In which the author wonders whether art for kids is art at all.

Children’s music is like child pornography: Both serve the same purpose as their adult counterparts, but an adult’s interest in either is unacceptable. Why, then, have They Might Be Giants made the children’s book/DVD Kids Go and, in this last decade, redefined themselves as post-Sesame Street songwriters?

Don’t underestimate TMBG. Unlike other artists who dabble in kiddie kompositions, the Johns Flansburgh and Linnell are not burnouts. Though not as cool as Interpol or Animal Collective, this nerdcore duo penned a number of college rock anthems in the final decades of the 20th century, including “Don’t Let’s Start,” “Your Racist Friend”, and “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” These songs were good. These songs are good. They succeed as art in the adult world.

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It’s probably fair to say that Tribute To, the My Morning Jacket singer Jim James Yim Yames‘ new disc of George Harrison versions, comes off more as a thought experiment than an organically approached extracurricular. That’s not a put-down: How many times have you asked, “What if ___ covered ___?” and smiled at the thought? (In my case, I fill in “Panda Bear” and “The Raspberries,” but some dreams are just too good to come true.)

It’s easy to dwell more on what the six-song EP, out today on ATO (and available for free on MySpace), doesn’t cover than what is does. The two Beatles selections amount to probably the best, most haunting song Harrison ever wrote ( “Long, Long, Long”) and one of his more interesting ones ( “Love You To”), but they feel too obvious, and far from the most curious potential choices. Why not “Savoy Truffle” or “Only A Northern Song” or “The Inner effing Light?” Why put forward the best (and best known) version of Harrison when you can plumb the late guitarist’s more idiosyncratic side?

Read More “Sweet George: Yim Yames’ Tribute To EP, reviewed” »

Richie Unterberger, who penned the books Turn! Turn! Turn!: The ’60s Folk-Rock Revolution, Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock’s Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock, and Unknown Legends of Rock’n'Roll, among others, will be chatting Monday night about his latest effort, a 400 page, detail-filled work called The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film, and showing rare films and playing rare recordings featured in the book. Unterberger’s book covers studio outtakes, BBC radio recordings from 1962-65, live concert performances, home demos, private tapes, and fan club Christmas recordings, and makes the case for why these recordings matter and which ones he would like to see get official releases.

I first came into contact with Unterberger when he was my editor at the now defunct indie rock, jazz, reggae and more music magazine Option. The California-based writer does extensive research for his published volumes, and writes in a straightforward, easy-to-read manner. Based on my conversations with him from way back when, along with his writing, I’d guess that tonight’s presentation will be detailed enough to please Fab Four fanatics and down-to-earth and honest enough for those who may only be familiar with the Liverpool lads greatest hits.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Library of Congress Mary Pickford Theater, Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. 202-707-5677. The event is free.

Some forms of political protest are beneath contempt, and one of them is sporting–sans a shred of irony–a Che Guevara T-shirt. Yet most Che-sporting hipsters don’t know that Guevara opposed art forms that carried the taint of “imperialism”–including jazz and rock music. (Uninformed hipsters? Surprise!) My colleagues at Reason produced an eye-opening video about Paquito D’Rivera, the Cuban jazz clarinetist who immigrated to the U.S. because the Cuban regime was so anti-jazz (those who stayed behind had to hide their LPs or face arbitrary confiscations).