New Music From Bunny Clogs (Adam Levy from the Honeydogs)

MoreMoreMore.jpgOK, without even listening to the album, this album cover is one of my favorites of the year, and the band name wins "Best New Band Name," too. The name makes a little more sense when you realize that it's the brainchild of Adam Levy, mainstay of the long-running Twin Cities band The Honeydogs (just repeat one band name after another). Anyways, for this side project, Levy recorded music at home with his kids (his daughters sing and his son did the art work for the record) and finished it with students at the music school at which he he teaches, the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis. (Levy also recorded a couple tracks for that Down By The Riverside Twin Cities kids-comp released a couple years back.) The result is More! More! More!. Oh, yeah, "Best Album Name," definitely. You can hear six whole tracks at the band's Myspace page. I particularly like "Velveeta Girl and Squatsy," but all of the tracks have a definite slightly-skewed vibe to them, a la Mr. David or Me3 or Kimya Dawson. Electronica, lullaby, horns, even a little Prince, I think. Anyway, the album will get a big push in the new year when it's formally released, along with a new Honeydogs album, but if you're an eMusic subscriber, you can get it right now... Here's the tracklisting...

New Music From Rocknoceros: "Gonna Get a Haircut" and "Lucky Lindy"

There is no such thing as working out the kinks on your new music anymore, even in the kids music genre. Thanks to YouTube, we can hear artists try out their latest stuff. Such as this tune from the DC-area band Rocknoceros. You'll have to get past 30 seconds of announcement-type stuff, but after that, a new tune from their upcoming Pink CD. "Gonna Get A Haircut" features sweet harmony, guitar solos, and the phrase "flattop." I think. Rocknoceros - "Gonna Get A Haircut" (Live) But wait, there's more!

Listen To This: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" - Charity and the JAMband

San Francisco's Charity and the JAMband has always been good about offering mp3s on their website, and now word comes from Charity that she's going to be offering these on a monthly basis. The first one, for December, is a sweet little acoustic expansion of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Definitely worth the time to listen (and download). Sign up at the top of the page to be notified of future downloads.

Dee-mos, er, Demos from the Deedle Deedle Dees

One Myspace page isn't enough for Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees, as they've set up a new page for demos for their upcoming album. They're set to record tracks for Dee-mocracy soon, but you can hear Lloyd Miller's (er, Ulysses Dee's) solo demos at Deedle Deedle Dee-mos. If you're a long-time reader, some of the historically-inspired tracks (or at least their stories) will sound familiar -- "Bring 'Em In," "Little Red Airplane," and the Bill Childs-inspired "Susan B. Anthony." But there are a couple new (to me) tracks -- "Tubtubtubman" and "Growl Growl Alaska." I especially like Miller's falsetto on the latter track. The chorus on the former's pretty catchy, too... I'm also highly amused by the random picture of a Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback -- Vinny Testaverde? -- as the artist photo on the page. Perhaps there's a song about them losing their first 26 regular season games. (Ed.: Just noticed that Lloyd said it was Trent Dilfer. The retro uni confused me.) Which reminds me, and I know I'm off on a tangent here, but those initially hapless Bucs are the source for possibly my favorite sports quotation of all time. It was uttered by their first head coach, John McKay. After one of those first 26 losses, McKay was asked by a reporter what he thought of his team's execution. McKay's reply: "I think it's a good idea."

A Cathy & Marcy Thanksgiving Song: Now With 25% Less Schmaltz!

'Tis the season for Thanksgiving songs and while Thanksgiving tends to get short shrift musically compared to, say, Halloween or the Christmas/Hanukkah time, there are a few songs out there. Adding their names to the list, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are offering up a free download of their song "Thank You" (off of Pocket Full of Stardust). It's a bit too sweet perhaps, but what do you expect? It's a Thanksgiving song. It also features lines like "Thank you for birds that are chased by my cat / Mom says I shouldn’t be thankful for that." Pick up the song here.

Listen To This: "The Water Tower" - Doug Snyder (The Jellydots)

I know Doug Snyder of The Jellydots is recording tracks for the next album, but in the meantime, he's involved a project called Friends of Niko. It's a project started by Friend-of-Doug Loreta Boskovic, whose son Niko developed autism at some point after he turned 3 years old. To raise funds to provide some expensive therapy for her son, Boskovic wrote some pretty heartfelt lyrics and then turned to Doug to create some music to go with it. The result, "The Water Tower," has some fairly personal lyrics that are difficult to listen to if you're not in that situation, but the chorus (one line: "And you, forever in our minds / Like a water tower / That I don't notice driving by"), matched with a swooping chorus, fairly well soars. Listen to the song below, but make sure you check out the website and Niko's story, and donate if possible. Doug Snyder (The Jellydots) - "The Water Tower"