Giants Online

TMBG Podcast 38A

2009-03-06T23:59:00.003-05:00

They Might Be Giants Podcast 38A just went up yesterday and it's spreading the word on a fantastic video. Elliot Cowan's video for "Employee of the Month" has been cast through the internet and is placing itself in your iTunes or other feed reader. You can also listen to an interview with Elliot talking about his career and touching on his "Employee" video over on Spoiler Alert Radio.

Conan video, hand-painted ukulele

2009-02-20T23:48:00.005-05:00

A few days after winning children album of the year at the Grammys last week, They Might Be Giants performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Playing "The Mesopotamians" from The Else, this was their 13th appearance on the show and their last before Conan takes over The Tonight Show.

The band has been keeping us informed of their endeavors with several updates via MySpace/Facebook, their newsletter, and the theymightbegiants.com blog. Be sure to check out their MySpace and Facebook pages for updated songs, videos, and pictures in their respective players and pages.

Lastly, John Flansburgh has hand-painted a ukulele with images of his cat for the Humane Society of Berks County to be auctioned off in an annual event. The auction takes place on Saturday, March 28th but advance bidding is offered. Head over to their website for all of the relevant information.

They Might Be Giants awarded Grammy

2009-02-10T23:40:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to They Might Be Giants for their second Grammy win in as many nominations! Here Come the 123s won Best Musical Album For Children on Sunday night. While this award wasn't shown on TV, it was streamed live online before the show at the Grammy website. If you missed it then, you can still watch the entire pre-show for the next month. (TMBG are awarded about 41 minutes in.) Words from Linnell from the post-award interviews are already making their way online via Billboard.com and the NY Daily News.

Keeping up the pace, remember that this week on Thursday TMBG will be performing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The show airs at 12:30 on NBC but the musical guest portion of the show will probably be around 1:15. I'd start viewing earlier to not miss it.

Finally, They Might Be Giants have put out a call for videos from their fans of everything from live footage to homemade videos. If you've got the goods, send them over their way and share it with your friends!

Coraline released, Grammys Sunday

2009-02-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

February is a month with multiple They Might Be Giants related events. Today is the release of Coraline into theaters. Based on the book by Neil Gaiman, the film includes a short song by TMBG. The song is also in the soundtrack which has already been released on digital music services with the physical CD release coming on Tuesday the 10th.

Before Tuesday comes, Sunday must. And on Sunday night They Might Be Giants are up for a Grammy award for their second children's effort Here Come the 123s. Nominated in the Best Musical Album For Children category, this would be their second Grammy as the first was for "Boss of Me." Be sure to tune in at 8 o'clock on the 8th on your local CBS station to see it all go down.

Here Come the 123s has been out for a while though, so if you are looking for the latest from Here Comes Science, stop-motion artist Hine Mizushima has posted a new screenshot from her contribution to the upcoming children's album. Check it out on her site or featured on the They Might Be Giants Facebook page.

Coraline soundtrack info, guest DJ spot

2009-01-30T08:28:00.001-05:00

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.

"Employee" video and "Electric Car" preview

2009-01-23T23:48:00.002-05:00

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.

Interview, extended Coraline clip, TMBG on Conan

2009-01-09T23:57:00.001-05:00

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.

Shows in 2009

2009-01-01T21:00:00.004-05:00

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

Final interviews of the year, new Theynow

2008-12-31T21:45:00.001-05:00

In today's post, we wrap up the links from Christmas to the new year's eve. Coming in just before the holiday is a new episode of Theynow. The installment features covers of TMBG songs as well as other songs you might like.

With They Might Be Giants playing New Year's Eve shows in Philadelphia, they have a few interviews in the city including some from last week. Philadelphia Weekly speaks with John Flansburgh and he comments on the disintegration of the music business and compares TMBG's children's music to The Sopranos.

NBC Philadelphia has a great video interview from the TLA with John and John. At a good 14 minutes long, the Johns discuss bands with bad names (even the Beatles, says Flans), the trouble of remembering lyrics, and the intentions of the group both starting out and starting children's projects.

Finally, we have an interview with Linnell and Flansburgh from Phawker. The interview is a fun read and the Johns give some good answers. Among other things, you can read which band member Flans hit in the face with a guitar, their thoughts on playing at the TLA, and how their "Boss of Me" Grammy win has helped their careers, among other topics. A worthy article to end the year.

Science images and Philly interviews

2008-12-19T23:59:00.002-05:00

While the Grammy nominated Here Come the 123s is still on peoples' minds, people are looking for news on the upcoming Here Comes Science. Frequent TMBG collaborator Hine Mizushima has posted some stills from her new video for the upcoming kids album. (Maybe your guess of which video it's for will be the same as mine if you look closely.) The images were also featured in a recent TMBG newsletter.

These newsletters and MySpace postings of the past weeks have been ramping up the promotion for two purposes. First, to let us know of their new holiday bundles (which you can still order by Sunday to guarantee merch by Christmas via FedEx). They've also put some holiday themed songs on their MySpace profile page.

The second topic is, as always, shows; such as the pair of New Year's Eve shows at the TLA in Philadelphia. To help get the word out on upcoming shows, they've announced an RSS feed on their website that will update you of all upcoming They Might Be Giants shows.

Another promo gig the band had recently is an interview with Phrequency on these Philadelphia shows (via TMBW). John, John, and Marty sit in to tell the folks how they start writing a song, give their Grammy reaction, and tell of some interesting fan interactions.

Also in Philly, the group held an interview with Preston & Steve of 93.3 WMMR. You can hear the audio of the interview (via TMBW again), view pictures from the meeting, and watch video of the two songs performed on the show: "Particle Man" and "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?"

Grammy nod and Gigantic Q&A

2008-12-05T23:55:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to They Might Be Giants for their Grammy nomination for Here Come the 123s in the category of Best Musical Album For Children. The winner will be announced February 8, 2009. They Might Be Giants won their previous nomination with "Boss of Me" (from the TV show Malcolm in the Middle) in the Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media category in the 2002 awards. The band has already sent out the appropriate notices via newsletter and MySpace.

Picked up via dog_on_fire from LiveJournal, a John and John Q&A after a screening of Gigantic at the 92YTribeca on Sunday has been recorded and posted onto YouTube in three parts by user NerdsLoveMe. The questions vary, from several Dial-A-Song questions to information about their next two albums. They also state that the rock album is planned to be released next fall, contrary to the "years" suggested by The Washington Post. It's a nice, informal Q&A that lasts about a half an hour long.

Flansburgh on kids projects and rock albums

2008-12-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving week gave us a healthy amount of news on They Might Be Giants' current endeavors. Starting on Tuesday, TMBG collaborator Tony Millionaire mentions how he got involved with the band. The interview primarily concerns his new cartoon, for which They Might Be Giants wrote and performed the theme song. Tony says the Johns sent him five or six songs to choose from.

A string of interviews brought up by TMBG's performance of Flood in D.C. began with Express Night Out on Tuesday, which has John Flansburgh comment on Animal Farm-like metaphoric interpretations of their songs, hearing his music on TV, and keeping concerts fresh.

The next day, The Free Lance-Star spoke to Flansburgh as well. In the pull quotable-article, Here Comes Science is talked about and John states that they hired a scientific consultant for the upcoming children's album. Along with "more controversial issues like evolution," the article says "waves, states of matter and the sun" are song subjects on the album and confirms both "The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas" and the newly penned "The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma." The interview goes on to their next rock album, where John informs us:

"I think this next rock album my ambition for it is to blend more of the home-recording techniques that we presented in the '80s with modern sounds. I'd like to make a more insane-sounding record, to be perfectly honest."

Closing out the interview, you can read John tell that they were "basically cut out" of Coraline and what didn't work out in the experience.

Finally, on Friday, The Washington Post published an interview with Flansburgh. John begins with his early intentions for the band. Commenting on the New Wave and performance art movements' influence on the band, he says that it wasn't meant to become a job. The article focuses on the serious nature of They Might Be Giants' apparently lighthearted songs and hits on several elements that make them work. Perhaps most alarming, though, is news on TMBG's new adult album. While they have Flans quote that it's "a little bit more experimental," they also claim it "won't be finished for years." (The second is an article quote, not John.)

This might seem surprising, but I'd say it's not entirely unexpected. You may remember that an idea, as suggested by Flansburgh, was to release the kids' album followed by an EP before the next rock album. I'm sure they'd like as much space between the album releases as possible. Last year's The Else dropped in July with plans for Here Come the 123s set for three months later in October. The "album for children" was moved almost half a year to February, presumably because the initial date conflicted with touring and promoting the new "album for people." The band has undoubtedly learned from the experience, which may lead us to not receive the next rock album until possibly well into 2010.

New T-shirts for the holidays

2008-11-21T23:59:00.002-05:00

The most recent TMBG newsletter starts spreading the holiday cheer with new They Might Be Giants shirts and bundles! The new designs, which have already made appearances at concerts on shirts and as backdrops, include an illustration by Hine Mizushima. (You can see the full-color original on Flickr.)

