More Halloween Fun

Friend-of-Spare-the-Rock Ben, down in Queens, loves Cat in the Hat. A lot:



Send your pictures!

Ella is Amelia Earhart

Don't you think?





Want to share your Halloween pictures with other listeners? Send 'em in (show AT sparetherock DOT com).

2006-10-28 Playlist

Archive is here.

With Danny Adlerman & Kevin Kammeraad in-studio!

They Might Be Giants - Stalk of Wheat (The Spine)
Ralph's World - Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus (At the Bottom of the Sea)
Jellydots - Mr. Gloom (Hey You Kids!)
Beatles - Octopus Garden (Abbey Road)
Astrograss - The Dirtiest Man in the World (Astrograss for Kids)
Donovan - Happiness Runs (Troubador)
--song ID
Kevin Kammeraad/ScribbleMonster/etc. - State Song Medley Extended Dance Remix (Curious Glimpse of Michigan)
--song ID
Roger Day - Monster Face (Ready to Fly)
Bullseye - Mick Jagger's Birthday Bash (Duck Taped Shut)
Sippy Cups - Springtime Fantastic (Electric Storyland)
Princess Katie & Racer Steve - Jeans! (Songs for the Coolest Kids)
ScribbleMonster & Friends - A Monster Goes Rrraargh! (Chocolate Milk)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Scared By My Own Costume (Live at Flywheel)
Monty Harper - Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet (Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD)
--song ID
Danny Adlerman - Cousin Jacks (A Curious Glimpse of Michigan)
Kevin Kammeraad & Danny Adlerman - Sweet Pea Emily (Live in Studio)
Elizabeth Street - Really Gross (Different)
Telephone Company - Baby Halloween (The King's Surprse?)
Ginger Hendrix - Riding My Pony (Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo)
Clarence "Frogman" Henry - Ain't Got No Home (New Orleans Playground)
--song ID
Kevin Kammeraad & Danny Adlerman - Up & Down Frowns (Live in Studio)
Simon & Garfunkel - Feelin' Groovy (Old Friends)
Domestic Problems - Summer in the Sandbox (Play)
Icicles - Lemonade & Somersaults (Pure Sugar EP)
Milkshake - Scared (Happy Songs)
--song ID
Steve Weeks - 4 Little Girls (Aaron and his Aeroplane)
TMBG - Something Grabbed Ahold of My Hand (Apollo 18)
Mary Kaye - Skeleton Song (Spin Your Web)
Rebecca Frezza - Monster in My Room (Music in My Heart)
TMBG - Fingertips (Apollo 18)
Laurie Berkner - Monster Boogie (Buzz Buzz)
Andy Glockenspiel - Monster in Pink Underwear
Muppets - Wild Thing
They Might Be Giants - Hovering Sombrero '05 (Here Come the ABCs)

Next Year, Maybe ScribbleMonster Will Curse At The Kids Like Patti Smith

Lollapalooza. (and, one assumes, Kidzapalooza) has announced its return for 2007 - August 3-5, and that it will exist at least through 2011.

Upcoming Stuff

Good heavens, check all of this out. It's always in the right-hand column, but I wanted to highlight it a bit:

Oct. 28 - Kevin Kammeraad live in-studio and at Cup & Top (10:00)
Oct. 28 - Pancake Mountain at Flywheel (come see Kevin and then hurry down to Easthampton, perhaps)
Nov. 4 - Josh Levine live in-studio and at Cup & Top (10:00)
Nov. 11 - John Sheldon live in-studio and at Cup & Top (10:00)
Nov. 18 - Lunch Money & Uncle Rock live at Flywheel (5:00); Uncle Rock live on the show that morning and at Cup & Top at 10:00
Nov. 25 - Rebecca Frezza live in-studio
Dec. 2 - Frances England guest DJ set and call-in
Dec. 9 - Bullseye live in-studio (tentative)
Feb. 3 - Gustafer Yellowgold live at Flywheel (morning show)

What, you ask, is Bullseye? Well, check out their site and a nice article in the Boston alt-weekly. They're kids a little older than Ella (mostly 10 or 11) who recently opened for Throwing Muses, to give you a sense of the sort of attention they're getting. And they're local. We'll be playing something from their EP this week, so give a listen. Also new music from Farmer Jason, Astrograss, and no doubt other things I'm forgetting.

