help me fill my six year old cousin's ipod with glorious music that will make her a better person

so i've convinced my six year old cousin to allow me to sabotage her ipod and fill it with wonderful music she's never heard before. a teenage babysitter burnt me a cd that really got things moving music-wise for me, and i'm hoping to have a similar effect. it's proving to be harder than i'd imagined. i don't want to put anything on it that'll freak her out or bore her, which would alienate her from the rest of the stuff right off the bat, but otoh it would be cool if she were exposed to some weird stuff, too (do kids like kraftwerk?.) she already has a healthy (and adorable) love of radio pop, so i'm hoping to mostly expand on that by filling it with really good, fun songs with really easy-to-like melodies that would set the foundation for a long life of obsessive music loving. it would be amazing if she were to get into hip hop, and i don't think her parents would mind the obscenity (my aunt is hungarian.) i'm also trying to think of a punk band besides the ramones that a seven year-old could get into...

any recommendations help would be greatly appreciated. i was thinking of foregoing putting any entire albums on there so keep it to individual tracks, i could always burn her cd's once she expresses interest in a specific artist or genre.

blondie - rapture

sugarhill gang - rapper's delight, maybe an edit tho

duh, vampire weekend

stacy lattisaw - attack of the name game

Buzzcocks- Ever Fallen In Love?

prince paul has a hip hop group for kids called dino 5, him, Chali 2na, laddybug mecca, wordsworth and someone else, might be worth a look

http://hspussy.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-7-hass-c-b-sneakers-1986.html <--this is really noisy drum machine based hip hop by two kids that really appeals to the toddler in me, might be too loud and shouty for her though. but it does have some fart jokes iirc.

Xtc - that's really super supergirl

I wouldn't go with any song that could be much emotional besides the emotion of "fun"

The Beatles, duh. And for the punk side of things: the Ramones' Ramonesmania. And for the hip-hop: De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising

TOTALLY do Kraftwerk. Do stuff that's hyperactive and zany, kids love that shit.

and put Woob 1194 on it and tell her to listen to it when she goes to bed

Six seems pretty young for this project. Can you really "express interest in a genre" at that age? I dunno, she just started talking three years ago. Report back as far as where this goes, I am intrigued.

Bowie's Starman

Jackie Wilson - I Get The Sweetest Feeling

Some songs:

Ask-Smiths
Roam-B52's
Rollerskate- Matias Aguayo
Stand- REM
Breathless- Nick Cave

Album:
Stay Awake- excellent Disney versions by the likes of Aaron Neville, Tom Waits, Los Lobos et al

I would think twice about the extreme language rap stuff or punk, if only because both, besides the occasional obscenity, often have a ponderous, grim vibe that sounds like the opposite of childhood.

Tmbg - dr. Worm

Jonathan Richman, natch

Scott Joplin - Piano Rags

Beach boys - heroes and villians

fleetwood mac, sly & the family stone, al green, judy sill, neu, waylon jennings, bo diddly, the fucking beatles and the fucking rolling stones, blind willie mctell.

judee sill too.

Will be amazed if anything here is more appealing than Miley.

yeah i was gonna say, get her camp rock or something, she's six!

The Climb Miley Cyrus, well anything by Miley Cyrus. I know that probably sounds like a cliche, but I think she's interesting and sincere in a refreshing way.

the byrds, hank williams, charlie parker's dial sessions, louis armstrong's hot fives & sevens, gamelan music.

Basically Samosa should just consult the last third of "Losing My Edge".

What was on that CD from your babysitter, btw, and when did you start listening to it?

Debussy's "sirenes"

All of The Point! by Nilson, but specifically "Me & My Arrow"

blondie is a good one, that shit blew my mind at 6. also 'fade to grey' by visage, but i'm not recommending that one

*Nilsson

when my nephew was 6 he was obsessed with 'voices' by russ ballard.

When I was really young I loved the B-52's and Blondie. My sister's kid really embraced the Ramones and especially Devo.

