VA - Music for Little Hipsters (2013)

Growing up, my dad would spin Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel albums on car rides and pre-Internet quiet time at home, and that’s where the foundation of my music experience began. Now, as many of my peers start popping out their own offspring, I’ve started to wonder what tunes Millennial parents are going to play for their kids. Thankfully, Starbucks has provided the answer with their new compilation CD, Music for Little Hipsters. No, seriously.

Available in-stores (and presumably online in the near future), the 14-track comp aims for “the sweet spot where cool kids and music-loving grownups crisscross and get crazy,” according to the package’s back-copy. Comprised of “songs that parents may recognize and children will love,” the tracklist includes numbers by Devo, The Beach Boys, Devendra Barnhart, and Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell. There are also bands like I’m From Barcelona, Great Lake Swimmers, and French singer Franck Monnet.

It’s an eclectic mix of artists, to be sure. But how can you go wrong with a CD that has Booker T. and The MG’s “Soul Limbo” followed by a track by a guy with the name Caspar Babypants? See the full tracklist below, then watch how Starbucks is teaching your children “irony” by watching the clip for Devo’s included song, “Beautiful World”.

-Ben Kaye

Tracklist
01. The Postmarks – “Balloons”
02. Franck Monnet – “Goûtez-Les”
03. Arling & Cameron – “W.E.E.K.E.N.D.”
04. Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell – “Catch the Moon”
05. The Free Design – “Kites Are Fun”
06. I’m From Barcelona – “Just Because It’s Different Doesn’t Mean Scary”
07. The Shanghai Restoration Project – “The Schoolboy (Du Shu Lang)”
08. Miho Hatori – “A Song for Kids”
09. Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band – “Bongo Rock”
10. Booker T. and The MG’s – “Soul Limbo”
11. Caspar Babypants – “Stompy the Bear”
12. Great Lake Swimmers – “See You on the Moon”
13. The Beach Boys – “Vegetables”
14. Devo – “Beautiful World”
15. Devendra Barnhart – “Hey Mama Wolf”
16. Boukman Eksperyans – “Mayi A Gaye”