Coming soon will be a guest set from Ginger Hendrix and more!

Memory Lane Intersects First Avenue

There are all sorts of things I should be doing, but I came across this, which, while not even close to a complete list of shows ever at First Avenue (my guess is that this lists perhaps a quarter of the shows), is pretty darn cool anyway. I thought I'd see how many shows listed I at least remember seeing...

The first show was really my first introduction to shows in bars, the all-age farewell show for the Suburbs (which have reunited many times), and I can't find it listed. It was in 1987, I know that, but it's not listed.

And then there was a pretty long gap until I moved into St. Paul for college in '89. I might have seen a show or two between '87 and '89 but I don't remember any there. I mostly saw arena shows in that time frame - the Cure, New Order, (ahem) Rush, Depeche Mode (hey, I was a teenager), INXS, the Grateful Dead...I'm sure there were others, but that's what I remember. Oh, and the first Lollapalooza, whenever that was.

Then once we get to '89, there are some shows; I think I saw these (if not these, I saw shows with the same groups around the same time, anyway...):

Public Image Limited, 10/25/1989
Bob Mould/Camper Van Beethoven/Close Lobsters, 11/13/1989
Rhea Valentine/Something Fierce (Entry), 12/10/1989
Gear Daddies/Farm Accident/Draghounds, 12/27/1989
Soul Asylum/ Run Westy Run, 05/29/1990.
Trip Shakespeare/ Picadors/ Aquanettas/ Cedar Wax Wings, 06/10/1990-06/11/1990
Arcwelder/Charlie Don't Surf/Superball '63/Honus Wagner (Entry), 08/31/1990
Jesus Jones/ Die Warzau/ Rhododendron, 09/26/1990.
Bob Mould Band/Firehouse/Contras, 10/09/1990 (n.b. not really Firehouse [ick] but fIREHOSE)
Billy Bragg/Boiled in Lead, 10/15/1990
Sonic Youth/ Cows/ Babes in Toyland, 10/22/1990
Gear Daddies, 11/21/1990
No Apparent Reason Record Release Party: Big Trouble House/No Apparent Reason/Galactic Rodeo,02/24/1991.
Soul Asylum/Arcwelder, 07/03/1991
Primus/ TAD, 08/11/1991.
Fugazi/ John-Ivan Palmer/ Nation of Ulysses, 08/12/1991.
Bad Brains/7 Seconds/Lucy Brown, 08/13/1991
Bob Mould/Vic Chestnutt/Drink Me, 10/19/1991.
Fishbone/ PRIMUS, 11/02/1991-11/03/1991. (one of the finest shows I've seen, btw)
Run Westy Run/Bushel & Peck [Dave Pirner & Dan Murphy]/ Coup de Grace/ Veterans' Day Poppies/ Bob Evans , 11/23/1991
Billy Bragg, 12/02/1991 (car died after this one and Dena and I had to find a pay phone in the crazy cold)
Pixies/ Barkmarket, 01/26/1992-01/27/1992.
Dinosaur/ Jr./ My Bloody Valentine/ Babes in Toyland, 02/12/1992.
Pearl Jam/ Eleven, 03/25/1992. (left early, if memory serves)
Beastie Boys/firehose [sic]/Basehead, 05/12/1992. (I think I went to this)
Gear Daddies/Slim and the Eggroll Kings/The Glenrustles. 05/20/1992.
Timbuk 3/willie Wisely Trio, 06/13/1992.
The Breeders/Unrest/ Malo, 10/28/1992.
Trip Shakespeare/27 Various/Surahoolies, 12/14/1992-12/15/1992.
Soul Asylum/Zuzu's Petals/Muskellunge/The Hang Ups, 12/21/1992-12/23/1992.
Superchunk/Come/Bettie Serveert, 03/29/1993.
Sugar/Cell/Mickey Finn/Hovercraft, 04/28/1993-04/29/1993.
Warren Zevon/Flash Girls/John Casey Awsumb, 05/08/1993.
Rage Against the Machine/Quicksand/The Stanford Prison Experiment, 10/25/1993.
The Suburbs/Blue Up?/Lackluster/The Honeydogs, 09/29/1994-09/30/1994.
Sugar/Magnapop/Green Pyramids, 11/01/1994-11/02/1994.
Arcwelder/Dollface/Big Red Ball, 12/29/1994.

