Category Archives: Music

CD Review: The Hipwaders, “Goodie Bag”

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The Hipwaders – Goodie Bag (2009, Hip Kid)

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Anyone who listened to the Barenaked Ladies’ Snacktime! and was disappointed with the relative lack of old-school BNL energy should seek out Goodie Bag, the new EP (out in physical form on April 9; available now as a download) from Bay Area trio the Hipwaders. Although it’s eight songs long, Goodie Bag only lasts just over 16 minutes; most songs hover around the two-minute mark, with the longest cut, the EP-closing title track, coming in at 3:24. This will create plenty of opportunities for repeat (and repeat, and repeat) listens, which will probably drive you crazy eventually — but it’ll take awhile to get there, and in the meantime, these songs contain plenty of enjoyable moments for you and your little ones.

Boasting catchy, uptempo arrangements and pleasantly dry production, the Hipwaders’ songs cover lyrical ground that runs from the expected (having good manners, being afraid of the dark) to the unusual (rayguns, other dimensions, getting a new camera), which should help Goodie Bag win new fans among preschoolers and preteens alike. Not all tracks are created equal (“My New Camera” made my wife swear, which takes some real effort), but on the whole, this is an enjoyable collection from a talented band — and at six bucks, it’s available for the right price. Check out the video for “Field Trip”:

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DVD/CD Review: “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever”

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Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever (2009, Apple-Eye)
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Back in the days when I didn’t have kids and therefore remained rather blissfully unaware of most children’s entertainment, I operated under the (pretty reasonable, I think) assumption that most of it was more or less linear, and easy to understand. I mean, it stands to reason, right? If you’re trying to entertain an audience that isn’t going to process anything you don’t explicitly spell out on the screen, you’re going to make sure it’s all spelled out, right?

I was totally wrong, obviously. Do you hear that bitter laughter? That’s the sound of other parents, remembering the days when they were new to the lawless frontier that is kids’ entertainment. I started to get my first inkling of just how weird this stuff can get when I took in my first accidental late-night viewing of the gibbering horror that is PBS’ Boohbah, which is still the scariest thing I’ve ever seen on late-night TV. These days, I am, of course, much more well acquainted with the kiddie continuum, and understand that you can go from the bone-simple (like Maisy) to the utterly surreal (The Wonder Pets!, which, I confess, I totally love) in the space of 15 minutes. I think it’s good for the kids, really — I mean, life doesn’t make sense, and the sooner they figure that out, the sooner they can get jobs and move out of my house.

Anyway. All this talk of linear and non-linear, obvious and esoteric, leads me to the insane wonder of Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever, the third in Morgan Taylor’s Gustafer Yellowgold series. Prior to opening this handsome DVD/CD package, I’d never heard of nor experienced Mr. Yellowgold, but now that I have, there’s no going back; my daughter and I will look forward to these things as long as Taylor keeps putting them out.

The idea behind the character is a little difficult to explain, but I’ll use some of this handy press kit text to try and get you up to speed. Read on: Continue reading →

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CD Review: Daddy a Go Go, “Come On, Get Happy”

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Daddy a Go Go – Come On, Get Happy: The Best of Daddy a Go Go, Volume 1 (2009, Boyd’s Tone)
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I had never heard of Daddy a Go Go, the kiddie-rockin’ alter ego adopted by singer/songwriter/stay-at-home-dad John Boydston, before opening the envelope that contained Come On Get Happy, but that’s just simple ignorance on my part: Boydston has released six albums of kids’ music since 1998, won multiple awards, and earned press in publications like Newsweek and the Washington Post. For lucky album number seven, Boydston has decided to collect and remaster 15 of his greatest “hits,” including “Daddy’s Diaper Blues,” “I Think I Might Be a Dog,” “Nana Nana Boo Boo,” and “Pink Floyd Saves Hugh Manatee,” a song so stupidly titled I almost threw away the CD.

I’m glad I didn’t, because Come On, Get Happy is really pretty charming. My friend the Lovely Mrs. Davis has designated Boydston a member of the “goofy dads” genre, which is true, I guess, except that I find Daddy a Go Go a lot less goofy than much of the kids’ music I listen to. And really, pretty much the entire genre is goofy — some of it is obnoxiously overt, and some of it is less caffeinated, but I don’t think I’ve listened to a single children’s album that didn’t make liberal use of cornball humor. In that context, Come On, Get Happy is really pretty sedate; musically, I’d liken it more to NRBQ than most children’s music (and yes, I’m aware that the Q has released a kids’ record). Given that I’m a huge NRBQ fan, it should come as no surprise that I really enjoyed most of these songs (notable, unsurprising exception: “Pink Floyd Saves Hugh Manatee”) — they have the pleasantly lo-fi production aesthetic of a lot of the great old indie rock records of the ’80s, which is weird, given that Boydston didn’t start recording them until the ’90s, but whatever. The album also highlights Boydston’s taste in covers, which ranges from the obvious (the title track) to the wonderfully semi-obscure (Harry Nilsson’s “Best Friend”). Continue reading →

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