The quality of this video from LA's Earthworm Ensemble, the I'm From Barcelona of kids music groups (seriously, tons of folks in the band, including members of I See Hawks in LA and lots more) is pretty low, but I'm a sucker for a gentle melody. And pictures of meerkats. This has got both of 'em.
"Mama Loves You" is from their self-titled debut album, which won't get an official release for another month or two, but is available now if you're interested...
Earthworm Ensemble - "Mama Loves You" [YouTube]
Video: "New Shoes" - Recess Monkey
One of these days, Recess Monkey will make a video I don't feel like posting here.
This is not one of those days.
I can only imagine what the folks swarming around Powell's Books in Portland (swoon!) must have been thinking as they watched the trio film shoes with chalk lines around them.
Recess Monkey - "New Shoes" [YouTube]
Johnny Bregar Teaches You "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
Well, if you have a mandolin, anyway. Want to learn the mandolin licks on Johnny Bregar's cool jazz-folk rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" found on the new Putumayo Family Christmas album? Bregar is at your service. You have four weeks -- that ought to be sufficient. Unless you need to buy a mandolin.
Video: "(I'm Gonna Eat) On Thanksgiving Day" - Laurie Berkner
You can see a Laurie Berkner-approved video for "(I'm Gonna Eat) On Thanksgiving Day" right here (it's set to a class field trip). Or perhaps you'd like to see a bunch of kindergartners offer their rendition of Berkner's simple but elegant (if that term can be applied to a song about overeating) melody. Kids dressed as reindeer = winner.
I like this fan video, however, which only captures about 30 seconds of the song. Which, when you think about it, is probably the approach you should take tomorrow -- leave the table just a little bit hungry. (You can buy a song download here.)
I hope that all of you enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday -- probably my favorite of all the holidays -- and that you have many things to be thankful for.
Laurie Berkner - "(I'm Gonna Eat) On Thanksgiving Day" [YouTube]
Listen To This: Little Miss Ann Nodcast Podcast
I didn't get to this earlier, but Little Miss Ann's Land of Nod Nodcast Podcast is a fun little listen, featuring some of Ann's best songs from her albums Clap For Love and Music For Tots. Besides some trivia regarding Ann's hometown, Chicago, I also found out that offering cupcakes and fruit tarts as prizes in trivia contests seems to work very well. A tip for aspiring kids musicians out there...The Hoodwinked Soundtrack - Back! In! Print!
I'd be giddier about this news except for the fact that I already have the awesome soundtrack to Hoodwinked, the animated retelling of Little Red Riding Hood via Rashomon from early 2006.
But I'm giddy, nonetheless, because the soundtrack, out of print due to contractual disputes, according to director Cory Edwards, is back in print. That's right, all you quizzical commenters, you need no longer troll eBay for auctions. Instead, Amazon and iTunes (and many others) are happy to be of assistance.
The bad news, such as it is, is twofold. First, the mp3 version of the soundtrack is only available for purchase in full. Having said that, some of the songs ("Great Big World," with Anne Hathaway on vocals, or the stunning "Red is Blue," with Ben Folds) are probably worth 2 or 3 bucks apiece by themselves, so $10 for the album isn't too bad.
Second, I'm guessing that the reason the parties got their acts together and put the soundtrack back in print is that Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil will be released in January 2010, and they probably want to cash in. I'll probably want to see that with the kids (the original, while not perfect, was pretty good), but I'm disappointed to see no mention of original soundtrack creator Todd Edwards (co-director of the movie and Cory's brother) nowhere in the credits for the new movie.
So, to sum. If you are a rockist family, don't delay. Get the album. (Because who knows when the whole thing will collapse and it goes OOP again.)