..erm I've been picking music that a little kid would like. I don't think a kid would like Al Green but a classic Men at Work song, why not. Maybe Men at Work isn't much more of a band besides it's radio songs but those singles are good, harmless, fun, and a kid would like em

I liked The Presidents.. - Lump, Peaches when I started getting into music in Middle School

How about 99 Red Balloons, Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Putting on the Ritz, Bicycle Race, and Our House

Daft Punk .: One More Time
Basement Jaxx .: Raindrops
The Cars .: Just What I Needed

Lykke Li
The Zombies

Ok wait, here's a small playlist that pleases my inner child maybe she'll like them:

Architecture in Helsinki - Do the whirlwind (Haima's mix)
Body Lotion and the Bloody Hands - Birthday Cake
Chairlift - Pillow
Emilie Simone - Flowers
Four Tet - Go go ninja dinosaur
Grabba grabba tape - Dr. Groxtronix and Lil kul lol
Gry with FM Einheit and his Orchestra - Princess Crocodile
I Was A Cub Scout - Pink Squares
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
Land of the Loops - Multi-Family Garage Sale
Max tundra - Cakes
Nina Sky - Secrets
Of Montreal - Disconnect the Dots
Plone - Bibi plone
Taken by Trees - Taken too young
The Fiery Furnaces - Waiting to Know You
Those Dancing Days - Those Dancing Days

I filled my cousin's I-Touch with a mix of my favorite songs from my favorite band. He's in 9th grade. Anyways when I saw him a week later at dinner I went to look at his I-touch to see if the songs were on there and he knew that was why I went to look at it. Anyways he said he lent it to somebody (probably the EMO girl he has been texting non-stop) and whomever it was "didn't like" my favorite band and deleted it all off there probably to make room for Brand New and Paramore. Pretty sucky, made me kind of sad/mad but at least I made copies of the mix on burnt cds for my cousin when I put the music on his i-pod (not that he will listen to them unless perhaps he still has them when he gets a car someday)

Make sure you keep all the mp3s for your cousin in a folder so you can always back up her i-pod should it all get deleted right away

a bit less adventuresome, but:

1. Beastie Boys - Peanut Butter & Jelly (2:16)
2. Bill Withers - Lovely Day (4:17)
3. Björk - It's Oh So Quiet (3:38)
4. Damien Jurado - Space Age Mom (2:10)
5. Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky (5:03)
6. Grandaddy - Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake (3:43)
7. Guided by Voices - Teenage FBI (2:53)
8. Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can (4:49)
9. Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather for Ducks (Radio Edit) (4:03)
10. Madness - Our House (3:23)
11. Marvin Pontiac - Little Fly (1:40)
12. Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (edit) (3:56)
13. Múm - Green Grass of Tunnel (4:51)
14. Neko Case - Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth (2:14)
15. Oscar the Grouch - I Love Trash (2:52)
16. Phoenix - 1901 (3:13)
17. Pixies - The Navajo Know (2:19)
18. R.E.M. - Superman (2:52)
19. Röyksopp - Eple (3:36)
20. Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23 (3:58)
21. The 6ths - San Diego Zoo (3:21)
22. The Apples in Stereo - Lucky Charm (3:26)
23. The B-52's - Rock Lobster (4:54)
24. The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (2:59)
25. The Breeders - Divine Hammer (2:41)
26. The Cars - Shake It Up (3:35)
27. The Chills - Heavenly Pop Hit (3:28)
28. The Clean - Beatnik (1:57)
29. The Cure - Close to Me (3:23)
30. The Dandy Warhols - Minnesoter (3:03)
31. The Go! Team - Feelgood by Numbers (1:58)
32. The Kinks - Picture Book (2:37)
33. The Magnetic Fields - Absolutely Cuckoo (1:34)
34. The New Pornographers - When I Was a Baby (2:26)
35. The Pointer Sisters - Pinball Number Count (2:40)
36. The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird (2:24)
37. The Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking With You (2:26)
38. Yo La Tengo - Center of Gravity (2:42)

if they wanna delete it you really should let them xpost

btw the next ilx comp should totally be a kids record

Care Bears on Fire (srsly suggestion: "Hey! They were your age when they started!")

