My little sister told me she heard the AF at school and flipped over it. She asked me to make some mix cds for her.

I decided to make her a multi-disc "boxed set" of music from the last 10 years. The discs would be divided into three discs of indie rock, one based on rockers (example "Seven Nation Army) one based on more artsy sophisticated songs (Everything in It's Right Place) and one based on ballads ("Jesus Etc"). The other discs will be one devoted to Rap/ hip hop, and one devoted to Dance/ Electronica.

I'm just having trouble with some of the divisions of tracks...some fall on the lines between two different styles...Any help would be great.

You're little sister is a beautiful exception

My brother hates my "creepy", "weird" indie music and loves to play his Sum 41 and Disney related tracks. One of these days i turned on the stereo pretty high and he closed the door mad! Loved it and i danced like a crazy, in major Kate Bush-style for like 2 1/2 hours

The best advice i can give is the most accessible, the best. Especially the weird stuff, don't go too far, people just don't have the patience these days to wait for something to grow on you. Countless were the times when i friend of mine used to not dig my shit and then come back 3 months later: "Hey do you know this band named Smiths?" That totally pisses me off ¬¬

If I give you a list of possible tracks, maybe you can help me narrow it down?

Sure, i guess everyone here could help it when they're online if the want to! I'll try to do my best

I decided to base it off of the 80s indie comp "Left of the Dial". One song per artists, all indie/ alternative yadda yadda.



01. Radiohead- “Everything in It’s Right Place”
02. PJ Harvey- “Good Fortune”
03. At-The Drive In- “One Arm Scissor”
04. Ryan Adams- “Come Pick Me Up”
05. Grandaddy- “The Crystal Lake”
06. The New Pornographers- “Letter From an Ocuppant”
07. Primal Scream- “Swastika Eyes”
08. Smog- “Dress Sexy at My Funeral”
09. Yo La Tengo- “Our Way to Fall”
10. Elliott Smith- “Son of Sam”
11. The Microphones- “The Moon”
12. The Shins- “New Slang”
13. The Strokes- “Last Nite”
14. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead- “Another Morning Stoner”
15. Beck- “Lost Cause”
16. Broken Social Scene- “Cause = Time”
17. The Flaming Lips- “Do You Realize??”
18. Interpol- “Obstacle 1”
19. The Notwist- “The Pilot”
20. Queens of the Stone Age- “No One Knows”
21. The Rapture- “House of Jealous Lovers”
22. Sigur Ros- “Untitled 1”
23. Spoon- “The Way We Get By”
24. Wilco- “Jesus, Etc.”
25. Tom Waits- “Alice”
26. The Knife- “Heartbeats”
27. The Postal Service- “Such Great Heights”
28. The White Stripes- “Seven Nation Army”
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- “Maps”
30. !!!- “Me and Giuliani in the School Yard”
31. Arcade Fire- “Rebellion (Lies)”
32. Nick Cave- “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”
33. Franz Ferdinand- “Take Me Out”
34. The Killers- “Mr. Bright Side”
35. The Libertines- “Can’t Stand Me Now”
36. Modest Mouse- “Float On”
37. Morrissey- “First of the Gang to Die”
38. Joanna Newsom- “Sprout and Bean”
39. Antony and The Johnsons- “Hope There’s Someone”
40. Bloc Party- “Banquet”
41. Bright Eyes- “We are Nowhere and It Is Now”
42. Death Cab For Cutie- “Follow You Into the Dark”
43. My Morning Jacket- “Off the Record”
44. The National- “Mr. November”
45. Sleater-Kinney- “Jumpers”
46. Sufjan Stevens- “Chicago”
47. Lily Allen- “Smile”
48. Neko Case- "I Wish I Was the Moon"
49. Cat Power- “The Greatest”
50. The Decemberists- "Oh, Valencia!"
51. The Hold Steady- “Stuck Between Stations”
52. Hot Chip- “Over and Over”
53. Sonic Youth- “Incinerate”
54. The Raconteurs- "Steady as She Goes"
55. TV on the Radio- “Wolf Like Me”
56. Battles- “Atlas”
57. Bon Iver- “Skinny Love”
58. Feist- “1234”
59. LCD Soundsystem- “All My Friends”
60. MGMT- “Time To Pretend”
61. Of Montreal- “The Past is a Grotesque Animal”
62. Panda Bear- “Bro’s”
63. Deerhunter- “Nothing Ever Happened”
64. Fleet Foxes- “White Winter Hymnal”
65. Portishead- “Machine Gun”
66. Vampire Weekend- “A-Punk”
67. Animal Collective- “My Girls”
68. Dirty Projectors- “Stillness is the Move”
69. Grizzly Bear- “Two Weeks”
70. Phoenix- “1901”
71. The XX- “Crystalised”


I want to add 30 more songs...5 discs total...any additions would be welcome :-)

Great picks! Although i guess that you should put something more accessible from Neko Case, kinda like: upbeat moments like "This Tornado Loves You" and "Stinging Velvet" or slower ones like "Middle Cyclone" or "Star Witness". For Joanna Newsom i'd go with Good Intentions Paving Company, but if you want a harp track: Jackrabbits manages to hit you without the love/hate vocals that is a big part of the hype surrounding Milk-Eyed Mender. Incinerate is a awesome Sonic Youth track, but Teen Age Riot would have a best shot at converting someone. Nice of Montreal pick, but i'd also consider go with Suffer for Fashion, simply one of the most outstanding openers of last decade and it would fit better among Vampire Weekend and Phoenix. I'd also consider Could We or Free as potential Cat Power tracks to introduce someone, maybe it's because i got sick of The Greatest and always had a secret passion for Willy (the track, not a dude) over it. And for Sleater-Kinney DEFINITELY go with OH! from One Beat, their most accessible moment ever and pure pop bliss. My Morning Jacket is pretty hard to pick one, but "Mahgeetah" comes to mind and it is a hell of a introduction, aside the riff and the vocals are top notch. Overall strong picks, i could hardly see anyone disliking these tracks. Unless it was... you know, my brother.

