Putumayo Kids' Picnic Playground tour wasn't much of a tour -- just four or five cities, I think. They seemed to draw a nice crowd, though, if this video from Rhythm Child's performance in LA was any indication. This video features Norman Jones going all quadruple-time on his "Bowl of Cherries" (which will sound familiar to those of you who have "Pick A Bale of Cotton" imprinted on your brain thanks to Raffi or Leadbelly).
The song's on the Picnic Playground, as well as on their upcoming album of the same name. (By the way, you can download a free mp3 of "The Shaker Song," which isn't necessarily a favorite of mine -- "Cherries" is a lot better -- at Rhythm Child's website.)
Rhythm Child - "Bowl of Cherries" (Live)
Peter Himmelman: More Curious, Less Furious
I already mentioned how Peter Himmelman would be releasing My Trampoline, his latest album for kids, next week on the Minivan Productions label. I also noted how he's putting together Peter Himmelman's Curious World, which will be webcast on the Land of Nod website.
A few more details are trickling out, including, perhaps most importantly, a time and day. The first 10 episodes will start on Sunday, October 4, at 10 AM (Central Time), with new weekly episodes running each Sunday morning through December 6. [Update: Will now start Sunday, September 27.] Each episode will feature a theme of the day and things like questions from kids, on the street visits, and chats with King Ferdinand, Himmelman's African leopard tortoise.
Ferdinand's been a part of Himmelman's Furious World webcasts for awhile now. You can even find some of Ferdinand's videos on YouTube. Here he is talking with Peter about music...
King Ferdinand - "Music" [YouTube]
And one more...Video: "Itchy Scratchy" (Live) - Mr. Leebot
I don't think Austin's Mr. Leebot is a closet fan of The Itchy & Scratchy Show (though I do believe he would turn in an excellent cover of their theme). But on this new track (it's not even on his not-yet-officially-released new album Robot Dance), he does show off some dance moves that would put Leon Kompowsky to shame.
Mr. Leebot - "Itchy Scratchy" (Live)
Video: "Tiger in My Backyard" (Live) - Sugar Free Allstars
It's been awhile since the release of Dos Ninos (review), the first kids album from the Sugar Free Allstars, but they're releasing Gettin' Funky with the Sugar Free Allstars, a concert DVD (all the cool kids are doin' it, dontcha know).
They've been posting cuts from the DVD to YouTube, but they've finally posted a new track from the DVD, "Tiger in My Backyard." Standard SFA funkiness, but with some extra roaring.
Sugar Free Allstars - "Tiger in My Backyard" (Live)
Video: "Furry Happy Monsters" (Sesame Street) - R.E.M.
Amy Silverman, last mentioned in this space for interviewing me in the Phoenix New Times, occasionally records essays for our local NPR station, and yesterday morning her essay on the advantages of a car over our fancy new light-rail station concluded with R.E.M.'s "Stand." Which reminded me of this video, a song I absolutely adore, from the perfect lyrical rewrite to the Kate Pierson look-alike to the way how Michael Stipe's unique dancing style fits in perfectly with the surrounding muppets.
R.E.M. - "Furry Happy Monsters" (from Sesame Street) [YouTube]
Oh, and the '90s best pop song bar none after the jump:
Video: "Three Little Birds" - Bob Marley (Noggin)
Folks, you know that I wouldn't link to a non-embeddable video if it weren't really, really cool.
So when I link to Noggin's video page and tell you to watch the video for Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" (right now, it's the first one in the video player) I hope you realize that it's really, really cool. It is sweet and cute in all the best ways -- that's, like, the cheeriest sun ever.
The song itself is a slightly truncated version of the version on Ziggy Marley's B Is For Bob collection of Bob Marley tracks Ziggy remixed and re-imagined. More details here.
