The Bay Area's Sippy Cups have been running a series of video podcasts this fall and winter on their website, iTunes, and YouTube. They're not always music-based, and the one below ("Hair Professor Meets the Flower Tower," #7 of a planned 13) isn't really, either. But the moment at about 2:26 into the podcast made smile a big grin.
Video: "I Can't Get Away From Myself" - Billy Kelly
One Billy Kelly is probably more than enough for this world. But two? Wowzers. And that's not including the best kids music-related doll since the Gustafer Yellowgold plush. Watch the video that interprets "I Can't Get Away From Myself" from Thank You For Joining The Happy Club pretty literally...
Billy Kelly - "I Can't Get Away From Myself" [YouTube]
Video: "Pollito Chicken" - Dan Zanes and Friends feat. La Bruja
There have been a ton of "learn Spanish through kids music" disks that have come across my desk over the past year or so, but few of the songs have been as effective in teaching a few Spanish words (or as fun) as Dan Zanes' version of the nursery rhyme "Pollito Chicken." It features Caridad De La Luz aka La Bruja as the maestra, and whereas before you could only download the video, now it's available for viewing on YouTube. BTW, the Spanish for "tie" (you'll see a lot of them) is "corbata."
Dan Zanes and Friends featuring La Bruja - "Pollito Chicken" [YouTube]
Video: "Ladybug Without Spots" - Randy Kaplan
I always liked the half-loping/half-strutting horn-filled "The Ladybug Without Spots" from Randy Kaplan's fine Loquat Rooftop album, and now he's got a cute animated (albeit abbreviated) video to go with it. (And, yes, he's wearing the hat.) Even better, it's the first of a promised few from a collaboration with MindSmack (you can't miss it, with the logo burned in at the bottom corner). Between the videos and his upcoming third kids album, Kaplan's gonna have a busy 2010.
Randy Kaplan - "The Ladybug Without Spots" [YouTube]
Video: "Isthmus Be The Pirate Waltz" - Dean Jones and the Felice Brothers
I know that my posting schedule has been light recently, which explains why it's taken me so long to post this video for "Isthmus Be the Pirate Waltz" from Dean Jones and the Felice Brothers (from their Rock Paper Scissors collaboration). In video form, it's a nice encapsulation of the album itself -- messy, a little lo-fi, and a big ol' party. If I had a pirate name, it'd be "Blackjack Pickle."
Dean Jones with the Felice Brothers - "Isthmus Be the Pirate Waltz" [YouTube]
Video: "Wash Your Face" (Live) - The Okee Dokee Brothers
The Twin Cities-based Okee Dokee Brothers' Kids With Beards is one of the better kids music albums I never got around to reviewing -- a solid, occasionally odd, but often quite enjoyable collection of tunes released in 2008. You've never heard banjos and disco mix quite like this.
Well, Joe and Justin have some new tunes, and they're trying them out live. More importantly for the audiovisual needs of your friendly kids music blogger, they're also posting them to YouTube. Fun stuff, plus banjos. Banjos go a long way with me, as do gratuitous mid-'80s references. I think they'll go a fair way with your kids, too.
The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Wash Your Face" [YouTube]
One more live video after the jump. Lots of fun wordplay in this one.
