One of the many pleasures of listening to Justin Roberts albums is the production. Roberts' albums inevitably just sound great, full of life. That's thanks, of course, to Liam Davis, who produces Roberts' albums.
But Davis also has a musical career of his own, and like countless other kids' musicians (Laurie Berkner Band's bassist Adam Bernstein for example, or Central Services minus the Board of Education) he's not giving that up. Davis has just posted some new demos from his 2009 album on his Myspace page, and they're worth a listen (though your kids will probably find them a bit boring).
They're demos, so they're not the most sonically lush recordings, but they're appealing, especially "Hymn," which sounds like the Jayhawks (or at least Gary Louris) should be calling Davis into the studio, pronto.
World Premiere: Stream the New Terrible Twos (Jerzy the Giant)
Oh, boy, am I geeked about this.
The Terrible Twos' great new album Jerzy the Giant is out next Tuesday the 29th on Vagrant Records and if you don't want wait for my review, or want to see what the fuss is all about, or just want to listen to the album, have I got a deal for you.
Vagrant Records is allowing me to world premiere the stream of the entire album, and I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't think a lot of you were going to love it. Just click on a song track below to get started. Might I suggest #1 ("Old Man Miller")?... (And go forth and explore that player, it'll even allow you to post it on your own website -- or your kid's if you're that type of family.)
You can preorder the album here or here.
You can preorder the album Listen To This: The Not-Its
I know, I know, Bill already mentioned this this morning, but it's just one more proof that Bill and I are actually the same person, because I was planning on giving the Not-Its a shout-out today, too. The Seattle band features Sarah Shannon (ex-Velocity Girl) and others playing power-pop and (on "We Are the Not-Its") some melodic punk about kid-friendly stuff like bathing. (Come to think of it, not so sure how kid-friendly baths are, but never mind.)
It'll be a little while at least before the full album comes out, but this'll whet your appetite for now.
Listen To This: Me 3
I'm still in the process of, well, processing the debut album from Me 3, a new band from San Franciscan musician Jason Kleinberg. So a review will come later, but because I think it's going to generate a lot of talk, I figured I'd start the ball rolling.
His website used to say something like, "for fans of Dan Zanes," which I think captured the spirit of their music a little bit, but it sounds nothing like DZ. Think slower, Mr. David perhaps, or the oddity of Duplex.
You can listen to three tracks -- "Apple," "Tulip," and "I Don't Know" -- at their Myspace page. (Some more tracks/clips are at their main website.)
And trust me, you're gonna hear more about the band...
Listen To This: "Rise and Shine" - Central Services Board of Education
It's no secret I've been a big fan of Central Services Board of Education ever since I caught wind of them many, many months ago. Their self-titled debut will be formally released late this summer, but I've been spinning the album for awhile now, and I've got to tell you, the opening prologue, "Rise and Shine," is my favorite album-opener in quite some time. It's a rip-roarin' song with sparkling keyboards, horns, and vocal gymnastics -- if you're not awake after hearing this, well, you may have some medical problems of some sort.
What's that, you say? You want to hear this fine track? OK, courtesy of the band, here you go (for a limited time only):
Central Services Board of Education - "Prologue - Rise and Shine" (too late!)
If you're from Seattle, you probably recognize the DJ's voice at the beginning of the track -- it's John Richards, host of KEXP's Morning Show, known locally as "John in the Morning." A canny move by the band, but, hey, Richards' a daddy, too.
Snacktime Leftovers
I couldn't squeeze everything I wanted to into my day of Snacktime stuff. Mostly because the stuff I wanted to talk about hadn't actually been, well, posted yet. (I tried to convince them that Monday was the day to do this, but did they listen to me? No.)
But better late than never. First, if you're on the fence about Snacktime (and you probably shouldn't be after reading my review), go over to AOL's New Releases page and you can stream the entire CD.
Second, my friends at the Land of Nod music store have posted their latest Nodcast Podcast with Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies. It's another fun podcast, with Ed playing acoustic versions of "Raisins" and "A Word For That" and spins a couple other tracks from the record. He also plays a game called (echo voice here) "Is It A Guitar?," lets you compose the Nodcast Podcast theme song, and answers exactly why the band got its name.
