Yoshimi Battles the Pre Teens.

July 17, 2009 4:01 AM

Mixtape filter! Help me put together the best mix tape for my nieces, 11 & 8.

Looking for quirky, poppy, dancy, tunes. Avoiding overt love songs unless totally awesome.

Last years mix tape successes were Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, D.A.N.C.E by Justice, Neighborhood by Arcade Fire, and Magnetic Field's "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits" (which probably should not have been on there, but I liked too much not to include).

I'm looking at Of Montreal and Midnight Juggernauts right now. I can do better. Hope me.

posted by arha to society & culture (42 comments total)

Salmon Dance by Chemical Bros.

Bonus points if you can get them doing the salmon dance to it.

A Word Of Warning: doing the salmon dance at parties or clubs can lead to being ostracised from social circles if you are past a certain age. I know, as i am very much past that age.
posted by greenish at 4:13 AM on July 17 [2 favorites]

Hm. Not sure if this fits your bill, but Architecture In Helsinki's "Hold Music" seems pretty danceable to me.
posted by FarOutFreak at 4:20 AM on July 17

Los Campesinos! might be good, though maybe slightly too adult.
posted by mippy at 4:24 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

of montreal, "wraiths pinned to the mist and other games."
posted by liketitanic at 4:28 AM on July 17 [3 favorites]

house of pain, jump around?! hahahahahaha.
posted by liketitanic at 4:30 AM on July 17

Pretty much anything by The Moog Cookbook. Cheesy but fun moogified versions of 70s and 90s classics - what could be better? My 3-yr-old likes them anyway.

Vampire Weekend are another quite unrelated possiblity.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 4:36 AM on July 17

John Wayne is Big Leggy by Haysi Fantayzee
Coconut by Harry Nilson
I Know What Boys Like by The Waitresses
Summer Fun by The Barracudas
Ça Plane Pout Moi by Plastic Bertrand
Since She Started to Ride by Jonathan Richman
Boum! by Charles Trénet
posted by rongorongo at 4:49 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

"Staring at the Sun," TV on the Radio
"The Cloud Room," Laura Viers
"Albacore," Palomar
"Bus to Beelzebub," Soul Coughing
"Your Ex-Lover is Dead," Stars
"Take Out the Trash," TMBG

I am not a very good dancer!
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 4:50 AM on July 17

Passion Pit
Cloud Cult
Hot Chip
posted by highfidelity at 4:58 AM on July 17

Rita Pavone - My Name is Potato
posted by K.P. at 5:02 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

Oh, and anything by the Ting Tings (e.g. "Great DJ").
posted by K.P. at 5:06 AM on July 17

The Bird and the Bee- Love Letter to Japan
Little Boots- New in Town

If they're okay with French, then France Gall- Poupée de cire, poupée de son and, well, every French yé-yé song.

Have you introduced them to Weezer yet? "Across the Sea" might be too sexual, but something like "Buddy Holly" could be great.
posted by oinopaponton at 5:11 AM on July 17

Wow! Such great suggestions. Going through them. Adding most of them to my own personal mixtape.

oinopaponon: "Island In the Sun" was on the last mix, didn't take. Too bitter sweet maybe? Buddy Holly is a better mix point.
posted by arha at 5:24 AM on July 17

Clap Your Hands! by Clap your Hands and Say Yeah!
I also think Heart It Races is a good one.
posted by ydontusteponit at 5:25 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

Something Global - Fight Like Apes
Hummer - Foals
posted by Jakey at 5:35 AM on July 17

I'm A Little Dinosaur - Jonathan Richman
posted by Banky_Edwards at 5:40 AM on July 17

Li Kantu (it's in Esperanto, fer god's sake!), and other songs by Les Sans Culottes.

Peanut Butter and Jelly by Steve Dreher.
posted by greatgefilte at 5:55 AM on July 17

Any track by The Pipettes that you don't think is too adult. The music videos have actions that you can follow and in no way are cheesy IMHO.
posted by dapulli at 6:01 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

Oh-- Yelle might be a great band to look into (again, provided they don't mind listening to French). À cause des garçons is a really fun song.
posted by oinopaponton at 6:11 AM on July 17

Another french one (but in English)- Manu Chao Bongo Bong
posted by kimdog at 6:13 AM on July 17

Junior Senior - Move Your Feet (although the video has drinking and nudity)
posted by hydrophonic at 6:22 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

My husband's young cousins who are that age love Ben Folds, Regina Spektor, and Lily Allen.



Also, in my humble opinion, it never hurts to have The Beatles on a mix
posted by nuclear_soup at 6:30 AM on July 17

Herman Dune - I Wish That I Could See You Soon
The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
posted by transporter accident amy at 6:35 AM on July 17

When I was little, my aunt would dance with my sister and me in her apartment, and let us eat food on her futon (we called it the "food-on" as a result), and showed us the internet for the first time (she had email! and let us send it!), and was generally awesome. The songs we flailed around to with the most abandon were as follows:

Wild Thing* by the Troggs
Manic Monday by the Bangles
Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles
These Boots Are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra
Walking on Broken Glass by Annie Lennox

Kind of funny how many of them had to do with walking, in retrospect. Great dance moves in many of the videos for dancing-with-nieces inspiration.

