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I really enjoyed Musical Stew's song "States and Capitals" -- see, it's there on my radio station playlist from earlier this week. It's from their self-titled 2007 debut.
But this new video for the song takes it up to a whole 'nother level. The original video for the song is probably more useful from a rote learning perspective, but for sheer inventiveness, this new video has it beat. It's too late to sneak it into my list of the best videos of 2011, but I've got a good feeling about it and the 2012 list.
And all of a sudden, I appreciate much more fully the puppetry backgrounds of the members of musical stew, "Macho Nacho" and "Mouth Trumpet."
After the jump, a bonus video from the band featuring the cutest electrical socket ever. I appreciate much more than I Musical Stew - "When the Lights Go Out" [YouTube]
Picking my favorite kids music videos gets harder every year. I've picked 25 here, but featured at least 3 times that number on the site (a figure which itself is a culling of many more videos). There are another half-dozen videos that easily could have made this list were I to make it, say, tomorrow.
You'll find lots of old standbys here, but also videos from new bands and bands who don't spend nearly as much time with their video editor.
Here, then, are my 25 favorite kids music videos from 2011 (2011 defined roughly as March 1, 2011 - February 29, 2012 -- I'm just assuming nothing else definitively worthy gets released in the next couple days or so). I'm offering up my (ranked) 10 favorite videos, with another 15 (unranked) honorable mentions. [The complete playlist can be viewed at the end of this post.]
Don't get me wrong -- I love's Chris Ballew's DIY videos, finding them models of the form. But his occasional (and ongoing) collaboration with New Zealand's Mukpuddy Animation has already produced a couple fine videos, including this, my favorite of the year.
2. Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Blue Bear" [YouTube]
Another near-perfect melding of song and visual style.
Doctor Noize is a busy guy. Not only has he just released The Return of Phineas McBoof, his second album about the title character, and he coaches his daughters' soccer team, but on March 4, he's releasing Grammaropolis, an album about, ummmm... grammar?
Yes, it's Jane Jacobs meets "Weird Al" Yankovic meets the inevitable Schoolhouse Rock reference.
Except that, I think it's safe to say, none of those made Flock of Seagullls reference. OK, maybe Al.
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers originally released "Me and Paul Revere" as a single for the 4th of July 2011 -- an apropos date given the song's subject -- Paul Revere's ride told from the perspective of his horse. The song is a model of historical storytelling through song. This video from Rolling Stone feels a little odd, watching Brooklyn twenty-somethings nod appreciatively as Martin and the band hurtle appropriately through the story, but there's a definite energy to the performance that makes it worth watching.
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers - "Me and Paul Revere" [Rolling Stone]
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 12:08PM 
Not salty, not bitter, not sour. Not even umami.
