It's been awhile since I've talked about California-based musician Mr. David -- too long methinks -- but that doesn't mean he hasn't been busy. He's just posted "Rainbow of Butterflies," a mellow groove originally recorded last year as a fundraiser for a Bay Area preschool. It features a chorus of kids, some nifty guitar work, and if you like Mr. David at all, it's worth your time to check it out -- the track is at his Myspace page.
Mr. David, who recently relocated to the Los Angeles area, also released a video for "She's a Good Dog," off his excellent Jump in the Jumpy House disk from '06. Pretty simple -- Mr. David, and a dog, and not much else -- but I think the song is one of the more idiosyncratic and affectionate portraits in song of a canine friend. (Tip: view the video in high quality -- "normal quality" looks a little chunky.)
Mr. David - "She's a Good Dog"
New Dog on Fleas Music, Video (With Bonus Elizabeth Mitchell!)
My Dog on Fleas cup runneth over this evening.
First, head on over to the band's Facebook page to give their new bonus track "Love" a spin. The word "love" makes up maybe 80% of the total lyrics, so it'll probably fit well on your kid's mix CDs they're making for their 2nd grade class for Valentine's Day. (What, they're not making mix CDs?)
Second, head on over to Jitterbug to watch a new video for "Cranberry Sauce Flotilla", the super-fun title track from the album of the same name. Lots of men in hats. But not Men In Hats.
Finally, I told you about the High Meadow Songs album about a year ago, and in January 2008, there was a benefit concert.
Luckily, someone captured Dog on Fleas, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Daniel Littleton doing "Jenny Jenkins" live. (Sadly, it took me a year to discover it.) Great version.
Stream The New Robbert Bobbert Albbum
Normally, I'd (attempt to) write something witty, but I'm crazy busy this week.
ABC News' Amplified, their weekly indie rock show (who knew?) is streaming the upcoming self-titled debut from Robert Schneider's Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine.
Go here. Make sure you check out "We R Super Heroes" if nothing else.
Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine is out Feb. 17 on Little Monster Records.
Listen To This: Caspar Babypants (Chris Ballew)
I like to think I've done a pretty good job of introducing a lot of great artists to a larger audience here at this website, but for whatever reason I've had particularly good luck with the Seattle area. Recess Monkey, Central Services Board of Education, Johnny Bregar -- all of 'em you heard about here first. That's not to mention all the other artists up there in Washington State -- Harmonica Pocket, Eric Herman, Eric Ode, the Not-Its -- all of which makes me wonder what's in the water (or coffee) up there.
Well, I've got another Seattle name for you today -- Caspar Babypants (Edit: link fixed). Now, you might recognize the person behind Caspar Babypants -- Chris Ballew, lead vocalist for the Presidents of the United States of America (and, may as well get it out of the way, yes, the band that brought you "Lump").
But even if you don't, you owe it to yourself to hightail yourself over right now to the Babypants site, which features four seven sweet tracks for your listening and downloading pleasure -- "The Brown and Lonely Worm," "Small Black Ant," "The Island Hop," and "Monkey River." Some are traditional, some are original from Ballew's efforts in kids music, and "Monkey River," well, Ballew once put out an album that featured twelve different versions of that tune, so that one's been around awhile. All of them are so, so sweet -- soulful, laid-back music for fans of Elizabeth Mitchell, Dan Zanes, Dog on Fleas, or Session Americana. You may find yourself listening to them as often as you did "Lump" back in the day. (Edit: Chris has just added "Little Broken Truck," which features an awesome little "buh-beep-beep" fill, "Baby Bear," and a '60s-styled "Three Blind Mice.")
Anyway, the tracks are from Babypants' first album, Here I Am!, which will be out next month. I chatted briefly with Ballew via e-mail, and he said that he's a huge Elizabeth Mitchell fan, calling her his "inspiration" for the disk. He also says he's got three more albums in the works.
I, for one, cannot wait. Album art and track listing after the jump.
New Music From Elizabeth Mitchell (and Suni Paz)
Elizabeth Mitchell has posted a couple new tracks on her Myspace page. The first, "Little Bird Hops," she posted before (and it's still there for the taking, if you'd like to).
So the bigger news is a new track from Elizabeth Mitchell and fellow Smithsonian Folkways artist Suni Paz, whom she sang with in LA back in September. Mitchell's posted a duet of the traditional Argentinian lullaby "Arrorro." The lyrics (courtesy of here) sound like a balm to tired parents of newborns:
Sleep my baby, sleep my sun,
Sleep piece of my heart.
This beautiful baby wants to sleep
But the sandman won't come.
Sleep piece of my heart.
New Music (and Album) From Dan Zanes: "Jesus on the Mainline"
Updated post:
The fine folks at Festival Five have provided some clarification on the previously discussed The Welcome Table: Songs of Inspiration, Mystery, and Good Times mostly-gospel album. The album is coming out as an iTunes digital exclusive on Tuesday, December 23rd and an Amazon exclusive in its physical format on the same date. (Though I'd note that I just added the Amazon disk to my cart, so maybe Amazon didn't get the memo from Festival Five.) All other retailers will get the album (physically and digitally) on February 10, 2009. So yay for last-minute Christmas gifts (a gospel album is kinda appropriate for the season, no?)
If you want to get a sneak preview besides listening to the clips on the Amazon page, though, head on over to Zanes' Myspace page, where you can hear "Jesus on the Mainline" in its entirety. Nice rootsy gospel with some funky organ work to boot.
Anyway, here's the tracklisting...
