Rock Music for a Beginner

by HP

My in-laws are an interesting bunch. They are all wonderful singers, but they rarely listen to music. My father-in-law spends every Sunday listening to either musak or bluegrass, but beyond that, they don’t really appear to be that interested in music as anything other than a means to pass the time while driving across town.

For instance, my sister-in-law, who lives next store, almost never listens to music. Her husband owns 2 CDs (Loreena McKennit and Jethro Tull) and, until recently, that was the family music cachet. However, her daughter has just been given the Carrie Underwood CD and, I assume out of the principle that nature abhors a vacuum, she apparently listens to it all the time.

Based on the principle that I am the most vocal member of the family regarding music not meant for church or barbershop quartet, my sister-in-law has asked me to make a few CDs for my niece so that she will have something else to listen to. At the moment, I am planning on making three CDs (one rock, one country, and one bluegrass). While I am happy to ask your advice regarding country and bluegrass, I am guessing that your interest lies elsewhere. Hence, my request:

I want to put together a CD (or possibly two) of good rock music for my niece. The requirements:

  1. It must be something that is age-appropriate and won’t offend her parents (she just turned 13)
  2. We must operate on a principle of milk before meat (basic rockers to be preferred over more experimental work)
  3. Probably it must contain more danceable songs than otherwise as she is a 13-year old girl
  4. I would like this to become something that will teach her how to separate the wheat from the chaff in her musical selections in the future.

Okay, those are my criteria. What would you guys recommend?

25 Comments

  1. You’ve gotta go with plenty of “easy” Beatles. By “easy,” I don’t mean “early” necessarily. I just mean tracks that are more fun, and easy to love.

    “Hello Goodbye” is one of the most obvious tracks I can think of off the top of my head. In fact, a lot of Magical Mystery Tour would probably qualify.

    Comment by Jeremy — August 31, 2006 @ 9:36 am

  2. If the compilation is to be a primer, I think you must include a Beatles song. However, it sounds like your niece simply needs to get up to speed with what is currently popular. I don’t think the Beatles fit that bill among 13-year-old girls.

    Comment by SFW — August 31, 2006 @ 9:53 am

  3. Some Weezer? Maybe a White Stripes song? something that rocks but is pretty innocuous.

    Comment by Supergenius — August 31, 2006 @ 9:56 am

  4. With country, you gotta give her some non-pop country so that she knows that the current Nashville output isn’t what country is all about. She’s gotta have some Cash, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, and something from some more edgy modern country bands like Uncle Tupelo, the Old 97’s, or Whiskeytown.

    With Bluegrass, all I know is the obvious stuff: Gillian Welch, Allison Krauss and Union Station, Nickel Creek, the stuff from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?. If you know a lot about bluegrass, you should do a post on that to hip us to what’s good. I’d also be curious to see what you put together for a country mix. You’ll have to do a follow-up post.

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 10:04 am

  5. SFW,
    I want it to be more of a primer because she is clearly easily influenced and I would like my influence to be for the good. Sure, I could give her the Cheetah Girls and Raven Symone, but I don’t like that kind of music very much and I don’t want to take the time to research it and find the diamonds in the rough (that said, if you all make recommendations, I’ll look into it).

    On a more serious note, I know next to nothing about hip hop. However, I understand that this is what all the youngsters are listening to nowadays. If you make recommendations there, I will give it a listen (just remember the age appropriate thing).

    Comment by HP — August 31, 2006 @ 10:05 am

  6. Tom,

    Yeah, I’ll probably give her a bit of alt-country. That said, I’m a little scared to give her Lucinda Williams, as I am sure it will doom her to a life spent pining for bass players.

    Most of my bluegrass has been picked up on the fly (hearing it for four straight hours every Sunday, does that). I’ll probably write a post or two about my exploration in bluegrass one of these days.

    I’m happy to write additional posts regarding the creation fo the CDs. I was given until Christmas to get them together, so I probably have (barely) enough time to figure out what to put on them.