Well you could try to add: Since she's a girl, indie pop tracks like Best Coast's Boyfriend and Tenni's Marathon might have a good shot at making her dig mid-fi pop. I know Girls might be a little R Rated when it comes to drugs to some, but their track Oh Protective One from their new EP is awesome. Young Adult Friction by Pains of Being Pure at Heart, smart shoegaze and witty lyrics. A St. Vincent track could also get along well in the mix, something from Actor like Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood or The Strangers. Camera Obscura's Lloyd I'm Ready to be Heartbroken is a terrific piece of indie pop music. And of course a 2010 Beach House track like Lover of Mine or Sleigh's Bells Infinity Guitars wouldn't hurt anyone!

how old is she anyways?

srsly, you can't confront a pre.teen beBieber with Everything In Its Right Place

This list is in dire need of some females, and some pop!

Annie - "My Heartbeat"
Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
Björk - "Pagan Poetry"
Missy Elliott - "One Minute Man"
Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood"
Chromeo - "Needy Girl"
Bat for Lashes - "Daniel"
Aaliyah - "Try Again"
RES - "They-Say Vision"
Janelle Monáe - "Many Moons"
Duffy - "Mercy"
Grace Jones - "Corporate Cannibal"
Ladyhawke - "Paris Is Burning"
Gwen Stefani - "What You Waiting For"
Robyn - "With Every Heartbeat"

i whip my heir back and forth, i whip my heir back and forth... stupid ego:lobbyist..

Girls- "Hellhole Ratrace"
Coldplay- "Yellow"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- "Young Adult Friction"
Daft Punk- "One More Time"
Arctic Monkeys- "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"
The Antlers- "Sylvia"
Blur- "Out of Time"
Passion Pit- "The Reeling"
Peter Bjorn and John- "Young Folks"
The Hives- "Hate to Say I Told You So"
Johnny Cash- "Hurt"
The Walkmen- "The Rat"
Cut Copy- "Hearts on Fire"
Justice- "D.A.N.C.E."
Crystal Castles- "Vanished"


I don't know if you want hip-hop here, but Kanye, The Streets, Madvillain, M.I.A., Outkast, Jay-Z, Eminem, Ghostface, and Missy Elliot represent last decade pretty well.

We want this girl to like new music, not be repulsed by it.

Even as the spawn of one of my bottom 10 musical "artists" of all-time in Will Smith, Willow has surprised me by how annoying her song is. Worse is the fact that in interviews, she is already complaining about the schedule and stuff.

I would add an eminem song (Lose Yourself, Stan) and an OutKast song (BOB, Ms Jackson). And a Green Day song (Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends).

well, it's pretty frightening how she's already resembling the fresh prince at this early stage.. and that she'll most probably grow up pretty trannYTFugly cuz the mighty doG of DNA haz said so, but that was not my point. at all..

it was your list. the purest propaganda of them all.

Someone has to fight the good fight!

That list is a great primer for anyone who wants to get into 2000s indie rock. One song I could think of that should be on there is the Wolf Parade's "I'll Believe in Anything." Also, "Paper Planes" is essential if she hasn't heard it.

Some more choices, most of them a little more dance-oriented.

Air - Playground Love
Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
Low - Dinosaur Act
Röyksopp - Poor Leno
Bran Van 3000 - Astounded
The Coral - Dreaming of You
The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward
Damien Rice - Volcano
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Joy and Jubilee
Four Tet - My Angel Rocks Back and Forth
Kings of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance with You
Beirut - Postcards from Italy
Junior Boys - In the Morning
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Turbo Dreams
Studio - West Side
Burial - Archangel

I almost nominated that to my top 10 of 2010. It lost out to "Barbra Streisand".

I haven't heard "Barbra Streisand". Will have to check it out!

I'd advise against it,but if you insist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-KPGh3wysw

I'd probably go crazy if I heard that list of songs in sequence. I'm much more album orientated, so the variety is way too big for me.

But still, it's a nice overview of indie music of the last decade. Spread the word!

I will never get why those 2 are the acclaimed songs of their albums ! For this compilation, I can get that Rebellion Lies might be the most accessible song of AF (though it is not really a hard to access band, I would put Wake Up anyway). But I don't think One Arm Scissor is neither the best nor the easiest to like to its album, I would go for Quarantined probably, or Arc Arsenal or Pattern Against User.

Anyway, great list (The Past is a Grotesque Animal ! If she likes this at first listen, her case will be easy.)

And I agree with lot of other songs cited before especially :
I'll Believe in Anything (one of my favorite songs of the decade)
With Every Heartbeat
Young Folks (seems like a logical pick to try to appeal to someone who usually do not listen to indie)
The Rat
Ouf ot TIme
I bet you look good on the Dancefloor
Heart on Fire
Frontier Psychiatrist
In the Morning

I would add to what have already been said :

RJD2 - Good Times Roll pt2
DJ Shadow - Six Days
Love is All - Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up
I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
Devendra Banhart - A Sight to Behold
Los Campesinos - You! Me! Dancing!
Yeasayer - Sunrise (or 2080)
Caribou - Melody Day (I like "She's the One" better but let's be single oriented)
The Books - Take Time
New Order - Crystal