Gustafer Yellowgold at Boulder Library

The world of Gustafer Yellowgold is an odd but warm and glorious place. The pointy-headed yellow guy who came from the sun and now lives in Minnesota inhabits a universe populated with cake robots (Cakenstein and his babies), a pet eel, a rock band made up of bees, a wingless pterodactyl, and countless other crazy peeps.T

Gustafer is the creation of musician Morgan Taylor, formerly of Wilco side project the Autumn Defense. Taylor, an avid illustrator, wanted to marry his two passions and find an outlet combining music and animation. Voila – Gustafer Yellowgold was born.

It’s a low-key, indie-for-kids (kindie is the new term) cottage industry. Taylor puts out CD/DVD packages fairly regularly, each with all new songs and animation. There are also toys, shirts, stickers and more. This editor’s kid has it all.

On Sunday, Taylor was at the Boulder Library for two sets, and Yellow Scene was there for the second. Taylor stands with a guitar in hand in front of a mic and laptop computer, controlling the cartoons on the big screen and some basic backing tracks.

Those previously unfamiliar with Yellowgold are treated to a (free) show that is sweet, funny and more than a little surreal. Those in-the-know get songs that they are already familiar with, that the kids already love. Taylor is a charismatic performer, part cool muso and part kid’s entertainer. It’s the clash of these two traits that makes it all so much fun.

So we get the Gustafer Yellowgold theme, “I Am From the Sun,” “Cakenstein,” “I Jump on Cake,” and so much more. It’s all over in a flash, but it’s mercifully brief when you have young kids with you. It would be nice of Gustafer could reach a wider audience, but it’s also kind of sweet when it’s kept under the radar. Enjoy it all regardless.