I made my first mix CD for my son, Edward, this weekend to act as the soundtrack for his first roadtrip (the two hours to my folks' house). I was happy with most of it, particularly with the quieter, more lullaby-like songs. There will be time to get him fired up and head-bobbing with poppier stuff. For now, soothing sounds that don't involve vocalizations from animated animals are a plus.

The entire exercise was harder than I thought it would be. I limited myself to what was in my iTunes library for the sake of expediency, and simply pulled songs into a playlist as I came across them. I didn't listen to anything ahead of time -- something that I will do next time out, as there were a few things that just didn't fit. As much as I love the Beach Boys, the Kinks and the Chills, those tracks were a bit jarring in this context. I gave a cursory thought to lyrics, though I would imagine that everything to him sounds like the adults in "Peanuts" at this point, and Paul Westerberg's admonition to "kiss his ass" in "Waitress in the Sky" probably won't leave any mental scars. I was happy to offer Ed's first exposure to a lot of personal favorites, including the Replacements, R.E.M., Nick Lowe, Guided by Voices, Neil Finn and Yo La Tengo. With any luck, he'll be content with things like that as he finds his own way into the music he likes. Better the Beatles than "Barney."

Here's the tracklist. You'll note it's in reverse alphabetical order by band name. Anyone know of a way to actually order the tracks the way you want in iTunes? I've had no luck beyond sorting various categories to find the most pleasing mix.

Yo La Tengo - Here Comes My Baby
Wilco - California Stars
Vulgar Boatmen - You Don't Love Me Yet
Robert Pollard - I'm a Strong Lion
The Replacements - Waitress in the Sky
R.E.M. - Swan Swan H
Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights (a Postal Service B-side, hence the order)
Pernice Brothers - Dimmest Star
Nick Lowe - What's Shaking on the Hill
Neil Finn - Two of Us (with his son, Liam, from I Am Sam)
Nada Surf - Blonde on Blonde
Kinks - Picture Book
Josh Ritter - You Don't Make It Easy
Fountains of Wayne - Valley Winter Song
Guided by Voices - Tropical Robots
Crowded House - Fall at Your Feet
The Church - Under the Milky Way (from the acoustic El Momento Descuidado)
The Chills - Heavenly Pop Hit
Bob Mould - Sunspots
Big Star - Thirteen
Beach Boys - Sloop John B
Arthur Russell - A Little Lost