The seasonal goodies continue (and will continue on later today). Right now it's Alabama's Tangerine Tambourine doing their best Supremes-covering-a-Gene-Autry-cover. (Uh, that was complicated.) Anyway, fun stuff...
Tangerine Tambourine - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" [time to take it down...]
(Yeah, I know Jeff just posted it, too... sometimes it just takes a while for all of us to get around to a mass e-mail.)
New Elizabeth Mitchell Video "Little Bird, Little Bird" = Cute Overload. (Plus, New Album Title.)
OK, you know those parenting magazines you skim through at the pediatricians' office (when all you you'd really like to read is a nice Entertainment Weekly or Economist?) that have pictures of cupcakes which make you want to scream "oooooh!"? This is like the kids music video equivalent. Don't click on the picture -- go here to watch "Little Bird, Little Bird" from Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Little Bird.
More importantly, Mitchell's next album (mastered and mixed, I believe), has a title. Sunny Day. Not You Are My Sunny Day, just Sunny Day. Look for a 2010 release.
Update: Now on YouTube, though not in the highest quality...
Elizabeth Mitchell - "Little Bird, Little Bird" [YouTube]
A Sleigh-Load of Christmas/Holiday CD Reviews
There's so much holiday music in the kids music genre that just listening to it all this year was a daunting task. I've got eight albums that grabbed my attention in one way or another; one of them is bound to please your family (unless you're looking for a solstice, Kwanzaa, or Festivus album).
Let's start out with my 3 favorite albums of this particular season...
The most ambitious kids music holiday album of the year comes courtesy of The Hipwaders, whose A Kindie Christmas isn't so much an album of Christmas music as much as it is a Christmas concept album, covering the emotions and anticipation of the season. It's a collection of all-original tunes, done in the Hipwaders power-pop/rock style. "It's Wintertime" is a great dance tune, and "Santa's Train" sounds like an outtake to a Johnny Cash Christmas album, but my favorite track here, maybe of the season, is "There's Too Much Good," a very affirming sentiment at this time of year.
To say that the collaboration of Danny Adlerman, Kevin Kameraad, and Yosi finally bridges the divide between Christian and Jewish holiday traditions makes ...And a Happy New Year sound a lot duller than it really is. In reality, the three kids rockers mostly take turns in providing songs, alternately deeply sincere ("Starlight" and "Two Sets of Footprints") and goofy (the "12 Days of Christmas" reworking "A Pickle for my Christmas Tree" and a cover of Tom Lehrer's "I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica"). Featuring the season's hardest-rocking tune, the trio's cover of "Frosty the Snowman," it's an interfaith collection worth exploring regardless of whether you light menorah or advent candles.
Robert Burke Warren, AKA Uncle Rock, spent time in London's West End performing a Broadway show but also rocked in far earthier terms. On Express Your Elf, Warren taps into both of those performing personalities. On the one hand, he offers a crooning take on "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and a peaceful "My Favorite Things" (a perfect holiday song, when you think about it). Those tracks share space with the rootsy original long-lost nugget "Santa's Coming in a Whirlybird" and a cover of "Feliz Navidad" that neatly weaves "La Bamba" into the mix. It's a tough (and close) call, but it's my favorite kids music holiday disk of the year.
There are others for your listening pleasure. Read on for more...
The most ambitious kids music holiday album of the year comes courtesy of The Hipwaders, whose A Kindie Christmas isn't so much an album of Christmas music as much as it is a Christmas concept album, covering the emotions and anticipation of the season. It's a collection of all-original tunes, done in the Hipwaders power-pop/rock style. "It's Wintertime" is a great dance tune, and "Santa's Train" sounds like an outtake to a Johnny Cash Christmas album, but my favorite track here, maybe of the season, is "There's Too Much Good," a very affirming sentiment at this time of year.
To say that the collaboration of Danny Adlerman, Kevin Kameraad, and Yosi finally bridges the divide between Christian and Jewish holiday traditions makes ...And a Happy New Year sound a lot duller than it really is. In reality, the three kids rockers mostly take turns in providing songs, alternately deeply sincere ("Starlight" and "Two Sets of Footprints") and goofy (the "12 Days of Christmas" reworking "A Pickle for my Christmas Tree" and a cover of Tom Lehrer's "I'm Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica"). Featuring the season's hardest-rocking tune, the trio's cover of "Frosty the Snowman," it's an interfaith collection worth exploring regardless of whether you light menorah or advent candles.
Robert Burke Warren, AKA Uncle Rock, spent time in London's West End performing a Broadway show but also rocked in far earthier terms. On Express Your Elf, Warren taps into both of those performing personalities. On the one hand, he offers a crooning take on "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and a peaceful "My Favorite Things" (a perfect holiday song, when you think about it). Those tracks share space with the rootsy Listen To This: "Christmas Songs" - Todd McHatton
Anybody who releases a free Christmas EP which includes "A Christmas Song for Harry Nilsson" is OK by me.
Todd McHatton is OK by me.
Fans of the Jellydots and the Hipwaders (and the Flaming Lips and Matthew Sweet) should check it out. Fans of Santa, too, perhaps.
Video: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" - Caspar Babypants
Top 5 Things About Caspar Babypants' Video for "Itsy Bitsy Spider":
1) The hands? "Manny Handypants" and "Randy Handypants" - hah!
2) The harmonicas
3) The tiny Casio keyboard near the end (I loved those things!)
4) The song itself, which turns the traditional melody into 2 minutes of music you'd gladly listen to repeatedly
5) The fact that it looks incredibly simple, and yet would've required not a little bit of thought.
From the album More Please! -- Chris has added tunes from the album to his Babypants music player, so go to his website and check it out...
Caspar Babypants - "Itsy Bitsy Spider" [YouTube]
Carol of the Bells... with Muppets
Technically speaking, the piece is called "Carol of the Bells," not "Ringing of the Bells" as the YouTube video puts it, but if you've got the Muppets performing it, you're probably not looking for technical accuracy.
Funnily enough, before seeing it, I probably could've told you that it'd be performed by the Swedish Chef, Beeker, and Animal -- the three Muppets whose vocabulary range is limited at best.
The Muppets - "Ringing of the Bells" [YouTube]