A heavily edited 69 love songs (not even for content, really -- just coz all 69 is a drag for grownups too)

rolling stones between the buttons

the early beatles albums (pre-Sgt Pepper)

The Undertones

Queen -- News of the World

the slits, CCR and Marvin Gaye's vers. of I heard it thru the grapevine

vast and sundry amounts of motown/stax <MOST IMPORTANT. I can see wanting her to like hip hop, but I think a strong introduction to vintage soul is more valuable musically, esp when you can go into P-funk, etc and that can get you into hip hop.

similarly, you could go Chic Good Times into Rapper's Delight cause/effect

A heavily edited vers of the new pornos

A heavily edited vers of cheap trick

a heavily edited vers of AC/DC and Van Halen

smoosh

nah not really they're crap

I think a crib notes vers of why you included things could be fun/useful if only so that you have to justify to a six year old in words why something was included.

Wu Tang is for the children

lol Lorax any reason you're being evasive about what band you put on there?

A small sample of my selections upthread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3q_ft2VS14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KicVw7cYJ4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_1MR2XOjz4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXIzyquw-kc

my 4yo nephew likes...

Depeche Mode "Everything Counts"
The Ting Tings "Shut Up and Let Me Go"
Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"
Kings of Convenience "Misread"
Michael Jackson "Thriller"

3/5 ain't bad.

Never heard that mix of "Multi-Family" before, is that the 7" version? What a song.

i loooove MFGS

yeah that sounds like the 7" versh

(the samples are occasionally a little "blue")

Xppp...

not being evasive, just wanted to point out that it wasn't just rubbish I gave my cousin but stuff that he knew meant a lot to me. Search ilx for Grifters POV (or pox?) and I listed all the songs I put on each cd (and the cds sort of had themes)

hmm i like the grifters and all but if i'd heard them as a young teen i would have thought them utter garbage

Mmm I think I've only heard the 7" version of MFGS then... I love this one. Are they very different?

Xp - Yeah, I think they would be an acquired taste for most folks. Nowadays, having heard the songs a million times (and it's great when a band has so much replayability) I don't think I can pinpoint why they ever were an acquired taste. I can't picture kids these days putting much effort into trying out music that is basically needs a few listens before you can really judge them. I go on Yahoo Answers and check out the Rock music category. It is a good way to suggest new music to young folks and find out what kinds of music are most popular nowadays. I'm glad I'm not part of their generation musically speaking - I feel like it is harder for them to open up to new music... it's hard to say why

prince paul has a hip hop group for kids called dino 5, him, Chali 2na, laddybug mecca, wordsworth and someone else, might be worth a look

― zvookster, Thursday, January 28, 2010 9:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

i have listened to this and it is very, very bad. i pretty much want to avoid children's music at all costs, though.

Songs for the Young at Heart, children's music compilation curated by the bloke out of Tindersticks. Contains sublime versions of "Puff the Magic Dragon" (by Will Oldham!), "White Horses" (Cerys Matthews) and "Morningtown Ride".

Saint Etienne's EP of songs for children

blimey, where to start?

Those guys have mostly added stuff I would have (Ramones, Kraftwerk)

Try Odessey and Oracle, specifically "Care of cell 44" or "Time of the season"

And of course, a couple of Ivor Cutlers. "I'm happy", or "Grasshopper"...

And "Women of the World" - being as she's a girl.

My kids loved his "Counting Song" as well (which was the b-side of Women of the World iirc).

It's more upbeat than WOTW.

All the following seem to be enjoyed by my kids at various times.

