While in Austin, I ignored my e-mail from Amazon saying that the new They Might Be Giants kids' CD/DVD, Here Come the 123s would now be released February 5, a period so far in the future the major political parties might have already selected their 2008 Presidential candidates.
Sigh.
Oh, well, not all is lost, They Might Be Giants fans. The band has noted this video which, for many reasons, warms my heart.
Song Concert
Listen To This: "My Pet Rock" - Recess Monkey
Clearly, I'm a big fan of Seattle's Recess Monkey, so I won't apologize for posting every time a band member sneezes, but they've put a new song from their upcoming double album Wonderstuff on their Myspace page, and "My Pet Rock" is a simple, Beatles-y blast. I love me some "la la la la" choruses.
Oh, and for those of you needing video stimulation, watch Jack do his best Buddy Guy impersonation -- not playing blistering blues guitar, mind you, just leading kids on a conga line during "Monkey Bars" while the rest of the band vamps
Monkey Bars Conga Line at the Fremont Fair
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More New Music from Lunch Money: "Tiny Dinosaurs" and "Somehow a Frog Finds a Pond"
When I posted that song from Lunch Money the other day, I knew that there was more good stuff on its way, and now it's here, courtesy of the Tricycle Music Fest's blog. Y'know, for a first year of a music festival, the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County done good.
The first track is another great uptempo track in the vein of "Cookie As Big As My Head," except this one features dinosaurs, so it's bound to be a massive hit.
Lunch Money - "Tiny Dinosaurs"
The other new track posted is a slower song featuring a "ribbit, ribbit" singalong chorus. It's more of a story song than I'm used to hearing from the band, but it's still a sweet listen.
Lunch Money - "Somehow a Frog Finds a Pond"
DVD Review Two-Fer: Jim Cosgrove / Eric Ode
I receive a lot of CDs every week, some good, some bad, but not so many DVDs. I expect DVDs to become a much bigger deal in the world of kids' music here in the next couple years as artists look to connect with their audience in multiple ways, beyond just recorded music and concerts. It's also a way to help artists develop more of an identity nationally. (It's also a way to generate additional revenue, but that would be a rather crass way of putting it, I suppose.)
For the moment, however, the number of DVDs is still more accurately a trickle rather than a flood. Musicians Jim Cosgrove and Eric Ode each released a DVD relatively recently, and it's worth a glance to see the results of some of the early settlers of the kids' music DVD field.
Listen To This: Lunch Money, "Cookie As Big As My Head"
There are a number of releases in the works for the rest of 2007, but none I am anticipating more than the second album of South Carolina-based trio Lunch Money. It's approaching three years since the release of their debut CD, the small gem Silly Reflection (review), and that's just way too long, y'know? Their lo-fi songs, slightly remiscent of Yo La Tengo or Spoon at its most minimalist, have stayed fresh after repeated listening...
So thanks to Gwyneth, who caught the band's set at Chicago's Summer on Southport Festival a couple weeks ago, and preserved this new track for the world (or at least the world with access to YouTube) to see. "Cookie As Big As My Head" is another instantly catchy melody (though the bass seems particularly high in this mix) married to sharp lyrics ("By the way, my cookie policy is / I'm a chocolate chip girl / We can [something] Pecans and walnuts / [something else] Is winter coming? / Are you trying to tell me that I look like a squirrel? / I want a cookie as big as my head...") OK, I'm sure the lyrics will be sharper on disk. [Note: Thanks to Lunch Money songwriter extraordinaire Molly Ledford for setting things straight in the comments.]
New Music from the Jellydots: "San Diego"
The Jellydots traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina about a month ago to perform at the Tricycle Music Fest. In addition to performing a special version of their hit "Bicycle" (take a wild guess at how they modified it and watch here to see if you guessed correctly), they debuted a song from their upcoming album.
Musically, it's got a sunny, late-California afternoon sort-of vibe. It's sort of hard to make out the lyrics in the muddy audio mix, but the chorus is pretty clear:
"Why don't we go to San Diego? / We can sign up this year / Why don't we go to San Diego? / I'm gonna pack up my gear."
The song seems pretty relatable to kids, but considering the line midway through - "It gets so hot in Texas" - it seems like this is a case of real (adult) life inspiring the song, as Jellydots main man Doug Snyder recently moved from Austin to here in Phoenix. Now, ordinarily I might cry foul ("Hey, where's the song about Phoenix?"), but I gotta tell you, "Phoenix" is not nearly as easy to stick in a chorus as "San Diego."
"Why don't we fix transportation in Phoenix?"
"Why do I get neck cricks looking at houses in Phoenix?"
So Doug gets a pass.
Anyway, enjoy.
