Spring has sprung, and that means it's time for the release of Trees, the brand new album from Molly Ledford and Billy Kelly.
[Commence celebration.]
I encourage you to read my interview with the duo, and listen to the whole darn album, but before, after, or during (maybe not during) doing so, you can also watch a Brand New Video animated by Mr. Kelly himself.
[Commence celebration.]
I really love this song.
Molly Ledford & Billy Kelly - "The National Tree of England" [YouTube]
LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!
Josh and the Jamtones - "John Jacob" [from the Bear Hunt: the Movie DVD] [YouTube]
Woohoo, new music from Elska! And a sparkly new video to go along with it.
It's been more than a couple of years since the release of Middle of Nowhere, the singular debut album from Shelley Wollert's Icelandic-inspired electronica-kid-pop, and since that time Wollert and long-time collaborator Allen Farmelo have been exploring new musical avenues and themes, including via a residency at The New Victory Theater's Lab Works Artist Residency.
Wollert also's been collaborating with others, including Mikael Jorgensen, who's probably best known as the lead pianist and keyboardist for a little band you may have heard of called Wilco.
Wollert went to Jorgensen's Brooklyn studio and over the course of a day filled out this song, "Too Much Junk," with bubbling arpeggios and other sounds. Jorgensen recalled (humorously) that "There was a point where Shelley stopped me and, very gently, let me know that her songs were about half the length of what I was making. From there we narrowed, and it was really great to work on such a tight production." (No "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," evidently.)
Beyond the song itself, whose themes of reducing reliance on, and obsession with, manmade itself ("plastic stuff") and relationship with nature Wollert says are reflected in her next full-length release, the video features more scenic visuals from Iceland as well as romps through a snow-covered Christmas tree farm in New York's Hudson Valley.
Photo credits: Christopher Vetur (2015).
There are lots of reasons kids of various might enjoy "Los Planetas," the first video from Los Angeles-based Nathalia and the opening track on her new album Dream a Little: the self-empowerment message, watching kids messing around with science experiments, the slight revenge plot, all done with high-quality production values.
But if I had to pick the most appealing thing about the bilingual pop song's video, it would be the offhand moments shown here -- the kids dancing, or just interacting with each other.
Nathalia - "Los Planetas" [Vimeo]
I'm looking forward to hearing Alison Faith Levy's brand new album The Start of Things, which gets a release on April 21. While a lot of Levy's kids music (both solo and with The Sippy Cups) has a big Wall of Sound, er, sound, the first song from the new album to get a video comes from a very different musical place.
"The Froggy Dance" is based on a nonsense poem handed down through generations and set to music by Levy. Levy turned to animator Maddie Loftesnes to bring to (visual) life the silly animals Levy sings about like the frog-bird. It's handmade and silly and fun.
Alison Faith Levy - "The Froggy Dance" [YouTube]
Sleepy this Monday morning? Need a pick-me-up? Then might I suggest the latest video from the awesome Sleater-Kinney? It's for "A New Wave," and features the characters from the Fox animated comedy Bob's Burgers dancing while animated versions of the trio play one of the strongest songs from their new album No Cities To Love. (Love drummer Janet Weiss shaking her head back and forth.)
While you or your kids might not pogo up and down like Tina Belcher, this'll serve as the equivalent of a cup of coffee or can of soda. Energy!
[Almost entirely unrelated note: I get to see Sleater-Kinney in concert this spring. Squeeee!]
Sleater-Kinney: "A New Wave" [YouTube]
Zooglobble
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