Conan video, hand-painted ukulele

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

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!

"Employee" video and "Electric Car" preview

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

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

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

Science images and Philly interviews

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

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.

Interview and Podcast 37A

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

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.

Upcoming show and podcast details

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.

Podcast 36A, interviews, and more

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

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.

Flans in New York Times, new Theynow

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.

Audience appreciation shows this weekend

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

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.

Some reminders

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.

"May Day" and "Davy Crockett" videos

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

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.

Podcast 34A released

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

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

Flansburgh on The Egg, upcoming radio show

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

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

Soundcheck appearance, Conan reminder

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

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

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

Tour in full swing

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.