Pick me a tune, sing it like a black man.
I'm not sure how it compares to the rest of his catalog, but Neil Diamond's 1970 album Taproot Manuscript is fucking bizarre, sounding like standard Diamond fare on side A, then shifting abruptly to an African song-cycle for children on side B. Of course since its Neil Diamond, all the songs are great (its especially hard to go wrong with songs like "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Free Life") and I have to respect his willingness to experiment, but that doesn't prevent "Childsong" and "I Am the Lion" from being some of the most sweetly hilarious shit ever, nor does it prevent songs like "Soolaimon", "Missa", or...fuck it, the entirety of side B from sounding like some proto-Lion King Soundtrack pageantry (albeit wayyyyyy better; '70s cheese slays '90s cheese with a vengeance). Full credit goes to Melanie Wood for introducing me to this forgotten gem. All tracks taken from her family's original vinyl copy of the album, too, so enjoy the snaps and pops.

Neil Diamond - "Childsong" (from Taproot Manuscript)
Neil Diamond - "I Am the Lion" (from Taproot Manuscript)
Neil Diamond - "Soolaimon" (from Taproot Manuscript)
Neil Diamond - "Cracklin' Rosie" (from Taproot Manuscript)

Song of the day is The Grumpies' "No One Knows Why", rounding out "Kids Week". Should you choose to listen to this song, you may want to imagine a band made up of kittens who also solve mysteries on the side. That's generally how I used to approach The Grumpies. Other song of the day is Fat Day's "Quintland". Videos of the week were a couple of VBS joints--the Soft Focus interview with Chan Marshall and their latest installment of Sublime Frequencies (seriously check this shit out).