New Eric Herman On Its Way...

News from Eric Herman that he's wrapping up work on his next album of all-new material, titled What A Ride!. Eric is a longtime friend of Zooglobble, and it sounds like he's put the time he spent writing Cool Tunes For Kids as the new album will feature...

"Tito from the Hipwaders, Mr. Billy, Chris Wiser from Sugar Free Allstars, Robbi K, Eric Ode, Glenn Colton and David Tobocman... [as well as] Gwendolyn Sanford from the amazing Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang."

It's not quite like Santana's Supernatural (and he forgot to mention James Dague from ScribbleMonster), but it's a pretty good collection of folks nonetheless. His newsletter (sign up at the website) featured a clip of "Come Play," on which Herman and Gwendolyn's voices blend really well together. (The other clip, for a tune, called "Heartbeat," was even better, believe it or not.) In any case, look for the album June 9...

Listen To This: Tres Leches

The wave of lullaby albums that swept over us last year has receded, but there are still a few albums coming out. One that I have hopes for is the upcoming debut kids' CD from New York a capella trio Tres Leches, Tres Leches: Songs, Chants & Lullabies for All Our Relations. I prefer the album's alternate (older) title -- Zzzz: Lullabies and Music to Wind Down To -- the name (if not the music) is zippier and gives a better indication of why you and your family might give it a spin. The music on their myspace page features English-language and non-English-language tracks and for those of you who are looking to add to their collection of Ellipsis Arts and Planet Sleeps lullaby disks, I think you'll want to keep your eyes open (or closed) for this.

Video: "Pink!" - Rocknoceros

Virginia band Rocknoceros has already been gearing up for the release later this month of their third album Pink with a series of video podcasts, but it starts in earnest now with the release of a new video for the album's title track. It's very sugary, both in audio and video format, and a bit more hyper than I think they generally are live or on record, but I'm thinkin' your four-year-old's gonna find this a very fun 3 minutes. (I like it, too.) Rocknoceros - "Pink"

See, This Video Is From A Book...

I know, I know, I'm spending a lot of time this week on videos (go now -- vote on TMBG vs. Shana Berry or Mark Kozelek vs. Egg), but thought I'd do something different. You know, post a YouTube video about a song associated with a book. It's from Trout Fishing in America, and it's the title track from their book My Name is Chicken Joe. It features 11 songs (track listing after the jump) and the storybook featured in the video below. I like curling up with a book better, but the video gives you a good idea what to expect. My Name is Chicken Joe is out April 7 on Secret Mountain. Trout Fishing in America - "The Ballad of Chicken Joe"

New Sippy Cups Album "The Time Machine" Out June 16

Word from the Bay Area band The Sippy Cups that their next full-length album, The Time Machine, will be out June 16. That's, like, exactly three months from today. Unfortunately there is no time machine you can use to transport yourself forward to that date, but according to the press materials, the title is more, well metaphorical than my cheap joke:

"What kid doesn't love the idea of a time machine? But in the case of The Sippy Cups, the time machine they are referring to is not some tricked-out Delorean, but our own bodies, which are constantly growing and changing and moving us through time. They wanted to convey to children and parents how magical that journey through time can be, and how precious the milestones are along the way. "

Of course, I've read enough PR material to know how overblown that can all be, but still, sounds like it might be cool. Track listing for The Time Machine is as follows:

I Will Take This Lunch: Recess Monkey's "Field Trip" Almost Ready

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Take a look at that cover. It's the cover for Recess Monkey's next album, Field Trip, set for release on June 9th. Sweet, no? The artwork is by Seattle cartoonist Matt Hawk who, judging from his homepage does a lot of myth and fantasy stuff too (though I gotta say, there's a picture there on the homepage that looks a looooot like Captain Bogg & Salty). Anyway, Hawk does the interior art work for the album as well. But you're probably even more interested in the track listing. And that's after the jump, with a few comments from the band...