Speaking of artists with Twin Cities roots, I've been hearing that Peter Himmelman was prepping the follow-up to his excellent 2007 album My Green Kite, but now I (and you) can actually hear the follow-up, or at least tiny portions thereof. From the sound of it, if you liked Kite, you're gonna like this.
Himmelman's posted clips from 3 new kids' songs at his music page. The songs are the ska-tinged "Imagination," the XTC-ish "King Ferdinand," which is cursed with the shortest clip, and the bluesy title track.
What's that? Title track what? The album will be called My Trampoline, thereby continuing Himmelman's run of "My" albums -- this'll make five. Makes you think he and Elizabeth Mitchell totally need to duet on a You Are My... album...
Video (and More!): "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon" - Eric Herman
Another video from Washington's Eric Herman, this one for his "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon" (available on his mellow Snail's Pace compilation). The song, based on a Kenn Nesbitt poem, is not my favorite tune of Herman's by any stretch, but I think the video really adds a lot. The illustrations from Lauren Wilson have an ever-so-slight Gustafer Yellowgold quality to them, though I'll admit to missing Eric's wife Roseann's animations.
Eric Herman - "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon"
Oh, and all of you who had Sugar Free Allstars, ScribbleMonster, and Eric Herman in the "Name The Next Kids' Music Collaboration" pool, congratulations...
New Music From Bunny Clogs (Adam Levy from the Honeydogs)
OK, 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...Are You A Rabbit?
... or a statue of a rabbit?
It's been four years (almost to the day) since Lunch Money released their first CD, Silly Reflection.
And now I've been spinning their latest album, Dizzy.
Totally worth the wait, y'all.
Seriously -- the preorder button was created for this album. (Which, uh, unfortunately doesn't have it yet.)
Would Arthur Listen To This?
In the always-expanding Ziggy Marley to the stars. Last month Marley announced he was recording a kids' CD. No word on release date.
More of Marley on the subject, plus the obligatory video...
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."
