
The Quiet Ones - How Fast Can You Run? (Make Some Noise)
Teacher and the Rockbots - Six Skinny Bug Legs (Multiplication)
Jonathan Richman - El UFO Man
Sippy Cups - Jungle Boogie (Kids Rock for Peas!)
Legal ID (8:58
Pixies - La La Love You (Dolittle)
Candy Band - Pancake Mountain (LolliPunk)
Song ID/Justin Roberts CD Giveaway (Happy Birthday to Ella and Nicky!)
Justin Roberts - It's Your Birthday (Meltdown!)
Beatles - Birthday (White Album)
Scribblemonster - Hooray! (Best of Friends)
Brady Rymer - Every Day is a Birthday (Every Day is a Birthday)
Pencilhead and the Playground Punks - The Birthday Song (7 Years)
BNL - La La La Lemon
Song ID
Frances England - Books I Like to Read (Fascinating Creatures)
Lunch Money - Yes, We Have Rhythm (Silly Reflection)
10,000 Maniacs - Peace Train (In My Tribe)
The Cool Crooners of Bulawayo - I Van Enkulu (Swing Around the World)
Milkshake - School (Bottle of Sunshine)
Danny Adlerman - How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck? (One Size Fits All)
PSA (VFR fundraiser)
Telephone Company - Mustache (The King's Surprise?)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Stand Up Straight (Let It Dee)
Daddy-A-Go-Go - Of Mice and Mensch (Mojo a Go Go)
Frances England - Paint a Picture (Fascinating Creatures)
Song ID
They Might Be Giants - Robot Parade (Live)

Frances England's Fascinating Creatures

I haven't usually posted reviews on the site, mostly because I feel like I'm learning about cool bands and singers about nine months after everyone else has. But this time, I feel like I'm on the front end of recognizing a great new album by Frances England out of San Francisco.

Her CD, Fascinating Creatures (samples available at CD Baby - follow that link), strikes exactly the right balance between having buckets of appeal for kids and being a delight for grownups. The songs don't sound complicated or overwritten, but the more I listen to them, the more I appreciate how they're put together.

The lyrics make me think of Lunch Money, my favorite band of 2005. They're accessible to kids without being childish. Consider the final verse of "Paint a Picture":

And I’m gonna paint my Grandmommy a picture
The most beautiful one she’s ever seen
The brightest blues and the deepest reds, golden yellow of a tulip bed
Oh, she’ll be so proud of me

Or "Busy as a Bee":

Last night about a quarter to eight, you came into my room
You said, “Honey, it’s getting late, it’s getting late.”
I said, oh no Momma this cannot be,
I got too many things to do before I sleep, before I sleep
I got songs to sing and stories to tell,
I got animals to talk to, make sure they’re doing well, before I sleep

Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
No sleep for me

The music has some similarities to Lunch Money as well, but throw in the mix Elizabeth Mitchell and (especially on "The Books I Like to Read") Mary Lou Lord. Frances mentions (among others) Yo La Tengo and Cat Power as grown-up artists she likes, and I can see that too.

My favorite song, I think, is "Charlie Parker," but there's not a dud on the album. Ella can't pick a favorite song, but sure does want it on all the time.

We'll be playing several songs from the CD this week on the show. Enjoy and go buy it.

Boozoggly? Gozoobly? Gowobbly? Zooglobble!

Hooray for Zooglobble and their NPR interview, and welcome to our little show, those of you coming from his kind links. We'll be back live this week, Saturday morning from 8 to 10 eastern. You can stream at ValleyFreeRadio.org or subscribe to the podcast (here's the podcast link) or just go wander the archives. And, of course, if you happen to be in western Massachusetts, you can hear us at 103.3 FM, WXOJ-LP.

As Stefan says on Zooglobble, our tastes are pretty similar; we just (for now) have a bigger set of CDs to choose from. We will be playing some new stuff this week, as previously mentioned, and a bunch of old favorites too...

So: If you haven't checked out Zooglobble, you should do so, and you should also check out the other sites to which he links. And please come back and listen on Saturday, either live or via the podcast.

Rerun This Week

I'll be in DC this weekend, so the show will be a rerun from February, featuring Keith Munslow live in-studio.

We'll be back next week with wonderful new music from Frances England. You will like it. I promise.

Playlist for 4/1/06

Happy April!

Today's playlist (archive here):

Legal ID
They Might Be Giants - Four of Two (No!)
Roger Day - Reach Up
Elizabeth Mitchell & Lisa Loeb - New Morning (Catch the Moon)
Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin - Hush Little Baby (Hush)
Angelique Kidjo - Battu (African Playground)
Song ID
Buddy Holly - Everyday
Yosi - Friends Around the World (Under a Big Bright Yellow Umbrella)
Pencilhead and the Playground Punks - Jared's Song (Super-Powered Underwear)
Joe McDermott - Everything Grows (Great Big World)
Justin Roberts - Maybe the Monster (Meltdown!)
Song ID/PSA
Thunderlords - Old Man Olaf
Deedle Deedle Dees - Rancher Ants (Live at Flywheel)
Ben Kweller - How It Should Be (Sha Sha)
Aquabats - Cat with Two Heads
Sippy Cups - Low Rider (Kids Rock for Peas!)
Jonathan Richman - Roadrunner
White Stripes - We're Going to Be Friends (White Blood Cells)
legal ID (8:58)
Too Much Joy - Sandbox (Cereal Killers)
Mates of State - Goods (All in Your Head) (All Day EP)
Candy Band - Time out (Lollipunk)
Song ID/Legal ID (9:10)
Sweet Honey in the Rock - Look! Look! The Sun Woke Up! (I Got Shoes)
Ben Rudnick & Friends - Dads Can Dance (Blast Off!)
Keith Munslow - Accidentally (Live at VFR)
Brian Wilson - Vega-Tables (Smile)
Laurie Berkner - Valley of Vegetables (Buzz Buzz)
Trout Fishing in America - Junk Food Jump (InFINity)
Song ID
Moby - Bodyrock (Play)
10,000 Maniacs - Peace Train (In My Tribe)
Lunch Money - Roller Coaster (Silly Reflection)
Steve Weeks - Kiki Kangaroo (Alphabet Songs Vol. II)
Tony Bennett with Lexine - Little Things (Songs from the Street)
Colibri - La Mariposa (The Butterfly) (World Playground)
Kevin Kammeraad (John Lippi singing) - Up and Down Frowns (Tomato Collection)
ScribbleMonster & His Pals - Wishin' Around (Best of Friends)
Song ID
They Might Be Giants - No! (No!)