January 30, 2009

Coraline soundtrack info, guest DJ spot

Coraline happenings are noteworthy in the week before the film's release. Director Henry Selick spoke to Gothamist in an article published yesterday about the film and describes how They Might Be Giants became involved: The music video for The Spine's "Bastard Wants to Hit Me" was created by the fine folks at Laika, the same animation house that created Coraline, and a director on that award-winning video connected Selick, a fan of their music, to the band. Despite being "basically cut out" of the film (which really shouldn't become the go-to quote), Selick called their preliminary work "brilliant" and "beautiful" (he states he'd like to create a Yellow Submarine with the band) but the project ended up not going the musical (a la Nightmare Before Christmas) route and all songs but one were cut.

That one remaining song still ended up on the film's soundtrack which has been formally announced with a date of February 24th. You can already pre-order the CD on sites like Amazon or go for the the MP3 version which will apparently be made available on the 3rd, even before the film comes out. If you're that desperate to hear the song before release, the entire 28 seconds, yes, that's all of it, can be seen on the film's website.

It's a bit short-notice, but news by way of TMBW informs us that John and John will be guest DJing today for WBRU, 95.5FM in Rhode Island. If you don't happen to be in the area of a signal, you can listen online at the station's website. The guest slot is slated for noon today and will presumably run for at least an hour.

January 23, 2009

"Employee" video and "Electric Car" preview


Catching up on the past week or two of happenings online, we'll start with the most recent. Animator Elliot Cowan has created a video for They Might Be Giants' "Employee of the Month" using his Boxhead & Roundhead characters. The video grabbed the band's attention and is now being featured in their MySpace and newsletter updates. On Cowan's blog you can read his "interesting" perspective of his exchange with the band.

The Star-Ledger spoke with John Flansburgh for an interview. Topics of discussion included the transition to performing for children, Tommy Lee interviews, and how their unclassifiable music still brings in an audience.

Via TMBW, TMBG manager Jamie Kitman spoke with NPR in a seemingly unrelated interview about electric cars at the Detroit Auto Show. The audio interview ends with the debut of a new song by They Might Be Giants called, appropriately enough, "Electric Car." Only a portion of the track is played, but it's mentioned that the song comes out in the fall, likely with the release of Here Comes Science.

January 9, 2009

Interview, extended Coraline clip, TMBG on Conan

Starting off the new year right, Stay Thirsty Media has an interview with John Flansburgh on their site. The lengthy interview has John compare They Might Be Giants to Jethro Tull, describe how performing in the play People are Wrong! differs from playing live with TMBG, and list a few of his musical inspirations. The article also has short audio clips of the conversation. You may remember that early last year Stay Thirsty spoke with John Linnell.

A helpful editor over at This Might Be a Wiki pointed out that the Coraline website is showing clips from the upcoming film. The editor notes that a longer version of our previously known song has made it onto the site as well (click the record player). TMBG's role has been unfortunately diminished since the project began and we don't know how much of their input remains, but we will know when the movie comes out next month (February 6th, two days before the Grammys).

Finally, a new TMBG newsletter was sent out today. In addition to reminding everyone to catch the Grammys, the band gives up a heads up on a different TV appearance. They Might Be Giants will be performing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Thursday, February 12th. This is the same week as the Grammys and a week before Conan's last show on Late Night. Apparently TMBG has appeared on the show more times than any other rock band so be sure to catch their final appearance before the host moves. You can subscribe to the TMBG newsletter over at tmbg.com.

January 1, 2009

Shows in 2009


Happy 2009! They Might Be Giants are continuing their monthly residency at (le) Poisson Rouge, so if you're in the New York area be sure to get to a show! Check out This Might Be A Wiki's shows page for more info or stay up to date with TMBG's official shows RSS feed.

January 2009

17 - Montclair, NJ - Alexander Kasser Theatre, MSU (4PM Kids/8PM Adult)
30 - Providence, RI - Lupo's
31 - New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge (3PM Kids/7:30PM Adult)

February 2009

28 - New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge

March 2009

28 - New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge