Imagine a Play Date With Play Date

The concept is simple – take one grown-up punk rocker (in this case, Greg Attonio from the Bouncing Souls). Add a musical spouse/authoress (Shanti Wintergate). Mix well and taste the results.

Again, the concept is not new – Renee and Jeremy have derived a level of success with their California sound. Luckily, the market is far from bottlenecked by these duos. Greg and Shanti are not copies or imitators; they bring a sense of inclusion and happiness to IMAGINATION, their debut CD.

Who says the Internet killed the brick and mortar music biz?

Mike Park (late of Skankin' Pickle) runs the mailorder label Asian Man Records and its new subsidiary, Fun Fun Records. Mike hit the ground running with his first kids CD, SMILE. Now he's putting out two more releases - KEPI FOR KIDS (see my review here) and IMAGINATION from Play Date.

Play Date's sweet spot is the preschool set. Logically, very few XBOX players are going to want their friends to hear them humming "Sunshine Through My Window," one of the sunnier tracks here. Now that Play Date has gotten songs like "Anyone Can Sing," "The Number Song," and "Days of the Week" out of their system, it will be interesting to hear them develop some deeper material (deeper, not darker – I'm not expecting anything invoking Breaking Bad).

My company did a "Flat Stanley"-esque video campaign earlier this year and it was nice to hear an original song about the character. Play Date endorses self-esteem with "Rad," although that term may already seem outdated to the youngest in their audience.

IMAGINATION is a promising start for Play Date. And as every child knows, you're never too young for a play date.

IMAGINATION is available for pre-order from Fun Fun Records and will be released October 9.

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, July 18, 2012

I Wish You Well  - Bill Withers
How Fast Can You Run?  - The Quiet Two
Gotta Be You  - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo   
My Happiness  - Chris Isaak
Onyonghasayo   - Skankin' Pickle
Lucy and Tighty  - Okee-Dokee Brothers
Conservation  - Rocknoceros
What'd I Say  - Ray Charles
Shrimp and Gumbo  - Rebirth Brass Band    
Great To Be A Kid   - The Not-Its!

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sourwood Mountain  - Carolina Chocolate Drops
Big Black Snake  - Dog On Fleas
Lemonade Stand   - Deep Fried Pickle Project
Absolute Zero   - Maxwell's Complex      
Subway  - Bari Koral
Sylvie  - Elizabeth Mitchell       
A Friend Like You  - Steve Weeks
Onyonghasayo  - Skankin' Pickle
Stayin' Alive  - Glee
Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart  - Fountains Of Wayne

It's Ska To Be Good

A Punk's Gotta Do What a Punk's Gotta Do

Which is, produce kids music.

Well, if the ska punk has kids.

And the kids like music.

Since 1996, Mike Park has run Asian Man Records out of his garage. A former member of Skankin' Pickle (for whom he both played the saxophone and sang), Mike donned his "kindie music" cap after the birth of his kids.



Looking for an upbeat primer to ska for your kids? Then Mike's CD, SMILE, fits the bill quite nicely. And for audiophiles, there is even a vinyl release available.

SMILE is everything you expect in a standard children's CD - songs about crossing the street ("When the Light Turns Red You Stop"), eating healthy ("Apples Are My Favorite"), and making music ("I Love to Play My Saxophone"). But there's an added layer of ska that you don't get with, say, Dan Zanes.

Mike's goals for Asian Man are simple – put out quality music at affordable prices and to be politically involved in the awareness of peace and unity. He was the force behind 1998's "Ska Against Racism" tour. The tour promoted awareness about racism and raised money for anti-racism organizations such as the Museum of Tolerance.

Laudable goals, accessible themes, danceable music. When you put it all together, you just have to SMILE.

SMILE is reasonably priced ($8) through Asian Man Records. The CD is also on sale at Amazon, but for twice the price.