Don’t you find yourself wishing the pandemic was over? Two children’s music performers share the same thought. Kids fave Uncle Dox is back on the scene with his new CD, banana². A few years back, Mista Cookie Jar released one song every month (just about) and then compiled everything onto a CD. Dox is making banana² available in one dinner-sized package of 10 brand spanking new fun songs. But if you fancy having them doled out like medicine, you can hear them all on YouTube, one video dropping every week this spring.
Dox isn’t afraid to use his tech skills to recreate the soft ’70s dance-rock sound on “Last Thing I Do,” or use steel drums on “Clouds,” one of the tracks featuring female vocalist Fancy Pants. If you’ve ever thought about building a cardboard boxcar, “racecar” describes zooming around the house while your mind is somewhere on the NASCAR circuit. Spin Doctors’ Mark White co-produced and played guitar on the track. Vivi Melody guests on the ’60s girl group-esque “Shopping.” Harps and flutes abound on the conquer-your-fears song, “Brave,” which declares:
You gotta face your fears in all you do
And that will make a stronger you
Dox isn’t easily pigeonholed, as he crosses genres with satire (previous family favorite Beastie Boys homage “Squirrels”) and dance (“Danger Zone”). With banana², he’s pushing kids into a post-pandemic life of normal activities, friends, and fun. It’s music to knock your Dox off.
banana² is available from Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.
Here is the video for “Racecar”:
Speaking of wishing, recording artist Gigi Rowe is multi-tasking her brand of high-gloss power pop for kids. Her new song, “Wishes,” is also the title of her upcoming children’s book. Gigi’s likeness was immortalized in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions of Just Dance, the best-selling dance video game franchise of all time. Her featured tracks (“New Reality,” “Run the Night,” and “Got That“) are all available on YouTube.
Now Gigi is expanding the “Gigi-verse” using her music to propel dance aficionados into a fantastical adventure to explore her world, enabling kids to live their dreams. Gigi’s musical (and aesthetic) inspirations include 1980s icons Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, as well as Annie Lennox. Gigi’s tunes (and book) are filled with dayglo colors so close to cotton candy that your dentist might object. But you can judge that for yourself, watching the brand new video for “Wishes”:
