Pancake Mountain!: TV for little rockers

Posted by Dan May 12th, 2008 at 11:32am In The Funk

In the battle of who has better culture between New York and Washington, it’s never really been a fair fight. I get it — NY wins. There was never really a contest.

But every once in a while we’ll pull something out of our hats that’s completely awesome. It’s nice to know we’re still trying.

That thing I’m referring to is D.C.’s own Pancake Mountain — an TV show made by local indie folk for the next generation of indie folk. Pancake Mountain is a self-described “excuse to act really silly and call it our job” where kids mingle with indie rock stars. And they have managed to get a pretty impressive list of alumni.

Here’s a little selection:

• Ted Leo does both The Wheels on the Bus and Little Dawn
• M.I.A. teaches the kids to dance
• The Arcade Fire plays Wake Up and Haiti
• The Go! Team works the kids into a frenzy

To give you a little taste, here’s Jenny Lewis and her beloved Watson Twins playing “Fernando.” Note the woman to the right holding a baby wearing oversized headphones. Makes my ovaries hurt a little bit.

The show’s newest DVD contains performances by Nellie McKay, Tilly and the Wall and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips (I can only imagine the kids freaking out at the guys in animal costumes).