The Final Funktier

Personally, I’ve always found space pretty terrifying, but maybe that’s because I came of age during an era in which space songs were being recorded by freaky, synth-toting dudes like Peter Schilling — or maybe it was because Starship came from space, and they were awful. Either way, Recess Monkey makes leaving Earth sound like a lot of fun, from wearing “Moon Boots” and a “Jet Pack” to meeting up with a “Ukulalien,” sailing in the “Galax Sea,” and doing the “Constellation Conga.” (The band’s shifty manager, Mayor Monkey, even makes an appearance on “Space Elevator Music.”) I’ve always been a firm believer in outlawing concept albums, but The Final Funktier is so good it almost makes up for Tarkus and Tales from Topographic Oceans. (Not this one, though. Shudder.)

If you want to be picky, Funktier‘s actual funk quotient is perhaps overstated in its title — it isn’t like Recess Monkey has turned into Parliament all of a sudden — but this 15-track collection delivers some of the band’s sharpest, most entertaining songs, full of hooks, humor, and that signature Recess Monkey charm. My personal favorite is the brassy “Constellation Conga” — Recess Monkey, please send me an eight-minute dance mix of this track immediately — but there really isn’t a bad tune in the bunch. It’ll make a perfect soundtrack for the next time you head out for new adventures (or, y’know, grocery shopping) in the family car. Watch the band’s video for “Moon Boots,” and then go pre-order your copy today.

Recess Monkey – Field Trips with Recess Monkey (2009, Monkey Mama)
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Our love for Recess Monkey has already been well documented, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t alert you to the imminent release of Field Trips with Recess Monkey, a DVD companion of sorts to the band’s most recent album, the stellar Field Trip.

For those not already in the know, Recess Monkey is a fun-loving, award-winning trio whose previous forays into kids’ music — including the aforementioned Field Trip, 2008′s Tabby Road, and others — have earned them a devoted following, as well as stacks of glowing reviews from outlets like NPR, Real Simple, and the notoriously cranky and difficult-to-please Stefan Shepherd of Zooglobble. (Just kidding. We love Stefan and he’s nothing but charming.) Field Trips with Recess Monkey is the band’s first DVD, and includes videos for four songs (“Marshmallow Farm,” “Haven’t Got a Pet Yet,” “Fort,” and the wickedly catchy “Hot Chocolate”) as well as a handful of vignettes following the Monkeys around Seattle.

Like the band’s music, Field Trips is a smart blend of educational and entertaining. The DVD consists of four “episodes,” each one hosted by Recess Monkey’s manager, a puppet named Mayor Monkey; his segments take place in various Seattle landmarks (including Gasworks Park and the Pike Place market) and lead into fun stuff like videos of the band’s appearances on Radio 8 Ball, live performances, and a look at how the Field Trip artwork was illustrated. As you might expect given its self-released origins, it’s charmingly low-budget, relying wholly on the music (and the band members’ charm) to hold viewers’ interest.

Partly for this reason, you’ll want to save Field Trips for slightly older viewers, or kids who have seen the band in concert; it’s a rather staid viewing experience, and some segments (such as the radio call-ins by local fans, or the visit to illustrator Matt Hawk) may lose the under-8 set, particularly if you try to take in the DVD all in one sitting — but then, it’s divided into episodes so you can view it a little bit at a time. Monkey Jack Forman describes it as “kind of like American Bandstand meets This American Life,” and that isn’t too far off base. At $20, 90 minutes, and plenty of replay value, it’ll make a great gift for any Recess Monkey-loving fan (or family).

Recess Monkey – Field Trip (2009, Recess Monkey)
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When I was a kid, Seattle was the place with nifty architecture where the SuperSonics and the Seahawks played (no reason to care about the Mariners, as ours was a Yankees household). When a got a little older, it was the place where flannel-clad heroin addicts made sad, loud music that the world went crazy for. These days, folks my age tend to think of coffee and economic summits when they think of Seattle — but for my daughter, and a not-inconsiderable number of her peers, it’s the place Recess Monkey comes from.

The band — made up of teachers Drew Holloway, Jack Forman, and Daron Henry — returns in June with its fifth album, Field Trip, fittingly recorded in the music room of the school where they met (and where two of them still teach). Trip continues the absurd one-record-a-year pace Recess Monkey has maintained since debuting with Welcome to Monkey Town in 2005, a work ethic made even more impressive by the fact that each of these songs is a delicious nugget of kidpop goodness that sounds nothing like the work of a group of insanely prolific part-time moonlighters. The album is, in other words, just the right kind of awesome for little ears — as my wife recently discovered, much to her eventual chagrin, during a three-hour drive in which Field Trip, per my daughter’s repeated requests, played on an endless loop.

Still, even after experiencing drivetime burnout, my wife has to admit this is one of the best records we’ve heard all year; she’s particularly enthusiastic about the clever, poppy “L.I.C.E.” (it stands for “little insects crawling everywhere”) and the cleverly arranged backing vocals on “Sack Lunch” the lilting “Tiny Telephone.” As for me? Well, I wasn’t on that drive, so I’ve got nothing but love for these songs, especially after blasting them all morning and watching my kids dance and sing along. They’re a pleasantly eclectic bunch, with room for everything from the new wave groove of “Hot Chocolate” to the Latin flair of “Ice Pack,” and they’re filled with an infectious sense of fun (example: the velcro solo during “New Shoes”). Whether you’re already a Recess Monkey fan, or just a parent in need of some great new family music, you’ll want to pre-order your copy of Field Trip today.