Intergalactic - Beasties
If I Had A Hammer - Nanci Griffith
Bloop Bleep - Frank Loesser
Wig - The B-52's
Kites Are Fun - The Free Design
Tippy Toes - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood
Mambo Mania - Bert Kaempfert
Village Soul - Lennie Hibbert
Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Roy Ayers
Blackbird - The Beatles
Ein kleines Bettlerliedchen - Oleg Kostrow

Haha - I was about to suggest 'Wig'!
KW's Pocket Calculator would totally fit

I have, over the years, told tales of Alice enjoying stuff you'd not expect...

I had a CD w/ "RoadRunner" Jonathan Richman and flicked through to play it, but Alice and Amber were "um, what was that one you just went past?"

It was "O Superman", and they laughed, listened, and enjoyed all 8 mins.

Oh, and a must: "Yellow Brick Road" Captain Beefheart.

Harry Nilsson - Coconut
Animal Collective - Who Can Win A Rabbit

an edited james brown comp (get rid of the sex songs obv)

My 3-year-old and her friends would recommend:

Little Boots - Remedy
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
Kraftwerk - The Robots
Judee Sill - Jesus Was a Crossmaker
Derrick Harriott - Monkey Ska
Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden
Bobbie Gentry - Fancy
Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea
Mamas & Papas - California Dreamin
Marcos Valle - Crickets Sing for Anamaria
Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather for Ducks
Pretty much anything by the Beatles short of Revolution 9

Bobbie Gentry - Fancy

hahaha i love this song but you may as well just go ahead and put a lil kim track on! (and i would approve of that too.)

yeah, but then again, "Let a man come around the back and do the Popcorn" is ambiguous.
Xpost

Hey, my 3-year old loves 'The Robots' too. Also Daft Punk 'One More Time'.

An edited version of a Vaselines comp could go down v. well

whoever said "attack of the name game" is not only mega right but also awesome for reminding me that this brilliant songs exists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTH4aIqhunI

^ this song was one of my obsessions aged 4 or so

"Daddy, what does Fancy do?"
"Well, sweetheart, she's a high-class prostitute, but don't judge her for it."

Rapture, The Robots and Go Go Ninja Dinosaur already mentioned - these are absolute freak-out dancin' staples for the 4yo and 3yo in our house.

hahaha i love this song but you may as well just go ahead and put a lil kim track on! (and i would approve of that too.)

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, January 29, 2010 4:41 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

My five-year-old hasn't stopped singing Britney's "3" since he heard it on the radio, but his attempts to interpret the lyrics aren't even close to the mark, and he wouldn't know what she was singing about even if they were.

Do stuff that's hyperactive and zany, kids love that shit.

i agree, how bout 'stand and deliver' - adam and the ants and 'numero uno' by starlight

Stuff of mine that he likes:

WAR (especially Why We Can't Be Friends and Low Rider)
Otis Redding - Otis Blue
Harry Nilsson - Coconut
Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You (which he heard on Scooby Doo)
Outkast - Dracula's Wedding
Roky Erikson - I Walked With A Zombie
Jeffrey Lewis - If You Shoot The Head You Kill The Ghoul
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Halloween

It sort of helps on the last few that he's into scary stories and horror movies.

The kids stuff he likes:

I find that the stuff he likes the most are theme songs to his favorite cartoons and movies. If you can't find that kind of stuff on iTunes or whatever, there's software you can get to rip the audio tracks from your computer. I only mention this because a lot of those themes make pretty good pop songs on their own ("The Future Is Wild" is my jam) and can be good to mix in with the more grown up stuff you're trying to get her to listen to.

He also really likes Alvin and the Chipmunks, who have their own original songs in a lot of their movies, but also do covers of popular songs. One of the albums we bought for him has The Time Warp on it, which is a favorite of his. I think kids might I.D. better with the high-pitched voices, ya know? Same principle behind KIDZ BOP, although we haven't messed around with that.

Mookie's list is a good one.

Do stuff that's hyperactive and zany, kids love that shit.

How about Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive?

(p.s. yes, Mookie's list is great!)

Oh, the They Might Be Giants "Science Is Real" album is a winner too, although that's specifically designed for kids.

