I've already talked about the new Yo Gabba Gabba! CD coming out next week, but you don't have to wait 'til then to get some YGG-related tunes.
Vancouver's The Salteens have released two new songs they recorded for the show. If you follow that link and give 'em an e-mail address, you'll instantaneously start downloading two tracks they recorded for the show -- "All My Friends" and "Count on my Hands." Of the two, "All My Friends" is the poppier and more straight-forward song; "Count" is a little more didactic, but cute in its own way. One of the songs, according to lead singer Scott Walker, was used in the current Season Two, but with different lyrics.
On a side note, Salteens fans will be a bit disappointed with the forthcoming CD as the wrong Salteens song will be on disk. Apparently everyone loves "I'm So Happy I Can Dance," but the disk features "Be Kind To Animals."
Video: "The Day After Halloween" - The Sippy Cups
San Francisco's The Sippy Cups have a new EP, One Day Soon, coming out today on iTunes, and to celebrate they've posted a video for the EP's most timely song, "The Day After Halloween." The song is a bit of a departure from a lot of Sippy Cups songs as it's pretty straightforward in its narrative structure. It's not a departure in that it has a not small amount of humor, and the accompanying video, about a kid who refuses to take off his ghost costume the next day, has got some amusing visuals.
7 + 5 = CANDY. Has that ghost been taking math lessons from my daughter?
The Sippy Cups - "The Day After Halloween"
Video: "Lullaby" - Chris Blake
I got an e-mail from Chris Blake, an LA musician whose latest album Wave features a gentle song called "Lullaby," sung from the perspective of a parent to a soon-to-be-slumbering child. If you had told me that a sweet lullaby song could feature the word "TV" as the last word, I'd probably have laughed -- hey, I was wrong.
The video features home movies from a half-century ago or more, and, yeah, it's manipulative, but it works. Makes you wonder if the digital video/YouTube explosion will make these kinds of things more common or less wistful in the future.
Anyway, a peaceful 3 minutes or so.
Chris Blake - "Lullaby"
ACL Fest (Austin Kiddie Limits) 2008: The Festival in Video
As I'm starting to wrap up coverage of the 2008 Austin City Limits Festival and the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, I thought it might be nice to add some video to go along with the pictures and words I've been posting. So read on ahead for a whole bunch of sights and sounds (simultaneously) from this weekend's activities. Not just the usual suspects -- the Jimmies and Uncle Rock and Buck Howdy -- but also some other artists and other stages...
Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Preview: mr. RAY
We're nearing the end of our ongoing series of previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival. Today it's mr. RAY. (Previous artists: Buck Howdy with BB, Uncle Rock, Jambo, The Jimmies, Big Don.)
First, the technical specs...
-- Official Website (or here if you're British)
-- Videos
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives.
mr. RAY might just be the biggest artist to play the AKL stage this year... if you're British. That's right, the New Jersey-based mr. RAY (aka Ray Andersen) is signed to Universal Records for the UK and Ireland and has a big following across the pond. Here in the US, his fanbase isn't quite as big yet, perhaps, but those of you in Austin next weekend will get a chance to hear his Beatles-y pop for preschoolers and see what'll definitely be the coolest guitar on stage barring the surprise appearance of Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen.
mr. RAY plays 1:30 Saturday, 2:30 Sunday.
mr. RAY - "Roy G. Biv"
One more video after the jump.
Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Preview: Big Don
We're continuing our ongoing series of previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival. Today it's Big Don. (Previous artists: Buck Howdy with BB, Uncle Rock, Jambo, The Jimmies.)
First, the technical specs...
-- Official Website
-- Videos
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives, though this entry is it for the moment.
For those of you thinking you can't break into Austin Kiddie Limits, Big Don (aka Austin hip hop artist Don Robinson) proves ya wrong. How do I know? When I was at Austin Kiddie Limits last year, I got a copy of Big Don's Big Beat... because somebody was passing them out to any interested party. I'm assuming Tor Hyams was one of those people who got the CD, too. Anyway, the album is nothing too complicated, just good, solid hip hop for preschoolers, mostly. I have no idea how he'll be in concert, but I'm looking forward to bopping along.
Big Don plays at 2:30 on Friday and 11:30 Sunday.
Big Don - "Humpty Dumpty"
