I first stumbled across Todd Baio via his Ukulele Evangelist website and interview with Jack Norton.
But I've really been digging the tons of videos he's been uploading to his YouTube channel. A whole bunch of traditional favorites, mostly done solo on the ukulele.
There's nothing odd or special about the renditions -- they're just folk classics, done well. And the videos are about as simple as you can get, but that's not so bad when the music's good. Here's a medley of "Railroad Bill" and the Elizabeth Cotten classic "Freight Train" for your listening pleasure...
Todd Baio - "Railroad Bill/Freight Train"
Video: "Spooky Dance" - Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck
Only about 48 hours or so before the window shuts on the usefulness of Halloween-themed videos, but Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck have slid through, with a live video posted of "Spooky Dance."
The antenna-ball-headed, angel-winged backup singers are, like, the least scary monsters ever, but they give their own spooky dance a good shot.
Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck - "Spooky Dance"
Video: "B.A.T.H." - The Not-Its!
When I was a kid, for a year or so I was a member of Billy Joel's fan club. For, like, $10, I got a copy of his newsletter, The Root Beer Rag, and a vague feeling of being slightly ripped off.
So now, when a kids music band posts a live video on the Internet for free, I feel much better.
We've mentioned Seattle's The Not-Its! before, but now they're starting to play live. They've just posted a live video from the inside of a West Seattle ice cream store.
I dig the synchronized claps.
The Not-Its! - "B.A.T.H."
The Not-Its! play "B.A.T.H". live at Full Tilt Ice Cream
New Music from TMBG: The Sun Is A Miasma of Incandescant Plasma
Details come trickling out about They Might Be Giants' forthcoming kids music album Here Comes Science (which, as I've said before, is not the most scintillating of titles to my ears, but hey, they're the creative folks).
This time, the source is Bill and Ella from Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. Ella (with help from her friend Sam) interviewed John and John Friday and, among other things, found out a lot about Nikola Tesla while telling John and John even more about Benjamin Franklin. All about the Benjamins, indeed. (And Sam's question about "Dr. Worm" produces quite a nugget, too.) In all, well worth the 12 minutes.
Bill also noted that their adult show Friday night included a new song from the upcoming Here Comes Science CD -- "The Sun Is A Miasma of Incandescent Plasma," a response song to their own cover of "Why Does the Sun Shine?"
In rooting around YouTube, it appears they've been playing this song for a little while now, but here's TMBG doing the song in Northampton...
They Might Be Giants - "Why Does the Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is a Miasma of Incadescent Plasma)"
Bob Dylan Does Kids'....
... literature. Not kids music.
Not new news, but Bob Dylan has got a kids' book coming out tomorrow titled Forever Young. It really seems to be illustrator Paul Rogers' bag, since the text seems to consist of nothing but the lyrics to Dylan's classic song.
Anyway, since trailers for kids books are all the rage now, here's the trailer for the book so you can decide if the illustrations are plunking down your hard-earned dollars for.
Oh, and just because I'm snarky...
Video: "We Are One" - Renee and Jeremy
New video this morning from LA's Renee and Jeremy. It's a little different from most kids music videos in that it's actually a benefit video, raising awareness for the anti-poverty organization Action Aid. The video is for "We Are One" from their debut It's A Big World!. The video, which features a lot of smiling kids, is simple, but I think it does what it was intended to do. It might even hold your kids' attention for 3 minutes.
Renee and Jeremy - "We Are One"
