Picking my favorite kids music videos gets harder every year. I've picked 25 here, but featured at least 3 times that number on the site (a figure which itself is a culling of many more videos). There are another half-dozen videos that easily could have made this list were I to make it, say, tomorrow.
You'll find lots of old standbys here, but also videos from new bands and bands who don't spend nearly as much time with their video editor.
Here, then, are my 25 favorite kids music videos from 2011 (2011 defined roughly as March 1, 2011 - February 29, 2012 -- I'm just assuming nothing else definitively worthy gets released in the next couple days or so). I'm offering up my (ranked) 10 favorite videos, with another 15 (unranked) honorable mentions. [The complete playlist can be viewed at the end of this post.]
1. Caspar Babypants - "Mister Rabbit" [YouTube]
Don't get me wrong -- I love's Chris Ballew's DIY videos, finding them models of the form. But his occasional (and ongoing) collaboration with New Zealand's Mukpuddy Animation has already produced a couple fine videos, including this, my favorite of the year.
2. Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Blue Bear" [YouTube]
Another near-perfect melding of song and visual style.
3. - "Career Day" [YouTube]
The Minneapolis band hasn't produced a bad video yet.
4. Elizabeth Mitchell - "Ong Tal Sam" [YouTube]
Dreamy, oh so dreamy.
5. Dog on Fleas - "Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step?" [YouTube]
You might be forgiven for wondering if I was ever going to pick a live-action video for this list. Well, here's the first of many.
Video: "Noun Town" - Doctor Noize (Grammaropolis)
Doctor Noize is a busy guy. Not only has he just released The Return of Phineas McBoof, his second album about the title character, and he coaches his daughters' soccer team, but on March 4, he's releasing Grammaropolis, an album about, ummmm... grammar?
Yes, it's Jane Jacobs meets "Weird Al" Yankovic meets the inevitable Schoolhouse Rock reference.
Except that, I think it's safe to say, none of those made Flock of Seagullls reference. OK, maybe Al.
Doctor Noize - "Noun Town" [YouTube]
Monday Morning Smile: "Me and Paul Revere" - Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers originally released "Me and Paul Revere" as a single for the 4th of July 2011 -- an apropos date given the song's subject -- Paul Revere's ride told from the perspective of his horse. The song is a model of historical storytelling through song. This video from Rolling Stone feels a little odd, watching Brooklyn twenty-somethings nod appreciatively as Martin and the band hurtle appropriately through the story, but there's a definite energy to the performance that makes it worth watching.
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers - "Me and Paul Revere" [Rolling Stone]
Kickstarter Update: The Kindie Crowd-Funding Continues
Not sure why, but these Kickstarter kids music projects come in clumps. Another fine batch of kindie projects from Kickstarter and its kin, so let's hop to it.
First up is the Kickstarter project from New York's Shine and the Moonbeams. Anyone who saw them at Kindiefest last year knows just how awesome this album could be. Yes, it's a debut album, but with folks like Dan Zanes and Tor Hyams lending their support, it's gonna be pro all the way.
Baltimore's Milkshake's concept for their Kickstarter project features a bunch of music one minute (or so) in length.
Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band's Kickstarter project doesn't officially launch until Friday, but you can watch the preview video now. [And here it is!]Rather than raising money for the album itself (I'm So Glad! comes out April 3), Alex Mitnick and crew are raising money for videos for the album. As someone who likes videos, I say, woot!
Kickstarter doesn't have a monopoly on kids' music projects -- Athens, GA band Like Totally! are pitching their project on IndieGoGo. I've actually been following the band for a little while now and I'm curious to see what a focused producer does with their Elephant-Six-meets-The-Polyphonic-Spree-meets-Sesame-Street vibe.
Now, in the category of "just lettin' ya know," Ralph Covert, aka Ralph's World launched and successfully funded his Kickstarter project to film a pilot for a new TV show called Time Machine Guitar, which features, er, a guitar that allows Ralph to travel Back. In. Ti-ime.
Also, there will be puppets.
The whole project looks pretty cool, with some top-notch talent backing Ralph up to make the pilot really cool. So keep your eyes out for that.Video: "Pancake Smackdown" - Gustafer Yellowgold
Rejoice! It's time for another humorous Gustafer Yellowgold video with food as its subject!
This time it's "Pancake Smackdown," and it's the first, er, taste of the forthcoming Gustafer Yellowgold CD/DVD set Gustafer Yellowgold's Year in the Day, out April 3. It features assorted pancake-related violence, so the gluten-intolerant may want to look away.
Gustafer Yellowgold - "Pancake Smackdown" [YouTube]
Gustavo Dudamel and Elmo: Not Quite Stupendous. But Fun.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic's wunderkind conductor Gustavo Dudamel ticked off the first of the two major pop icon checkmarks (the other would be being namechecked on The Simpsons) when he got an appearance with Sesame Street's Elmo to discuss the word "stupendous."
"Stupendous" means "great and amazing," and while I'm not sure that it's quite that cool, the bit is fun. Little known fact: Ludwig van Beethoven originally scored the last movement of his Fifth Symphony for penguin choir, so Dudamel's just reverting to the composer's intentions here.