Last month, Spare the Rock interviewed John and John in Northampton, MA before a show. Pictures of the meeting were taken and appear on the radio show's Facebook page.

John Hodgman, who stars in the upcoming Coraline with some music by They Might Be Giants, gave an interview to the Oxford Town recently. At the end of the interview, John tells how he came to work with TMBG and, also, that he recorded a version of TMBG's Coraline song himself. But it appears that his voice will not be used in the film.

Interview and Podcast 37A

2008-10-31T00:12:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, the folks from Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child had an interview with John and John before a show. After a round of questions on Benjamin Franklin, we find out that Here Comes Science will concern itself with ideas in science and not famous scientists themselves, though Flansburgh reveals that at one point he was working on a song about Nikola Tesla. Also revealed in the interview is the story of "Doctor Worm"'s origin.

Released yesterday is They Might Be Giants Podcast 37A. This special Halloween themed episode has some scary poems, some scary songs, and some songs related to Homestar Runner. Along with the recent "200 SBemails", a new song titled "Crystal Fortress" is played, which will appear in a future Homestar Runner project.

Included in this episode is the topical "Vote or Don't," a new song exclusive for the podcast. As US election day is upon us, the most recent TMBG newsletter includes a healthy "guide to voting" which you can re-forward to all of your friends. (And why not keep in the info on the podcast and show dates as well?)

Speaking of show dates, news is that the November 29 show at Le Poisson Rouge will be an Apollo 18 show featuring a full play-through of They Might Be Giants' fourth album.

Flansburgh interview, MySpace Music

2008-10-24T23:55:00.000-04:00

This week They Might Be Giants sent out news through their usual channels (e-mail, MySpace) on their string of Flood shows, which has already begun. In anticipation for today's show in Northampton, MassLive.com ran an interview with John Flansburgh yesterday. Read the article to hear John talk on the preparation for the Flood shows, early career aspirations, and which band they opened for that he recalls as "intimidating ... guys from a pirate ship."

Finally, an odd end on the business side. BusinessWire has news that IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance), of which recent TMBG label Rounder Records is apparently a part of, has made a deal with MySpace Music to bring their artists' music to the social networking site. So what does that mean for you, me, and TMBG? It's likely that it just means their music will be promoted and sold through the site, but MySpace Music is also involved in hosting concerts. I find that one a long shot, but we bring you the small stuff here folks.

Info on past and future videos

2008-10-17T23:55:00.002-04:00

This Might Be A Wiki, that wonderful, user-created guide to all things TMBG, has the good info this week. First is an insider's look at the "Dallas" (aka "Trees") Venue Song's video by the folks at Asterisk Animation. The blog post details how they got people involved in the project and includes video and images of the work in progress. It's an interesting read into the process of getting things done by working with who you know.

If you are wondering with the rest of us what Here Comes Science will bring, TMBW also found a blog post that suggests Tiny Inventions, creators of the "Davy Crockett" video, is working on a new video for the upcoming CD/DVD set. The post tells us that the video will be a "collage of all different mediums: cut paper, After Effects, stop-motion, and 3d CGI," much like their previous video for the band.

Upcoming show and podcast details

2008-10-03T23:24:00.000-04:00

A post to TMBG's MySpace on Wednesday and a newsletter today spill the details on some upcoming shows on the schedule. Sunday's free kids show in NYC at the New York Times book festival will feature Hannah Levine and a horn section to get the full power of their recent kids songs.

The next day They Might Be Giants will be playing a short three-song set at a benefit for Barack Obama in a sold out event. The updates state that Yo La Tengo and Marshall Crenshaw, among others, will also appear at the event.

Lastly in show sneak peaks, TMBG will be performing Flood in its entirety for three shows on this circuit: Oct. 24 in Northampton, Oct. 25 in NYC, and Nov. 28 in Washington DC. Some shows may be have a Flood set while others may disperse the songs throughout their normal set.

Rounding out the news is word on Podcast 37A. The TMBG Podcast has recently been updated with new episodes and these are a good way to feature recent work. 37A is said to include Homestar music. This most definitely means the recent "200 Sbemails" will make an appearance, but if they want to make it a theme they might also include "Different Town," from another Strong Bad e-mail, and possibly "Experimental Film" and "Figure Eight," for which the Homestar creators made the music videos for. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast feed on either iTunes or the web to hear what gets played when it comes out.

Strong Bad, Podcast, and NPR

2008-09-26T23:52:00.003-04:00

The two Johns have collaborated with the chaps behind Homestar Runner several times before in projects from music videos to jam sessions. This week, they provide an opening number for Strong Bad's monumental 200th e-mail video. You can download the song by clicking the 'A' in "Emails" at the end. You might also remember that a song was provided for the e-mail "different town."

Just after the release of They Might Be Giants Podcast 36A is a special 36B. A "rare glimpse of the secret coolness that was Hello," says a newsletter announcing the installment, in this episode host John Flansburgh plays through his Hello Recording Club's 1993 Sampler which includes music from Frank Black, The Residents, Eugene Chadbourne, and others from the Hello catalog.

Finally, we have a double dosing of NPR as TMBW links to a segment from All Things Considered on music for kids and adults. Informed by Stefan Shepherd over at Zooglobble, the piece plays a few clips from bands including They Might Be Giants.

If you are looking for more TMBG than clips, the band's second appearance via the public radio organization this week may be just what you are looking for. Linked to by The Pitch's Wayward Blog, a They Might Be Giants live set on Mountain Stage was re-broadcast this week and you can listen online. [EDIT: An curious e-mailer asked me to clarify that this is actually a rather old performance, but it was played again on Tuesday.]

Podcast 36A, interviews, and more

2008-09-19T23:11:00.005-04:00

I have so many links this week I may need to start updating more frequently again. Starting out from the weekend, TMBG's Sunday appearance on Out Of The Box on Q104.3 has been archived on the show's site for both streaming and downloading. John, John, and Marty were interviewed and played some songs live in the studio.

Plush You, a blog dedicated to handcrafted plush items, interviewed TMBG collaborator Hine Mizushima this week. The interview gives us some info on her creative background and explains how she got involved in making videos ("With the Dark," "The Secret Life of Six") for They Might Be Giants.

In movie news, it seems that there won't be as much TMBG in Coraline as everyone originally thought. ShockTillYouDrop.com visited the set of the movie sat down with director Henry Selick. Selick states that the film was initially going to feature more songs but it has since been limited to "a few moments of music." Chud.com, who attended the same set visit, lets us know that only one of the songs They Might Be Giants wrote for the film will ultimately make it on screen. You may remember that "Careful What You Pack" came from these unused songs. In addition to relaying some behind the scenes interactions with the band, Selick informs us that Bruno Coulais is scoring the film, in case you pondered if TMBG had involvement in that as well.

Coraline won't get wide release until next year, so if you're looking for a TMBG fix, hit up the They Might Be Giants Podcast. Released yesterday as an early preview on their MySpace page, Podcast 36A has been sent out. Songs from the podcast include a few from their ringtone projects, a Beatles cover, and more. The podcast-announcing newsletter states a 36B is on the way.

Wrapping up a post too long for its own good is the rumor mill. "Tippecanoe And Tyler Too" was played in today's podcast and Flansburgh reminds everyone to go out and vote (for the people they're going to vote for). It looks like John may be getting a little more active than that in spreading the good vibes for his candidate of choice. A Twitter post from a one Mr. Noah Carter indicates that They Might Be Giants will be making an appearance at a supporter-organized fundraising event for Barack Obama.

So who is Noah Carter? I have no idea either, but he's listed as one of the hosts of the event along with several relatively famous people from the New York area. The event itself is in Brooklyn on October 6th and TMBG has a show in New York on the 5th so this wouldn't be out of their way. It's also not noted if they will be performing or just showing face.

Newsletter notifies of radio appearance

2008-09-12T23:40:00.000-04:00

A new TMBG newsletter and MySpace post were sent out this week with the latest from the band. In addition to listing upcoming shows from this weekend into the next year, John F. also mentions that they are "back on the road and back in the studio this month."

The e-mail also gives us notice that They Might Be Giants will be appearing live on New York's 104.3FM on Sunday at 9 pm. If you're not in the New York area, you can listen to the show live on the station's website.

Lastly, and this is an odd one, it appears that TMBG's music has found it's way into a kid friendly "operating system." The application is called KIDOS and it purports to be a safe way for kids to use a computer and communicate online and so on. They Might Be Giants' music, likely select tracks from their Disney efforts, will be purchasable via an iTunes-like online store. You can't make this stuff up folks! Don't expect this to make a splash.

They Might Be Giants live in 1997

2008-09-05T23:35:00.000-04:00

A contributor to TMBW has posted that Laura Cantrell's Radio Thrift Shop played a live, 1997 performance by They Might Be Giants last week. Originally broadcast live on the same show years prior, the concert was held at the Museum of Television and Radio. Last week's show is archived on WMFU.org and TMBG's set starts at 1:53:00 in.

