Comments on: Good music, small people

By: fdr daddy o

fdr daddy o — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:33:57 +0000

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.

By: anna

anna — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:38:09 +0000

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.

By: Malaquite

Malaquite — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:16:36 +0000

My standard baby shower gift is a Dan Zanes CD.

[url]http://www.emusic.com/artist/Dan-Zanes-MP3-Download/11563337.html[url/]

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:15:28 +0000

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.

By: MiDoJo

MiDoJo — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:16:11 +0000

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

By: NankerPhledge

NankerPhledge — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:43:38 +0000

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!

By: Adamm

Adamm — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:49:54 +0000

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.

By: David Horgan

David Horgan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:47:23 +0000

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…

By: Mr B

Mr B — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:40:55 +0000

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!

By: Adamm

Adamm — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:55:46 +0000

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.