It's been a little while since I talked about the Bay Area's The Sippy Cups (last time: Austin Kiddie Limits 2007), but they announced last week that they'll be releasing an iTunes EP entitled One Day Soon, which will feature (among other things) a couple songs from their 2009 album The Time Machine. "More acoustic, intimate, and gentle," they promise, which makes it sound like it'll be a dead ringer for Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York.
Anyway, if you're looking for some more recent visual input regarding the band (they're a very visual band), you can check out this slideshow from Sippy Paul, which includes a lot of photos from their sojourn out East, including pictures with Joan Osborne.
Beethoven's Wig Enters Rarified... er... Hair
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.