WFMU's The Radio Thrift Shop from 8/27/2008

The half hour set includes "Counterfeit Faker," later released on 1999's online-only Long Tall Weekend; an early "Doctor Worm;" the original, slower version of "Finished With Lies," a faster version of which would appear on Mink Car four years later; among others. Hosts Laura Cantrell and Nick Hill had also both previously collaborated on songs with They Might Be Giants.

Flans in New York Times, new Theynow

2008-08-29T23:55:00.002-04:00

Time to wrap up this week's links. Sunday started off with plenty of action as John Flansburgh appeared in print in The New York Times. In the article, Flans lists five music acts he'd play for his kids. If you didn't pick up that paper, TMBG's MySpace and website blogs both posted pointing out that it's available online as well.

Sunday also brought about another installment of Theynow. This latest episode brings us a TMBG cover and some other songs you're likely to enjoy as well.

Finally this week, Flansburgh posts on their "Rent Party" stand in NYC. They'll be playing the last Saturday of every month at Le Poisson Rouge starting next month. If you can't make it to any of those, a MySpace post lists upcoming shows elsewhere including a free kids show in Minnesota.

Here Comes Science named as next children's album

2008-08-22T23:45:00.003-04:00

In this week's online wrap up we have an interview with John Flansburgh. The Super Cool Stuff Show podcast asked John some questions (about six minutes in) and got some news with his answers.

Back in January, John Linnell made known their idea to make a DVD about science for kids. Flansburgh confirms this and that Here Comes Science will be their next album with the possibility of an EP showing up before the next non-kids album.

Other interesting points of the discussion include the show that reminds Flans of childhood memories and that they are involved in writing a song for the World of Warcraft community. The beefy parts of the interview are transcribed at Blogcritics.

New Coraline song preview

2008-08-15T21:25:00.001-04:00

This Might Be a Wiki seems to have the news this week. Yesterday, WBWC 88.3FM in Cleveland, Ohio, and streamed via their website, held a They Might Be Giants marathon. It was 18 hours of TMBG filled with great songs and what seemed like dozens of user requests. Don't expect this one to be archived folks.

CMJ has announced several of the bands set to play in the CMJ Music Marathon and They Might Be Giants are included. Scheduled for late October, you can find the full list of announced bands on the marathon's website.

Lastly for the week, Neil Gaiman has been posting updates on his journal telling of IGN's Coraline previews. Yesterday's video has a snippet of a song, sung by Linnell, about halfway through. This is the first we've heard of the Coraline songs and if it's a glimpse of what's to come we're in for a treat in the soundtrack department.

Audience appreciation shows this weekend

2008-08-08T23:48:00.000-04:00

You may have heard that the Disney Music Block Party Tour has canceled several shows, but They Might Be Giants' dates seem to have been unaffected. Their scheduled shows in New Jersey and Maryland have already taken place and their final run of late August shows in New York seem to be the only concerts remaining from the event.

In other show news, TMBG has a MySpace blog/bulletin out telling us that Saturday and Sunday's audience appreciation shows will have "selections from" Factory Showroom and Apollo 18, respectively. "Selections from" doesn't exactly mean "album shows," but I would expect them to focus on that night's album with more than the usual songs from it.

If you can't make it to this weekend's shows, see if they are playing another show near you sometime this fall or pick up a live show from TMBG's download site.

"Davy Crockett" hits the internet

2008-08-01T23:55:00.003-04:00

I've just a couple of links from the past week or so here today. With "The Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)" video released last week, both the tmbg.com blog and the band's MySpace blog are pointing out that the video is available for easy, embeddable viewing on YouTube.

If you like the video, you may want to check out the "making of" post from Tiny Inventions' (creators of the video, along with illustrator and frequent TMBG collaborator David Cowles) blog. The post describes some of the methods used to create the video and includes lots of interesting pictures and videos.

Finally, we have an article from the Asbury Park Press speaking to some of the Disney Block Party acts including They Might Be Giants. John Flansburgh describes what it's like to play for children who might not recognize they're at a concert and tells what he's learned from audiences.

"Davy Crockett" and new Disney dates

2008-07-23T22:42:00.002-04:00

While July may have mostly been a quiet month for They Might Be Giants, they're ending it with a bang. A new music video has been uploaded to the Family Podcast feed for "Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)." The video uses some great animation ideas including the use of chalk and felt with 2D and 3D effects. The song is included in the Disney Music Block Party CD, for which TMBG will be touring.

A new TMBG newsletter sent out today reminds everyone that they will begin this very Block Party tour this weekend and into next week in five shows. Not mentioned is that, due to Barenaked Ladies canceling their appearances, They Might Be Giants have added three additional dates on the kids festival in late August.

In non-Disney show news, the band used the newsletter to announce two free audience appreciation shows at the Mohegan Sun. As usual, TMBW has a big list of all of upcoming shows, so look for the locations nearest you.

Finally, the newsletter makes mention that Dan Miller was recently married. Making the rounds online is an article from The New York Times about the courtship and wedding. The article also includes links to a song written by Dan for his bride and another article concerning the wedding dress. Congratulations Dan!

John Linnell on The Else and No!

2008-07-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

In the break before TMBG's upcoming Disney tour dates, LiveDaily has an interview with John Linnell. Linnell speaks about how they worked with the Dust Bros. on The Else and where he thinks that album stands in their catalog, saying:

I think "The Else" was a spike in popularity for us. That partly represented people who hadn't been paying attention to us, who [hadn't taken] notice, and there's probably some new fans who got interested in [us at] that point and maybe felt like it was better than the last couple They Might Be Giants records.

He also gives a good summary of how their first children's album, No!, came about, his thoughts on the Disney Music Block Party Tour, and going back to the old Village Gate.

"Can You Find It?" ends first run of Family Podcast

2008-06-30T08:58:00.000-04:00

The most recent episode of the They Might Be Giants Friday Night Video Podcast was released at the break of the weekend last week after some apparent feed trouble. Continuing the Spaceman and Robot month of June, John and John in their gear start us off with "Can You Find It?" from Here Come the ABCs.

After some robot jokes, the broom introduces "The Secret Life of Six" while incognito. Once this video, from Here Come the 123s, has completed, our friend Addison the Sock once again prompts Flansburgh to read off some kids' show tour dates. As spaceman and robot Johns sing us out, a message appears that informs us the Family Podcast will be taking a break until the fall.

The podcast had an impressive first run totaling 27 episodes. Starting with two episodes last year, the show has only missed one Friday since its launch on the first Friday of January. Be sure to remain subscribed to the iTunes or web feed to automatically be informed of when the podcast comes back.

Japanese and compilation albums

2008-06-27T23:55:00.002-04:00

While They Might Be Giants' Family Podcast may or may not be out this week, fellow fan Hine has been following the release of The Else and Venue Songs in Japan, which just came out this week. If people get the albums at select stores they'll get a pin of her design, and according to the images posted, the Japanese Else comes with three bonus tracks: "Brain Problem Situation," "We Live in a Dump," and "I'm Your Boyfriend Now."

Speaking of "We Live in a Dump," TMBW has posted a link to the website for the Rock the Net compilation, which the song appears on. At that website the entire album is available for streaming and digital purchase, noting that the physical CD will be in stores on July 29.

TMBG tribute album, dance moves

2008-06-24T23:50:00.002-04:00

This Might Be a Wiki is organizing a new They Might Be Giants tribute album. The idea behind the project is to cover old and likely forgotten Dial-A-Song songs and any fan can contribute. There are already several covers that have been submitted and many more expected to be. If you're at all musically inclined, go ahead and try your best to make this a great tribute album.

PBS's "Go Go Summer" campaign, which features an original song by TMBG, is well underway. While before, the abridged commercial for the campaign was online, now, the extended video covering the entire TMBG song is up on the PBS website. Included with this video are dance moves so you and your little ones can follow along to the dancing in the video.

"Go for G!" and more on Family Podcast

2008-06-20T21:57:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants' Friday night video podcast makes its weekly appearance today with a new episode. With Spaceman and Robot month continuing, the Johns in their spaceman and robot outfits introduce "Go for G!" from Here Come the ABCs. In what must be a celebration of the festive month, "I am a Robot," in which a robot and little girl recite the alphabet, is played yet again.

After this pair of videos, we are treated to another of Linnell's hilariously deadpan robot jokes and a third video for the night: "Eight Hundred and Thirteen Mile Car Trip" from Here Come the 123s. Ending the episode, spaceman Flansburgh and robot Linnell sing us out with their goodbye song.

Linnell interview, shows into next year

2008-06-18T22:34:00.001-04:00

The Press of Atlantic City had an interview with John Linnell earlier this month that slipped by. The interview promoted TMBG's appearance at the Appel Farm Arts & Music Festival. Pointed out by the TMBG LJ group, the article mentions the influence of certain substances on the band, among other topics.

In show news, TMBW has posted several new shows for the fall and into next year in New York City. Most take place at Le Poisson Rouge, home of the former Village Gate, an early venue in They Might Be Giants show history.

