We know Ella Jenkins is a living legend, and now comes one more proof of that -- her 1966 recording of "You Sing a Song, I'll Sing a Song" is now immortalized in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, a list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" recordings preserved for all time.
Other kids' artists are in there, though not for kid-specific songs -- Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene," Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," and Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome" all made the list in past years, and Elizabeth Cotten's 1959 recording of "Freight Train" was included this year along with Jenkins.
On the list you'll also find some recordings that, if you're like me, you've probably never heard of, like "Tubby the Tuba" by Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger, an incredibly popular kids music recording from 1946. But you're more likely to have heard the three most recent recordings on the list -- Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, and Nirvana's Nevermind.
That's fine company indeed.
Recess Monkey On Tour, In Phoenix, Presented by...
Zooglobble!
That's right, the great Seattle trio Recess Monkey is making their way around this great country of ours this summer promoting their upcoming album Tabby Road. (Despite $4/gallon gas, they will not be riding the tricycle as in the picture above to get around the country.) Chicago, Northampton, DC, Austin, and, hey, what's this, PHOENIX!
Yep, on Sunday, August 3rd, 3 pm, you can see Recess Monkey at downtown Phoenix's Modified Arts, $6 for adults, $3 for kids, and infants free. And despite the fact that the phrase "presented by Zooglobble" makes me giggle, it's true. We're thinking of something special for the kids (in addition to seeing the band).
So come join us next month -- it will be a blast. (And I'm working on some other shows -- this may be the first Zooglobble-only presentation, but it won't be the last.)
Band photo by Kevin Fry.Video: "Pollywog in a Bog" - Barenaked Ladies
I can't say that "Pollywog in a Bog" ranks near the top of my favorite tracks on Barenaked Ladies' excellent Snacktime disk, but a good video can change one's impression of a song, no?
This is a good video.
Barenaked Ladies - "Pollywog in a Bog"
(featuring Kevin Hearn as the possum, Steve Page the owl, Ed Robertson the flying squirrel, Tyler Stewart the otter, and Jim and Andy Creeggan as the fox brothers. Puppets by Noah Ginex, directed by JP Riley.)
Because "Better When We Videopodcast It Together" Doesn't Sound So Good
The whole set of ground rules for artist/audience interaction has changed, of course, here in the 21st century, and it's nice to see artists adapting. Unsurprisingly, it's the artists who've been around the longest -- who've figured out over many years what it takes to attract and retain an audience -- who've been adapting best.
So I'm not surprised that Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have followed They Might Be Giants into the world of video podcasting. Yep, if you go to their new Song Shop Podcast page, you'll find the first in what is promised to be an ongoing series of video podcasts. The first episode (also available on iTunes) features "Better When We Sing It Together," general clucking mirth, and a handful of chicken-related puns. If the production values aren't of the highest quality, they're considerably better than the production values of my -- non-existent -- videopodcast.
Review in Brief: Sunny Side Up - Egg
Egg is the creation of LA-based audio engineer Jeff Fuller who wrote some songs with his young daughter Annabella, wrote some more songs himself, and recruited some other moms and dads to record the songs for an album.
Reading over that description might not necessarily fill you with hope for the album -- good intentions and enthusiasm being a poor substitute for, you know, musical talent and songwriting skills -- but luckily their debut album Sunny Side Up has enough of that musical talent and songwriting skills to make it a fun listen.
The band mentions Cake as one of their musical reference points, and I can hear that, at least in the somewhat spare arrangements that rely a lot on drums and, on a couple tracks, trumpet. But I hear more of a West Coast Brady Rymer. It's roots-rock mixed with a little country and with a more sunny (album title pun unintended), wide-open feel. The album has a loosey-goosey sound (I mean that as a compliment here) and it serves as an appealing musical background for lyrics that are squarely aimed at the preschool set. In part this probably partially reflects the influence of Fuller's daughter, but it's nice to hear songs about shuffling down the hall (the angular "Flip Flops") or summer ("Summer Today") that retain that kid's perspective. "Hiccups" is a goofy, make-the-kids-laugh song, while the last two songs ("Airplane" and "Goodnight") are tender ballads.
Kids ages 3 through 7 are most likely to enjoy the songs here. You can hear sound clips from the 26-minute album at its CD Baby page. Egg's Sunny Side Up will have no small appeal to families who prefer their kids music (if not their eggs) a little bit scrambled. Recommended.New Music From the Terrible Twos' "Jerzy the Giant"
I told you a while back about the Terrible Twos' new album, Jerzy the Giant. OK, I said the album was coming out July 28th on Vagrant, and I was wrong about that -- it's July 29th -- but that's less than a month away.
Anyway, Matt Pryor and the band have finally posted three tracks from the album at their Myspace page, and they're worth the six minutes or so of your time -- "Old Man Miller," "Big Baby J," and "Archibald McAllister" are fair representive tracks, continuing the band's mixture of sweet and occasionally sour. It's hard to kvetch with a song ("Archibald") that features a) a sing-along, and b) the word "malodorous".
You'll have to wait awhile for the review here, but if you like those tracks, you can feel safe in pre-ordering the album.
