Yes, it’s that time again. I’m making my list, checking it twice, and counting down the naughtiest and nicest videos of the year now drawing to a close. There are a lot of strong contenders, so as you have no doubt noticed this year’s list goes up to 11.

Speaking of which, the number 11 video on my top ten is one that surfaced only days ago. It is the work of Alex Karigan and Zac Hammer of the Amy Marshall Dance Company, none of whom I’d heard of before… but oh, I have now. I’m not sure how to preface this video other than to say that it caught me off-guard.

What can I say? I find it both cheese-tacular and totally irresistible. Right down to the goofy socks, raspberry leotards with the little rosettes at the neck, and the no-holds-barred lip-synching to a Mariah Carey holiday jingle that I had previously thought was annoying.

On the dancers’ YouTube channel, TheYahsInitiative, I read several well-meaning comments advising them to procure a Steadicam. I actually think the slightly-shaky-but-I’m-doing-my-best handheld camera technique is part of the video’s charm. Especially when the camera itself pirouettes, seemingly caught up in the terpsichorean reverie of it all.

So bravo, Alex and Zac. Don’t go changing to try and please me.

This is a little bit of a cheat, but what the hell. First up, an audio clip of “Last Night on Earth” by Green Day, from their 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown; following that, the video of a revolutionary cover version by Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong and his canine housemate, Rocky.

I’m not entirely sure what the correct term for this musical arrangement would be… A self-cover? A partial cover duet?

Then, of course, there is the question of how to describe the musical arrangement. Sheet music publishers would probably oversimplify it to “piano and vocal,” which is entirely insufficient in light of Rocky’s distinctive vocal instrument. The one other musical opus I know of that makes use of a canine vocalist is P.D.Q. Bach‘s half-act opera The Stoned Guest, in which the role of “Dog” is scored for a houndentenor. The 1970 recording of the work (pictured at left) features a St. Bernard named Bernice in the role. However, a quick listen to the highlights from album reveals that the houndentenor voice is really a percussion instrument — nothing more than a simple bark.

All this leads me to conclude that it has fallen to me to name Rocky Armstrong’s vocal range. I’ve given it a good deal of thought… and I’m stuck. All I’ve come up with are “howlentenor” and “contrahowlto,” neither of which I like that much because they don’t feel dog-specific (I’ve heard many human singers who could well have been described as one or the other).

Help me out, readers: leave a comment with your idea(s) of musical descriptors for Rocky’s voice. Then we can have a vote for the top nominees. Sing out, people!

Once again, a cover song I’ve covered previously in my Got You Covered series has surfaced in video format on YouTube.¹ This one’s a high quality, professionally shot piece of film, too (as opposed to a cell-phone-in-the-audience product,² like most concert videos on YouTube). Here’s Richard Thompson channeling his inner Britney Spears — or not:

Those craving more can download the MP3 (and check out plenty more of his stuff) at the Richard Thompson store on Amazon, or at eMusic. His home page is called BeesWeb and is located at www.richardthompson-music.com. Like any responsible recording artist today, he also has fan pages on Facebook and MySpace.³

At last, the official music video for my favorite Garfunkel & Oates song has arrived. Don’t watch it at work, unless you have headphones (or unless your work is cool with a steady dose of the word “motherfucker”… there’s no denying it’s a word with great rhythm). So ladies and gents, get your audio settings set for the song that perfectly illustrates why I don’t like dance clubs: “This Party Took a Turn for the Douche.”

They’re an army in the night, like Norman Mailer. Once again, that’s Riki “Garfunkel” Lindhome and Kate “Oates” Micucci, along with special appearances by Sarah Silverman, Tig Notaro and probably some others that I missed. G&O’s new album All Over Your Face is for sale on Amazon, iTunes, and probably lots of other places. Their website, as listed in my blogroll, is garfunkelandoates.com.

G&O logo

Keen observers will have already spotted that Garfunkel & Oates appeared in the “Laugh It Out” section of the C&B blogroll several weeks ago. Like one of my previous list-ees, original credit for bringing G&O to my attention is due to the WTF with Marc Maron podcast — specifically, a live episode from early 2010 that featured Kate Micucci (a.k.a. “Oates,” the brunette one). Her abundant charm came through in her conversation with Maron, and I found her solo voice-and-ukelele ditties delightful.¹ Googling for more, I discovered her having formed a duo with Riki Lindhome (a.k.a. “Garfunkel,” the blonde one) and I was an immediate fan.

G&O make what they call “couch videos” of new songs they write and post them on YouTube. My listing the following video of “Pregnant Women are Smug” at #3 in my 2010 Top Ten is a little bit of a cheat, because their original YouTube video of the song appeared in April of 2009. But in 2010 they made their first national TV appearances — three, in fact, on The Tonight Show — and this is my favorite of them.

Garfunkel & Oates have made several appearances on my buddy Scott Aukerman’s podcast Comedy Death-Ray Radio (see also #8 in this year’s Top Ten). My favorite G&O on CDR episode so far was the one with them and Weird Al Yankovic.

Last night I got to see G&O’s live show at the UCB Theater here in L.A., where they have a regular gig the first Friday of each month. In addition to an hour of Riki and Kate being as beguiling and hilarious as I’d expected, plus a funny stand-up interlude by special guest Moshe Kasher, my $10 ticket also got me a red lunch bag with the punny label “Garfunkel and Oates Presents.” The schwag within included two packets of Swedish Fish, one of Sour Patch Kids, a mini-box of Wonka Nerds, a fun-size Butterfinger, and G&O-branded stuff including two decals (one pictured above), a kazoo (to accompany the girls on the second verse of “Fuck You”), a lighter, and a retractable ballpoint pen.² That is unbeatable value for your comedy-show dollar, baby.

Garfunkel & Oates’s all-inclusive website is garfunkelandoates.com. For their complete video canon, check out their hilarious YouTube channel (my all-time favorite: “This Party Took a Turn for the Douche”), and their Facebook page is here. They recently finished but have not yet released their first album, All Over Your Face; in the meantime, MP3′s of some of their songs are available on iTunes.