Cool music for babies/infants?

[Futureman]

My wife and I will be having our first baby soon. We're looking for some soothing, gorgeous music on which both baby and parents can groove. Maybe some electronica is in order? It's not a genre I'm familar with, but I thought something along the lines of Nyles Lannon would be good.

Anyway, I look forward to your suggestions.

Don't get smart and suggest something like The Locust, you wankers...

[tinobeat]

I was thinking The Locu... oh, right...

Soothing ambient electronics might be nice (though who knows, with babies' super sensitive hearing, maybe there's all sorts of crazy overtones that'll drive him/her crazy...)

That first Morr Music (http://www.morrmusic.com/) comp, Putting the Morr back in Morrissey 2CD, is real nice, mellow bedroom electronics. Babies might like that...

Iron & Wine has that nice lullabye-like quality...

in any case, congratulations! Is Futurebaby going to be a boy or a girl? will you call it Futurebaby no matter what?

[Futureman]

Tino comes through again! Thanks for the suggestions. Baby is a boy, and his name is tentatively 'Sam.' Needless to say, he’ll be surrounded by books and music. No Barney for this baby.

Funny thing—my wife and I are already planning nights out after the birth. Because we are both suffering from concert withdrawal, we’ll be seeing Enon and 90 Day Men in May and June, respectively.

[Paul]

Babies ♥ Eno.

[stewrat]

As an older than average poster (50 next week) with 3 kids (18/15/12) let me offer this gem of wisdom.

GET YOUR KIDS USED TO HEARING NOISE!!!!!!

Since day one, I have played music (NOT MUZAK) in my house at mid to loud levels. Back in the 80's it was clash, elvis costello, joy division, etc.

The point is that they get used to sounds in the house. I would go to other friends homes and the would tiptoe around the house all night and listen to soft eagles and james taylor records (gag me). Anytime there was the slightest noise, the baby would start to scream.

Having kid's is a big adjustment. I love my kids dearly and now enjoy lots of stuff with them (Going to see Sonic Youth/Sebadoh/Dino. Jr. in a few weeks with 15 yr old). The fact is that they easily adapt to normal stuff and if I had to turn the noise down I would have gone crazy. It's not necessary and my kids have survived.

Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your kids (and toons) as much as I do.

Cheers

[johansen smith]

Neutral Milk Hotel.

[Futureman]

Paul,

Which Eno albums would you recommend from his extensive catalogue? Music for Airports I assume, or perhaps all of his work from the 70's/early 80's? I'm treading unfamiliar territory here.

[fuzztony]

Hey futurefamily, i'll 2nd Tino's Iron & Wine suggestion, and good point about not tip-toeing too much around babies from stewrat.

Re Paul's Eno suggestion - Here Come The Warm Jets is a fun and trashy pop album. I also have The Essential Fripp And Eno album, which starts wonderfully but gets annoying by the end.

I hear Another Green World and Apollo are great ambient records. (will get 'em one of these days).

I bought my older sister Yoshimi Battles...by Flaming Lips when she had her baby boy last year, and they all loves it (so she tells me)!

[jef]

I'm not super familiar with Eno's material, but my favorite albums are "Before and After Science" and "Another Green World". I've heard that his Ambient stuff was really good, but all I've heard is "Thursday Afternoon" and "Ambient 1:Airports" which are also quite good.

[jef]

Come to think of it "The Soft Bulletin" would also be a good one.

[Paul]

Originally posted by Futureman
Paul,

Which Eno albums would you recommend from his extensive catalogue? Music for Airports I assume, or perhaps all of his work from the 70's/early 80's? I'm treading unfamiliar territory here.

For starters:

Another Green World
Discreet Music
Music for Films
Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Ambient 3: Day of Radiance
Ambient 4: On Land
Music for Films, Vol. 2

If you can find these (they're out of print), you'd save yourself a lot of trouble:

Eno Box I: Instrumentals
Eno Box II: Vocals

[Headhunter]

Has anybody suggested the album for kids from They Might Be Giants. It's called "NO". They also have a really awesome kids book out that comes with a CD called "Bed Bed Bed".

