Yesterday our guest blogger Christina Childress explained why she’s adamant on exposing her triplet babies to quality music (in the hopes of side-stepping the typical Kidz Bop phase) and offered suggestions for peaceful tunes beyond Rock-a-Bye Baby.
Today Christina continues with her picks for (better) dance music that’ll get the kids moving right along with you:
Jonsi, the frontman for Sigur Ros, released this solo album in 2010. This title track will make you want to run around a big open field throwing handfuls of flower petals. Perfect tunes for a pretty day, or a rainy one that needs some sunshine. (See the official video here.)
Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas
If you’ve never heard of this indie Michigan musician, you may recognize a few of his songs from movies like Little Miss Sunshine and the 2010 documentary Babies. This particular album of Christmas songs is made up of originals (like in the video above) as well as some classics that are great for singing along. Not all of his albums are appropriate for the kiddos (a lot of his lyrics deal with pretty serious subject matter), but there are plenty of songs that are fun to listen to with the little ones and you won’t regret taking a look through the rest of his discography. Personal favorites include Illinoise, The Avalanche, and Seven Swans.
Architecture in Helsinki, In Case We Die
Watching this video makes me so so happy and brings back some great memories. I first saw AIH play in a teeny tiny club in Denton, TX and the number of band members rivaled the number of people in the crowd. They’ve since scaled down their production, but for their first couple of albums the band was made up of about 8 people, all of whom played various instruments, including the glockenspiel, melodica, tuba, bass clarinet, and I’m pretty sure even a bassoon, among others. Their music is poppy and silly and guaranteed to get stuck in your head. In a good way.
Don’t forget to check out Christina’s picks for (better) peaceful music, and come back tomorrow for cool albums made for kids.
6 Comments to Better Music for Cooler Kids: Dance Party
Elissa
July 26, 2011 at 3:06 pm
Good choices! The Ting Tings are also perfect kids music, as are Devo, Bowie, Bjork, and Beyonce. We also play a lot of old school rock’n’ roll (I’m talking, The Supremes, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran etc) which seems to go down a treat.
christina
July 26, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I grew up on oldies and especially loved Motown as a kid.
Emily
July 27, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Yay for Sufjan Stevens! My 2 1/2 year old always asks to listen to “Too Much.” And all the bands on YoGabbaGabba (like the Ting Tings and the Saltines) are awesome for kids.
michellehorton
July 27, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Yes, I heard that about Yo Gabba Gabba too! We have yet to discover that in our house. Maybe I’ll push it over his mind-numbing Thomas the Train obsession.
Elissa
July 28, 2011 at 6:17 am
It’s great! One of the members of Devo is behind it and they have cool bands and guests on the show all the time.
Elissa
July 28, 2011 at 6:17 am
Kimbra is cool too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elyk9MBY72U