Music is Awesome!!!

After staying home with my daughter for a week and a half over Christmas break and then tacking on 2 snow days for good measure, I've gotten quite a dose of Nick Jr. recently. Being the immature person that I am, I've actually taken a liking to several of the shows they produce, especially Yo Gabba Gabba! Yeah, most of us, including me, have spent the past year and a half laughing at this:

But I actually sat down and watched several episodes, and it's really very good. It teaches great lessons (my favorite: "Shake, Shake, Shake it off" when you fall down), people like Jack Black and Andy Samberg make appearances routinely, and they invite great bands to get involved. Mark Kozelek, Low, The Little Ones, Roots, Rahzel, Jason Lytle, The Postmarks, The Shins, Mates of State, The Clientele, Hot Hot Heat, Jimmy Eat World, I'm From Barcelona, Enon, Of Montreal, and Chromeo have all made contributions. Also, Biz Markie does a new "beat" every episode. In other words, if you've got young kids, this show is a no-brainer.

Not surprisingly, one of the very best Yo! tracks comes from a band who has always sounded like it should be the house band for the show, The Little Ones (they wouldn't even need to change their name!).

"Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play"

I also really like Chromeo's "Nice 'N' Clean"