Robot podcast, Flans interview

2008-06-13T19:00:00.003-04:00

The newest installment of the Family Podcast is now available online. Continuing Spaceman and Robot month, Flansburgh and Linnell greet us in their spaceman and robot outfit, respectively. Up first is "I am a Robot," a DVD only track from Here Come the ABCs. Then, in the fashion of May Day, the Johns tell some hilarious robot jokes.

We soon meet Addison the Sock, who introduces a Disney tour announcement from Flans. Rounding out the episode, spaceman Flansburgh and robot Linnell sing "A Shooting Star is Not a Star."

The Charlotte Observer has a short word with John Flansburgh in preparation for TMBG's upcoming shows in Charlotte, NC this weekend. As two of the three concerts are sold-out children's shows, the article focuses in that area, asking of children's music from Flans' childhood and the pluses of children's and TV work.

Some reminders

2008-06-12T23:44:00.000-04:00

The TMBG MySpace blog has updated to remind everyone that there is a show on Saturday in Charlotte, NC.

But more importantly, today is John Linnell's birthday! Go wish him a happy birthday on their MySpace or Facebook pages.

Photos and good kids' songs

2008-06-10T18:19:00.000-04:00

They Might Be Giants have been appearing online in various places in the last couple of days. One such appearance is in a list of "top 10 kids' songs that don't suck" on one of Paste magazine's blogs. Two of TMBG's songs make the list at numbers five and three.

John Flansburgh and John Linnell are seen at Allen & Delancey in a photo for a Time Out New York article on the restaurant available online. The article is completely unrelated to TMBG except for the image, but there you have it.

Farmanimalsrock from the TMBG LiveJournal community found photos of the They Might Be Giants show at Big Twig Studio a few months ago on the WJFF website. WJFF, who aired the concert live, is still hosting the pre-show interview with John and John on their website for streaming and download.

In other distant show news, TMBW is reporting a new show has appeared on the band's booking agency's website for September in Minneapolis, MN, giving you plenty of time to plan for the concert.

Spaceman and Robot month on Family Podcast

2008-06-06T15:21:00.001-04:00

It's June this week and They Might Be Giants are celebrating Spaceman and Robot month on the Family Podcast. Spaceman Flansburgh and robot Linnell host the Friday night video podcast and start us off with "Nine Bowls of Soup" from Here Come the 123s.

After the video, John and John give us a performance of "Robot Parade" from No!, sung by robot Linnell instead of Flansburgh as it usually is. The puppets have sung three other songs in the podcast, viz.: "Fibber Island," "Older," and "I Am Not Your Broom."

The spaceman and the robot then sing us out, letting us know it's time for them to go for another week.

PBS video, newsletter, pictures online

2008-06-04T22:25:00.001-04:00

June is here and that means PBS has begun its "Go Go Summer" campaign to get kids active over the summer months. Posted on their website is the campaign's music video with music by They Might Be Giants. Also on the site is the full version of the song available for streaming.

A new TMBG newsletter has been sent out today with news from the band. It includes a still from the video for "Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)," our first look at the video. You can pick up the song separately from the album on iTunes. Flans also reports with news from the road on their trip to Kansas City. You can subscribe for your own copy of the newsletter at tmbg.com.

Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child interviewed John Flansburgh earlier this year. The recording of the interview wasn't able to be recovered, but pictures from their meeting have now been posted online.

Family podcast, net neutrality album

2008-05-30T18:13:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants' Friday Night Family Podcast updates again today. This episode starts us off with puppet Linnell and the broom introducing "Even Numbers" from Here Come the 123s. After the video, Linnell and the broom perform a rendition of "I Am Not Your Broom" from TMBG's first album for kids, No! Closing out the episode, puppet Flansburgh joins Linnell to give a goodbye chant.

After a few weeks of delaying, the Disney Music Block Party Tour website is finally up and running. There, you can get all of the information you've been looking for including who's playing where, how much tickets cost, and other details.

A while back, there was word that They Might Be Giants would be contributing to an album in support of net neutrality. While TMBG and other acts were mentioned as on the compilation, there wasn't any other information about the project. Today CMJ has posted an article with more information about the album, which is titled Rock the Net: Musicians for Net Neutrality. According to the article, the album will drop on July 29 and we see from the track listing posted that the opening track will be They Might Be Giants' "We Live in a Dump." ClickZ has posted an album cover as well. Both articles link to the Rock the Net website which currently has zero information about the album.

Tour dates, gift ideas, and more jokes

2008-05-28T21:07:00.002-04:00

After a few weeks of delaying, solid information about the Disney Music Block Party Tour is finally coming out. The tour runs from the end of July to the end of August, but each artist is only playing select dates. Head over to This Might Be a Wiki for more info on which dates TMBG will be playing and for ticket links.

John Flansburgh has made a list of gifts he recommends for Fathers' Day over at Etsy.com. The site specializes in handmade items and Flans' list includes objects from TMBG collaborators the Chopping Block and Hine.

Lastly, another "May Day" segment starring the puppet Johns has made its way online. The video contains the segment's song and jokes from Flans and Linnell. Remember, the They Might Be Giants Family Podcast updates on Fridays so subscribe to the iTunes or web feeds to get the newest episodes automatically.

"E Eats," "Apt. 4" on podcast

2008-05-23T23:18:00.001-04:00

The newest installment of They Might Be Giants' Family Podcast is online with two great videos. The episode starts with the puppet Johns taking questions from viewers in a segue to their first video, "E Eats Everything" from Here Come the ABCs.

The broom from last week's podcast introduces the next song in the lineup, "Apartment Four" from Here Come the 123s. Rounding out the podcast, John and John sing us goodbye and for the first time we see a credits screen at the end of the episode.

Podcast 35A released to joyous praise

2008-05-22T20:25:00.000-04:00

TMBG Podcast 35A has just been released for your listening pleasure. There is a great collection of songs on this podcast, including the new instrumental "No Left Turn," a demo of "Subliminal," and Dial-A-Song fan favorite "Rock Club" (or something like that). Not even half of the songs hidden inside the podcast, there are still more to be heard in 35A.

You can download the podcast on iTunes and the web.

"May Day" and "Davy Crockett" videos

2008-05-22T17:55:00.001-04:00

In last week's Family Podcast, the Johns introduced a new segment in which they sang a short song and told some jokes. YouTube user SpookyBanter has gotten a hold of a new installment of this "May Day" bit and posted it online. In it, puppet Linnell and the broom from the segment tell some jokes to the tune of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends."

No actual video of this next one yet, but TMBG's MySpace blog points out that a fine video for "Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)," their contribution to the Disney Music Block Party album, is in the works. There is still little information about the upcoming tour the album is part of. The website will allegedly launch tomorrow with more information, and while dates are starting to leak out, nothing has been confirmed.

Flans interview, radio takeover archive

2008-05-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

A new TMBG newsletter was released, echoing a MySpace post, and in it a new show is announced for Milwaukee, WI in late June. Two previously announced shows are taking place this weekend in Kansas City, MO and the Kansas City Star has an interview with John Flansburgh. As the Jiggle Jam Family Music Fest is They Might Be Giants' Saturday show, the interview stays on the children's music topic and asks about the intent behind their first children's album and how kids' shows differ from regular shows.

Back in January, John and John took over radio station Y Rock and played a bunch of their and their crew's favorite songs. An archive of that hour is finally up on the Y Rock website for streaming. You can find the setlist on the site as well under 9 pm.

Finally, from the fan side of things, a new Theynow was released with some covers and live music and check out Hine's latest art project, 9 Practical Applications for The Else.

"Zeroes" podcast, TIME, radio interview and songs

2008-05-16T21:29:00.002-04:00

They Might Be Giants' Family Podcast is back today with "Zeroes." Sung with the help of Hannah Levine, who also sings "One Dozen Monkeys," the song describes the many uses of the zero while the video features several birds, such as the one on the Here Come the 123s cover, helping to demonstrate.

After the video, the puppet Johns sing a quick little song and tell some jokes. I think it's great to see little songs like this in the podcast where they won't necessarily be taken so seriously and are a fun little diversion. The video ends with the podcast's goodbye song.

They Might Be Giants were profiled by TIME concerning their children's work. The article is mostly an overview, but you may want to check it out, if only for the excellent photo of the Johns and their puppets.

Several audio-only videos of TMBG on radio station WNRN have been posted to YouTube. A two part video from last year has an interview with John, John, and Marty on the drums. Part one covers working on The Else and an in-studio performance of "Contrecoup." Part two has them discussing their reasons for releasing The Else online a month before its retail release and they play the previously linked "Star Hill Music Hall."

Also uploaded by the station are several in-studio performances from way back on September 12, 1997. The songs include "Cowtown," "New York City," "Older," and what is possibly the very first performance of "Doctor Worm." They're interesting arrangements and are all well worth listening to.

