I wanna rock and roll all night and party ev-ery day!

May 29, 2009 9:55 PM

I need reccomendations for music. Needs to be SFW. (No screaming death metal or excessively profane rap, etc.) I'm working retail and employees must supply the store with their own music and I intend to compile several large playlists organized by type.

I usually download full discography collections by the artist but album or even individual song references are welcome.

posted by Pseudology to media & arts (17 comments total)

From the non-offensive indie end of things, Fleet Foxes, Okkervil River, Andrew Bird, and The National (the most recent album) are retail mainstays in my hip college town.
posted by telegraph at 9:58 PM on May 29

I'm working retail and employees must supply the store with their own music and I intend to compile several large playlists organized by type.

Maybe I'm misreading your statement, but you generally need a performance license to play music in your store. Your store might have a license with one of the music mafias, in which case you need to find out what music is covered. If you don't have an agreement setup, get ready for the shakedown.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:06 PM on May 29

Good question. Things I play at work:

The Album Leaf
The Beatles
Beck
Black Moth Super Rainbow
The Books
Cream
David Bowie
Deerhoof
Do Make Say Think
Explosions in the Sky
Feist
The Flaming Lips
Johnny Cash
King Crimson
Lemon Jelly
Menomena
Minus the Bear
Modest Mouse
Mogwai
The New Pornographers
Of Montreal
Portishead
Radiohead
Rush
Spoon
Talking Heads
Vampire Weekend
Wilco

With some of them, there's the occasional swear, but since I sell products that are 21+, I'm not really concerned.
posted by HumuloneRanger at 10:25 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]

Seconding telegraph on Fleet Foxes. My work playlist also has Bon Iver, Brendan Benson, Built to Spill, Spoon, Scissor Sisters, Neko Case, Talking Heads, Neil Young, Peter Bjorn and John, Jenny Lewis, TV on the Radio, Herman Dune, Elliott Smith, and Beirut.

Pleasing grandmas and hipsters alike!
posted by futureisunwritten at 10:26 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]

Of Montreal
posted by mahoganyslide at 11:58 PM on May 29

You might try Musicovery for ideas, you choose the genre, mood and energy level (and decade, if you want) and it gives you a bunch of streaming mp3s to click on.
posted by Chrysalis at 12:25 AM on May 30 [1 favorite]

Starling Electric
Iron and Wine
Cut/Copy
Pretty much anything ever done by Dean Wareham in any incarnation (Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean and Britta)
Aimee Mann (although she does drop the F-bomb sometimes)
Calexico

All very work-safe except as noted.
posted by elendil71 at 12:59 AM on May 30

what kind of stuff do you sell? what's the demographic of the store? what sort of stuff do you like personally? this question is maybe a bit too broad to answer well without knowing these things.

not knowing of those things, i'd suggest the full discography of nouvelle vague, preferably with most of the slower numbers edited out, for something simultaneously hip, fun, upbeat-yet-relaxing, and accessible to pretty much anyone anywhere.
posted by messiahwannabe at 2:55 AM on May 30

Maybe I'm misreading your statement, but you generally need a performance license to play music in your store. Your store might have a license with one of the music mafias, in which case you need to find out what music is covered. If you don't have an agreement setup, get ready for the shakedown.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:06 PM on May 29 [mark as best answer] [+] [!]

In Canada if that happens we can call the cops and have them removed for illegal solicitation, trespassing, telephone harassment, etc.

We sell overpriced clothing/outdoor gear/fur items/tacky touristy crap/2010 olympic stuff (we're in Whistler).
posted by Pseudology at 3:09 AM on May 30

Hey, I just thought of another thing, since you're in Canada. My workplace (coffee shop) pays some sort of SOCAN fee, you can read about it here. (We're a "support the arts community" kinda place, not sure if this is in any way mandatory).

Wow, Mefites have awesome taste is music.
posted by futureisunwritten at 6:26 AM on May 30

Canada's great and all, but technically you *do* need a license (SOCAN I think) if you're playing music in a store. They might not be too aggressive about it, but don't be surprised if you get a visit one day from a friendly rep asking to see your license and asking you nicely to start paying from now on.
posted by Gortuk at 6:27 AM on May 30

Along the lines of streaming music sites, there's also last.fm. You can enter an artist and listen to tracks from them and similar artists, or enter up to three tags and listen to the matches.
posted by HumuloneRanger at 9:41 AM on May 30

How about some early stuff:
Sugar Hill Gang
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Mantronix
Egyptian Lover
Afrika Bambaata

(and I am jealous of your close proximity to 7th Heaven)
posted by mmascolino at 11:03 AM on May 30

Band of Horses (specifically, go with their Cease to Begin album)
Sufjan Stevens
Brett Dennen
Atmosphere (rap, but really really good rap)
The Streets (also rap, calmer and less agressive than Atmosphere and also great!)
Camera Obscura
Akron Family
Ben Folds
Keren Ann
Mazzy Star
Nick Drake
Iron and Wine
Johnny Cash
John Lennon
Asaf Avidan (Israeli guy, sings in English, awesome music!)
Don Maclean
Fleetwood Mac
Leonard Cohen
The Postal Service (maybe too electro, depends on the store and the customers i guess)
Rufus Wainwright
Simon and Garfunkle
Tracy Chapman


I'm sure there are more great ones, just can't think of any right now. There's an eclectic mix in there, so try'em all.
posted by alona at 11:45 AM on May 30

I have never had anyone complain about my Lyle Lovett music in my office.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 7:48 PM on May 30

Elvis, Elbow, Blondie, The Smiths and The Decemberists (especially The Crane Wife), plus lots of the artists mentioned above, have gone over really well where I work.
posted by bibliophibianj at 12:07 AM on June 1

I often played Stereolab when I worked retail. You can get your boss bopping his head to Marxist broadsides when they're cloaked in sweet, sweet French.
posted by Beardman at 1:28 PM on June 1