Good music, small people
I’ve reached the age where my friends are starting to have babies. After feeling slightly freaked out at first, I’m now pretty keen on spending time with my friends’ sprogs – after all they’re basically a smaller, version 2.0 of someone I already like and I get to do all the fun, rolling on the carpet bits and then hand them back.
There are hipster parents like my friend A who is feeding her tiny boy an aural diet of Los Campesinos! and M.I.A (his name is Jimmy.) But most complain about the lack of children’s music that parents can also enjoy. This weekend I’ll be spending some time with a very small person and his mum, C, has requested some songs. Here’s what I’m burning for her.
Various – Fuzzy Felt Folk
This is a fantastic album, full stop. The songs on Fuzzy Felt Folk date back to the 60s and 70s when even children’s music headed for outer space – the All Music Guide rightly describe Orriel Smith’s “Winds of Space” as “a lullaby for the universe.” There’s a good mix of traditional numbers, “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” and so on, and original material. It’s a gentle collection, but still full of strangeness and magic. Childless fans of freak folk will also dig this.
Various – Colours Are Brighter
Colours Are Brighter really put the kids in indie kids. Put together by Belle and Sebastian and released on Rough Trade, the album was conceived to raise money for the charity Save The Children. Most of the tracks here were written especially for Colours and the artists involved have made a real effort to remember what kids actually like – listen to Franz Ferdinand’s rather grim tale of a boy who dies after eating too many cakes. I’ve actually played Four Tet’s “Go Go Ninja Dinosaur” out DJ-ing in a bar full of adults and had people ask what it was.
I have a 1.5 year old and have been discovering kids music over the past year or so. Thanks for the new recomendations
Our favorites have been Elizabeth Mitchell:
http://www.emusic.com/album/You-Are-My-Little-Bird-You-Are-My-Little-Bird-MP3-Download/10948903.html
(which includes a great cover version of Velvet Underground’s “What Goes On”)
and Laurie Berkner:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Whaddya-Think-Of-That-Whaddya-Think-Of-That-MP3-Download/10858453.html
My absolute favorite (unfortunately unavailable on emusic) is Elizabeth Mitchell’s “You Are My Sunshine” which features “Ladybug Picnic” from old-(pre)school Sesame Street, Woody Guthrie’s “Car Car” and “Alphabet Dub”, a perfect little dub song with the Alphabet song repeated over it (Alphabet Dub is his and my favorite; as soon as it ends he calls for it again . . . Mommy’s put a two in a row limit on it)
I’ve also found that High Places make good kids music; bright and tinkly, no offensive lyrics. (And that is meant as a compliment).
Colours Are Brighter isn’t available for download in the United States. Sadness!
dang! I sfl’ed without noticing that.
Yes, Colours Are Brighter is a wonderful CD. Too bad the version that’s available in my country (http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-Colours-Are-Brighter-Songs-For-Children-And-Gro-MP3-Download/11121711.html) only consists of 8 songs (missing ones are by Snow Patrol, The Divine Comedy, The Kooks, Ivor Cutler Trio and The Flaming Lips)
Sorry guys – I hadn’t realised that.
BNL’s “snacktime” – released earlier this year (http://www.emusic.com/album/Barenaked-Ladies-Snacktime-MP3-Download/11208154.html) is also a solid and exciting “kid’s” album. In fact, I know some who think it’s a more solid album than some of their later “adult” releases.
Gotta put a plug in for my old friend Chris Molla, co-founder of Camper Van Beethoven and now doing (fun, interesting, quirky) children’s music. Check it out.
Peter Seeger has some great stuff for kids. One of our favorites, available on emusic, is ‘Song and Play Time’:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Pete-Seeger-Song-and-Play-Time-MP3-Download/10863750.html
This isn’t on emusic, but Medeski, Martin & Wood released a cool children’s album earlier this year called Let’s Go Everywhere. Hip, funky jazz for your kids’ ears. Best song title: “Pirates Don’t Take Baths”.
