While many of us, myself included, were first made aware of the undeniably adorable PS22 kids chorus — led by music teacher/Tori Amos fanatic Gregg Breinberg — when they took on Phoenix’s “Listzomania” last year (a cover that even pulled at the heartstrings of the band), Breinberg’s rotating cast of Staten Island, NY 5th graders have actually been filming versions of well-known pop, classic rock, and new wave songs, not to mention a few lesser-known indie faves (e.g. Beach House’s “Zebra”), for 10+ years. Their recent take on 2010 critical favorite “Round and Round” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti inspired me to dig through the PS22 YouTube archives for a few standouts and others that you may want to enjoy before they perform at next month’s Oscars. Here’s my uplifting, essential collection of 10 PS22 videos:
The White Stripes – “We’re Going To Be Friends”
MGMT – “Kids”
Beach House – “Zebra”
The Velvet Underground – “I’ll Be Your Mirror”
Regina Spektor – “The Call”
Cat Stevens – “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out”
The Cure – “Pictures of You”
Björk – “All is Full of Love”
Tom Waits – “Time”
Phoenix – “Listzomania”