(then we moved to Austin)

Arcwelder/Likehell/Brits Out of America, 12/28/1997. (home for the holidays)

(then we moved back to Minneapolis)

Soul Asylum/Run Westy Run/Polara, 07/25/1998-07/26/1998.
Arcwelder/Brits out of America/Broadcaster (Entry), 08/22/1998
Old 97's/The Glenrustles/Best Red, 01/20/1999.

(and had a baby)
(and then moved to DC)

(Updated) Macaroni Boy Media Onslaught

Hey, remember a few weeks back when we started playing the Ginger Hendrix CD?

Some other folks are listening to it too:

Zooglobble recommends it: "Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo is a fun album, good for relaxing around the house in between trips to Target or picking up the older sibling at the bus stop."

Cool Mom Picks (in particular Amy) digs it too: "I love to find moms making great kids' music. And I love it even more when those moms turn out to be smart, funny, and cool – the kind of mom I would want to hang out with at the park or at soccer, if only she would have me."

Whoo-hoo!

Also, you should be reading Ginger's blog. She's funny and stuff.

Update: Oh! And I forgot to mention that sometime soon (maybe not until December given all the stuff we have coming up in the next four or five weeks), we'll have a guest DJ set from Ginger and her family!

They're Living There in Allentown

...and they're learning more about good kids' music. Hooray! (And in particular, yippee for the mentions of friends-of-the-show Zooglobble [and thanks to Stefan for the link here], Mrs. Davis, (sm)all ages, and Stephanie Mayers [soon off to do PR at Putumayo]! And Frances England gets a mention too!)

Oh, and also -- any local readers who want to attend the Barenaked Ladies/Mike Doughty show at the Mullins Center tonight, let me know; we have a decent pair of tickets to sell (below face value). show AT sparetherock DOT com.

10-21-2006

Doh! Computer crashed! Lost most of the first half-hour. It was really good, especially the new stuff from Jellydots, Farmer Jason (from Jason and the Scorchers) and David Weinstone. Plus, it was fun to talk with Jim & Kevin again. Alas. We will play all of that new music more in the future, I promise.

So, the thirty-minute archive is here. It does not include the second half of the show (which was the second half of ScribbleMonster guest-hosting), because you can go get it here. And if you haven't listened to it, you should.

Thanks, as always, to The Pokey Pup for sponsoring our little podcast.

TMBG - Alphabet Lost & Found (Here Come the ABCs)
The Jellydots - Mr. Cookie (Hey You Kids)
Farmer Jason - The Forest Oh! (Rockin' in the Forest)
David Weinstone - Carousel (Taxi)
--interview with Jim & Kevin
Princess Katie & Racer Steve - Tell Them How You Feel (Songs for the Coolest Kids)
Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces (Swingers S/T)
--song ID
Dick Dale - Miserlou
Aquabats - Super Rat
Muppets - She Drives Me Crazy
Rebecca Frezza - Road Trip (Road Trip)
SteveSongs - No Good Toys (Little Superman)
AudraRox - I Can Do It By Myself (Audrarox)
--song ID
Switch to archived show

Half-Live Tomorrow

Ella's got soccer that starts around 9:00 tomorrow, so we'll only be live for the first hour. We'll replay the second half of the guest DJ from ScribbleMonster in the second half of the show. We'll talk with ScribbleJim and Kevin Kammeraad for the last time before Kevin's in-studio visit around 8:15 in the show.