I've always thought "Tianchi Lake" by the Mountain Goats might be good, but I haven't sprung it on him yet. I played "Sarcofago Live" while he was in the car once, to satisfy my own tastes and he thought it was pretty sad. I've tried not to bum him out since then.

Some Japanese music maybe?

Plus Tech Squeeze Box
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYZBXjwYiRk

EeL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV-ikDxrwLU

Polysics would fill the punk band category
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8iWKwHp-k

YMCK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ts5k1heKr4

Earth, Wind, & Fire - Shining Star

junior senior and I shot the sheriff

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but didn't Saint Etienne do an album of stuff specifically for kids? Anyone know what it's like?

Yeah, it was mentioned upthread.

I thought it dull, but..

You could always just fill it up with Happy Flowers songs.

Stuff I remember listening when I was about six years old way back in the Seventies: ABBA, the Carpenters, the Monkees, Sweet, Queen, the Jackson Five, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Beatles (esp. Hard Days Night, Help and Yellow Submarine albums). There was lots of bubblegum music in tghe air back then too: Tommy James and the Shondells,1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express, the Archies. My younger brother got into Kiss when he was that age, but I never did. Don't how dated a lot of this would be to a six year old in 2010. ABBA stills seems popular, but I'm not sure about the rest.

I recently found my 6-year-old son in his room singing Tom Waits' "Down, Down, Down". Not really sure that it qualifies as kid friendly though. I guess his voice sounds a lot like Cookie Monster.

My son is also a big fan of TMBG Here Comes Science mentioned above. He particularly like the meteor song.

devo...

throw some coil on there

seriously, just put whatever on it, and then whatever she tells you she likes, give her more of that. It's less important WHAT is on there than fostering an interest in music in general

^^^

I'm sure I'm going to get pretty nuts about introducing James to different music when he's old enough, but I'm definitely going to follow the rule of thumb of just listening to what he likes and digging up other stuff that corresponds to that.

pull assorted tracks from the following albums:

Devo - Freedom of Choice
Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Prodigy - Experience
Baby D - Deliverence
The sound of babies crying - Japanese Whispers
PiL - Compact Disc
Shriekback - Oil and Gold
Men Without Hats - Rhythm of Youth <--- btw the first cassette I ever bought, I believe I was 7
Rush - 2112
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper
C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat

bat for lashes?!

childrens responds to bass

my 3 year old nieces and nephews love a bit of timberlake or beyonce on mtv with the vol up loud - the breakdown in rock your body and the hook from single ladies both induced fits of crazy dancing

OTM Top 100 new wave. it's catchy, punky and points the way to the good stuff. also still sounds fresh since everything is retro-80s these days

lee dorsey- ya ya (tho my 5 y/o seems to prefer a lover was born and great googa mooga)
rufus thomas- do the funky chicken

http://capesandlasers.com/pics/2112awk.jpg

lool

no lie, 2112 was my favorite album when I was 6

"summer delight" - the puppies

no lie, 2112 was my favorite album when I was 6

wow!

Some of these are quite obvious but they are all pretty great examples of brilliant pop songs that might do the trick.

New Order-Bizarre Love Triangle
Associates-Party Fears 2
Blondie-Slow Motion
The Beach Boys-Darlin
Pet Shop Boys & Dusty-What Have I done To Deserve This?
Sly & The Family Stone-Hot Fun In The Summertime
The Divine Comedy-Tonight We Fly
Prefab Sprout-The King Of Rock n Roll
Annie-Chewing Gum
The Go team-Bottle Rocket
Wire-Outdoor Miner
Sparks-B.C
Prince-Pop Life
Oran 'Juice'Jones-The Rain
Junior Senior-We R The Handclaps
Solange-Sandcastle Disco
Saint Etienne-You're In A Bad Way

If you aren't including "I Got The Message" on this list, you are doing your cousin a disservice.

