Babble

I trust that most Babblers have pretty good taste in kid's music. So what's your playlist? I'm going for songs that were actually written for kids...but don't drive their parents to smash the stereo in.

This cd wasn't written for kids but the songs were re-recorded for kids so I think it's worth mentioning - we LOVE the DVD & CD called That Baby DVD.  http://www.thatbabydvd.com/?gclid=CLjG--vSsJECFQISlwodyB-Gfg

 As far as straight kids' music - we love Anna Moo's cds!  http://www.annamoo.com/index.htm

We love anything by Dan Zanes. Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack is also a favorite. John Denver did a record for kids before he died called Train songs--it's great. Art Garfunkle did an absolutely beautiful CD of older songs and lullabies that I would still listen to today even though my kids are 4 and 6. Nicolette Larson did a CD of lullibies that will remind you of 80's soft pop in a good way. We went through a huge Wiggles phase, and now that the kids are older it's the Naked Brother's Band. I liked to expose my kids to music I liked as well: there is a Beatle's cover album for kids and a bluegrass Bruce Springsteen that i used to introduce them to my music-as well as an orchestral version of U2 tunes that is really pretty.

 I did my best to avoid "kids" music as long as we could and first expose him to a wide variety of music. We finally gave in when we got the They Might Be Giants Here Comes The 123's. 

 Our oldest loves Jack Johnson and our youngest loves the beatles. We lucked out :)

for the infant, it's rockabye baby cd's.

the toddler loves elizabeth mitchell, tom hunter, jack johnson, dave matthews, the beatles, and any hip hop beat.

 

We love XM Radio, but we rarely listen to the kids' channels. I tried to keep her on classical, folk & New Age, but our 2 1/12 old daughter loves rock!! She calls it "Soccer Music," which covers anything from ska, to reggae, to Smashing Pumpkins. Oh, and the French pop channel. She makes up her own genres... "Horsie Music" is anything bluegrassy or peppy folk; "Cousins Music" is New Age (yeah, I know... her cousins are as high-energy as she is, so I have NO idea); "Froggy Music" is that eclectic adult office-friendly stuff like Nora Jones or the Starbucks channel. I love this! We have TMBG classic "NO"... and from the time she was an infant, I can calm almost any tantrum with "Vio-lin-lin-lin, Vio-lin-lin-lin...." We also have a fantastic folk Lullaby CD that she loves.

 I lucked out in that both of the boys love to rock out. To keep it kid-friendly though, I've gone through our ITunes and compiled lists with Beatles favorites like "Dear Prudence" and "Yellow Submarine", etc to fun indie pop and rock that exclude profanity (They love The Weakerthans, The Anniversary, and Coheed and Cambria). I've also expanded our musical circle to include kid-targeted bands like Disney's Jonas Brothers, as their music is great for kiddos but not as obnoxious as I once thought.

We have a rule - no bad music!  So, my 2.5 year old daughter has developed extremely ecletic tastes.  Right now she is making us play She & Him - Volume 1(Zooey Deshanel and M. Ward's band)  over and over, especially the track she calls "Baby Whatcha Gonna Do" -which to the rest of the world is I was "Made for You".  I love how she comes up with new names for all the songs she loves.  She also loves the new Gnarls Barkley, Johnny Cash (Unearthed, Redemption Song especially). 

Along the more classic Kids music she loves TMBG - Here Come the ABC's  (hearing her sing along to the Alphabet of Nations is hysterical), Elizabeth Mitchell and a great alt-country compilation called "The Bottle Let Me Down".  

We listen to lots of kis' stuff - The Laurie Berkner Band, Milkshake (get up and move music), Wendy Gelsanliter ("Itty Bitty Kitty in New York City" and "Ants Wear Underpants" are our favorites!), Dan Zane, Justin Robert (I sing the "Way Out" song in my head all the time!), For the Kids, They Might Be Giants (we loved them before we had kids), Jack Johnson (LOVE the soundtrack from Curious George), anything by Rockabye Baby (lullaby versions of some of our favorite band - Metallica and Classic Rock are currently our favorites), Veggie Tales music, and songs from the Backyardigans.  We also have the random music - songs from Yo Gabba Gabba, the Hampster Dance, Crazy Frog (Axel-F), Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Who Let the Dogs Out, and Move It (from Madagascar).  The kids also listen what we like - Barenaked Ladies, U2, Jimmie Buffett, 311, Evanescence, B52's, etc.  All with careful parental editing- of course.  We found that the public libraries in our area have LOTS of different music.  This way we can check it out before we invested money in CDs we may not really like.

Crap, I was leaving a message and clicked away.

 

We spend a lot of time listening to a podcast of a local radio show <a href="http://sparetherock.com">Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child</a> - subtitled "Indie music for indie kids."  This is a combo of kid-safe music and music specifically for kids.  Since it's on a radio show it might be a little milder than some parents might normally play for their kids, but it's not gonna get anyone banned from playdates with their more conservative buddies.  I've discovered so much awesome stuff thanks to this show.  The show title is actually taken from a Scribblemonster song that I love.  Bill does an awesome job, and his kids Ella and Liam co-host - but the show is 90% music, and I like that. 

 Currently listening to a lot of Gustafer Yellowgold and The Decemberists.  Charlotte has been a big fan of the Decemberists since before she was born, so she gets to listen to them until she's old enough to be depressed by the lyrics.

What a small world!  We LOVE the "Spare the Rock" podcast too!!  My 2.5 year old attended her 1st Decemberists show in utero.  She has also been digging the shantys of Colin Meloy lately - it's great to have lit-rock girls!

 Awesome!  I wrote a blog entry once about how Colin Meloy's voice soothes teething pain.  I swear it's true!  Well, at least for Charlotte, sometimes.

I like anything by Elizabeth Mitchell. It's music "for kids," but also just good, folkie, soothing, fun music... I sometimes even listen to it without my almost 2 year old. :)

There are some great music choices here.  Some of them I've never heard of.