Barenaked Ladies free Xmas single -- and awesome kids' record!

GeekDad interviews copyfightin' Canadian indie-rockers Barenaked Ladies about their kids album, Snacktime, and includes a link to a free, DRM-free track of the boys performing Jingle Bells.

GeekDad: In the old days, cartoons produced for kids more or less stayed on target; but increasingly, we find that animated movies and shows include cultural references, guest appearances and humor that is clearly aimed at adults (while still appealing to kids, even if they don’t “get it”). Does Snacktime! bring a little of this approach to the children’s music genre?

ER: This is a delicate line where so many things fail. It was something we were very conscious about when making this record. Often, there are jokes for the kids (usually just fart jokes), and jokes for the adults (usually pop culture related fart jokes), and the whole thing just feels contrived, formulated, and pre-programmed. When it's done right, it's not marketed to segments of society, it's simply entertaining. Our goal with Snacktime was to make a record that was an enjoyable, and entertaining listen. Period. After you write a period, do you need to write "period"?... I don't think so. That's more of a spoken word thing I guess. BTW, while I said "Spoken Word", I held my 2 fingers up to indicate the quotes, but that's more of a visual thing I guess.

Barenaked Ladies: Snacktime!, a Free Holiday Download, and CD Giveaway (Thanks, Brad!)

• [TheWillow]

  Have to agree with #1 – the best kids stuff has always spoken to a much wider audience.

  I just got back from Toronto where BNL sort of debuted the newish format – a shorter kids concert in the daytime followed by a full on show in the evening (similar to how TMBG do it). I think it worked very well, personally… though I could see a few moments where overly protective parents might’ve wanted to cover their kids ears… any parent who is a BNL fan probably isn’t that kind of parent though.

  One thing I was *not* prepared for – is it just Toronto or do all Canadians sit down for concerts (the evening shows, not the kids shows)? I’m not used to being screamed at for trying to dance!

• [Malgas]

  I totally agree with Droogy. The best cartoons have always had references aimed at adults. This is why “Animaniacs” remains one of the finest series ever produced.

  This is something that goes back way before cartoons; the caucus race in Alice in Wonderland, for example.

• [Slowermo]

  I like BNL’s rendition of Deck the Halls where they just keep repeating “Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young”

• [franko]

  i’ll add my voice, too — all those old warner bros cartoons had many many references only adults would get. to this day, 40+ years later, i’m STILL clueing in to some of them.

• [Anonymous]

  A kids’ album, eh? Always two steps behind They Might Be Giants.

• [Anonymous]

  Way to go BNL! “Let’s do blow, let’s do blow, let’s do blow!” – Sung to “Let it snow” – Cute adult cultural reference huh? Get it?

• [jetsetsc]

  Thanks for the link. We need more bands to make more better Christmas tunes. If it weren’t for the Kinks, Waitresses, and Pretenders, radio would be a dismal listen.

  Here’s my band’s humble offering to the genre:
  http://www.thejennifers.com/Christmas_In_Reverse.mp3

  -John

• [Droogy]

  “In the old days cartoon produced for kids more or less stayed on target”?

  I don’t know what cartoons of old you’re thinking about but there were tons of “dual-layer” cartoons from days of yore…Rocky and Bullwinkle, fer instance.

• [Bionicrat2]

  Another Xmas song of theirs, “Elf’s Lament, ” is free on Amazon:

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XXOAFU/ref=br_fq_4?pf_rd_p=456026201&pf_rd_s=right-3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=678551011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=12C8HVNTTNSXDJP8QRCD

• [igpajo]

  My kids love this album!! They loved the Barenaked Ladies anyway, so this album was a shoe in for them. Any kids album that makes the kids happy and doesn’t make the parents crazy is a plus. Being fans of BNL, this album is perfect.

  If you’re a parent and you’re looking for other kids music that parent’s can enjoy too, check out the compilation called For The Kids. It’s got songs by BNL, Cake, Sarah McLachlin, Wilco and Tom Waits!
  Cake doing their version of the Sesame Street song “Mahna Mahna” alone is worth the price of the album.

  A Google search for this album shows that there are at least two other albums in this series, but I’ve just heard the first.

• [Avram]

  I’m with Droggy (ct #1). I grew up (late ’60s, early ’70s) watching old Warner Bros “Looney Tunes”, many of which which were originally made to be shown in front of movies, and were aimed at the grown-ups of the 1930s-50s. Lots of parodies of old movie stars, and quotes from old commercials.