    Comment by HP — August 31, 2006 @ 10:11 am

  7. Here are a few that are pretty recent that I might include:

    Sufjan Stevens—”Chicago”
    Belle & Sebastian—”For the Price of a Cup of Tea”
    The Flaming Lips—”Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1″
    The Flaming Lips—”Waitin’ For a Superman”
    My Morning Jacket—”Gideon”
    The Shins—”Know Your Onion!”
    Spoon—”Sister Jack”
    The White Stripes—”Blue Orchid”
    Wilco—”Hummingbird”
    Wilco—”I’m the Man Who Loves You”
    The Arcade Fire—”Rebellion (Lies)”

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 10:45 am

  8. The thing to remember about 13 year old girls is that they love cheesy, corny, emotionally overwrought music. Like Carrie Underwood.*

    My daughter has never been as into music as the rest of us in my family. She loves the cheesy girly stuff (was somewhat into N’Sync and that crap when it was popular).

    Stay away from too much older music, I bought my daughter a Beatles album once (she even asked for it) and I don’t think she ever once listened to it. Stick with current stuff. Here’s what I’d do. Catchy current pop/rock that’s good (or at least, mostly decent):

    Foo Fighters
    Red Hot Chili Peppers
    U2
    Coldplay
    James Blunt
    John Mayer

    Then sprinkle in some good catchy indie:

    Metric
    Death Cab For Cutie (or maybe the Decemberists, but their humor can be black)
    Ted Leo

    And include some popular contemporary folk/bluegrass:

    Patty Griffin
    Gillian Welch**
    Alison Krauss**
    Nickel Creek**

    And the only alt-country artist I can think of that a 13yo might like:

    Ryan Adams

    * I love cheesy, corny, emotionally overwrought music myself, and I actually want that Carrie Underwood album. Just not enough to buy it.

    ** For Gillian Welch, I’d go with “Orphan Girl,” since it’s very Christian. And for Alison Krauss, I’d go with one of her popular songs, like “New Favorite,” which incidentally was written by Gillian. Nickel Creek has a song she’d probably love called “The Hand Song,” very corny and cheesy.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 11:04 am

  9. Oh, and my daughter loves all the bands I listed. She’s 15.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 11:06 am

  10. That may be the right approach, Susan, but I wouldn’t be able to do that in good conscience. Giving someone Coldplay or James Blunt as example of great rock/pop is like saying ‘I don’t love you.’

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 12:19 pm

  11. “Giving someone Coldplay or James Blunt as example of great rock/pop is like saying ‘I don’t love you.’”

    HA!

    Comment by HP — August 31, 2006 @ 12:24 pm

  12. Dude, Coldplay rules. Even my husband Mr. If-it’s-not-Slayer-it-doesn’t-exist metalhead fan likes them. (A song here or there, I mean, not that he’d listen to them willingly on his own.)

    My daughter loves James Blunt. Baby steps, people. Line upon line.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 12:36 pm

  13. Well, Pearl Jam and Counting Crows were my first favorite rock bands and look how cool I am now. So it’s not a crime or anything to steer kids Coldplay’s or James Blunt’s way. But I figure they’ll find their way to that stuff on their own. What with the omnipresence of Clear Channel and American Idol, you couldn’t avoid it even if you wanted to. I would want to show them unique, fun stuff that they wouldn’t hear otherwise. I wouldn’t spring Kid A on them right away, but I’d try to lead them down paths less travelled.

    The last albums I sent my sister (she’s much older than HP’s sister, but similarly music-starved) were Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips, Illinois by Sufjan Stevens, and a Wilco mix without a lot of their wilder stuff. I actually don’t know if she’s listened much, but I felt like I was doing her a favor (especially since she’s on the dating market and supercool guys like me would be impressed with a Flaming Lips fan). Sending her James Blunt would be like giving a swimming fish a drink of water: superfluous.

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 1:01 pm

  14. That’s why I mixed in some indie with the well-known stuff. No use giving her a cd she’s not going to listen to.

    My daughter loves “Do You Realize,” so that’d be a good one to include. She doesn’t really listen to whole albums, just songs, which is probably a definite trend among teens with iPods and iTunes.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 1:40 pm

  15. Yeah, that seems to be a trend among people my age (mid-20’s), even. And you’re right that it’s pointless if she doesn’t listen. I suppose I have a lot of confidence that the music I would put together would be good enough that she couldn’t help but listen.