Wildflowers & Mastodons

A little late with the Curious Glimpse of Michigan pictures this week.

First up, an early sketch of the Mastodon with, perhaps, Conan O'Brien atop it:



Then the initial layout draft:



And, finally, the page from the book:



This will be the last week with Kevin & ScribbleJim calling in. Next week, Kevin will be live in-studio and performing at Cup & Top at 10. Also that day will be the return of Pancake Mountain to Flywheel, so come see Kevin and then get to Easthampton afterwards!

Fids and Kamily will Rule the Universe

Or at least it will provide some guidance on the best family music of the last year.

Go read the press release. We're pretty excited about it.

TMBG Kids' Shows

...and some for adults too:

November 18 Nyack, NY
daytime show for kids, nighttime show for adults
Tickets here/

December 09 Philadelphia, PA
two shows for kids
Tickets here. (And Alejandro Escovedo is playing the same venue that night in a grownup show. He is amazing.)

December 16 Brooklyn, NY
daytime show for kids, nighttime show for adults
Tickets here.

With the exception of the daytime Brooklyn show to benefit Brooklyn PS146, all these shows are benefits for a great non-profit organization called Generation Schools.

Also, the band's new podcast is up, and it is a rawking Halloween extravaganza. It is not, however, necessarily kid-friendly, depending on how friendly you consider references to killing a guy. On first listen, that was as adult as it seemed to get.

One Onesie Down...

Nancy from Atlanta reports:

I eat animal crackers by biting off all extremities, then nibbling down the body. The baby boy had lately started just sucking on the animal crackers, storing them in his cheeks, then indicating i should hold out my hand and depositing the slimy mess there. Sigh.

One Bloodshot Records onesie will make its way to Atlanta soon. But we still have at least one or two more! Send us an e-mail and tell us how you eat your animal crackers. (If you have, or have access to, an appropriate-sized child to get a onesie, that is.)

2006-10-14 Playlist

Archive is here.

Right now we still have one Bloodshot Record prize package -- send an e-mail (show AT sparetherock DOT com) and describe how you eat animal crackers, and you can win a copy of the new Wee Hairy Beasties CD and the compilation The Bottle Let Me Down CD, plus, if you have an appropriate-size child, a onesie!

We gave away both Bloodshot prize packages with CDs, but we do still have one or two of the onesies, so if you have an appropriate-size child, send an e-mail and tell us how you eat animal crackers. (And your address.) We might give you something else from the Mysterious Box of Promotional Items, too!

From Arlington, Virginia, we hear this:

I eat animal crackers like cookie monster, 5 at a time, crumbs flying, and gobbling noises galore.

...and from San Francisco:

Max says:

"I eat the head first, then the legs then the body then the tail then the butt. I close my eyes and pick out an animal and then I eat it. Period."