When I was a kid all I had were these tapes of Disney characters singing Christmas songs and I refused to listen to anything else for a long time. Listened to 'em all year round.

I think you should put some sad and weird and spooky sort of songs on there, don't just limit it to "fun" stuff.

Les Fleurs - Minnie Ripperton?

Roosevelt Franklin LP.

When I was a kid all I had were these tapes of Disney characters singing Christmas songs and I refused to listen to anything else for a long time. Listened to 'em all year round.

I think you should put some sad and weird and spooky sort of songs on there, don't just limit it to "fun" stuff.

Do you think music can influence the emotional well-being of a child over time? Would a child become more accustomed to sad feelings, weirdness, or abrasiveness if an i-pod was full of those kinds of music for instance and essentially take on those characteristics as they grow older? I don't know, I'm not a psychologist. Maybe I'm taking music way too seriously but I know kids are highly receptive to stuff.

if only those columbine kids had a cool uncle who burned them the Grifters

Kids respond to sad and dramatic stuff just like adults. It's fortifying to take in art that represents the full range of emotion.

if a kid is already severely hyper-active (for instance) then maybe spaced-out music is the way to go etc.

Kids respond to sad and dramatic stuff just like adults. It's fortifying to take in art that represents the full range of emotion.

or could it make a kid into an EMO? does emo music affect make emo kids more emo?

why hasn't geir weighed in here

I think kids have the a huge range of emotions and like to have them represented in song. Mister Rogers was hip to this, songs like "What Do you Do With The Mad That You Feel" were really important to me at age six. I remember being into songs that gave me kind of melancholy feelings, like Ernie's song about how he'd like to visit the moon, or the song about the grandfather clock that stopped when its owner died. Like it's nice to have songs to dance & be silly to, or laugh at, but also ones that reflect feelings that come from experiences like 'whoa I just found a dead bird what do I do about this' or 'man my friend gets hit by her dad a lot that makes no sense and is sad.' Or songs that hint that the world is big and different in ways you can't yet guess at but here are some clues to interesting secrets yet to be revealed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4VBA2l82PU

but I wonder if being over-stimulated by music can ever be a bad thing

why hasn't geir weighed in here

...meanwhile...

Like all other musicians, Costello is at his best when he makes intelligent and sophisticated pop music, directed towards an adult, highly educated audience

i would advise kids' music of the sort that abbott mentioned (sad and melancholy tunes are good for kids b/c i think it teaches them empathy, in certain ways) and let them find their own adult music when they get to be the right age, or maybe give them a mix cd when they're old enough.

i was a fucking huge, MTV-obsessed, list-making music NERD at age 8, but I honestly can't remember any music memories before I got into seriously into rap music @ age 7.

I had a Gremlins storybook record is about all i remember

dang, you're like the youngest ilxor~

;-)

Also I know how tempting it is to be the Cool Older Relative in the Music Nerd Issue #1 origin story but don't be upset if the kid hates every damn thing you put on there and just wants to listen to Christmas songs or Sunday School songs or something really square.

we can take care of that
negativland - christianity is stupid

I have a weird idea about introducing my kid to pop music somewhat chronologically (probably starting w/ early Beatles and going forward from there), but I dunno if it's a ridiculous idea or one that'll be quickly abandoned. I just think it'd be cool to give him a few years with that stuff before subjecting him to a bunch of indie rock or even beginning to think about expletive-filled post-old school rap.

btw I once knew a four-year-old that was obsessed w/"Nice & Sleazy" by The Stranglers.