*Often changed to "Wild Hair": "Wild Hair—duh nuh, duh nuh nuh—you get everywhere!"
posted by ocherdraco at 6:48 AM on July 17 [1 favorite]

That's about the age that I fell in love with They Might Be Giants. I'd recommend "Flood" and "Factory Showroom" as albums they might like. Yes, I know they have kids' albums, but I find the others to be both clean and more entertaining. On a mixtape, I'd probably put "Birdhouse in Your Soul" or "Istanbul."
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:51 AM on July 17

Mates of State - Ha Ha (anything by Mates of State really)
The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division
The Unicorns - Jellybones
posted by burnmp3s at 7:21 AM on July 17

You haven't mentioned Daft Punk yet, but if you somehow avoided putting them on the first mix-tape, they should probably be included on the second one. Maybe Around the World or High Life or even One More Time.

Definitely MF Doom's Coffin Nails; spacey instrumental jam.
Something by Kool and the Gang, maybe Open Sesame or Give it Up.
I'd also suggest Joe Tex's Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman), except it might not be sending quite the right message to young women like your target audience.
posted by saladin at 8:02 AM on July 17

I've had good luck with some of the higher energy Tom Waits (Hoist that Ray, Lie To Me) with my six year old daughter. Fun to hear a little kid try to sing along with that voice, too.

Recently, we've also been enjoying a lot of James Brown (I feel good, Get on the good foot!)

Lastly, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' El Matador. Kids love those drums.
posted by yamel at 8:17 AM on July 17

I actually really like the song from the Target commercials: Brand New Day by Tim Myers (feat. Lindsey Ray). If you have bad Target associations or have just seen the commercials too many times, it might be a no go, though.
posted by clerestory at 8:59 AM on July 17

"quirky, poppy, dance" sounds like the latest Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, to me. Try the tracks "My Girls" or "Summertime Clothes." I'm hoping they'll be hits with the youngsters this weekend.

Also, I just started listening to Hercules and Love Affair, and musically it'll work but I haven't had time to verify the lyrics' level of appropriateness yet.
posted by dogwalker at 9:00 AM on July 17

Matt and Kim, Yeah Yeah
posted by 23skidoo at 9:23 AM on July 17

Spoon's "The Underdog" never fails to get me dancin.
posted by saul wright at 9:23 AM on July 17

Temper Trap are fun, though remixes might provide more dancy fun.

As for fun remixes, Pocketknife and Cousin Cole remix a lot of indie rock stuff, separately or together under the banner of Flagrant Fowl.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:20 AM on July 17

Most littler ones will dig Motown and especially the Jackson 5.
posted by dzaz at 10:23 AM on July 17

How about "I'm Afraid of Britney Spears" by LiveonRelease?

Also: early Beatles stuff (She Loves You, Baby's in Black, Mr. Moonlight) is great for pre-teens ... or at least it was for me
posted by GatorDavid at 11:03 AM on July 17

Lush gorgeousness: Sincerely Yours, a lovely label outta Göteborg, Sweden
posted by filthy light thief at 11:25 AM on July 17

My 8 year old daughter (and 42 year old husband) love Alize. I like Yelle, but a the lyrics are pretty racy (especially "Parle a la Main") while Alize is slightly less racy.
posted by vespabelle at 12:03 PM on July 17

They need Five Years Time, by Noah and the Whale (though it's a love song, sorta) (could also try other tunes off their album, maybe 'Two Atoms in a Molecule').

Maybe Young Folks, by Peter, Bjorn and John.

New Pornographers or the National or maybe even Neutral Milk Hotel? (Holland 1945 or King of Carrot Flowers - not too much of a step from Arcade Fire). Or if you want to go back to Arcade Fire, I love The Well and the Lighthouse.
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:10 PM on July 17

MGMT- Kids
Robyn- Robot Boy
The Unicorns- I Was Born a Unicorn
Cyndi Lauper- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Architecture in Helsinki- Do the Whirlwind
Cheap Trick- Surrender
New Pornographers- Letter from an Occupant
posted by bookish at 3:21 PM on July 17

...but I would stay away from Neutral Milk Hotel, it's good stuff but not for preteens. Holland 1945 is very catchy but it does mention burying a girl alive and guns and whatnot. And King of Carrot Flowers? My god, don't give that to kids.
posted by bookish at 3:28 PM on July 17

Yeah, good point about NMH now I think about it.
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:04 PM on July 17

I am uploading my 11 year old niece's iPod right now with Shiloh's Operator. She is a fifteen year old singer singing about the importance of being yourself to a ska beat.
posted by saucysault at 11:27 AM on July 19