Five things to love about this video for "Cousins," a song recorded a couple weeks ago in New York by Dean Jones, Grenadilla, and Recess Monkey.
1. Dean Jones
2. Grenadilla
3. Recess Monkey
4. The fact that these three groups got together to write and record a song.
5. The discussion of "homophone."
Dean Jones, Grenadilla, Recess Monkey - "Cousins" [YouTube]
Review: FLYING! - Recess Monkey
1. There once was a band from Seattle
For whom writing reviews was a battle
So consistently good
That even though I should
Provide insight, my same-ness would prattle.
2. So instead of writing a review
The way that I normally do
I took a new tack
Went down a new track
To talk about this distinguished crew.
3. The band, of course, is Recess Monkey
A trio, a band made up of three
Guys named Jack, Drew and Daron
On this album they're tearin'
Through more songs both peppy and funny.
4. They've released their album called FLYING!
Effortless, like they're not even trying
This album's their seventh
It's still free of bad synth
And features laughter and (appropriate) crying.
5. In time these three fine young fellows
Have matured, though they've not yet quite mellowed
They write short, sharp pop ditties
For elementary kiddies
With lyrics that quite easily flow [Ed.: Better than this, to be sure.]
6. At this point the band writes succinctly
And perhaps a little distinctly
There's almost no fluff
Or extraneous stuff
The melodies simply just hit me.
7. Tor Hyams produced this new disk
And sonically the sound is quite brisk.
Played piano, too
Acting as the glue
That kept the band sounding their best.
8. Beyond that, there are other guest stars
Like Chris Wiser from Sugar Free Allstars [Ed.: "stars"? "Allstars"? that's stretching it.]
Dean Jones, Chris Ballew,
Justin Lansing and Tom Baisden, too
A duet with Molly Ledford, and Johnny Bregar.
9. Most all of their lyrics are great
Heroes big and small predominate.
A kid's life is his "Day Job,"
"Toolbox"'s tender but odd,
And "Flapjacks" spells out what's on your plate.
10. My favorite songs this time around
Are "Toolbox," with lots of quaint tool sounds.
"Super Stuffies" is epic
"Your Favorite Book" ranks to me second
"Bunk Bed" is a Phil Spector track re-found. [Ed.: "Re-found?" Really? Sigh.]
12. The ages of kids who'll think it's most great
Would be between that of four and of eight.
To listen to songs
You won't be steered wrong
By going here, don't hesitate.
13. As always I would be remiss,
If the artwork I did not address.
Jarrett Krosoczka's
Comics make the most of
The theme the album does possess.
14. So I hope that you're not too offended
By how rhyming this review I've amended
But Recess Monkey is fab
and you prob'ly should grab
FLYING!, highly recommended.Austin Kiddie Limits 2011 Lineup Announced
The lineup for the 2011 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival (September 16-18, ugh, the humidity!) was announced this morning and, yeah, that top of the bill is pretty darn good. Stevie Wonder! Arcade Fire! Alison Krauss! Kanye West! My Morning Jacket! I've run out of exclamation points! (OK, now I have.)
Still, scroll down a bit and you'll find the lineup for the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, not in a particularly friendly way, but the brainy among us can figure it out. As with the Kidzapalooza lineup, you can split the AKL lineup into 2 basic divisions. The first are the folks you'd most typically find here at this site...
Sara Hickman
Heidi Swedberg
Mariana Iranzi
Brady Rymer
Recess Monkey
That's a good lineup (heck, I've put on shows featuring three of 'em), and I think they're all a good fit for the AKL stage.
Beyond that we have The Paul Green School of Rock, Q Brothers, Peter DiStefano & Tor, the Barton Hills Choir, and Quinn Sullivan, all making return appearances to the AKL stage. (Sullivan's performance may very well be the most crowded the stage gets all weekend.) So, in other words, while first-timers may find these performances worth sticking around for (and I think even I could be tempted to see the Barton Hills Choir), should we make the trip down to Austin again, I think it'll be an opportunity to broaden some of the kids' musical horizons... time to camp out in the gospel tent or catch Abigail Washburn.Video: "Super Stuffies" - Recess Monkey
Recess Monkey returns to its epic story-telling music reminiscent of Wonderstuff with its Wall-of-Sound creation myth of "Super Stuffies." It's another track off their forthcoming (June 24) album FLYING!. I hadn't had a chance to watch the video until after I posted Egg's "Green Eyes" video, but in retrospect, I think the timing works out nicely. Another fab low-tech video from the boys.
Recess Monkey - "Super Stuffies" [YouTube]
Interview: Jack Forman & Daron Henry (Recess Monkey)
If it's spring, it must be the runup to a new Recess Monkey album. Like clockwork, the Seattle trio turns out a new album each year, and on June 21st their latest album, FLYING!, hits the shelves (or servers, if you're a digital family). I had a chance to chat with bassist Jack Forman and drummer Daron Henry recently about a whole host of Recess Monkey-related stuff, including why a superhero-themed album, bringing in a producer, and Mayor Monkey's continued empire-building.
Zooglobble: You have a ton of different things going on -- do you have more ideas than time to implement them?
Jack Forman: Definitely. In the past year or so, we've had to prioritize. We'll still do anything, but we're OK turning down the $200 gig.
Daron Henry: We've met a lot of others who've inspired us. We've gotten a creative spark that we didn't have a year ago.
Jack: In business, they call it scope creep.
So what is your mission?
Jack: Hm. We haven't written it out, but it's definitely kid-centric. We're family-focused, but the energy comes from the kids in the audience or class. A 6- or 7-year-old hears a knock-knock joke for the first time, that's what we're about. We've written jingles, like for cellphones. but it has nothing to do with the band.
Daron: I believe in the kid focus, in being joyous. Life is hard, but there's joy too. We hope kids aren't passive consumers all the time, but can also create. The best part is when a kid tells us they're taking drum lessons or brings a uke to a show. That's awesome to me.
Jack: We're gonna work today on a video for "Sidekick" featuring Mayor Monkey in a Barbie Corvette. The DIY thing is key to what we do even with pro tools.Video: "Sidekick" - Recess Monkey
It's less than a couple months until the release of Recess Monkey's latest album FLYING!, which means the band is starting to crank out another series of awesome low-budget videos for songs on the new album. The first one for the album is for the song "Sidekick" and it features Mayor Monkey, who I had just thought of as a band manager and talk show host. Oh, how wrong I was.
Bonus points if you can identify the other RM video Professor Schnoz -- if indeed that is his real name -- appeared in.
Recess Monkey - "Sidekick" [YouTube]