They Might Be Giants join children's tour

2008-05-15T16:03:00.001-04:00

With three kids' albums under their belt, They Might Be Giants are no strangers to the younger crowd. Yet even though their first kids' album, No!, came out in 2002, most of the kids' shows they've performed have been either small scale bookstore shows or conveniently the same day and place as a later, grown-up concert. That seems like it's about to change as TMBG joins the Disney Music Block Party Tour this summer.

The tour brings together the Disney-related artists who appear on the new, aptly named Disney Music Block Party album as well as other special guests. In addition to the concert stage, the tour stops will include Playskool centers, arts and crafts stations, and dance and music making sections to keep yourself busy while They Might Be Giants aren't playing.

All of the related websites are still under construction with the main tour page launch recently bumped eight days to the 20th, the day the Block Party album is released. The tour page on the main Disney site also includes what will eventually become links to a podcast and other downloads.

Additionally, it's mentioned that the Disney Music Block Party album will be sold on iTunes. So if you want to hear TMBG's "Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)" without getting the entire CD, you should be able to do so.

TMBG "Get Up and Go" with PBS

2008-05-14T19:17:00.002-04:00

This summer, PBS will begin airing a music video called "Get Up and Go" between shows. The music in this video is by none other than They Might Be Giants. The spot is part of a campaign to get kids thinking healthily and getting active over the summer months. In addition to appearing on television, an extended version of the video will be played in movie theaters before certain showings. This extended version will also be made available for download on the PBS Kids Go website and will be accompanied by a "printable and customizable dance sequence."

This isn't the first time TMBG has worked with PBS. A few years ago, they were part of the "Share a Story" campaign and similarly contributed a song for a music video.

A smaller recent appearance is in an article on children's music in The Globe and Mail today. While the article focuses on Barenaked Ladies' new kids' album, They Might Be Giants are mentioned and John Flansburgh has a quick word on the type of children's music he grew up with.

Lastly is a recording of the Star Hill venue song live on WNRN before a show at the venue. And while the concert may have taken place last year, the audio-only video was just uploaded yesterday.

[As a side note, I haven't been linking to concert videos in a while mostly because I'm not sure how I should go about it. If anyone has any smart ideas on how to collect them in one place, go ahead and shout.]

New Dunkin' commercial, Facebook songs

2008-05-12T22:45:00.002-04:00

A new Dunkin' Donuts commercial has started appearing on TV and the donut and coffee company has posted the TMBG scored spot onto YouTube. Called "Moving," the song is sung by John Linnell and is one of the more unique Dunkin' songs in the lot.

Also online recently are songs posted to They Might Be Giants' Facebook page. The current songs are "Birdhouse in Your Soul," "Particle Man," and the original version of "Older." They'll probably be changing them out every once in a while as they do with their MySpace songs, so check it out and then check back with it.

Family Podcast returns

2008-05-09T17:45:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants' Friday Night Family Podcast is back today after a week off. This episode begins with a reminder that Mothers' Day is Sunday, so remember to make your mother a card! "Alphabet of Nations" from Here Come the ABCs is then introduced and shown.

The second video of the episode is for "High Five!" from Here Come the 123s. Sung by drummer Marty Beller, this was also the first video from the first podcast nearly half a year ago. The puppet Johns close out the podcast as usual with a quiet goodbye song.

New song on Disney compilation

2008-05-06T19:40:00.002-04:00

They Might Be Giants are taking part in a new Disney compilation, titled Disney Music Block Party, which is set to come out at the end this month on May 20. Their contribution is "Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)," a new take on an old classic. You can hear a brief sample of the song on the Disney Music page for the album.

More importantly, today is John Flansburgh's birthday! Go wish him a happy birthday on their MySpace or Facebook pages.

Facebook, Sims songs, and covers

2008-05-05T22:10:00.002-04:00

After having Friday off from the Family Podcast you may be in need of something for this week. Theynow has come to rescue with an excellent cover of "Siftin'" in its most recent episode.

In addition to being on MySpace, They Might Be Giants have started a Facebook profile and are posting discussion topics and pictures on the site. If you have a Facebook account, be sure to go over and participate.

Finally, back in February, two TMBG songs were included in The Sims 2: Free Time expansion pack. One was a version of "Take Out the Trash" sung in the gibberish language of the series and the other was a recording of the main theme song for the game. Someone has posted both songs to YouTube for people to hear, so if you're interested, check those out while you can.

TMBG at TED

2008-04-30T21:45:00.004-04:00

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

2008-04-28T20:08:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-24T19:30:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-21T16:00:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-18T12:00:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-04-17T18:58:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-16T21:35:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-14T17:36:00.000-04:00

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"

2008-04-11T23:05:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-09T17:40:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-04T21:25:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-02T19:57:00.002-04:00

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.

Linnell interview, CD101 video

2008-03-31T00:28:00.001-04:00

John Linnell was interviewed by The Burlington Free Press for their show at Higher Ground on Sunday. In the article Linnell gives some interesting political interpretations of songs from The Else including "The Mesopotamians." The author of the article posts a lot more in his blog, summarizing the other topics they talked about including what it's like touring in their 40s, why people like R.E.M., and why Linnell doesn't play accordion the entire show anymore.

Late last year They Might Be Giants appeared in the CD101 Big Room and performed a few songs. You can now watch these performances on YouTube and see pictures from the show and from previous appearances at the radio station on their website.

Clips from the show:

"Fake-Believe" Family Podcast and 33A

2008-03-28T23:26:00.002-04:00

Friday is Family Podcast day and today's episode is hosted by special guests Barney and Elmo. Or it could just be John and John playing April Fools for a themed edition of the video podcast. The first video is "Fake-Believe" from Here Come the ABCs. Sticking with the April Fools theme, the next song is "Fake-Believe" as well. Or "Fake-Believe Type B" if you want to distinguish the two. "Type B" is a live performance of the song with different lyrics, also on Here Come the ABCs.

This is the first Friday Night Family Podcast to not include a video from Here Come the 123s but I think having two versions of the same song stuck with the theme well. The Johns sing us out of the episode, but not before we get the additional knowledge that the capital of Wyoming is egg salad sandwich.

Podcast 33A in the audio podcast has also been released today. Hosted by John Flansburgh, 33A plays some live tracks in "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" and "Particle Man," some demos in "Extra Savoir-Faire" and "Why Does the Sun Shine?," and a song by friend Laura Cantrell, "Lee Harvey was a Friend of Mine." Sticking to this format, and including new songs as well, gives the podcast a great amount of variety in what is played and I hope we hear more of each category in future podcasts.

Far off, upcoming shows

2008-03-24T18:08:00.001-04:00

High Road Touring, TMBG's booking agency, and Rounder Records, their label, have some previously undiscovered shows on their tour pages. Starting with the soonest, there is a kids show on May 3 at the New York Public Library. Another kids show will be on May 24 in Kansas City for the JiggleJam Family Music Festival. With two new kids shows two new adult shows are in the listings as well. On June 21 there will be a show at Coney Island in New York and on August 10 there is a show at the Wolf Den in the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Note that these shows are fairly far off, so there is definitely room for errors or changes in the schedule.

"Nine Bowls of Soup" spills onto Family Podcast

2008-03-21T21:40:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants' family video podcast is online with a new episode. John and John get energetic as they introduce the video for "Nine Bowls of Soup" from the Here Come the 123s CD/DVD set. The bouncy, brightly colored video follows an ichthyosaur as he balances the soup he won't share.

Following this video is a performance of "Older" by the puppet Johns, much like they did for "Fibber Island" a few weeks ago. They've said that writing for children is the same as writing for adults, except without all of the death. Apparently that doesn't apply to performing! The puppets give a great rendition anyway and then, in a fit of déjà vu, the closing goodbye song is from the "Seven" episode--including the Here Come the ABCs intro that had followed "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?"

Kids interview, review, and TV performance

2008-03-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

John Linnell spoke with Parenting.com in an interview that has been making the rounds. John speaks of creating children's music, what his son listens to, and his advice for parents.

They Might Be Giants' artist profile over at Disney Music has been silently updating. In it is the actual quote from Entertainment Weekly giving Here Come the 123s an 'A.' The site also give notice that TMBG will be appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Thursday, April 10 to perform a song from Here Come the 123s.

"I Can Add," new shows, and interview

2008-03-14T17:50:00.001-04:00

A new Friday Night Family Podcast has been released today. In it are two videos from Here Come the 123s, "I Can Add" and "Seven Days of the Week," which is seeing its second showing on the Family Podcast.

Three new shows have appeared on theymightbegiants.com's shows listing. Two are for a family show and an adult show on April 19, in Albany, NY. Another new show is for June 7, at the Appel Farm Arts & Music Festival in Elmer, NJ. A new TMBG newsletter has been sent out that also announces these shows as well as mentioning Podcast 32B.

An interview from yesterday has John, John, and Dan appearing on talk station Real Radio and playing a few songs live. In addition to four songs, TMBG talks a lot about getting jobs as theme writers and how that works. The Beat Swamp has the 40-minute (commercials included) segment recorded.

