Local teacher uses music to make social studies more memorable

Reviews of Matt’s President songs

Posted by Nick Spacek on Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 6:52 AM

Kansas City-based indie-pop act Electric Needle Room is mostly the work of one man: middle school teacher Matt Beat. If you’ve ever tried to hold the attention of a 12-year-old for longer than 30 seconds, you know that it requires something far more entertaining than whatever electronic device they currently have jacked into their face. So it stands to reason that Beat might have a need to make learning entertaining, which is what he’s done with ENR’s newest album, The Presidents of the United States of America (Volume 2). It’s Presidents 15 through 31, in chronological order. It’s as if They Might Be Giants took “James K. Polk” and ran with that concept for an entire album. The “official” release date is Presidents’ Day (February 20), but you can download it now as a pay-what-you-like from Bandcamp(or stream it below). The release party is Friday, March 2, at Amore Coffee House, in Leawood.

From Omahype.com

Electric Needle Room — a former Omaha-based indie pop duo now residing in the KC area — wish the world a very happy Presidents Day with the the official release of their new album, The Presidents of the United States of America, Volume 2. Yes, ENR’s Matt Beat is in the midst of writing a auditory history lesson on each and every president, and this latest release is a follow up to Volume 1, which covered the first 15 presidents (Washington through Buchanan). Volume 2 tackles 15 more — starting things off with Abraham Lincoln and finishing up with Herbert Hoover.