Gustafer Yellowgold - Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day

Morgan Taylor is a musician/songwriter/animator who originally hails from Dayton, Ohio and has made New York City his home of late. Morgan Taylor began telling the story of Gustafer Yellowgold, a creature from the Sun, via a picture book project in the winter of 2004. Taylor and his band played the first live Gustafer Yellowgold concert with music and moving images (courtesy Taylor himself) in the summer of 2005.

The full fledged emergence of Gustafer on both CD and DVD began with the 2006 release Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World, followed by 2007’s Gustafer Yellowgold’s ‘Have You Never Been Yellow?’ and Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever in 2009. Taylor’s 2011 Gustafer release, Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock, has been produced as a live show that premiered off-Broadway at New York City’s DR2 Theater in early 2011. All of the Gustafer Yellowgold releases have been CD/DVD packages, and are absolute must-haves for anyone interested in storytelling, animation, stellar songwriting, and, well, super catchy tunes.

Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day kicks off appropriately with a celebration of the new year in the super upbeat "New is the New Old," a tune that Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham would drool over. Groundhog Day gets a nod in the quieter, more introspective "A Shadow," while the shuffly, Paul McCartney-like "Keep it Simple Sweetheart" (get it? k.i.s.s.?) sweetly gives Valentine's Day a nod. "Pancake Smackdown" is a celebration of Fat Tuesday and National Pancake Day, featuring a largely acoustic description of flying pancakes, ending in Flaming Lips cacophany. The hypnotic, impressionistic "Four Leaved Clover" sounds like a cross between Beck, Jason Falkner, and Stereolab; while the tuneful Easter "Eggs" could be America playing a Smile-era Brian Wilson outtake.

The uber cheerfulness of "Midsummer's Son" will remind you of sunshine pop bands like The Yellow Balloon, The Millennium, and The Sunshine Company, while the excitement of the Fourth of July explodes in "Fireworks!" complete with a "Bang! Bang! Bang!" chorus (take that, Katy Perry!). "Werewolves Rock" Halloween, complete with awesome drum production and power chord guitars, and Thanksgiving gets "Pumpkin Pied" with a jaunty Tin Pan Alley tune that Randy Newman or Harry Nilsson could have written. Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day ends with the tender, waltzing, harmony-filled singalong "Fa and a La," celebrating Christmas, family gatherings, and the holiday season in general.

Besides animated videos of every song, the Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day DVD includes bonuses like “Making of Year In The Day,” a behind the scenes one-on-one with Gustafer creator Morgan Taylor; and “Gustafer Guitar Lessons,” which features Morgan Taylor demonstrating his six-string technique and sharing facts about Gustafer and songwriting.

The major selling point of Morgan Taylor's Gustafer Yellowgold releases is the fact that thay are DVD/CD packages, with each song accompanied by iconographic animation and sing along lyrics. This way, fans can see what Taylor had in mind when he wrote each song, plus the whole family can watch along and join in the singing fun. Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day continues Morgan's string of artistic, critical, and entertainment successes, and promises to be one of the best kids' music releases of 2012.

Track Listing

1. "New is the New Old"
2. "A Shadow"
3. "Keep it Simple Sweetheart"
4. "Pancake Smackdown"
5. "Four Leaved Clover"
6. "Eggs"
7. "Midsummer’s Son"
8. "Fireworks!"
9. "Werewolves Rock"
10. "Pumpkin Pied"
11. "Fa and a La"