It's been, what, four or five months since we last heard from Seattle's Recess Monkey, but clearly there have been some tensions between the band and its hand puppet band manager, Mayor Monkey -- tensions that are played out in "Bubble Factory," the latest video from the trio's fine Field Trip album...
Recess Monkey - "Bubble Factory" [YouTube]
Listen To This: "London Bridge" / "Hickory Dickory Dock" - Elizabeth Mitchell
It says a lot about the two new ("quite old, but new to you!") tracks from Elizabeth Mitchell that they take two of the most repetitive sing-song melodies and turn them into nearly 2 minutes of very listenable songs. Don't get me wrong, singing "London Bridge" or "Hickory Dickory Dock" with your kid is great, but after two minutes of that I'm usually more than ready to move on. These two tracks, especially the toy piano-accompanied mellow "Bridge," pass the test. I suspect these tracks won't appear on Mitchell's new Smithsonian Folkways album, which'll come out sometime in 2010, but they're nice nonetheless. Listen at her Myspace page for a limited time...
Itty-Bitty Review: Music is... Awesome! (Yo Gabba Gabba!) - Various Artists
I am perhaps not the best person to judge a Yo Gabba Gabba compilation, as I've never seen a complete episode aside from the premiere I received on a screener DVD a few years back. (That's what a lack of cable will do.) A soundtrack album -- that's pitched at the true believers, not at the casual fans, right? So, if anything, I started listening expecting not to like it so much.
Wrong. Even if you've never watched an episode and don't know your Brobee from your Muno, you and your preschoolers could definitely enjoy their new compilation Music is... Awesome!. For the most part, the disk alternates songs from the series with those from a list of artists with serious street cred; often they're set up as pairs. So a basic YGG song like "I Like to Dance" is followed up by Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark doing a cool "Robo Dancing," an angular dance tune with lots of bleeps and bloops. "Don't Be Afraid" is followed by I'm From Barcelona's swirly pop on "Just Because It's Different Doesn't Mean Its Scary." Generally, the best songs are from the guest artists -- the Roots' incredible "Lovely, Love My Family" or Chromeo's funky ode to handwashing "Nice 'N' Clean" or the sunny "Hey, Won't Somebody Come and Play" from The Little Ones (a song which is destined to find its way onto a lot of hipster mix CDs yet is somehow totally appropriate for the 3-year-old in your life). But there are a few decent songs from the YGG folks, even if you're not a fan of the show (the cute "Party in my Tummy," or the shiny pop of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," credited to the Yo Dazzlers, but really just another YGG tune).
You can find the 37-minute CD at the usual places, including Amazon and iTunes. Besides your hipster 30-year-old friend with the chunky eyeglass frames, the album's most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 5.
I'd love to say that Music is... Awesome! is awesome. Unfortunately I can't pull the trigger on that obvious pull quote as some of the YGG tunes are just too dry to enjoy apart from the visuals. But a lot of the music is indeed awesome, which makes it the kids music compilation of the year. Definitely recommended.Listen To This: "Mezuzah" / "Apples & Honey" - The Macaroons
How's this for a kids music supergroup of sorts? A couple guys from The Zambonis (North America's favorite all-hockey band, who are partially responsible for "Hockey Monkey"), a guy whose band DeLeon turns Sephardic folk tunes into indie rock, and Michael Azerrad, best known for the book Our Band Could Be Your Life. OK, not a kids music supergroup, seeing as they have maybe one great kids song between them. But put them together as The Macaroons, a kids band with a fairly Jewish focus, and you have a potentially ground-breaking album.
They're putting out an album later this year on JDub Records, and I'm here to tell you that regardless of your faith, you need to listen to the two tunes they've posted post haste. Both songs -- the stomping, hair-metal with a sense of humor "Mezuzah" and the sweet pop-rock of "Apples & Honey" -- are, well, awesome.
In case you're not Jewish and need the Internet to explain things (like I did), here's teh internets on what a "mezuzah" is. You don't need any help with "Apples & Honey," which is a sweet Rosh Hashannah song. "It's when things get sticky / Just remember life is sweet" -- special meaning for those of the Jewish faith, but a sentiment the rest of us could get behind.
Video: "Educated Kid" (Live) - The Hipwaders
I need very little reason to post anything related to The Hipwaders' "Educated Kid." So, here's the band playing the song live at San Francisco's cross-country traveling Tricycle Music Fest West last weekend, along with a whole bunch of inflatable guitars, natch. (What, no kindie Christmas songs, guys?)
The Hipwaders - "Educated Kid" (Live @ Tricycle Music Fest West) - [YouTube]
Here are a couple more videos from the band...
Listen To This: "C'mon" - Renee & Jeremy
Here it is, folks, the title track from the new Renee & Jeremy album, C'mon. As I mentioned before, the duo's using some interesting methods to distribute and promote their new album, due out November 10. They've hooked up with TopSpin, who among other albums, helped distribute the recent David Byrne/Brian Eno collaboration.
Anyway, to get a free mp3 of the title track -- and you want to get it, because it's a wonderfully zippy and slightly mellow song perfect for a fall morning -- just enter your e-mail in the widget below. And if you want to spread the word, just click on "share" below.
