Monday Morning Smile: "White Knuckles" - OK Go

I can't think of another band whose music I merely enjoy whose videos I consume so eagerly. While it's not quite as brilliant as their video for "This Too Shall Pass", this video for "White Knuckles" is fun with animals and safe for the kiddos. What's that, Lassie? You say you want to choreograph Timmy's next music video?

OK Go - "White Knuckles" [YouTube]

Announcing PlayMapped

Because it gets so hot here in the Phoenix area during the summer when the kids are out of school, one of our major decision points in deciding where to go on vacation (if we take one), is, are there playgrounds there?

Well, there are playgrounds lots of places. But really good ones -- with interesting play structures for the kids and shade and seating for the adults -- those are harder to find. Even on the internet, where the reviews and rankings can be brief (or with little detail for visitors). Even, dare I say it, for where I live.

So I decided to start PlayMapped, a website devoted (mostly) to reviews of playgrounds from all around the country. That's right -- not only are there Phoenix playground reviews, but you can find reviews of, say, Seattle playgrounds or San Diego playgrounds.

The website is young, so there aren't many reviews, though I'm working on adding some more. But as I have no intentions on giving up on Zooglobble (more music reviews this week!), and I haven't figured out how to get by on 3 hours of sleep, I need your help. I know there are lots of readers here scattered all across the country (and world) who like, value, and have opinions on playgrounds just like I do. If you're able to write even one review on a local (or distant) playground, I -- and other parents -- would be very grateful. Details on what I'm looking for are here -- it shouldn't take up much of your time, and you'll get a couple links back on PlayMapped for your time.

So there it is. Hope you enjoy PlayMapped, hope you'll come back, and hope you'll add to the discussion. (And if you need more inspiration, just check out my list of songs for playgrounds.)

88 Lines For 44 Kids Musicians

My last Kindiefest post, I promise.

I'd written the lines below as a spoof of the New Wave hit by the The Nails, "88 Lines for 44 Women," and had intended the spoof to be for the website. But for some reason I thought it might be appropriate for Kindiefest and the many multitudes of kids musicians gathered. The poobahs in charge agreed, and so that's how I came to be standing up on stage on Saturday night in between sets, iPod in hand, reading off 88 lines while Tor Hyams jammed on keys in the background.

Hyams didn't know the original song (see a live version here) well enough to play it, so instead we turned it into a beat poetry/spoken word/jazz thing. I'm a poor judge of how it turned out, but a couple other notes:
1) I like speaking in public, and I have no problem playing on stage in a quartet or an orchestra. But trying to be a lead singer and command an audience's attention is a hard, hard task. The whole experience for me was useful just to have that concept reinforced.
2) I was completely -- I mean totally -- oblivious to Anand Nayak from Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem joining in with some guitar jamming as they prepped for their showcase set, so focused was I on my lyrics. I was surprised later when people told me they joined in.

So clearly rock superstar is not in my immediate future. For visual proof, see below (thanks, Jeff!). But thanks to Tor, Bill, and Stephanie for letting me join in the fun.

And here are all the full lyrics
Dan Zanes is the godfather
Of music for kids and families
But Heidi Swedberg plays the uke
And tunes it with "My dog has fleas."

The Not-Its are a newer band
That play new-fangled kindie rock
But TMBG was the first
To podcast with puppets of sock

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
Line a mantelpiece with GRAMMIES
Rocknoceros will arm-wrestle them
To see who gets to keep the WAMMIES

Woody Guthrie wrote a million
Songs, give or take one or two
His granddaughter Sarah Lee
Mermaid-Ave'd "Go Waggaloo"

Frances England got her start
Fundraising for her kids' preschool
Recess Monkey's biggest asset?
Mayor Monkey suffers no fools

Rani Arbo's string band tunes
Are new to the kids music track
Laurie Berkner hit it big
Playing with a sock named Jack

Morgan Taylor's Gustafer
My favorite yellow song creature
Did you that know that Justin Roberts
Looks like my kid's piano teacher?

Robert Burke Warren is now known
Better here as Uncle Rock
Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang
Have a name too long to mock

From LA, the Hollow Trees
Play some bluegrass and some folk
Ella Jenkins - such a legend
I won't even make a joke

Barry Louis Polisar
30 years, overnight success
Princess Katie & Racer Steve
Have kindie rock's swankiest dress

Raffi had a gift with children, a
Golden voice, and Dan Lanois
Pete Seeger's a national treasure
Springsteen looks to him with awe

Peter Himmelman is multi-talented -
musician, artist, two podcast shows
Ralph Covert's had several labels
They don't deserve him, IMHO

Bill Harley tells funny stories
Occasionally mixed with a tear
23 Skidoo would say that
His name doesn't scan in here

Dean Jones has forgotten more
Instruments than we can name
Eric Herman's elephant
Has given him his YouTube fame

Ashley Albert and her Jimmies
Never take a solemn oath
Sara Hickman, Willie Nelson
Texas State Musicians both

Michael Rachap has his Readeez
Animated words and phrases
The Biscuit Brothers should be shown
In many more PBS places

Leadbelly's another giant
of Smithsonian Folkways heritage
I have no good Jim Cosgrove comment
Luckily he bears no grudge

Suni Paz records in Spanish
English, too, on the same song
Liz Mitchell's her labelmate
Who'd like you please to sing along

Renee and Jeremy's sweet voice
Blend together smooth as silk
Billy Kelly's little secret
Is that he likes beer not milk

Key Wilde gets animated
Singing with pal Mr. Clarke
The Nields recorded a 2-CD set
One for daytime, one for dark

Trout Fishing in America
One short, one tall, both with rapport
Caspar Babypants must have
A million songs in his desk drawer

Debbie Cavalier's at Berklee
The one out east, not way out west
Lunch Money, your songs so nifty
I chose you to end this list.

