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[smick]

My 11 year old son received an MP3 player for his 11th birthday from my parents.

He's just coming into liking music, so I asked him what he wanted on it.   He replied, "Got any good techno?" I'm now worried about the coming teen years.  Will I be finding his binkies and glowsticks in the wash? 

BOY!  TAKE OFF YOUR BIG FURRY ##### AND YOUR CANDY NECKLACE WHEN YOU COME TO MY DINNER TABLE!

[Muse_Of_Fire]

Heh. Not to worry. Speaking as a middle- and high-school teacher, I'm quite familiar with how the adolescent mind works (or doesn't, usually). "Techno" for an 11-year-old is usually something you'd hear on a mainstream pop radio station (you know, the ones that give away free tickets to Mariah Carey concerts), but maybe with a little more synth to make it "edgy."

To wit... one of my students (a freshman, so not too much older than your boy) came up to me the other day, waving her iPod in my face, and saying animatedly, "You've got to listen to this weird music I got from an online friend lastnight!"

I asked her what was weird about it and she said, "It's called..." (and here she crinkled up her nose, trying to remember the weird name for the weird genre) "...ska, I think?"

I just about fell over laughing.

In other words, their sense of music is pretty limited. So what they call "techno" or "ska, I think?" is probably only some cheap imitation of the real McCoy.

That said, I wouldn't discourage you from nudging certain albums his way, just to be on the safe side.

[theinevitable]

man, I remember the day I met the girl (who ended up turning me on to the music I like now, largely) who knew what Ska was. That was a good day for me, as a freshman in high school.

I didn't think it was weird, though. My mom did. I thought it was fuck*ng AWESOME.
Because Ska is... amazing. Desmond Dekker's voice is my favorite of all time.

muse-- I would say that wanting mainstream pop music -is- something to worry about. Indubitably. undoubtedly. (they mean the same thing! Who'd have thought.)

[Muse_Of_Fire]

Agreed. But at least it's not techno.

Oh, and PS: While I don't remember the first time I was introduced to ska (at least not distinctly from any other genre of music), I have a lot of really good memories associated with ska... mostly all I remember is the music, because the other stuff I was doing at the time wasn't terribly conducive to mental performance.

[theinevitable]

psh, I dunno. Is that whole Rave thing still going on? I haven't seen a tell-all expose on it in a while.
I mean, did any of y'all listen to the same kind of music you listen to now when you were 11? When I was 11, I did not really listen to music. At all. Except whatever radio station my mom listened to.

[CortJstr]

man, I remember the day I met the girl (who ended up turning me on to the music I like now, largely) who knew what Ska was. That was a good day for me, as a freshman in high school.

I didn't think it was weird, though. My mom did. I thought it was fuck*ng AWESOME.
Because Ska is... amazing. Desmond Dekker's voice is my favorite of all time.

muse-- I would say that wanting mainstream pop music -is- something to worry about. Indubitably. undoubtedly. (they mean the same thing! Who'd have thought.)

I remember hearing about ska in high school and thinking it was new. Then years later I heard it mentioned in a Police Sqad! re-run from 1982

[smick]

Yea, I actually had some techno in my library, so I gave it to him.  He seems to like it.     He also wanted some rap, so I put both of the Gorillaz albums on there. That seemed to fit the bill.

inev, I saw this the other day and thought of you.   You know, I have a good couple Ska compilations.  One is of 70's English Ska (Judge Dread era) and another is an anthology of Reggae and Ska from Jamacia.  I was listening to it in the car the other day.

He seemed to enjoy the concept of 'Rude Boys standing and fighting for their right, to live in shanty town.'  He'll never understand fully what any of that means, of course.   It's not like I do, either.

In that same vein, I think I caught a commercial on VH1 where they're showing 8-Mile in celebration for Black History Month.

[theinevitable]

I am glad that you thought of Me.

Also: Eminem! WTF!

I originally had put "whatchoo talkin' 'bout, willis?" but I decided that that would reflect poorly on me.

I also just recovered a memory of a fateful day in 7th or 8th grade-- I downloaded a track from Napster which included the word "Indie" in its title. I decided that this music was wonderful, and downloaded a number of tracks with the same label. "What the hell? None of this sounds like that did at all!"
If I had actually put in any effort on that day, I wouldn't have embarassed myself by giving my friend (the same girl I mentioned before!) an Ataris album two years later.
Also, the one other track I remember liking of what I downloaded that day was Kappa, by Mogwai. Groovy.

[robot_god]

Get him the Chemical Brother's catalogue, some Wu-Tang, and Metallica's Black Album.

[theinevitable]

and Nevermind.
and "Ramones."

[KeithHernandez]

And some classsic Dylan.

And Clash.

[side_show]

I have recently stared into the dark abyss that the annual local marketing study of young people Gr. 2-6.

For girls their favorite songs are 1) "We Ride" - Rihana 2) "Me and U" - Cassie 3) "Money Maker" - Ludicris and 4) "X-quisite" - Sassy Thang.

Of all of these, the only one I've heard is "Money Maker" which I enjoy inspite of myself.  I am horrified at the idea of 8 year olds liking this though.  Also the number two pick for favorite group is the Pussy Cat Dolls.  Nothing like strippers as role models.

For boys their favorite songs are 1) "Candy Shop" - 50 Cent 2) "Get Rich or Die Tyring" - 50 Cent 3) "Hands Up" - G-Unit, 4) Money Maker" - Ludacris and 5) "Riding Dirty" - Chamillionaire.

I am worried for the youth of today.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Have your 11-year-old listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk2Arb_Z-8M

[Muse_Of_Fire]

I have recently stared into the dark abyss that the annual local marketing study of young people Gr. 2-6.

For girls their favorite songs are 1) "We Ride" - Rihana 2) "Me and U" - Cassie 3) "Money Maker" - Ludicris and 4) "X-quisite" - Sassy Thang.

Of all of these, the only one I've heard is "Money Maker" which I enjoy inspite of myself.  I am horrified at the idea of 8 year olds liking this though.  Also the number two pick for favorite group is the Pussy Cat Dolls.  Nothing like strippers as role models.

For boys their favorite songs are 1) "Candy Shop" - 50 Cent 2) "Get Rich or Die Tyring" - 50 Cent 3) "Hands Up" - G-Unit, 4) Money Maker" - Ludacris and 5) "Riding Dirty" - Chamillionaire.

I am worried for the youth of today.

I'm doing everything I can, I promise. But seeing as how I teach high school, if that's what they're getting into in elementary, by the time they get to me, the damage is already done.

Have your 11-year-old listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk2Arb_Z-8M

*runs screaming into the night*

[Bjorn the Destroyer]

Beats the bajeezus out of that hyphy bullshit.