Richard Perlmutter's Beethoven's Wig crashed through the 2-sequel barrier that seems to be the limit with most popular entertainment with the release a couple weeks ago of Beethoven's Wig 4: Live Free or Die Hard Dance-Along Symphonies. You might not think goofy lyrical adaptations of classical music showhorses would lend themselves to YouTube, but I think this does the job about as well as could be expected, with a blend of in-concert performance and animation...
Easily The Most Inappropriate Thing I've Ever Posted. Yet, Oddly Relevant.
Are the kids out of the room?
Preferably asleep or at school?
OK, then I can probably tell you about Z Rock, a new, partially-scripted comedy series on IFC which tells the somewhat fictionalized tale of a heavy-metal band by night, kids-music band by day.
It is totally inappropriate for kids, so if you want to read more, go to the jump.
Video: "Bedtime Lullaby" - Mark Kozelek
This is waaay too dreamy to start off the week with, but I can't resist. Compared to the rest of Yo Gabba Gabba!, which can seem like it's aching to be painfully hip, this video is a peaceful respite. The music is by Mark Kozelek, and it's sweet, but it's the appropriately dreamy and slightly surreal visuals from Lippy that make it worth 90 seconds of your time.
I Will Not Use "Might" Or "Giants" In This Title. Or Even "Science"
... even though it's related to They Might Be Giants and their next kids' album.
Normally I wouldn't be too concerned with the kids music opinions of a 48-year-old man with no children, but when said 48-year-old man is TMBG's John Flansburgh, I'm willing to make an exception. In Sunday's New York Times, Flansburgh lists five artists and albums he might have his kids listen to, if, you know, he had kids. Gettings props? Baby Loves Hip-Hop (the Dino-5), Tiny Masters of Today, and fellow scarred Disney Music Block Party Tour veteran (yes, the whole sorry chapter is over tomorrow) Dan Zanes. Plus a couple other somewhat surprising choices.
(And suddenly, news that the band is working on its next kids' album, this one devoted to science -- hat tip Bill -- is everywhere, as the Times article mentions that Flansburgh's spending time writing songs for that next kids album. Though let's all hope Here Comes Science is just a working title, because hoo-ee, that's a stinker.)
Video: "Under My Bed" / "Green Monster" - Recess Monkey
After their long, long national tour, the boys at Recess Monkey made it back to Seattle A-OK and, last weekend, played a show at the Experience Music Project. Joined by Matt Swanson, the boys played a medley of "Under My Bed" and "Green Monster," accompanied by video screens that look like they were swiped from the U2 tour, goodness, those look gargantuan.
I believe the show was actually recorded in HD, which explains why it sounds and looks just a wee bit better than my videos from their show in Phoenix.
Listen To This: "Share" and "Is It Really Any Wonder?" (and more!) - Renee and Jeremy
A few weeks ago, I got a note from Jeremy Toback, half of the LA duo Renee and Jeremy (you guess which half) which said that they were going into the studio to record the follow-up to their sweet and hypnotic debut It's A Big World!. Toback described the album as "definitely not lullabies... groovy and sweet. A little light, a little dark, like smores."
Well, music from those recording sessions are starting to trickle out. Luxury Wafers, the blog of the ChessVolt studios where Toback and Renee Stahl are recording the new album, has posted five new live mp3s for listening or downloading. "Share" is definitely the more upbeat of the tracks, while "Is It Really Any Wonder?" is a little more downtempo along the lines of the first album. If you liked the first album, you're gonna like those. (And if you haven't heard the first album, live tracks of "Free," "Night Mantra," and "We Are One" are there for your enjoyment, too.)
Toback wrote in to clarify that they're actually recording the album at his house -- they just finished this past week. So those tracks up above, which were definitely demo-style anyway, have nothing to do with the actual recording session for the album, photos of which are after the jump.