Don’t forget the Rockabye Baby series, featuring your favorite bands like Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and more…
http://www.emusic.com/artist/Rockabye-Baby-MP3-Download/11774829.html
When I was a baby I apparently really really liked the Rolling Stones and the Doors, but Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd not so much.
That was great kids music.
Small warning here – having played the track ‘Go Go Ninja Dinosaur’ to a child on Saturday the ten adults also present couldn’t shift it from their heads for at least 48 hours.
It seems the more annoying the kids’ song the more likely it is to get stuck. My wife and I like to play the prank on each other of “guess which Raffi song is stuck in my head . . .” Once you share which one it becomes stuck in their head too.
I have a slight advantage in that I like noise . . . 1 press of an ipod button can pretty much obliterate those earworms.
Pretty much any Johnathon Richmond and more recently Of Montreal’s Sunlandic Twins has my 2.5 year old boogieing around the house. Of the later ‘Wreath pinned…’ is a particular fave. But having said that my daughter seems to have pretty good taste and even likes some of the heavy metal I play.
@Adamm… Raffi! I forgot about him. There was an absolutely amazing song I heard of his about a year ago and it’s totally escaped me now. Dang!
Thanks for the kind comments on Smithsonian Folkways recordings (Elizabeth Mitchell, Pete Seeger). Indeed the Elizabeth Mitchell album Little Birds, Little Birds is one of our most popular titles, which also features Three Little Birds (Bob Marley).
Our entire children’s collection is available on eMusic, including music from Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie, who both made a few fine adult recordings as well…
David,
I’m assuming from your post that you are Folkways employee . . . if so I (and probably a lot of other readers here) would love to hear what some of your favorites from the Folkways catalog are.
Oh can I just say that I totallly love Folkways? You guys rock, not only being on eMu but making digital downloads simple at your own site and all those liner notes for download! Those liner notes are worth more than gold. Cheers!
Yea a feature article on the folkways page by an employee like David would be awesome.
I get alot of looks from people when my collection switches from Kool Kieth to a Malaysian folksong off of a folkways comp. LOL
Great article and comments, have downloaded a few albums for my two year old. Mostly by american artists, who seem to cater for younger ears. I live in the UK and would like to know of any British artists recording good original music for children (apart from the Colours are brighter comp- which is great).
Also thankyou Deron for the Medeski headsup, I saw them a few years back whilst visiting the US and loved them. Have just ordered their kids album online.
My standard baby shower gift is a Dan Zanes CD.
[url]http://www.emusic.com/artist/Dan-Zanes-MP3-Download/11563337.html[url/]
Stephen – it’s true isn’t it? Most English language children’s music does seem to come out of the US. I’d recommend the Fuzzy Felt Folk album too – most of the tracks on that are by British artists. I chose those two for the friend in question because she’d said she’d prefer music by British artists (“I don’t want him growing up thinking the last letter in the alphabet is zee and not zed.”)
In addition – check out Trunk records, the label who released Fuzzy Felt Folk. They also carry reissues of the music used in The Clangers and Pogle’s Wood.
ok, this has been heavily kid tested and daddy-o approved:
Bloodshot Records has a *great* compilation on emusic, ‘The Bottle Let Me Down’
http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-Bloodshot-Records-The-Bottle-Let-Me-Down-Songs-For-Bumpy-Wagon-Ride-MP3-Download/10858543.html
not on emusic, but worth seeking out elsewhere (amazon download store etc)
both volumes of ‘Greasy Kids Stuff’, lovingly compiled by the hosts of WFMU’s radio show of the same name (ok, the show is no longer on WFMU, they’ve moved, but the CDs are still fantastic)
‘Here Come The ABCs’ and ‘Here Come The 1-2-3′s’ by They Might Be Giants are also well worth checking out, especially the versions bundled with the DVDs.