TMBG at TED

In March of last year, They Might Be Giants played at the TED Conference in Monterey, California for its attendees. The short, 8:30am show included the premiere of "Phone Calls from the Dead," a three-man performance of "Fingertips," and a pre-The Else showing of "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" among others. You can watch the entire set at the TED website and download it there as well.

Podcast 34A released

Podcast 34A in the They Might Be Giants podcast for people was released today on iTunes and the web. Having been up for preview on their MySpace page over the weekend, it was entered into the feeds today. This episode is full of recent ("Figure Eight"), unreleased ("Prisoners of Graphic Design"), remixed ("Twisting"), and demo ("Doctor Worm" and more) recordings from They Might Be Giants and Mono Puff.

A MySpace post from over the weekend tells of the podcast preview on their profile page and reminds of their remaining announced shows. The theymightbegiants.com blog also mentions the preview and gives us the heads up that the They Might Be Giants podcast for families might be put on hold this week.

"One Everything" on Family Podcast

They Might Be Giants' Family Podcast celebrates Arbor Day today with a new episode. The puppet Johns begin the video in their car riding gear with a song about the holiday. In observance of Arbor Day, "C is for Conifers" from Here Come the ABCs is the first music video played, giving us facts about the tree type in song form.

In keeping with the environmentally conscious theme, "One Everything" can be tenuously be linked as well. Either way, the fantastic video for the song from Here Come the 123s is next in line on the podcast. Featuring one of the most endearing globes I've seen, the song covers some big concepts for children, let alone adults. After the video, the Johns close up the podcast with a goodbye chant.

New Dunkin' commercial, full interview

A new Dunkin' Donuts television commercial has taken to the airwaves, this one called "All Night Blowout." The 30-second spot is the latest in the "American Runs on Dunkin'" campaign and is viewable on YouTube.

The fine folks at WJFF have reposted Friday's interview with They Might Be Giants. Now the full half hour interview is available for streaming and download from their website. Additional topics covered in the second half of the interview include indie music on the Internet, humor in their songs, and collaborations with Home Movies and Homestar Runner. The Johns specifically note that more Homestar material is on the way and in the works.

Radio interview archived

If you missed TMBG on the radio last Friday, you can listen to some of their interview before the show at WJFF's website (Date: Friday, April 18, 2008 7:28 pm) for the next week or so. Unfortunately the recording is cut off halfway into the interview, but you can still hear what John and John have to say about the band members and their thoughts on illegally downloading music.

All Over Albany has posted another short quote from speaking with Flansburgh. He tells them of the challenges of performing a children's show filled with adults and writing for children with no musical history.

"Triops Has Three Eyes" sees Family Podcast

Hot on the heels of Podcast 33B is the They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast for the week. The episode begins with Flansburgh in France (which you may remember he visited recently) as he introduces the featured video "Triops Has Three Eyes" from Here Come the 123s.

"Triops" is one of my favorite songs on the album and its video is just as good. Created by David Cowles and Phil Lockerby, the animated piece introduces us to the triops with cameos from our favorite Johns.

After the second video for the night, "Letter/Not a Letter" from Here Come the ABCs, Linnell joins Flans to say goodbye in the language of the land. They also give us the heads up that next Friday's podcast will be celebrating Arbor Day.

A new TMBG newsletter was sent out promoting their two recent podcasts. The e-mail also reminds everyone that tonight's concert will be streamed live online starting at 8 o'clock though an interview with the band will begin one half hour earlier.

Get TMBG Podcast 33B now!

They Might Be Giants' Podcast 33B has just been released. Get it through iTunes or the web!

This podcast, hosted by John Flansburgh, contains some great album tracks, demos, and live recordings by the band. Songs include "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack, a demo version of "What Bothers the Spaceman?" by Mono Puff, and Here Come the 123s' Amazon exclusive "One Two Three Four" among others.

Make sure to keep your eyes (however many you have) on the Family Podcast too as there is a new installment in the video podcast due tomorrow.

Flansburgh on The Egg, upcoming radio show

John Flansburgh has been interviewed a few times recently. All Over Albany spoke with him about TMBG's upcoming show at The Egg finding out John's inspiration for its song and what his first impression of the venue was. John also spoke with WAMC in Albany, NY over the radio on the venue song for The Egg, his philosophy behind performing and promoting their kids' music, and his relationship with John Linnell.

The other day a new TMBG newsletter was sent out hinting at Podcast 34B (though a new MySpace bulletin states it's 33B, which is probably the correct number) and reminding everyone of upcoming shows. The newsletter also mentions a sold out live radio concert on Friday to be broadcast on WJFF. The songs will start at 8 o'clock but the band will show up early for an interview at 7:30.

TMBG perform "Seven" on Conan

Last Thursday, They Might Be Giants appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and performed "Seven" from Here Come the 123s. With a three piece saxophone section accompanied only by drums and bass they gave a rousing rendition of the song. The footage above continues into the credits as Conan talks with the band.

Family Podcast counts "Ten Mississippi"

The puppet John and John show off their newly learned ability to fly in today's installment of the They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast. Flying over a certain southern state, they introduce "Ten Mississippi" from Here Come the 123s. A quick ditty for keeping time, the song is sung by the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater.

The Johns segue into "Alphabet Lost and Found" next in another funny puppet segment and leave us sweetly singing their goodbyes.

Soundcheck appearance, Conan reminder

They Might Be Giants appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck today promoting Here Come the 123s. During the interview, they played "One Dozen Monkeys," "Apartment 4," and "Alphabet of Nations" live in the studio.

A few MySpace updates have been posted. On TMBG's MySpace blog, an update mentions the Soundcheck appearance and also reminds everyone of their upcoming Late Night with Conan O'Brien performance tomorrow night. In other live news, TMBW has several new shows on their shows page.

Finally, They Might Be Giants have placed second in Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament with their video for "Seven Days a Week (I Never Go To Work)." There were a ton of votes in the finals so if you need help counting, check out Friday's Family Podcast for a refresher and get your kid video fix for the week.

"Ooh La! Ooh La!" jumps onto Family Podcast

The latest Friday Night Family Podcast by They Might Be Giants comes to us live from Club Whatnot. As the Johns shout over the music, they introduce the first video of the night: "Ooh La! Ooh La!" from Here Come the 123s. Sung by Flans and Robin, the song is a schoolyard chant with a video that features the Double Dutch jump rope game.

The second video in this episode is Here Come the ABCs' "Pictures of Pandas Painting." The puppet Johns end the podcast from the club shouting hilariously as they try to hear each other. All wrapped up for another week, only seven days until the next episode.

Hannah Levine interview, music video tourney

Kids links are the flavor of the day today. Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child has an interview with "One Dozen Monkeys" singer Hannah Levine. She answers a few questions about working on Here Come the 123s and lets us know that she will be performing with TMBG live on April 20 in New York.

Kids music site Zooglobble has been running a KidVid Tournament, pitting children's music videos against each other to find the best video of the past year. They Might Be Giants are in the mix with "Seven Days a Week (I Never Go To Work)" and is already in the semi-finals.

Finally, though I'm not sure how recent this is, iTunes has all of the music videos from the Here Come the 123s DVD (aside from the intro and exclusive videos) for download on the iTunes Store.