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Warren's Children's Music Blog

By Warren Truitt, About.com Guide to Children's Music

Is Too Much of, Well, an OK Thing, Not OK?

Monday July 13, 2009

Granted, The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus have their detractors, but they also have rabid followers. But at what point does the market get so glutted that it's not even fun for the fans anymore? Over the past five months, both The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus have released two albums each, and their songs also appear on two recently-released Disney compilations, Radio Disney Jams 11 and Disney Channel Playlist.

Fans and non-fans alike, what do you think: too much, or keep 'em comin'?

Weekly Kids' Music Charts

Sunday July 12, 2009

Roots, rock, reggae! After seven weeks at the top of the Kids' Music Charts, Ziggy Marley's Family Time drops to #4, while dad Bob Marley's B is for Bob, an album Ziggy remixed and executive produced, takes over the #1 spot.

Tween pop star Miley Cyrus continues her relentlessly chipper domination of kids' music as two of her CDs land in the Top 10, the Hannah Montana: The Movie Soundtrack and the recently released Hannah Montana 3 Soundtrack, a collection of tunes from the third season of her hit Disney television show.

Here are the Top 10 best-selling children's CDs for the week of July 5, 2009.

Review: Apple Brains - Get Fruity!!

Wednesday July 8, 2009

Apple Brains is, in fact, Allen Bleyle, and with a little help from his friends he's created his lo-fi kids' music debut Get Fruity!!

Drawing from musical inspirations like The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Jonathan Richman, Ween, and Dr. Demento, Bleyle informs the world about the joys of fruits and vegetables, and has a ridiculous amount of fun while doing so.

Peek over here for a full review of Apple Brains' Get Fruity!!, an album that's already on the list of Best Kids' Music of 2009.

Cover Image Courtesy Bouncy Ball Records

Free Kids' Album from Charity and The JAMband!

Monday July 6, 2009

Stop the presses! In honor of her son's 7th birthday, Charity Kahn is offering a free download of the entire Charity and The JAMband CD Rock Your Socks Off, but only until 10:00am PST tomorrow.

Follow the link to the Charity and The JAMband website, use discount code SiSiJAMS at checkout, and download Charity's rockin', funky, sweet and sassy Rock Your Socks Off. But hurry, the deadline is tomorrow morning, 10:00am on the West Coast and 1:00pm on the East Coast.

Cover Image Courtesy MusiMatics

Free Kids' Music in the Big Apple!

Monday July 6, 2009

On Thursday, July 9, families can enjoy a full morning of free kids' music concerts in New York City, beginning with Ernie & Neal and finishing up with Princess Katie & Racer Steve.

First, check out Philadelphia's Ernie & Neal as they bring their full-on rawk & roll show to Manhattan's Madison Square Park at 10:30am, where the band will be performing as part of the ongoing Madison Square Kids series. Then, walk a few blocks south on Broadway and hear NYC's own Princess Katie & Racer Steve rock Union Square at 12:00 noon with their power pop tunes for kids, at the weekly Kids in the Square program.

Bring your best air guitar moves and some walking shoes and rock out in the Big Apple with your kids on July 9!

They Might Be Giants Announce 9-1-2009 Release for Here Comes Science

Sunday July 5, 2009

They Might Be Giants set a September 1, 2009 release date for Here Comes Science, the follow-up to their GRAMMY-winning Here Come the 123s. Like Here Come the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Here Comes Science will be issued as a CD/DVD package, with all 19 songs accompanied by a short animated video.

Track Listing for Here Comes Science:

  1. Science Is Real
  2. Meet the Elements
  3. I Am a Paleontologist w/Danny Weinkauf
  4. The Bloodmobile
  5. Electric Car w/Robin Goldwasser
  6. My Brother the Ape
  7. What Is a Shooting Star?
  8. How Many Planets?
  9. Why Does the Sun Shine?
  10. Why Does the Sun Really Shine?
  11. Roy G. Biv
  12. Put It to the Test
  13. Photosynthesis
  14. Cells
  15. Speed and Velocity w/Marty Beller
  16. Computer Assisted Design
  17. Solid Liquid Gas
  18. Here Comes Science
  19. The Ballad of Davy Crockett (in Outer Space)

Cover Image Courtesy Disney

Weekly Kids' Music Charts

Saturday July 4, 2009

It's Marley VS Marley! Dad Bob's B is for Bob jumps into the Top 10 at #6, while son Ziggy's Family Time remains at the top of the Kids' Music Charts for the seventh week in a row.

Here are the Top 10 best-selling children's CDs for the week of June 28, 2009.

We're Not Kidding! Barry Louis Polisar Gets Tribute Album

Thursday July 2, 2009

OK, so you heard "All I Want is You" on the Juno Soundtrack and thought it was a cute tune. Well, did you know that the song's author, Barry Louis Polisar, has been writing kids' music for over 30 years, and that "All I Want is You" originally appeared on his 1977 LP My Brother Thinks He's a Banana and Other Provocative Songs for Kids?

That album title should give you an idea of Polisar's wickedly subversive, but kid-friendly, sense of humor, and there are lots of bands and musicians out there who love Polisar because of it. In fact, Aaron Cohen of The Radioactive Chicken Heads has put together a compilation called We're Not Kidding: A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar, a CD full of covers of Polisar's songs performed by dozens of bands in genres as varied as hip-hop, folk, rap, jazz, klezmer and rock.

The 60-track, 2-CD compilation is due out Fall 2009, so I'll keep you posted.

Image Courtesy Snail Sounds Records

Free Kids' Music from Ziggy Marley and Paul Simon!

Tuesday June 30, 2009
Basically, whatcha got here is a free download of one of the best songs from one of the best kids' albums of 2009! Drop by Amazon.com to get your free download of Ziggy Marley's "Walk Tall," a tune from Family Time that features Paul Simon's most playful vocal performance in years.

Madison Square Kids Music Series Continues

Monday June 29, 2009

The Madison Square Kids music series continues this week with performances by The Jimmies on Tuesday and Moey's Music Party on Thursday. The free outdoor concerts begin at 10:30am, and a new performer will put on a show every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the summer at Manhattan's historic Madison Square Park.

Here's the complete lineup for the 2009 Madison Square Kids music series.

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