Podcast 32B interviews John and John

2008-03-13T18:24:00.002-04:00

Podcast 32B has arrived and They Might Be Giants share their earliest musical memories with WBHM in Birmingham, AL. They also give some pretty good insight into the writing process for creating a song and talk about the difficulty in putting on an entertaining show. It really is a good interview and definitely deserves its place in the podcast.

A TMBG newsletter was sent out not long ago. In it are some updates on their MySpace profile totaling over a million views and 60 thousand friends. It also seems that the next Family Podcast will include videos for "Seven Days of the Week" and "I Can Add."

An interview, linked from TMBW, with John Linnell is up on the site for the University of Windsor's campus newspaper The Lance. The interview has Linnell tell the paper that "Seven" was originally slated for The Else and that, yes, Dial-A-Song is dead.

An interview with John Flansburgh by The Hook in Charlottesville, VA also mentions Dial-A-Song and its permanence in the culture. It also has some interesting remarks on venues from the Venue Songs project that have since closed.

Tour in full swing

2008-03-11T15:13:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants' latest tour is in full swing with shows in Florida all this week. This is the last time they'll be in the state for the rest of the year, says a MySpace bulletin (archived by TMBW), so they ask you to tell your friends! The theymightbegiants.com blog also mentions their activity this week as well as a new show announced for May 23 at The Beaumont in Kansas City, MO.

The TMBG LiveJournal community is ending their opening act tournament. Down from the original 50 different acts, in the finals are The Moldy Peaches up against Mike Doughty/Soul Coughing. Make sure you get your vote in to help your favorite act triumph.

And hot off the presses is a short interview with John Linnell on the St. Petersburg Times' website (via TMBW). The interview takes its quotes from a recent podcast interview with Linnell by the same site not long ago.

"Seven" online for March 7

2008-03-07T12:50:00.002-05:00

It's Friday, March 7 and today's featured video in the They Might Be Giants Family Podcast is appropriately "Seven." Produced with The Else producing team the Dust Brothers and with a speaking part by Henry Linnell, "Seven" is a collaboration with people close to the band. In another collaboration, the second video of the podcast is "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?" from Here Come the ABCs starring Robin Goldwasser and the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater.

Also online today is a They Might Be Giants birthday cake. The chocolate cake is adorned with the puppet Johns from Here Come the ABCs and Here Come the 123s and, of course, looks delicious.

Questions for TMBG

2008-03-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

This week the Johns were interviewed by papers in Houston and Mississippi about upcoming shows. The Houston Chronicle has a good interview with Linnell about misconceptions about the band, working with the Dust Brothers, and bands whose name is a sentence. Flansburgh, on the other hand, speaks with The Clarion-Ledger on what they are doing next:

"In the summer we're going to figure out how to actually do a proper kids' tour ... It's kind of gotten to a point where we can actually headline a show like that. We're also working on the next adult album in earnest right now. We've got a lot cooking."

If you have a question for They Might Be Giants that wasn't answered in one of these interviews, your question may be asked in Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child's upcoming Q&A with the band. Just post a comment on their site and it could be asked near the end of the month at TMBG's Portsmouth, NH shows. In addition to talking to the Johns, they'll be speaking with Hannah Levine as well, so write away.

Closing out, a new TMBG newsletter was sent out yesterday detailing a lot of the stuff that has appeared on Flans' theymightbegiants.com blog where, in addition to the info about shows and chart placement, he let's us know that Friday's video podcast will be featuring the Here Come the 123s video "Seven."

Electronic Musician interviews and others

2008-03-04T23:58:00.004-05:00

The month of March is kicked off with the release of They Might Be Giants' interview with Electronic Musician. A bonus article was released previously, but now the interview appearing in the magazine can be read online. An impressively long feature, the interview covers topics such as the writing and recording process and the lo-fi, MP3 origins of "I'm Impressed." Also online is the full, uncut interview which includes the entire interview with John and John.

Stuck in the '80s, a blog of the St. Petersburg Times, interviews John Linnell on its weekly podcast. The 45 minute podcast covers the some of the standard questions in preparation for the upcoming show in St. Petersburg. Flansburgh, on the other hand, is interviewed by Austinist in anticipation for the show in the capital of Texas.

"The Secret Life of Six" leaps onto Family Podcast

2008-02-29T23:51:00.004-05:00

It's a leap day, but that doesn't mean They Might Be Giants are going to skip this week's Family Podcast. Proving that improvisation can beat written dialogue any day, the puppet Johns start the podcast scriptless and it shows to be hilarious anyway. "The Secret Life of Six" is this week's video from the Here Come the 123s set. Its stop-motion animation and cuddly characters were created by Hine Mizushima, who also created the video for The Else's "With the Dark."

Instead of a second video from Here Come the ABCs, the Johns themselves sing "Fibber Island" from their first kids' album, No! Then, closing the podcast, Flansburgh and Linnell sing goodbye to the tune of the venue song "Glasgow," aka "T-H-E-G-A-R-A-G-E." The podcasts aren't getting played out by any means yet, so let's hope the fun continues for a good while longer.

Many interviews for many shows

2008-02-28T21:48:00.006-05:00

I've got a slew of interviews for you today, but first I'll start by mentioning that a new TMBG newsletter was sent out recently. Starting with a very persuasive argument to get tickets to their upcoming shows, the e-mail reiterates many of the points relayed by their various blogs.

Starting with past shows, Linnell and Flansburgh were interviewed by MSG, NY prior to their show at the Beacon Theatre earlier this month. (Footage of the concert has appeared on YouTube.) It's a good video interview that gives some background on the band's origins and Flans says what he really thinks of the fans.

Playing in Bloomington, IN tonight, TMBG speaks to The Bloomington Scene in a timely interview wherein they tell the site why they like playing in college towns. The site also has a nice interview with They Might Be Giants opening act Oppenheimer.

Moving on to Saturday, They Might Be Giants will be playing in Omaha, NE at Slowdown in a sold out show. The Omaha World-Herald asks Flansburgh some questions and he notes that they'll be "working on the next album momentarily."

A They Might Be Giants concert is the end cap of the True/False film fest closing on Sunday and in the spirit of the fest, the Columbia Daily Tribune's Arts & Entertainment blog asks John and John some true/false questions. In addition, Vox gets Flans to tell them why it's good to have a large pool of songs to choose from and gets some good trivia out of him in six sidebar questions.

Furthermore, True/False sponsor BXR, a radio station local to the film fest, will apparently be joined by TMBG before the concert on Sunday between 3:30 and 4:30pm. If you don't get the station locally, you can listen live online.

2/23/08 Borders clips on YouTube

2008-02-27T16:31:00.003-05:00

They Might Be Giants are starting up their spring tour today, but over the weekend they played a free children's show at Borders. The ten song set included several songs from the new album Here Come the 123s and multiple audience members have posted video of the show onto YouTube. There are two videos of John, John, and Marty setting up and practicing "Apartment Four" and "Flying V" during the soundcheck and user JasonDTube has the entire, 40 minute show recorded in five parts.

Soundcheck: (1 | 2)

Clips from the show:

Entire show: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Magazine mentions and book reading

2008-02-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

The TMBG MySpace blog has updated with a posting telling us They Might Be Giants are on the cover of the latest issue of Electronic Musician. Inside the mag is an interview with the group about the making of The Else and the requisite discussion of electronic music-making. (You may remember that a bonus article has already appeared online.) The post also notes that Here Come the 123s was given an 'A' by Entertainment Weekly.

The theymightbegiants.com blog also points this out in addition to showing that Here Come the 123s and Here Come the ABCs are both in Amazon's top five children's albums, with 123s at number one.

Lastly for today, see what book John Flansburgh has been reading in a recent article on the NY Daily News.

"Pirate Girls Nine" loots Family Podcast

2008-02-22T13:51:00.001-05:00

The latest Friday Night Family Podcast has seen the light of day. This week, "Pirate Girls Nine" is the video of choice from Here Come the 123s. A fun song that showcases the many voices of John Flansburgh, "Pirate Girls Nine" is similar to "With the Dark" in that respect. The Johns even dress in pirate garb for the occasion with patches on their eyes and hooks on their hands. The second song is "Z Y X" from their first DVD set, Here Come the ABCs. At the end of the podcast, the Pirate Johns get rowdy, as pirates are wont to do, and end up barking the goodbye song like dogs as the segment devolves into madness.

They Might Be Giants fans get a nod in an article on Vindy.com today. Talking to John Linnell about the upcoming Cleveland, OH concert that kicks off the spring tour, Linnell remarks on the benefits of fans compiling setlists, saying:

"That’s one great thing about having insane, obsessive, compulsive fans, we always do different stuff whenever we come back to a place."

Via Newsarama, you may remember that TMBG collaborator Tony Millionaire created an animated pilot of his strip Maakies, trying to get it made into a television show. Well, as Fantagraphics Books (Millionaire's publisher) points out, it seems that this is going to happen. Remember that TMBG play the theme song for the show, so everyone will get to hear them on TV even more often.