    Now that I think about it, maybe that’s a good way to force a kid to listen to Kid A: Intersperse Kid A tracks in between stuff like “You’re Beautiful,” “You’re Body is a Wonderland,” “You Had a Bad Day” and such. You’d also have to find a way to disable the skip button. A spoonful of sugar . . . (Or is it a squirt of frosting . . .?)

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 2:18 pm

  16. I’d encourage the Jethro Tull myself.

    For some basic essentials that are easy to listen to, some Beatles, Eagles, something with Clapton, CCR. For fun, add some Supertramp, ABBA, and something from the Footloose soundtrack.

    Comment by Bryce I — August 31, 2006 @ 2:37 pm

  17. Actually, Tom, the way I got my kids into some of my favorite bands was to play one song on repeat for an hour when they were around. Voila, Melvins fans were born.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 2:57 pm

  18. Completely off topic, but Tom I always assumed you were older than me for some reason! Interesting….

    Maybe throw in some Ok Go or Snow Patrol or Panic! At the Disco for some contemporary stuff that isn’t hip hop or (heaven forbid) Jessica Simpson or Pussy Cat Dolls or Fergie (I shudder….)

    Comment by gabby — August 31, 2006 @ 3:48 pm

  19. Bryce I has good suggestions, which I second. Except for the Footloose part.

    My suggestion would be to add some fun punk stuff. Maybe I Wanna Be Sedated? Or is that too subversive in this case?

    You could throw in almost anything by The Police. Anything except Roxanne, which I can’t stand.

    My impression is that girls tend to like two Zeppelin Songs: D’yer Maker and Fool in the Rain. Neither is a favorite of mine, but that isn’t the point of this.

    At the end of the rock album you should insert Her Majesty as a sort of joke that she’ll only get after she starts listening to complete Beatles albums.

    Comment by a random John — August 31, 2006 @ 4:06 pm

  20. It may not be a classic song yet, but I dare anyone, young or old to not get up and dance to Hot Chip “Over and Over.” 13 year old girls love to dance.

    I have to agree that you can’t go wrong with The Beatles, but Weezer is pretty accessible and modern, same thing with Death Cab for Cutie.

    If you want to go really milk before meat — how about Built to Spill - but off There’s Nothing Wrong With Love. Later, you can blow her mind with Perfect From Now On - Untrustable or Velvet Waltz.

    Comment by Jared — August 31, 2006 @ 4:34 pm

  21. Fun punk song = “Ace of Spades” (Motorhead). Kids love it.

    Comment by Susan M — August 31, 2006 @ 5:13 pm

  22. 21 comments into this and the words “Black Horse and Cherry Tree” haven’t been strung together. Unbelievable! My 14yo stepdaughter likes Suddenly I See, too. Going over my library with your criteria in mind, these stuck out:

    Black Horse…, K.T. Tunstall
    Shine, Trey Anastasia
    She Says, Howie Day
    Beautiful Loved and Blessed, Prince
    Worn Me Down, Rachael Yamagata
    Let Me Go, Sonya Kitchell
    Lonely Day, Phatom Planet
    Private Conversation, Lyle Lovett
    What Can I Say, Brandi Carlile
    Still Pretending, Tift Merritt
    Send Me On My Way, Rusted Root
    Don’t Look Back in Anger (or something), Oasis
    Paper Bag, Fiona Apple
    Another White Dash, Butterfly Boucher

    I don’t generally own danceable music though.

    Comment by Matt — August 31, 2006 @ 6:56 pm

  23. Gabby, I usually think everyone else is older than me. I think MeM is the only person I see ’round here regularly that I think is my age or younger. Pris, too, but he’s not around much lately. And maybe Logan. Everyone else is geezers.

    Anyways, I am old at heart.

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 7:08 pm

  24. There’s a lot of pretty accessible Built to Spill on Keep It Like a Secret. “You Were Wrong” is great, and as a bonus it’s an education in classic rock lyrics.

    Comment by Tom — August 31, 2006 @ 7:09 pm

  25. Hey! I’m not THAT much older than you are! Geezer I am not…

    I second the Fiona Apple.

    Comment by gabby — August 31, 2006 @ 8:03 pm