Best children's music

I don't know about you, but most children's music is like fingernails down a black board to me. Take the Doodlebops. Or Barney. Or the cheap synthesiser versions of nursery rhymes sung by tone deaf cheese-mongers. When you are stuck in a car for hours, or putting kids to sleep, you need something which you can all sing a long to. Which makes you all smile and lifts your spirits. 


Read on for our pick of the best which are rarely off the CD player in the Pink House!


Best of real kids music:


Mr Roberelli- a NZ singer-songwriter, very reminiscent of Flight of the Conchords. Full to bursting of joyful and imaginative tunes, catchy feel-good songs you'll find yourself singing all day. You'll no doubt laugh out loud at the lyrics. It's about as far from nursery rhymes as you can get, with odes to knitting, Vincent Van Gogh as a speckled egg and a scarecrow song called Eileen on the Wall - geddit?! Our favorites include: Roman Sandals; Sweaty Betty ( that our daughter sings as "slutty butty!!") and Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda listened to the Buddha. Mr Roberelli won the 2011 Children's Song of the Year award from APRA, deservedly so. You can get it from the JUNO shop.


Until The Light of Morning is a collection of original songs accompanied by baby glockenspeil, guitar, and piano. and the ethereal voice of Essie Jain. Written to appeal to both children and their parents, the melodies are gentle and the words divine:

Fall into dreams
And the night sky will gleam
Lay down
As the moon is crowned
And the stars hang down over your head tonight

I put it on almost every night. It is hypnotic in its effect, gently lulling busy brains and bodies into sleep as it travels from modern nursery rhymes to pure instrumental, intended to mimic the slowing heartbeat. ....for a longer review that I wrote last year, read here.

Elizabeth Mitchell - I highly recommend both You are My Sunshine and Little Bird. She is like Eva Cassidy for kids.I love the fact that her children sing with her in some of her songs, and that she uses many adult songs, including Bob Marley's Three Little Birds and Three is a Magic Number. I have fantasies of jamming with her family!


Rosenshontz. A US duo that I loved during my childhood. Catchy, funny and meaningful songs. Favourites include Daddy does the Dishes, which became a catchphrase in our house!


Other music our kids love
But our kids are not just into children's music. Oh no! They have very eclectic tastes it seems. From all around the world and every genre! Their other firm favourites include:
The Beatles - our evening family dances in the sitting room usually start to the Beatles: Back in the USSR, Obladioblada and Yellow Submarine.


They also adore The Beach Boys - we're talking 'bout good vibrations.
And then a little rock courtesy of Bird - a Thai rock group that we listened to ad naseum at full volume on the music videos that they played on our bus journeys round Thailand, pre-kids. They do great head banging to it! Ditto to a CD of Japanese rock that my husband got from the drummer, who he used to teach when we lived in Kyoto!


Kila - is Irish music with a haunting musical saw. They couldn't believe it when they watched someone playing a musical saw on YouTube - they were totally captivated!


Bruce Springstein - The Seeger Sessions is great folk music to sing and dance to. I can't count the amount of times we have whooped around their bedroom to this at full blast. Their favourite lyrics are: Dan Tucker was a fat old man/ washed his face in a frying pan.

 They also love Indonesian Gamelan that they call bell music. We watched lots of gamelan performances during our stay in Bali - we have shown them videos of the dances and fire dance and love them.

 

The Sun by The Cat Empire. We picked this up when we were back packing round Australia. They were busking on the street on Australia day. They have made it big since then, and our CD is worth a fortune! But we're not selling. The kids love the funky beats - and so do we.


What do YOUR family love? Do share your favourites. It's always great to find new music.