Newsletter prepares for shows

2008-02-21T23:18:00.001-05:00

A new TMBG newsletter has been sent out in preparation of their upcoming tour. If you live in the NYC area, make sure to head on over to Borders on Saturday for a free in-store show with the Johns and Marty playing songs from Here Come the 123s. After the set, they'll be signing anything you've got. If you know anyone with young kids, invite them too; it's free!

Then, on Wednesday, They Might Be Giants will start their "Standing in the Dark" spring rock tour, as the newsletter puts it. There are a couple of upcoming interviews taking place in various cities along the tour, so stay online to check them out. You should also stay subscribed to their Family Podcast as its pirate episode is coming tomorrow.

Spring tour starting next week

2008-02-20T23:40:00.000-05:00

They Might Be Giants have put out a new MySpace message recently, noting that they begin their spring tour in earnest next week. While they'll likely be promoting The Else throughout the tour, they'll no doubt be playing some songs from Here Come the 123s as well. This will be the first time we hear any of these songs live, so if you get a chance to see them in concert, you may hear a debut.

The TMBG LiveJournal community has settled on their favorite They Might Be Giants album with a rough battle between Flood and Lincoln. Lincoln ended up victorious and took the prize. JJRRutgers keeps the debates going though, with a new tournament to find their favorite They Might Be Giants opening act. With 50 different acts to choose from, this selection covers a wide range of TMBG history. Go vote and help your favorite act win!

"Number Two" pairs with "E Eats Everything"

2008-02-15T13:39:00.003-05:00

The They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast has updated its feed with a new episode. This week it's "Number Two," as foretold by the latest newsletter. Starring Robin Goldwasser's puppets, the video illustrates the bond of friendship. And the song, written (and possibly sung?) by Danny Weinkauf, is one of my newest favorites from Here Come the 123s.

The Johns continue to one up themselves, giving hilarious performances as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. John Linnell's speech as Washington is so hampered by his wooden teeth it's unintelligible. The second video, from Here Come the ABCs, is "E Eats Everything." As the puppets sing goodbye we can only wait another week to see what is in store for us on the next video podcast.

In the TMBG LJ community, the second tournament is coming to a close. The finals in the "favorite album" tournament is down to Lincoln and Flood. Go vote and help your favorite album win!

New newsletter, article, and videos

2008-02-14T22:20:00.004-05:00

A new TMBG newsletter has been sent out to those subscribed to their Free MP3 Club. The e-mail informs us that the song for tomorrow's Family Podcast will be Here Come the 123s' "Number Two" followed by "E Eats Everything" from Here Come the ABCs.

An interview with They Might Be Giants will be appearing in next month's issue of Electronic Musician, but a bonus article has already appeared on their website. The article lists ten pieces of gear that TMBG use when they play. Among the items are a tape recorder--so Flans doesn't forget good ideas for songs--and a Stylophone, which they mention came with a record of Rolf "Tie Me Kangaroo Down" Harris praising the instrument. (You can listen to what is likely the same record in a two-part video on YouTube.)

Lastly, a couple of concert videos were uploaded to YouTube recently. Three 30-second clips of "James K. Polk" in Philadelphia, PA from 2005 (parts 1, 2, 3) and a performance of "Violin" at Leeds, UK from 2004. The uploader of that last video, astralbee, also has some amazing videos of TMBG from the early 90s including Flans on dual trumpets and the Johns on MTV Europe.

New and upcoming interviews

2008-02-13T22:39:00.002-05:00

An excellent interview with John Flansburgh is up on kids' music blog Zooglobble. All about Here Come the 123s, the site asks how the video creators were found, the influence of Sesame Street, and what music Flans listened to when he was a kid, among other questions. One of the more interesting parts of the interview has Flans inform us of some of the restrictions they'd faced in getting their Disney projects out and how they worked around them.

The fine folks at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child have informed us that they will be interviewing They Might Be Giants at the upcoming Portsmouth, NH show on March 29. They interviewed TMBG last year as well and you can still hear that interview and see photos from it on their website.

Presidential podcast coming Friday

2008-02-12T23:50:00.003-05:00

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday and Friday next week will be George Washington's. But neither take place on Presidents' Day. The holiday is next Monday and celebrates the birthdays of these two presidents. They Might Be Giants are getting in on the celebrating in character, as pointed out by their blog, on family podcast number two after the release of Here Come the 123s.

An article on TMBG by Billboard has been reprinted by Reuters online. The article tells of their success in children's music and gives some info on how they got started in the kids market. Linnell mentions that it took a while to get No! released (as told in a recent interview), eventually putting it out under their own imprint, Idlewild.

Finally, the TMBG website and MySpace blog make note of a special Student ID Appreciation Show taking place in Atlanta, GA on March 15. Bring your student ID and get five dollars off of the normal ticket price! Note that this is for the later, 6:30 show and not the earlier 3 o'clock show for kids and families.

Interviews, shows, and video games

2008-02-08T22:45:00.001-05:00

A nice interview with the recently popular John Linnell has appeared on Babble, a parenting website. The interview covers "babies, bad shows and Brooklyn" and has some really interesting and funny quotes from John. Here, he give us an idea of how long their first kid's album was in progress:

"He [his son, Henry] heard No! before it came out, and by the time it came out he was intimately familiar with it — which is funny. We actually recorded it before he was born, but it took that long for the record to be released."

A while back TMBG announced they would be appearing in an expansion pack for The Sims video game, re-recording "Take Out the Trash" in the gibberish language of the characters. A little more information has been released on the game, which is titled The Sims 2: FreeTime and to be released February 26, and a full track listing has appeared for it's soundtrack. They Might Be Giants also mentioned that they'd recorded a new version of "The Sims 2 Theme," originally composed by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh, with their regular horn section of Dan, Stan, and Kurt. You can hear the original version online and get an idea of how it will sound.

A new newsletter has been sent out and Flans reveals he's currently in France. The mailing also reminds of some radio shows, such as their appearance on WXPN's "World Café," which is now archived on the show's website. There, you can listen to the half hour with They Might Be Giants as they are interviewed and play several songs live. The newsletter also, along with a MySpace blog posting, gives notice to their fans in Omaha, NE of a free screening of Gigantic at The Waiting Room Lounge.

Finally, via leolapyre on the TMBG LJ group, They Might Be Giants will be performing their first of many in-stores at Borders on February 23, promoting Here Come the 123s.

Family Podcast continues with "Figure Eight"

2008-02-08T17:24:00.001-05:00

They Might Be Giants' Family Podcast returns, even after Here Come the 123s has been released, to entertain us on this Friday; and entertain it does. As theymightbegiants.com pointed out yesterday, John Linnell plays the part of The Hippie Man and John Flansburgh sings his best as The Queen of England in an episode for Valentine's Day.

The featured music video this week is "Figure Eight," animated by the Brothers Chaps from Homestar Runner. They also animated the video for "Experimental Film" from The Spine which apparently made it onto MTV2 at the time. The video is fun and colorful and depicts it's concepts well, showing the number eight in many forms and in many places. Of course, the song is great too with some interesting ways to think about how to describe the shape of an eight.

The second music video is "L M N O" from Here Come the ABCs. After the two videos, the puppet Johns change it up and sing a different song to end the podcast. But the usual goodbye song can be heard briefly as the episode comes to a close.

Miller demoing, fans voting

2008-02-06T18:20:00.001-05:00

Just some fun links for today. A bunch of videos have shown up on YouTube of Dan Miller demoing a bunch of Electro-Harmonix guitar effects boxes. With nearly 20 videos, you could spend a bit of time watching these clips and check out Miller's guitar stylings. There are also several audio demos on the Electro-Harmonix site to be found if you look around some of the various product pages.

The TMBG LiveJournal community is at it again with another tournament. The last one, to find their favorite They Might Be Giants song, finished off with "Birdhouse in Your Soul" defeating "Don't Let's Start" in the finals. This time around, it's an album tournament. Voting has already begun, so make your voice heard.

Newsletter notifies of World Café performance

2008-02-05T23:54:00.001-05:00

The expected newsletter announcing the most recent podcast has been sent out. In it we get another update from the Flansblog 9000, giving his thoughts on the recent, sold-out show at the Beacon, Podcast32A, and that Marty Beller will be sitting out the first leg of the tour to spend time with his newborn son, Noah.

In addition to the usual reminders, the newsletter gives a heads up on an appearance by They Might Be Giants on WXPN's "World Café" on Saturday, February 8 from 2pm until 4pm. That's two hours of TMBG goodness that you can listen to live from their website. If you miss the show, it will be rebroadcast and archived on the site. TMBG has had a concert there before and if you can't wait a couple of days to hear them, you can still listen to the archive of that show on the NPR website and check out pictures from the show on flickr.

New podcast released alongside Here Come the 123s

2008-02-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Let's celebrate the release of Here Come the 123s with the announcement of two new shows on April 20 at 1 o'clock and 4 o'clock at The Town Hall in New York.

Here Come the 123s is They Might Be Giants' second (and in my opinion, much more solid) children's CD/DVD set and you can own it today! No CD- or DVD-only versions this time around; any way you buy the physical media, you get both. You can purchase it online directly from the band through the They Might Be Giants Merch Store, order the Amazon version with bonus tracks, or even download it on iTunes and listen right away.