They Might Be Giants - Alphabet Lost and Found (Here Come the ABCs)
Chris Kenner - I Like it Like That (New Orleans Playground)
Keith Munslow - I Can't Get Up This Morning (Accidentally On Purpose)
Safety Patrol - Shoe Tie Rules
Telephone Company - Mustache (The King's Surprise?)
Michael Franti - Firefly (Songs from the Front Porch)
Ginger Hendrix - There Was Another Old Woman (Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo)
Frances England - Charlie Parker (Fascinating Creatures)
--song ID
Steve Weeks - Xavier... (Alphabet Songs Vol. III prerelease)
Stephen Cohen - Mr. Knickerbocker (Here Comes the Band)
Mr. S - Frankie the French Fry (Songs for Family, Friends & Frogs)
Eric Herman - No Big Deal (Snow Day)
--song ID
NoMeansNo - Joy (The Worldhood of the World (As Such))
Terrible Twos - When I Get To Eleven (If You Ever Se An owl)
Dirty Sock Fun Time Band - Blame Mr. Clown (Mr. Clown and the Day the Sun Got Wet)
Professor Presley - Ham n Jeff (History Rocks)
Candyband - Get Up Already (Lollipunk)
Deathray - I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh) (Open Season)
AC Newman, Neko Case & Friends - Twin Cinema (Twin Cinema)
Kid Koala - Fruit Belt (See You on the Moon)
Pixies - Bam Thwok
--song ID
Wee Hairy Beaties - Housefly Blues (Animal Crackers)
Asylum Street Spankers - I Am My Own Grandpa (Bottle Let Me Down)
Semisonic - Down by the Riverside (Down by the Riverside)
--interview with ScribbleJim & Kevin Kammeraad
Erin Lee & Marci - My Treehouse (Snowdance)
Uncle Rock - Break a Few Eggs (Plays Well With Others)
Lunch Money - Tricycle (Silly Reflection)
Robbi K - Bassay Down (Robbi K & Friends)
Lucas Miller - Livin in a Wetland (The Anaconda La Bamba)
Josh Levine - Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica (Josh Levine for Kids)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Robot Parade (Live)

What Begins With 'X'?

You'll find out Saturday, when we play brand-new-not-even-at-the-CD-factory music from Steve Weeks's "Alphabet Songs Vol. III."

Upcoming Guest DJ Sets...

Kevin Kammeraad will guest DJ when he's in-studio on October 28. Sets are also coming soon from AudraRox, Frances England, and others whose plans aren't quite concrete enough to tell you about. Plus, when Rebecca Frezza visits at the end of November, I'm hoping she'll bring some favorite records too.

Whee!

WOXY is back

...and I'm pretty psyched.

WOXY.com returned to the tubes of the interwebs this morning at 10:10 with MC5's "Kick out the Jams," the same song they went out on when they shut down a few weeks back. They have new investors and apparently a plan for survival. Hooray!

Barb Abney, my hero from WOXY, is now at my other favorite station, 89.3 The Current out of Minneapolis.

In an interesting symmetry, Barb's second song on the Minneapolis-based Current was Cincinnati band The Heartless Bastards. WOXY's second song back on the Cincinnati-based WOXY was the not-Minneaoplis-based-but-Minneapolis-obsessed The Hold Steady.

Hi, BrandWeek Readers!

Neat piece on modern kids' music today.

Wal-Mart? Really?

Sigh.

I didn't even call the Replacements sell-outs based on All Shook Down. But this? Well...sigh.

Best Poster Ever

...for the upcoming Lunch Money and Uncle Rock show at Flywheel on Saturday, November 18, at 5:00 p.m.:

Turtles & Deer!

The reptile and mammal page from A Curious Glimpse of Michigan:



(No drafts this week on the art front, but all sorts of fun earlier versions to listen to on Saturday...)

Welcome, Valley Kids Readers

In addition to Minnesota Parent, our local family paper Valley Kids has started to run my music column. It's not available online, but follow that link to find out where to pick it up. The current column (in the October-November issue) is a just-a-little-early-for-winter-holidays gift guide.

In other good news, Minnesota Parent has bumped me up to run a column monthly instead of every other month. Thanks, Minnesota Parent!

Playlist for 10/7/06

Archive is here. Apologies that the sound gets goofy a couple of times -- one cable apparently went bad, so I switched to a different source midway through Cat Stevens.

Thanks to Brady Rymer for such a great guest DJ set!