I don't know, thanks to older brothers I got a healthy dose of filthy funk music in addition to multitudes of stoner classics and a bunch freaked out punk/new wave well before I was 10 and it didn't have a negative impact on me; I think the relationship your parents have to the music and how they approach you listening to it says a lot more than the actual music.

some kids have the dna and whatnot that it really doesn't matter how much you shelter them

they'll be alright (but yeah, you probably should still have the drug talk with them when they are older)

okay Im done with this off-topic. I'll just post songs from now on

I have a weird idea about introducing my kid to pop music somewhat chronologically (probably starting w/ early Beatles and going forward from there),

it's a child not a tumblr

i think the muppets guests down the years have shown that kids respond to pretty much all popular music. my friend's kid is five and goes mad for the blondie appearance on DVD.

wonder if kids would respond to, or be bored by, the sort of music-box trip hop/electronica i hear in telefon tel aviv - farenheit fair enough, aphex twin - nannou, .Tape, uberkids remixes, i am robot and proud & stuff like that.

That Blondie/muppets thing was awesome!

Oh, another thing my kid responded well to was Celtic Frost.

why is it important for a kid to listen to "cool" music?

why else would you hang out with them?

i mean, i guess the lollingest part of this thread is like ppl suggesting that kids listen to like The Associates and the Go! Team because it's going to somehow make them better first graders than the kids who listen to the Beatles

i mean what a bunch of losers right, this kid is gonna be on the right track

Like I said upthread, we mostly listen to kids music together. It's important to remember that kids might not have a huge attention span for sitting down and music listening so don't overwhelm her. Maybe introduce a couple of songs into her ipod at a time, then ask her what she likes.

i hate to break it to yall but most 6 year olds like the critical thinking skills to understand why Extra Golden is cooler than Vampire Weekend. Just having her listen to ANY music is a good start, really

help me fill my six year old cousin's ipod with glorious music that will make her a better person parents think i'm so cool and worldly

rofl i totally blacked out on the "that will make her a better person" part til now, not down with that

but the thread is fun imo

actually think i took it as a joke and ignored after first registering, don't think it's serious

Ys

Monkey and Bear : )

actually think i took it as a joke and ignored after first registering, don't think it's serious

― zvookster, Friday, January 29, 2010 3:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it is a joke. she's a great little kid and she'll be a great older kid, too. i think of this more as my duty as a nerdy older cousin to try and rub off on her and maybe we'll end up sharing a few favourite songs (her current favourite is "hot n' cold," i think) and to maybe knock some taste into her before she's got a brokencyde poster above her bed.

help me fill my six year old cousin's ipod with glorious music that will make her a better person parents think i'm so cool and worldly

― ben bernankles (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, January 29, 2010 3:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

her parents will actually be the hardest to please, i expect. her mum was a b-girl in high school and her father is venezuealan. if anything they think i'm an insulated no-fun indie dork with bad taste.

sorry i didn't know we were dealin with venezuealans

When I was that age, I loved Michael Jackson, Frank Zappa and Witchi-Tai-To. Also, the Motor City Mutants, which my parents had to stop playing around me because there's a song called "Piece of Shit" that I'd repeat endlessly.

Kids respond really well to Ornette Coleman (The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century and This is Our Music are the albums to go with here) and Thelonious Monk (Brilliant Corners, Monk's Mood, Criss-Cross, Monk. and Underground are all good choices) because the melodies are loopy and super-obvious (not in the sense of being non-brilliant, but in the sense that it's really easy to spot what the melody of a given piece is) and they kind of sound like the sort of jazz Muppets would play.

edward III to thread

Jackson 5, Marillion, anything with narrative lyrics...

ROYAL TRUX

JUICY JUICY JUICE
JUICY JUICY JUICE

Talking Heads.

misfits

i mean, i guess the lollingest part of this thread is like ppl suggesting that kids listen to like The Associates and the Go! Team because it's going to somehow make them better first graders than the kids who listen to the Beatles

the go team are pretty hyperactive and zany and 'party fears two' sounds like a fairytale so i think they are both good calls

party fears two is pretty frightening imo

field music - closer at hand
deadeye dick - new age girl
the buggles - video killed the radio star

del amitri - roll to me
nada surf - happy kid, fruit fly, hi-speed soul
sloan - she says what she means, underwhelmed
geggy tah - whoever you are
broken social scene - anthems for a seventeen year old girl
roxy music - mother of pearl

takako minekawa

the knack - my sharona
thomas dolby - she blinded me with science
lizzy mercier descloux - jim on the move, no golden throat
stereolab - cybele's reverie

toy dolls - nellie the elephant/ james bond lives down our street
chingis khan (spelling?) - moscow
swingers - counting the beat
beach boys - sloop john b / wouldn't it be nice
cat stevens - moonshadow
wall of voodoo - mexican radio
run dmc - peter piper
de la soul - ring ring ring
salt n pepa - push it

