KidVid: "Farm Song" - Laurie Berkner

If it doesn't quite have the propulsive energy of last year's "Walk Along the River," Laurie Berkner's new song "Farm Song" does have farm animal noises and Berkner's sweet voice.

Not at the same time, luckily.

It's 2 minutes and 30 seconds of animal noises, mad bongo conga drum skillz, and tons of kids' animal costumes. (Jack evidently has a very large costuming budget.) An appealing enough video and a song that'll probably end up on a Laurie "greatest hits" CD someday in the future.

View the video here. Read a profile in the New York Times here. (Who knew therapy could produce a popular kids' tune?)

KidVid: "Polar Bear" - The Quiet Two

Opening lines aren't quite so big a deal in songs as they are in novels, but the opening line in "Polar Bear," by The Quiet Two, is pretty cool:

"Straight to the point, I wanna be a polar bear."

Direct enough for kids, odd enough to pull in the parents.

And now that the song has its own video on the debut Season Two episode of Jack's Big Music Show, it's about to go huge. Just like the song itself, the video is direct enough for kids (kids jumping around in polar bear outfits) and odd enough for the parents (the goofy animal masks and facial expressions).

To see the video, go to the videoplayer at Jack's page. Want the lyrics or to singalong, karaoke-style? Go here. Want a snippet of the regular track? Go here.

(And if you're not familiar with Make Some Noise, their debut album, you really, really should be.)

KidVid: "Toenail Moon," Wee Hairy Beasties

The Sally Timms-directed video for "Toenail Moon," originally on the Animal Crackers CD (review here), has now been posted to YouTube. It's cute, in a lo-fi, did-the-kids-help-with-some-of-the-decorations-and-sock-puppetry sort of way.

Plus, the song's sweet.

Wouldn't It Be Great If There Was A Video About Tricycles?

Why, yes, yes it would. Frances England's got herself a spiffied-up website and a video and slideshow to boot. Now if only Lunch Money and the Jellydots would jump in with videos for their awesome three- and two-wheeled songs...

Dan Zanes, Auteur?

Speaking of videos, I doubt Dan Zanes directed any of these, but it looks like he's adding a bunch of videos to his website. They're not all there yet, but a few from his All Around the Kitchen DVD are there right now.

Call him a producer then.