Dan Zanes has made available a second track from his upcoming Nueva York! CD. The track is "La Piragua," and it's got a sinewy melodic line and groove that I think will lead to a lot of swaying dancing in concert (or possibly family rooms). That's Sonia De Los Santos joining Dan on vocals. And dig the guitar work.
Zanes says it's a Colombian song about a mysterious small boat written during the 1960¹s by Jose Barros, one of the country's most recognized cumbia songwriters. Barros, who also wrote "El Pescador," another Colombian song included in the album, died earlier this year.
Stream "La Piragua" (as well as the previously released "Colas") at Dan's Myspace page. Nueva York! is out in April on Festival Five Records.
Listen To This: "Zeroes" - They Might Be Giants
While we wait for the next installment of They Might Be Giants' Podcast for Kids (did you catch last week's gorgeously animated ballad "Even Numbers," along with "Letter Shapes" from Here Come the ABCs and the John and John finger puppets singing a silly song of their own?), how about listening to a song the old-fashioned way?
You know, on Myspace?
Catch TMBG's stream of the bright, South American-inflected "Zeroes" from Here Come the 123s here. E eats everything, so perhaps as punishment they've taken it out of the title of the song on the Myspace page.
Listen To This: "Tiny Dinosaurs" - Lunch Money
I know I'm a little late on this, but wanted to point out that the fabulous Lunch Money now has ("have"? grammar people, help me out here) their own Myspace page. (About time!)
Even better, it's streaming a new recording of a track intended to appear on their next album. "Tiny Dinosaurs" encourages roaring, always a fun thing for kids to do. Who knew there was a dinosaur called "microceratops?" (Go here to see them performing this song live this past summer.)
Oh, and go ahead and listen to "Silly Reflection" and "Yes We Have Rhythm" from their debut CD at the Myspace page. You know you want to.
Sara Hickman: Sings "Iolana," Drinks Beer (Not Simultaneously)
One of the best parts of Sara Hickman's performance at the Austin Kiddie Limits Festival last September was her performance of "Iolana," from her album Big Kid (that's the song I made my Bob Dylan reference for). Well, the fine folks at DadLabs got Sara to visit them in their studio and give them another performance.
(Warning: I think I've skipped past some of the saltier language in the first half of the video -- yes, a post with kids' songs that has salty language, great -- but in case I'm still low-tech here, the song starts about 4:30 into the video.)
Between this and part 1 of the interview, Hickman sounds like she'd be a heckuva fun person to have a beer with. (Note: the song in this first part is hysterical, but definitely not for the kiddos.)
Listen To This: "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" - Eileen Barton
I'm an occasional XM Kids listener. I know I'm not the only one, so I know I'm not the only one who knows that this song has been getting increasing play on the playlist. It's not kids music, and, heck, since it was recorded in about 1950, it's older not only than the kids listening, but probably everybody listening.
If this song doesn't put a smile on your face, then your candidate probably placed behind a write-in candidate in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
Eileen Barton - "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"
The video is actually still pictures, so I'd just play the thing and work on something else. Only the first 2:45 of the clip is the Eileen Barton song, but the rest is a couple of Weavers songs, including "Goodnight Irene," so you can get a little Pete Seeger in there, too.
New Music, Album from ScribbleMonster
I've said before (though maybe not to any of you) that if you miss hearing the power-pop that saturated the airwaves in the early '90s, then kids' music might just be your best option. There are few better at that particular subgenre than the Jim Dague and the rest of his compatriots in ScribbleMonster.
They've got a new album, Songs With No Character, coming out this spring, and they've just added a couple songs from the album available for downloading and listening on their Myspace page. Both tracks have been floating around for awhile now. "Spare the Rock Spoil the Child" was, as you might expect, originally crafted for the Spare the Rock radio show and rocks mightily. "The Song of LIFE" has been around in a live version since spring 2007, but now is up in full studio glory. It's actually a (comparatively) mellow track, and really as geared toward the parents as the kids, but it's sweet in its own way. It's reminiscent of one of the great masters of power-pop, Fountains of Wayne, in their more country-ish moments (think "Valley Winter Song," for example).
And, hey, even if you're not sure about those songs, go to the Myspace page and listen to "I Wish I Lived in Michigan," "The Fur Trade," and "Chocolate Milk" along with 'em. It's 10 or so minutes of great music.
