I'm gonna go out on a big limb here and say that this video, taped at yesterday's "A Child's Time to Rock" benefit, shows Seattle's Not-Its playing the title track from their forthcoming (July 2010) Time Out to Rock disk. Because, you know, it's titled "Time Out to Rock" and features fancy logo stuff at the end. I'm smart like that.
Their timeouts apparently rock a little harder that my kids' -- those usually end up with reading books on the bed.
The Not-Its - "Time Out to Rock" [YouTube]
Laurie Berkner Band's Greatest Hits Album On Its Way. Eventually.
"On its way" implies a level of progress that isn't really there (unless you think more theoretically than I) but Laurie Berkner has announced that the band is rehearsing some of the songs that will appear on The Laurie Berkner Band's Greatest Hits Album. (They actually append it with "!!!," but that didn't seem very journalistic of me.) So, yeah, there's gonna be a Laurie Berkner greatest hits album. No additional info except that a special version of "Open Your Heart" will be on it. How did that song go again?...
Crowdfunding, Part 4: The Okee Dokee Brothers Join In (with Chipin)
First Jim Cosgrove, then Matt Clark, and now the Twin Cities' Okee Dokee Brothers are hopping on the crowdfunding bandwagon.
Unlike the other two, the Brothers have gone ahead and recorded their new album Take It Outside (and paid for it) ahead of requesting folks to help them out. So it's really not "crowdfunding" as much as it is a massive pre-order campaign with "rewards" ($150 gets you a CD, book, t-shirt, and a liner-note shout-out). Still, with Tor Hyams producing and Adam Levy from Bunny Clogs helping out, the August release is one to be anticipated. Details here or donate straight away below...
Please Release Me: April 2010 Edition
It's been quite some time since I've done one of these, but I thought it'd be worthwhile to run down what the kids and family music world can look forward to here in the next few months... Lots and lots of stuff...
Sugar Free Allstars: Funky Fresh & Sugar Free (April 30)
Princess Katie & Racer Steve: Tiny Cool (May 4)
Randy Kaplan: The Kids Are All Id (May 14)
Billy Kelly: Is This Some Kind of Joke? (mid-May)
Justin Roberts: Jungle Gym (June 8)
StarFish: Enter Sandbox (June 1): My favorite album title of the year thus far...
Recess Monkey: The Final Funktier (June 15)
Putumayo Kids (Various Artists): Rock 'n' Roll Playground (June 15): Features Dan Zanes, Peter Himmelman, Uncle Rock, and Charity and the JAMband, among others.
The Not-Its: Time Out To Rock (July 6)
Frances England: Title TBA (the album has a tentative title, but I'm going to wait a bit...) (Early fall): Says Frances:
"We were lucky to have Tor Hyams produce this CD, and he kept the mood high - we had so much fun recording these songs, and I think that comes through in the sound. It's definitely the most upbeat, swinging thing we've ever done. There are 15 tracks with topics ranging from road trip pleasures, to bicycle love songs, to building log cabins in the woods, to the remarkable Jacques Cousteau."Flannery Brothers: Title TBA (September): Theme is "exploring," apparently Jamie Broza: I Wanna Dog (October) Caspar Babypants: This Is Fun! (Nov. 2) "I think this album will be very upbeat and silly," says Chris Ballew... Elizabeth Mitchell: Sunny Day (TBA 2010) Others working on albums with potential 2010 releases? Lunch Money and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo at the bare minimum...
Listen To This: "Constellation Conga" - Recess Monkey (World Premiere)
That's right, it's your chance to listen to "Constellation Conga," a powerful sludge of a hard rock/polka/chillwave tune from Seattle's Recess Monkey... ahhhh, who am I kidding? It's a breezy, danceable tune from their upcoming album The Final Funktier, out June 15. Listen to the song below, courtesy of the band, then listen to a variety of new tunes from the album throughout the weekend... more details here.
Sorry, too late. I'll be posting this track on my radio station soon...
Photo: Kevin FryJustin Roberts' Jungle Gym: Sarajo Frieden's Album Art
I've been trying not to publish album art and tracklists unless it's a really big deal.
Well, a new album -- Jungle Gym -- from Justin Roberts is a really big deal. I know, Jeff already published the tracklist (which you see also there to the left), but I also wanted to be able to share some album art, which Roberts was kind enough to do. The lovely cover art (as always) from Sarajo Frieden, along with a story from Justin about recording one of the tracks, follows...