[Kameek N Deesha]

Man, you guys (and Eno, too) are about 50 years behind the curve:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000001YCG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[pabost]

but Jason Falkner was commissioned to write some precious, lullaby-ish versions of Beatles songs. The result was "Bedtime With the Beatles." I gave it to my sister when she had her second kid and the whole family digs it. I've actually never heard it.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70402251703032093&sql=Amu3ibkg9aakx

[TheSadDebaser]

Originally posted by stewrat
As an older than average poster (50 next week) with 3 kids (18/15/12) let me offer this gem of wisdom.

GET YOUR KIDS USED TO HEARING NOISE!!!!!!

Since day one, I have played music (NOT MUZAK) in my house at mid to loud levels. Back in the 80's it was clash, elvis costello, joy division, etc.

This isn't necessarily a bad suggestion, but you definately don't want to ruin the kids hearing. Which would be easier to do at such a young age.

edit: although, now that I think about it, my parents were probably bringing me to symphonies and such which can be fucking EARSHATTERING. An anecdote my mother likes to tell is at one such performance I kicked repeatedly most likely due to the volume, and my hearing isn't really that bad.



As for kid's music, Nick Drake might be nice. Apples in Stereo and They Might Be Giants are a sure thing. B-52s?

Also, Sleater-Kinney actually has a song called "Lions and Tigers" which appears to be a lullaby Corin wrote for her son. Very very sweet. Always makes me tear up just a little.

[9000]

slayer!

[stewrat]

I'm not suggesting earthshattering - the point is that the earlier your kids get used to normal activity in your house, the better I think it will be for you. Earthshattering is not the normal way I listen to music at home - alone in my car, yes.

That said, some of the later Yo La Tengo can be soothing without driving you insane with audio wallpaper.

sincerely, Old Man River

[Ladt]

I hope you're baby will soon be able to post on here futureman.

[mac m]

i second the Bedtime With the Beatles recommendation -- our daughter goes to sleep to it many nights. plus it has lyrics included (the versions themselves are instrumental) so you COULD sing along if you were so moved.

Lambchop has served us well, as well as some Morr Music releases and other electronic stuff, but in general we just listen to what we'd normal listen to (as per stewrat's suggestion). along those lines, though, some things have definitely unsettled the girl, including some Art Ensemble that i thought would just sound like birds to her...

there's a great Leadbelly cd of kids songs, and a Bloodshot Records comp that's fun, but those are more for kids, not babies.

have fun!

[Lyle]

Yup, that baby beatles cd is a good one for sleep time.....plus the Pop Ambient 2001 on Kompakt really does the trick... just make sure to burn back-up copies in case you are repeating the cds over and over and over...... you don't want any skips messing up sleep time!

Elizabeth Mitchell from Ida put out some really nice records for the little ones. As my buddy at work Dave says, the best children records feature the all important rule of no children singing.

-Lyle

[cwmontgo]

A Boy Named Charlie Brown: The Original Sound Track Recording Of The CBS Television Special [SOUNDTRACK]. A great jazz introduction and it will also put you in a fantastic mood.

[Joseph]

My friend's three-year-old daughter LOVES Weezer. And I would guess that no kid could resist the charms of Jordy and Ten by Pearl Jam.

Only give yer kid No! by TMBG if you hate him/her. And after you play that CD for him/her, go ahead and tell him/her that he/she was "a mistake."

[TheSadDebaser]

You are out of your mind.

[pipo]

You definately should buy "Soothing sounds for Baby" by Raymond Scot. And
there's also a great compilation you should get. It accompanied issue #5
of the magazine Badaboom Gramophone, and was also available in limited
commercial distribution. The disc is music inspired by the recordings
"Soothing Sounds for Baby" .
Tracklisting of this comp:
01 Alea - Lullaby
02 Cex - And Now the Babies are Playing Mozart for Their Parents
03 Bogdan Raczynski - Chocolate Champion
04 Geometric Farms - The Chemist's Lullaby
05 Hausmeister - Stinner
06 Marumari - Indigo Florist
07 Solex - Goldwaffle
08 Media, The - Rhapsody in Glue
09 Arovane - Neel
10 Casino Versus Japan - Untitled
11 Telstar Ponies - Calvin
12 Flowchart - The Goo Goo in U
13 Dominions - Transistor Angels
14 Ensemble - Novembre

[Joseph]

Originally posted by TheSadDebaser
You are out of your mind.

Is it that obvious?!