Monday Morning Smile: "Falling Slowly" (Live) - The Swell Season

I can now associate 3 goose-bump moments with "Falling Slowly" from the move Once. The first two I mentioned here -- hearing it for the first time when I saw the movie 2 1/2 years ago, and seeing it win Best Song at the Oscars a couple years ago.

The third? Well, it's courtesy of Strict Joy, the latest album from The Swell Season, the duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It's a fine album (recommended for all those who dug the Once soundtrack), and some versions of the album come packaged with a live CD and DVD recorded for a show in Milwaukee in May 2008. The live album is excellent, too, and features, of course, a take of "Falling Slowly."

Featuring an 8th grade school choir.

On DVD (and to a lesser extent on the CD), the audio is too heavily weighted toward the band, which means the full effect of the choir is muted. Thankfully, low-grade video that isn't miked into the soundboard captures it a lot better. Yay, YouTube!

The Swell Season - "Falling Slowly" (Live, featuring the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir) [YouTube]

Seriously, this one little gesture may do as much to nurture a lifelong interest in the arts in those kids as hundreds of hours of music classes. (Recognizing, of course, that they wouldn't have had the opportunity to do this without, collectively, hundreds of hours of music classes.)

After the jump, they cover a Pixies song. One of my favorites, and one I would not have been expecting to feature on Zooglobble. (Warning: possibly a dubious choice to cover with an 8th grade choir.)
The Swell Season - "Gigantic" (Live, featuring the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir) [YouTube]

They Might Be Giants Reveal Plans for Next Kids Album

When we last heard from They Might Be Giants, they were enjoying the success of their latest CD/DVD set for kids, the excellent Here Comes Science. They were working on their next adult CD. There wasn't even any discussion about the next kids album.

But now, in a Zooglobble exclusive, the band reveals their next kids album, coming out sooner than you'd think:

Tentatively called Here Comes Political Science, the album continues the band's exploration of academic fields beyond the ABCs and 123s. This time around, they'll be offering up ditties about Western Eurpoean parliamentary systems and unicameral legislatures, all wrapped up in the 2-minute pop nuggets the Grammy-winning band is known for and targeted at kids ages 4 through 10.

We talked briefly to John Flansburgh by phone yesterday, during which he revealed the surprising background to the album and a little bit about the songs (along with a tracklist).

The album itself will actually be released on the new C-SPAN Records label, yet another way in which the cable channel is expanding its reach. "We've been really happy on Disney Sound," says Flansburgh, "except for having to put that Higglytown Heroes song on one of the disks. But we'd been writing these slightly more political songs -- for kids -- and weren't sure if they were up Disney's alley."

"At about that same time, C-SPAN came to us and asked if we'd do a theme song for them and mentioned they were starting a record label. Seemed like fate was talking, if you subscribe to that sort of superstitious bunk. So we asked Disney if they'd be willing to let us release an album with C-SPAN, and they were totally cool with that. We're still with Disney -- hopefully we'll be recording another kids' album for 'em in 2011. 'Here Comes Colors and Shapes,' or some crazy stuff like that."

When we wondered if maybe the They Might Be Giants songs might be a bit too liberal for the non-partisan C-SPAN (Flansburgh, after all, in 2004 helped put together Future Soundtrack for America, a various artist collection whose proceeds went to liberal organizations like MoveOn.org), Flansburgh said it wasn't a concern. "They [C-SPAN Records] actually have already signed up [Sen.] Orrin Hatch and have negotiated distribution rights with [Rep.] Sonny Bono's estate. So they kinda needed us to balance things out." Flansburgh stresses, though, that the political aspect won't play a big part of the songs -- "Mentioning political leaders by name probably renders most of songs way out-of-date within a decade -- one person's Barack Obama is another person's Gary Hart. But a song about the history of the initiative process in the Western United States? Now that stuff never gets old."

As for videos -- yes, this will be another CD/DVD set -- Flansburgh says they've already got animation and live-action stuff in the hopper. He says he's particularly excited about the Deeply Felt Puppet Theatre's version of "Tea! (Party!)," though admits he's probably biased because he's lead puppeteer Robin Goldwasser's husband.

Expect a release date of October 12, 2010, in the last month before the 2010 midterm Congressional elections, along with a tour supporting the album. State capitols will be on the itinerary ("Maybe Linnell will open shows playing that State Songs album that's, like, totally forgotten") and maybe even Congress. "I'm really excited about that possibility," says Flansburgh. "Maybe we'll write songs for all those statues sitting there in Congress sent there by the states. And who knows, maybe Higglytown Heroes will do an episode on the local parliamentarian -- Disney knows where to find us."

Track listing (with selected notes):

1. One House Is Enough: About Nebraska's unicameral legislature
2. Question Time
3. Instant! Runoff! Voting!
4. Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (prev. released)
5. The Ballad of Davy Crockett (on the City Council)
6. James K. Polk (prev. released)
7. George W. Bush: a reworking of "James K. Polk," a la "The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma" off Here Comes Science
8. Where Do My Taxes Go?
9. Social Security Trust Fund Blues
10. Structure of My Deficit
11. The Veil of Ignorance: John Rawls, y'all!
12. Tea! (Party!)
13. Theme from "Washington Journal"

Photo credit: Autumn DeWilde