They Might Be Giants - Which Describes How You're Feeling (Apollo 18)
Charity & the JAMband - Goin' Fishin' (Peanut Butter & Jam)
Ginger Hendrix - Stinky Trash (Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo)
Wee Hairy Beasties - Animal Crackers (Animal Crackers)
Claudia Martinez - Nichim Vuil (World Playground 2)
Richard Ashcroft - Music is Power
Sam Hinton - Mr. Rabbit (Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts)
Ted & Marcia Johnson - Erie Canal (Old Town School of Folk Music Vol. 1)
--song ID & interview
Biscuit Brothers - Go Make Music (Meet the Biscuits)
Enzo Garcia - Hello (LMNO Music)
--song ID/PSA (Montessori Children's Fair)
XTC - Do What You Do (thanks to (sm)all ages for the idea)
Laura Freeman - Red (Color Wheel Cartwheel)
AudraRox - Short Attention Span (AudraRox)
RTTs - Turn It Up Mommy (Turn It Up Mommy)
Yosi - Hole in the Ground (Under a Big Bright Yellow Umbrella)
Ellen and Matt - Side by Side (Best Friends)
--legal ID (9:00)
--interview with Brady Rymer
--Guest DJ set from Brady Rymer
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
I Want You Back - The Jackson Five
Tutti Frutti - Buckwheat Zydeco
Chicken - Mississippi John Hurt Tribute CD - Avalon Blues
Don't You Push Me Down - Woody & Arlo Guthrie, Woody's 20 Grow Big ongs
Yes We Can Can - Allen Toussaint - Our New Orleans CD
Sunshine Lollipos and Rainbows - Lesley Gore
The Sharing Song - Jack Johnson, Curious George Soundtrack
Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows - Shrek
Why Can't We Be Friends - War
I Wish I Knew (How it would feel to be free) - Nina Simone
Bicycle Built for Two - Victor Johnson, Country Blues for Kids
Looking Out My Backdoor - Creedence Clearwater Revival
2nd Red Barn on the Right - From Good Homes
Ain't Got No Home - Clarence "Frogman" Henry
If You Want to Sing Out - Cat Stevens
Peace Like a River - Elizabeth Mitchell
(end of guest set)
They Might Be Giants - Fingertips (Apollo 18)

NPR and Elizabeth Mitchell

Elizabeth Mitchell had a nice feature on All Things Considered today. Unfortunately, my internet connection appears to be powered by gerbils so it's sounding more like Elizabeth Mitchell run through a very scratchy turntable, but the bits I can hear are lovely.

(Thanks to Zooglobble for the reminder that it was happening.)

Remember to listen tomorrow for Brady Rymer's guest DJ set!

The Fur Trade

From A Curious Glimpse of Michigan, the final version of the illustration (though at this size, you can't see the detail, which is pretty great):



Also, congratulations to Frances England for her big win in the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio awards! We knew her when...

This week

You. Must. Listen. This. Week.

Why?

Well, in addition to our usual delights (continuing conversations with ScribbleJim and Kevin Kammeraad), we'll also have an amazing guest DJ set from Brady Rymer. Plus -- and this is just from today's mail:

- Wee Hairy Beasties (former Mekons/Waco Brothers, Kelly Hogan)

- Old Town School of Folk Music's Songbook I (Dan Zanes, John Stirrat from Wilco, Danny Barnes from Bad Livers, more former Mekons, Robbie Fulks)

- Laura Freeman (cool Austin singer)

- Ginger Hendrix (I've no idea what it sounds like, but if it's half as cool as its packaging and such, it'll be your favorite record this year)

- Biscuit Brothers (Emmy-nominated Austin band with a public TV show and a CD)

What a great batch of stuff to come in!

Trading Furs

Here are Stephanie Kammeraad's first notes on how to represent the fur trade in A Curious Glimpse of Michigan. Remember that we'll be talking with Kevin Kammeraad and ScribbleJim again this week about the song that came out of the same idea.

Luna

Luna's "California (All the Way)" is:

(A) the best rock song of all time; or
(B) merely the best rock song of the 20th and 21st centuries?

Your answer? And, since it's not really kid-friendly, your suggestion for a Luna song? Comments are, as always, open.

P.S. We received Brady Rymer's guest DJ set today. It will be a bucket of fun.

P.P.S. I'm getting close to figuring out the technology to be able to broadcast live from our tree house. It may not occur until spring, but I'd have to say that would be pretty cool.