(based on what I've seen my niece/nephews/friends kids go NUTS to. On a camping trip I witnessed a 4 year old sing along to the entirety of Mexican Radio while dancing around the campfire...best thing EVER

Tom Waits (as mentioned by Now and Moodles) is a great idea I think! E.g. "Singapore" or "Cemetery Polka" off Rain Dogs. Sounds like pirates and weird uncles, with comedy instruments and gratuitous sound effects.

earyly beatles
early beach boys
late amanaguchi

Puffy AmiYumi

Peter Tosh - Legalize It

We're the kids of america
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Phish - gotta jiboo

anything but the jack johnson kids record, oi

update: she likes dj quik & kurupt

When I make mixes for my girlfriend's kids, I add little voice-overs ($15 mic from radio shack + Audacity which is free) so it's like a personalized radio show. I find that they'll listen to anything as long as you speak to them about what their hearing. As wonderful as the music might be, it's so cool for a 6 year old to hear her name coming from the stereo. So many people above have suggested pop music or kid records. Children don't have a huge context for this. You can be the ambassador for anything, if you introduce it in a way the child will relate to.

I almost put "Sunshine & Lollipops" on the last mix until I realized it'd drive both my girlfriend and me insane. Tinariwen was a much better choice.

I know you're talking about a whole iPod and not just a mix, but playlists work, right? Music with a suggested purpose is also a good way to go - music to wiggle to, music to draw to, music to relax to, etc.

wall of voodoo - mexican radio

This is massively OTM

Reading this thread, I feel a little less weird about being such a huge Blondie fan when I was little. So I guess that's another vote for Blondie!

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― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, January 30, 2010 2:55 PM (2 days ago)

JUICY JUICY JUICE
JUICY JUICY JUICE

― No, YOU'RE a disgusting savage (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, January 30, 2010 2:55 PM (2 days ago)

Also, ^^^^^^^^this X 1,000,000. If you omit the dirty language songs (like "The Banana Question"), I can imagine kids loving the shit out of a lot of Accelerator and Veterans Of Disorder. There's a lot of sing-song-y stuff on those two.

I WANNA GO TO THE WATERPARK!
THE WATER'S COOL AND THE SUN IS HOT!

Oh! And the Kleenex/Liliput retrospective, which is also full of similarly-styled (and amazing) songs.

between the ages of 6 and 8, I was all about:

Led Zepplin
Prince
Rush
Adam and the Ants
Bow Wow Wow
Men Without Hats
Steely Dan
Average White Band
James Brown
Vanilla Fudge
Pink Floyd
Dave Brubeck
Vangelis
Devo

kind of obvious that I was basically a walking sponge for whatever the hell my brothers/parents were playing at the time

Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 was my number
King Tubby - I Trim the Barber
Hawkwind - Silver Machine, Space is Deep
A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
John Spiers and John Boden - Seven Stars
Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil, Streetfighting man
Adam Ant - Stand and Deliver
Krafwerk - Ruckzuck
Neu! - Hellogallo
The Chambers Brothers - Time has come today
KLF - Justified and Ancient
Charles Mingus - Better Get Hit in your Soul, Pithecanthropus Erectus

M.I.A. - Kala

canible corpse
slayer
etc.

The Harder They Come soundtrack is great for kids - some very kid-friendly lyrics about stopping trains, eating cake, pie in the sky, Johnny too bad,getting what you really want if you try and try.

"The Valleys" by Electrelane

The Mary Poppins soundtrack