Not much in the way of videos for awhile, and now they come in clumps. First Recess Monkey with a sentimental video, now their Seattle Kindiependent buddies The Not-Its release a video for "I've Got a Goat" off their fine Tag, You're It! album. (And I'll have another one for ya tomorrow.)
If you ever needed to see animated animals give their own "devil horns" rock salute, you're in luck. Also: I think if Laurie Berkner ever wanted to cover a song written by a fellow kindie artist, she could much, much worse than picking this one.
With FLYING!, Recess Monkey put together the best kids' album of 2011, at least according to one august group of folks. The band liked the title track so much, they put it on the album twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. Now, truth be told, the album closer is wistful and more for the parents than the kids. So, yeah, the video for the reprised version is likely to elicit one or two "Awwwwwwwww...."s.
Part 1 of my list of this year's Christmas songs for kids was out of date as soon as I hit "publish," because I realized that I'd forgotten Billy Kelly's video from Dear Santa Claus (review). Maybe I was distracted by the mindbending song. Or maybe I was just wondering if this video is Kelly's video resume for applying to direct Paranomal Activity 4: The Christmas Special.
I reviewedRosie Thomas' album A Very Rosie Christmas a few years back -- it's pretty good. (Anyone who can take a Chipmunks song and turn it into something earns lots of bonus points.) Anyway, she's got a new holiday tune out -- I don't think it's quite as good as the 2008 album, but you may like it...
(Or just stream the whole holiday album here.) Speaking of follow-ups to Christmas albums of years past, the Slugs and Bugs holiday album A Slugs and Bugs Christmas (review) has been reissued with a scripture reading and a new song, "Shepherd Dad." No, the song isn't about me (think about it...), it fits in within the religious songs of the disk as part of a production churches can put on using its music. If you're looking for secular Christmas music, this ain't it. But if that's not what you're looking for, I think you'll like this. Listen to it here.
Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke have released some fine holiday music in the past, and this year is no exception. The duo have a couple new songs out. There's "Christmas Time is Here," which actually is a gentle original tune, not a cover of the Vince Guaraldi classic (listen here). And then there's a cover of "Angels We Have Heard on High," which will have you and your kids singing "Gloooooooria" at the top of your classic rock/head-banging voices.
Finally, the socio-political implications of this song from Alastair Moock will go over the heads of younger elementary school students -- it's not a kids' song -- but in the tradition of songs like "The Elf's Lament" by Barenaked Ladies, Moock takes the point of view of Santa's helpers.
My kids have been singing "Sing," the classic Joe Raposo song written for the first season of Sesame Street in 1970, for a few weeks now. It's because they've had Laura Doherty'sfine album Shining Like a Star (CD Baby | iTunes) on rotation in the minivan.
Which made me think that I should totally do a "Monday Morning Smile" on the song. Because while it's ostensibly (and originally) a "kids' song," it clearly has entered the American songbook as a song appropriate for all ages.
And then it occurred to me, maybe I can get Laura's version in this post -- a version I really like and which I would've put into my "Top 25 Songs" list if I didn't think it wasn't a little unfair to put such a classic song in there. Luckily, she agreed to let me feature it here. So let's kick off this post with an exclusive, limited-time-only stream of "Sing" from Laura's Shining Like a Star album. [Ed.: I told you, limited-time-only.]
Here's the earliest version I could find on YouTube -- Bob McGrath, Emilio Delgado (Luis), and Loretta Long (Susan) sing with some kids. While I like it (McGrath has a great voice), Luis' Spanish verse seems a bit forced. Not that Spanish is bad, mind you, just that the lyrics don't scan perfectly like they do in English. (Hey, English lyrics for "De Colores" stink, too.)
The Carpenters pushed the song much further into the American consciousness when they recorded a version for their 1973 album Now and Then. While I listened to a lot of post-natal Carpenters, I must have completely blocked out the memory of the children's chorus, 'cause it came as kind of a shock to me when they joined in. I don't think they add much to the track (I'd rather just listen to the duo), but there's no doubt that the "la la lalala"s are kind of addictive to kids.
Pink Martini dials it back enough to appreciate the melody and lyrics and brings out the bossa nova a bit more, and while they, too, sing it bilingually (with Emilio Delgado, no less), this new version much less forced...
And it continues to be popular... here's a montage Sesame Street put together featuring many different artists singing portions thereof. It's lousy to listen to, but shows you just how much the song means to a wide range of people. (Can we please get the full version of R.E.M. performing "Sing"?)
Perhaps the best Sesame Street version available on YouTube is this one featuring Alaina Reed Hall (Olivia) singing while Linda Bove (Linda), who's deaf, signs along. It works on many levels.
Suzi Shelton's new EP Tomboy in a Princess Dress has been out for a couple weeks now, but it officially gets a big kickoff this afternoon as Shelton releases her video for the title track. Even a couple boys in the video, so it's not totally for the pre-tween girls.
Suzi Shelton - "Tomboy in a Princess Dress" [Vimeo]
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 6:37AM 
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And then it occurred to me, maybe I can get Laura's version in this post -- a version I really like and which I would've put into my 
