What music do you listen to?

[3xMama]

Earlier this week I implimented a very limited TV routine. I had a baby back at the end of January and with all the sleep deprivation, healing etc etc that goes along with newborns, our TV intake got way out of control. So now that we're pretty well back to normal, I'm seriously cutting back TV to almost none. But it leaves my house too quiet! I like tohave some background noise, I just function better.

I've been roaming around Pandora some, but I've not found much I like. The kids and I like stuff that makes us want to get up and dance. Unfortunately I've not found that in kids music (so much of what I've come across is lullabye type or fifty thousand versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and I don't want my kids hearing what's in a lot of popular music (drugs, alcohol, one night stands etc). Does anyone have any suggestions for some good, kid friendly music or artists that will get us moving and we'll ALL like?

TIA!!

[scottishmommy]

The Irish Rovers!

[eclipse]

If you want music that's danceable, good for kids, try They Might Be Giants. They have a few kids albums out, but even most of their adult albums entertain my kids for hours - and they're music snobs who don't usually like kids' music!

[MusicianDad]

Maybe delve into the instrumental side of the music industry.

[Ornery]

We love music from different countries.  Brazilian pop is usually fun and danceable.  Love, love, love Hawaiian music, one of my favorite artists is Israel Kamakawiwo`ole.  Most of what we listen to is in other languages. 

Pandora is great for typing in a style and learning what artists in that style appeal to you.  We also make use of our library cds quite a bit and National Geographic Online has a music radio that can be fun to listen to. 

[crimsonandclover]

All kids love Devo! Their lyrics are really wacky (no alcohol or mooning over girls) and they're also extremely danceable!

Also, I second the poster who suggested instrumental music.  My babe really likes the Budos Band.

[cparkly]

We all really like They Mights be Giants, especially their Here Comes Science album. We also like some songs from Barenaked Ladies' Snacktime. We like Elizabeth Mitchell, too. She is sweet and mellow. And, of course Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's Not for Children Only. I will add some more later, as I think of them.

[shahjehan]

Another vote here for They Might Be Giants, esp. Here Comes Science.  We also like Laurie Berkner, Talking Heads, Dan Zanes, and my kids love bluegrass musice for some reason.

[3xMama]

Ohhh, thank you all! These are some really fabulous ideas! Very interested to find some They Might be Giants.

[newbymom05]

Anything by Putamayo! I started with Putamayo Kids, but have bought some of the Latin and Afro music for me--excellent upbeat music for cleaning lol. Also, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but my kids adore the Wiggles and it's gotten so that I actually enjoy them too. Try The Wiggles Go Bananas, but really they're all good for kids. I don't think they've written a song that isn't insanely singable/danceable.

ETA for the younger ages I really like Raffi because he's so talented. I mean, who else uses a tuba and dulcimer in the same song?? But some of his music is kind of message-y (in a positive enviro way) so I might start w/ something like Singable Songs and go from there.

[Addie]

I agree with the Putumayo collections. The ones for kids are especially great, we have Animal Playground, French Playground, Reggae Playground and African Dreamland. Other kids albums we enjoy - The For the Kids! collections are kids songs by popular bands, they're pretty good, The Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson, For the Young at Heart by Taj Mahal, Alphabutt by Kimya Dawson, Snacktime by Barenaked Ladies, anything by They Might be Giants. We also listen to a lot of adult music that DS seems to enjoy, he especially likes The Avett Brothers and The Black Keys.

I tried the toddler radio station recently on Pandora, and it had a few really promising songs, but then seemed to repeat itself really quickly. I keep meaning to experiment with building a better station.

Also - we get much of our children's music from the library - check out the CDs and import them into iTunes (truth be told, we get most of our music this way - we have a great library system ).

ETA: I remember when I was looking for kids music, I found some great resources:

NPR does a list of the best kids albums every year, and it tends to be really, really good stuff. They're a little hard to find on the website, you kind of have to poke around, but here's the list from 2009.

Zooglobble: Super awesome kids music blog, written by a dad in Phoenix. He reviews all kinds of kids music, and you can search by group, genre, or age. Can't recommend this site enough. It also has links to other music blogs and kids online radio stations.

Edited by Addie - 4/5/11 at 5:57am

[Tjej]

They Might Be Giants ABCs is the favorite around here.

Q-U!  Often a pair.  Make "qu" sounds together like squid squash and square...

Tjej

[eclipse]

The 1-2-3 one is lots of fun, too. Even My 10 year old will walk around pretending to be a '7', singing "We want cake! Where's our cake?" Oh, and Pirate Girls Nine gets them all laughing, too.

[reezley]

Another vote for They Might Be Giants kids' albums.  And, my kids like to dance to Scott Joplin hits (ragtime - The Entertainer, etc.) and some big band music (In The Mood and the like).  Early-to-mid Beatles always gets us dancing too!

[limabean]

Billy Jonas

Frances England

Laurie Berkner

Elizabeth Mitchell

Asylum Street Spankers

Dan Zanes

Jack Johnson (Curious George soundtrack)

O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack

Bob Marley and Ziggy Marley

[eclipse]

I just got the Ziggy Marley kids album (I think it's called "Family Time."). We haven't listened to it yet, but I'll report back when we do. There's a Bob Marley kids album out, too, called "B is For Bob, but IIRC, it's just regular Bob songs that they thought were kid appropriate - Three Little Birds, Lively Up Yourself, etc.

[2goingon2]

Trout Fishing in America has really fun songs for kids.