Incoming: Born in the Deep Woods - Red Yarn

I don't normally like posting incomplete songs -- why let people know about something that ends just when it's getting good? -- but I'm going to make an exception for the video below.  It's for the title track from Red Yarn's forthcoming album Born in the Deep Woods, and it's everything a teaser trailer should be -- it's atmospheric and whets the appetite with a story that leaves the viewer wondering what'll happen next.

Born in the Deep Woods cover

Directed by Big World Audio Theatre creator and frequent Red Yarn video collaborator Laki Karavias, the video's set in the Oregon cabin where the album cover was filmed.  Sure, Red Yarn is the star, and Bob Rabbit sets the plot in motion, but for my taste, the "oooooh!" star of the video is the lovely full-size book Bob Rabbit brings to Red Yarn's doorstep.  Created by Ryan Bruce, who did the illustrations for the album, it is simply lovely...

Red Yarn - "Born in the Deep Woods" [YouTube]

Born in the Deep Woods is officially released March 10, and Red (AKA Andy Furgeson) will be playing a couple album release shows in Portland that weekend, then heading down to Austin for SXSW.  If you can, catch him in concert...

Oh, and if you want to listen to the whole song, plus maybe another track hint hint (and preorder the album), then here you go!

Video: "Potato Leek Soup" - Django Jones

It's been awhile since Django Jones released their 2014 album D Is for Django, but not too long ago they released a video for one of my favorite songs on the album, "Potato Leek Soup," a brief but earnest power ballad promoting, well, potato leek soup.  (Think of it as the savory version of The Verve Pipe's "Cereal", I guess.)

Anyway, the video features real potato heads and, even better, leek puppets.  I'm serious, folks, it's worth 90 seconds of your time to see leek puppets sing.  (Also, stick around for the closing credits.)

Django Jones - "Potato Leek Soup" [YouTube]

Video: "Valentine" - Justin Roberts

I think in terms of the disparity of attitude between adults and kids, there is no holiday greater than Valentine's Day.  Adults love it (or, depending on their relationship status, actively loathe it), but kids?  Most kids are pretty much "meh" on it.  It's like Arbor Day with candy, pretty much.

It's that disconnect that makes Justin Roberts' "Valentine" so appealing to me.  It's a song whose chorus leads off with the lines, "I don't wanna be yours / You don't wanna be mine."  Imagine a Christmas or Hanukkah song that led off with a similar sentiment -- it'd be shunned.  But for Valentine's Day?  Aside from the candy, there's very little that kids actually enjoy about the holiday.

For this latest video off his album Lemonade, Roberts wears an appealing dorky pipe-cleaner-and-paper-heart crown and fills it with kids who really get into being, well, just annoyed by the holiday.  There will be a lot of sweetness over the next week or so, but this video brings just the right amount of, well, non-sweetness.

(As a song titled "Valentine," I think I like "Valentine" by the Old 97s slightly better, but this is a close second.)

Justin Roberts - "Valentine" [YouTube] 

Video: "Bird-Watcher Watching" - Billy Kelly

My First Comedy Album cover

I once called Billy Kelly the Funniest Person in Kids Music, and that was against some tough competition.

So the release of My First Comedy Album, Kelly's (not my), er, first comedy album, while a departure, wasn't exactly a surprise.  I wouldn't exactly call it "kids' comedy," but in its good nature, curse-free patter, and being devoid of first-date and airplane food jokes, it's certainly kid-adjacent.

You could stream the entire album to see if it makes you or kids chuckle or guffaw or chortle -- man, those are some great words -- but what if you only have about 40 seconds?  Then I'd recommend his "Bird-Watcher Watching" bit, helpfully animated by Kelly himself, below.

Billy Kelly - "Bird-Watcher Watching" [YouTube]

Video: "Super Strong" - The Deedle Deedle Dees

Hey, it's a new video from the Deedle Deedle Dees!  That's right, America's favorite history-inspired band of kids musicians march through Brooklyn (what is it about Brooklyn-set kids music videos this week?) to their song "Super Strong."

The Rocket Went Up! album cover

While the theme of being "super strong" could lend itself to any one of a number of different historical figures, in this case the song celebrates everyday toughness -- ballerinas, teachers, cancer survivors -- and, by implication, encourages fortitude in others.  That sounds Really Dramatic, but the song moves gently along with an electronic percussive accompaniment, and the video, directed in black and white by chief Dee Lloyd Miller, has just enough goofiness and shots of kids dancing down the street to make it sweet and fun.  It features a number of Miller's family and friends, and all the dancing isn't a random choice -- he says he thought:

"a joyous, natural way to [celebrate being strong] would be to use dance in the backdrop of my own neighborhood in Brooklyn. I love to dance and I love films and music videos that use dance in all its forms."

It's not the technicolor vibrancy of parts of La La Land but it's joyful just the same.  I'm happy to give the video its world premiere here.  (The song itself can be found on the Dees' 2016 album The Rocket Went Up!: Sing-Along History Vol. 2.)

The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Super Strong" [YouTube]

Video: "Say Hey!" - Mil's Trills (World Premiere!)

I know, we're in the midst of winter -- short days, overcast skies, and long sleeves.  (Even in the Arizona desert!)  So every now and then it's nice to see video clips clearly not filmed last week.

Now That We're Friends cover

This brand new video from Amelia Robinson AKA Mil's Trills definitely scratches that midwinter itch.  Filmed via GoPro while tooling around Brooklyn with friends, family, and random strangers on the street, "Say Hey!" from her latest album Now That We're Friends is a bright, sunny pop anthem celebrating friendliness and curiosity about your fellow human beings.  That's a sentiment worth getting behind any time of year.  Maybe specially in winter.

Anyway, the video gets a live biiiiig-screen premiere at Robinson's 7th Annual Winter Bash in Gowanus, Brooklyn this weekend, but I'm happy to be world-premiering the video (edited by Helen Murphy) for you today.  Enjoy!

(And, for what it's worth, I'm much more of a carrot man, myself.)

Mil's Trills - "Say Hey!" [YouTube]