My two year old daughter recently “discovered” tv. We don’t have cable or an antenna and we rarely watch movies so it was almost by accident. With a broken vcr and a very limited selection of not-scary dvd’s, it’s been kind of a challenge finding stuff she’ll watch. I mean, mom and dad can only take so much Clifford and Maisy! So for a change of pace we threw on big brothers’ Pancake Mountain episodes to see if she’d dig it. She did and that’s awesome because it’s a fun show.
If you’ve never heard of Pancake Mountain, it’s a hipster cable access kids’ variety show out of DC that probably appeals as much to adults as it does to it’s supposed target audience. That’s because the list of artists who have performed on the show or been interviewed by the puppet Rufus Leaking includes Arcade Fire, Firey Furnaces, Ted Leo, Bright Eyes (pictured), Vic Chesnutt, Thievery Corporation, and on and on and on. You can see the impressive list of PM guests at their web site. There’s also a nice article about the show at the Washington Post.
My boys got it for their birthdays last summer and I hadn’t seen it since. We watched it this past weekend and I was once again impressed by “Move Your Vowels” by The Evens. I looked them up at AMG afterward and duh, found out that Ian MacKaye was half the band. I didn’t recognize him! In the video he wears a jumpsuit, isn’t scowling or screaming, and has hair. He actually reminded me a lot of Bill Nye the Science Guy. I felt kind of stupid for not knowing because I used to really be into Fugazi. Obviously I haven’t kept up with them or the Dischord scene in recent years.
Anyway, Pancake Mountain is pretty cool and especially recommended if you have kids. We have the first four episodes but I see that they have four more available. Probably should pick those up. And I read recently that Andrew Rieger from Elf Power, one of my favorite bands, taped an appearance for a future episode so that will be something to look forward to as well.
I wish I had a tenth of your commitment to not watch television, which is where I waste many, many hours. My girls 4.5 & 6.5 are into 2 shows right now: The Muppet Show Season 1 and Pee Wee’s Playhouse Season 1. I got to check out this one to see if they’ll like it.
Here is some more info about the upcoming Elf Power appearance on Pancake Mountain, originally posted at The Day Jobs. I\’m tempted to take my kids over there…
[...] We went to Orange Twin today so my kids could participate in Elf Power’s video for Pancake Mountain. It was a lot of fun. I knew in advance that the band wasn’t actually going to perform live. Instead they lip synced to “Peel Back the Moon, Beware!” from their latest album, Back to the Web. Most of it took place on the little stage pictured above, but there were also scenes of the kids and band streaming out of an Air Stream trailer, riding on this three-wheeled cart type thing, and sloshing around at the swimming hole. And if you’ve never seen the show, Andrew Rieger is dressed as the character Captain Perfect. [...]