Video: "Empty" - Andy Mason and Joshua Belter

I'm a sucker for well-executed videos that look hand-crafted in the best possible way.  So, yeah, when a mystery fan of this video from New Mexico musician Andy Mason and author Joshua Belter (AKA Fast Time Constant) made its way into my inbox and I watched it, I dug it quite a bit.  The video is for a song called "Empty," which is the official song based on the book The Story of a Box from Belter.  (Whew, that's a slightly complicated etymology.)

The song and the accompanying video created by Dusty Deen at Red Roadrunner Productions could be interpreted as a love song, but also as a gentle anti-bullying song that illustrates its point both musically and visually using little more than tiny boxes and pieces of paper and far more effectively than most attempts in the (sub-)genre.

Andy Mason and Joshua Belter - "Empty" [YouTube]

Video: "Walking with Spring" - The Okee Dokee Brothers

One of the most anticipated kindie albums of 2014 must be Through the Woods, the Okee Dokee Brothers' follow-up to their 2012 Grammy-winning album Can You Canoe?.  Rather than floating down the Mississippi River, this next album in their proposed-4-album "Adventure Series" sees Joe and Justin walking up the Appalachian Trail.

The first video for the album (and accompanying DVD), for "Walking with Spring," is out, and it follows the template of their Canoe videos -- gorgeously-shot scenes of their travels mixed with the occasional shot of the duo goofing off on their long journey.

Oh, yeah, and a lovely song.

(Bonus: Would you like to see some draft sketches of the album cover from cover artist -- and Zooglobble logo designer -- Brandon Reese?  I thought you might.)

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Walking with Spring" [YouTube]

Video: "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" - Mista Cookie Jar & the Chocolate Chips

Los Angeles' C.J. Pizarro -- better known in the kindie world as Mista Cookie Jar -- seems to be nearly omnipresent these days, showing up on a number of different kindie artists' albums.

As for his own music, though, he's been a little more silent, save for the release of the first Todd and Cookie EP last year.  Why is that?  Well, in small part that's due to the fact that he's spent nearly a year hand-animating (along with the rest of The Chocolate Chips) his latest video.  It's for "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" off his Ultramagnetic Universal Love Revolution album.

It's hard for me to say that anything that reduces the amount of MCJ music in the world is worth the wait, but this video?  Worth the wait.  Really beautiful retro-styled collages.

Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips - "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar" [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "Let It Go" - Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel and the Roots

As with the last time I posted a clip of Jimmy Fallon and the Roots tackling a pop culture hit, I suspect that many of you reading this have already seen this (or at least had a half-dozen friends recommend it to you via social media).  But it's still great.

This clip from The Tonight Show of Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Idina Menzel singing the big hit from Disney's Frozen, "Let It Go," aired the night after the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song.  I actually was never a huge fan of the song in the movie -- for a song about letting it all go, it never seemed to actually… let go.  No problem with that in this version -- I like the arrangement better (though that has nothing to do with the toy instruments) and Menzel gets to show off her voice even more.  Big smile.

Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel, and the Roots - "Let It Go" (from Frozen) [YouTube] 

Video: "Colonel Purple Turtle" - Rocknoceros

Yes, the song is more than a couple years old, but the title track to Rocknoceros' Colonel Purple Turtle album is particularly earworm-y, and now it has a fun-to-watch video to match.  The band goes through the (stop-)motions for the song -- I'm a big fan just of the rotating band members.

Rocknoceros - "Colonel Purple Turtle" [YouTube]

Video: "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)" (Live) - Walter Martin

I already mentioned the oh-so-lovely Walter Martin - Karen O duet "Sing To Me," and now there's a new video for another song off Martin's forthcoming family album We're All Young Together.  It's for the mid-tempo stroll down memory lane "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)," and it's every bit as genial as the titular subject -- Martin in the foreground, playing keyboards, the rest of the band in the background.  Not much happens, but the song's so great, I don't care.  Unfortunately, toy xylophones introduced (or noticed) in the first act are apparently unplayed in the third.

Walter Martin - "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)" (Live) [YouTube]