Hot off the presses is the amazing Podcast 32A with over twenty minutes of live tracks, new songs, and very old demos. The songs include "Birdhouse in Your Soul," "Hell Hotel," "Now That I Have Everything," and other fantastic tunes that you may or may not have ever heard before. Subscribe to their web or iTunes feed to hear the podcasts before anyone else, and check out This Might Be a Wiki for more info on this episode.

Stay tuned in to the Family Podcast as well, because I hear that Friday's episode will show its hippie love for Valentine's Day. The music video? Well, it's a lion!

Interview and 123s goodies

2008-02-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

It's the day before the release of Here Come the 123s so I've got a few links for that. But first, an interview linked from the TMBG MySpace blog over the weekend. Stay Thirsty Media talked with John Linnell on a range of topics including the how they got started recording children's music, having artistic freedom, and their perceived educational nature.

The Disney artist page for They Might Be Giants has several wallpapers and AIM icons from Here Come the 123s as well as from Here Come the ABCs. It includes images of characters from "The Secret Life of Six" and "Zeroes," which the red owl on the cover is from, among others. You can also watch the video for "Zeroes" and a shortened version of the "One Everything" video if you are still looking for more from the DVD before it comes out.

In the Biography section, a press release is reprinted from TMBG's marketing people. The piece has three parts: the standard press release section, an interview with Flansburgh and Linnell in which they discuss Sesame Street and Dr. Suess, and a list of all of the songs on 123s with the Johns giving a short sentence or two about the song or video for it. It's an interesting read and I like this quote in particular about the creators beind the music videos:

"'They're not amateur,' Flansburgh says, 'but they represent an exploding creativity somewhere beyond routine movie studios or video production companies. These are people, I believe, who twenty years ago would have been making low-budget rock videos.'"

That seems like just the kind of thing They Might Be Giants would support, and the quality of the videos shows that this is a fine group of people they're working with. This is that last extra nudge to pick up the album tomorrow or order it online.

2/2/08 Beacon clips on YouTube

2008-02-04T04:20:00.002-05:00

They Might Be Giants played their first show of the new year over the weekend at the Beacon Theatre. Starting out 2008 with a bang, they played two sets, one of which included a horn section. This show featured the live premiere of "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal," also performed with horns.

Clips from the show:

"Ana Ng" (1 | 2)
"Upside Down Frown"
"Take Out the Trash"
"Climbing the Walls"
"Alphabet of Nations" (1 | 2 | 3)
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
"Mr. Me"
"Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" (1 | 2)
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" (1 | 2 | 3)
"Museum of Idiots"
"Doctor Worm"
"Cowtown"
"New York City"

"One Dozen Monkeys" climbs onto Family Podcast

2008-02-01T03:50:00.000-05:00

The They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast has received a new video from the upcoming Here Come the 123s. This week we are treated to the video for "One Dozen Monkeys." The video looks great and the song, sung by Hannah Levine, sounds swell as well. Hannah also sings "Zeroes" which is currently featured on TMBG's MySpace player.

The puppet Johns just can't be stopped, as shown in the intro to the video. Right from the top, John and John rap and beatbox in excitement. We learn that Linnell's favorite animal is the groundhog--according to his cue card--and Flansburgh's is fittingly the monkey. After the main video we get to see "Flying V" from the Here Come the ABCs DVD. At the end of the podcast John and John sing their goodbye song as always. This time they throw some beatboxing into the mix.

Could Here Come the 123s break into the Billboard Top 10? This is the question kids music blog Zooglobble posits. Apparently, albums in the charts have been seeing smaller numbers the past few weeks and TMBG's Here Come the ABCs sold like hotcakes when it debuted. Look over their other chart placings and tune in next week to find out.

WNYC video and upcoming Sirius appearance

2008-01-31T23:25:00.001-05:00

A video of TMBG's recent appearance on The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC has been posted to YouTube. The short segment of the interview shows the Johns talking about their children fans. You can still listen to the entire interview online.

Via Orbitcast, having just appeared on XM Radio, They Might Be Giants are now making an appearance on Sirius Satellite Radio's Kids Stuff to promote Here Come the 123s. The show will take place on Monday, February 4, the day before 123s is released, at 8 o'clock am on channel 116. If you happen to miss this airing of the show, it will be rebroadcast once a day at varying times for the rest of the week.

The They Might Be Giants song tournament taking place over at the TMBG LJ group is coming to a close. The two remaining songs are "Birdhouse in Your Soul" versus "Don't Let's Start" in the finals. Who could have guessed this kind of outcome?

TMBG Radio Takeover on Y-Rock

2008-01-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

Via TMBW, tonight at 9 o'clock They Might Be Giants will be taking over Y-Rock on XPN. Flansburgh and Linnell will be guest jockeying and will play some of their favorite songs as well as a few from the studio recorded live. You can listen to the show online on the station's website. In case you miss the guest spot it seems it will be archived for streaming at some point.

They Might Be Giants have also announced in their latest MySpace bulletin that they are performing a show for kids and families at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA on March 15. I have a feeling I already know one song they'll play.

TMBG Podcast 31A and newsletter

2008-01-29T00:30:00.000-05:00

The first new podcast of the year is upon us with 31A. Recently, the "I Never Go to Work" episode from the Family Podcast was entered into the feed--perhaps to give podcast listeners a heads up on their activities--but this is the first in their regular, adult series. The songs include the most recent Free Tunes, some songs from Here Come the 123s, and "a song from some one night thing," says the accompanying TMBG newsletter.

The newsletter includes an entry from the Flansblog 9000 wherein Flans gives his reaction to "No!" being played on American Idol and the possibility of Paula Abdul having heard their music. He also sends a heads up to the people going or considering going to the upcoming show at the Beacon Theatre. Apparently, they've never played "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" before and this show will be its first time live. They are also appearing on Surface Noise this week on XM 44, the Fred channel, where you can hear them play the XM songs featured in the podcast. If you don't already get the newsletter, sign up today and get free MP3s.

Interviews and 123s speculation

2008-01-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

A Flansburgh interview with the NY Daily News appeared over the weekend. The article discusses Here Come the 123s and compares it and its audience to The Else and its, noting that many fans enjoy both. Additionally, the They Might Be Giants MySpace Blog points us to an older interview with Gearlog. This is a great interview from a couple of months ago that really focuses on the technologies used by the band. Examining Dial-A-Song, wax cylinders, and the Internet, Flans talks about how using technology is a means to an end and shouldn't distract listeners from the final product. Make sure to read part two of the interview as well.

The blog over at theymightbegiants.com updated and contains an image promoting Here Come the 123s. In it we see several characters from the included music videos. One of which is the boy in a spaceship from the "Planets" video. It's still unknown how this will appear in the 123s package as none of the promotional material or track listings mention a song of that name. It's possible that the song is not called "Planets" at all and is actually titled something different. In this case, my guess goes to "One Two Three Four" for which a video is included in the Amazon package. This is a shallow guess, but it is the only song that hasn't been heard yet and I doubt that "Planets" is one of the songs available for previewing.

Now that that's out of the way, let me also mention the panda bear puppet on the left. Hine Mizushima, creator of TMBG Puppets Shoot "Ana Ng" and the video for "With the Dark," points out the animal to us, suggesting this is one of her creations. This would be for her contribution to Here Come the 123s: the music video for "The Secret Life of Six."

"813 Mile Car Trip" hits the Family Podcast

2008-01-25T20:05:00.000-05:00

"Eight Hundred and Thirteen Mile Car Trip" is the most recent entry in the They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast promoting Here Come the 123s. The concept of incredibly long car trips and counting the things you see outside is a familiar one to many, children and adult alike, but most don't share the same enthusiasm that those in the video display. If the video seems familiar to you, perhaps it is because it seems to be animated by Pascal Campion, the same person who animated the video for the "Pittsburgh" venue song. The video shares some resemblance to the one for the Mr. Small's and you can see another similar animation on his site.

The Flansburgh and Linnell puppets introduce the video wearing a mustache and goggles, respectively. They sing a song about riding in motorcars and wearing a mustache and goggles that made me laugh quite a lot. I don't think the puppet segments will get stale any time soon. The other video included in the podcast is "D is for Drums" from Here Come the ABCs. Exiting the podcast is the goodbye song again with the Johns still dressed up in their car-riding garb.

The Leonard Lopate Show and American Idol

2008-01-24T20:16:00.001-05:00

John Flansburgh and John Linnell stopped by WNYC to appear on The Leonard Lopate Show today. The interview includes discussion on their children material, working with Dunkin' Donuts and McSweeney's, and having songs appear on Tiny Toons and The Simpsons.

Speaking of television shows licensing TMBG's music, last night's episode of American Idol featured a segment of rejections backed by They Might Be Giants' "No" from their album of the same name. You can view the clip online via the recently updated They Might Be Giants Mulitmedia page.