Yesterday we talked all about our readers' favorite kitchen cleaning supplies. Today, let's turn to a similar topic, one that's perhaps even more important to some of us: What's the best music to play while cleaning the kitchen?
What gets you moving and shaking in the kitchen? What gives you energy to pull out the dish soap after a late night dinner party?
My husband likes to wash dishes to Bono — I often turn on bluegrass. Sometimes I skip the music entirely and turn on a podcast or This American Life; having something to engage my mind makes the time go faster.
What about you? What do you like to listen to while getting your kitchen sparkling clean?
Related: The Kitchn's Cooking Playlist
(Image: Flickr member EraPhernalia Vintage licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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salsa, merengue, bachata, reagatton ;) cleaning & a mini dancing party.
"Taking Care of Business" by BTO
I'm a podcaster myself. It makes me sad when i have to turn on the dishwasher and can't hear as well. Thank goodness for earbuds.
GLEE!
Podcasts. Specifically - Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. (I know they're not viewers).
Podcasts - I listen to In Our Times from the BBC or Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR
Podcasts. "This American Life"
All Things Considered.
Etta James! Nina Simone! Anything and everything Motown!
I usually put on a movie or TV show on the Netflix on my iPad. At the moment I'm working through Star Trek TNG.
Beatles!
...or BBC streaming radio. BBC3, 4 and 7 are all faves. What a great resource, and we have nothing like it over here.
The Beach Boys... one of the few things I share with my mother
Make Up
I don't normally listen to it, but when I've got a lengthy and demanding job in front of me I like to crank up some dance/electronic music. If it's a leisurely sort of work, I'll listen to some folk.
80's hair metal!
The Rushmore soundtrack.
My college boyfriend and his roommates would play it while cleaning up after parties and the association has stuck for me. It's cheerful without being annoying, which is a good way to go if you need to stay motivated for a deep clean up.
Bossa Nova music. Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, etc.
Podcasts or great american songbook stuff--we have a 900 song mix of great songs/singers on our i-pod. Lots of Tony, Frank, Ella, Dinah W., Billie and such.
Dishwashing: just a carryover of whatever I was listening to while cooking or eating.
For other cleaning: the best music for cleaning kitchens, or anywhere in general, is the B-52s.
Disco- specifically Earth Wind and Fire.
Disturbed or German heavy metal.
Harry Potter Audiobooks
Splendid Table or Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me Podcasts
Avett Brothers
Great question! Usually the Dinner Party Download podcast (which is BRILLIANT, and only about 15 minutes long/episode).
However, ever since the UK version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares came to Netflix instant, I love keeping that on in the background. Serious motivation!
I've been listening to audiobooks for general cleaning lately, but I have two go-to musicians specifically for kitchen cleaning. Aretha Franklin for washing dishes and Beastie Boys for scrubbing surfaces.
Mumford & Sons Pandora station
Oh Beastie Boys is a good one! Also Caribbean Jazz.
My favorite is Howard Stern, or sometimes Martha Stewart Radio (depending on what the subject is). Satellite radio has proved great for us for cleaning house/doing dishes - pick a genre and get a good mix without commercials.
Zac Brown Band "The Foundation" CD
... that darned chicken!
:)
Gypsy Kings or Manu Chao, cleaning is better if you're dancing.
KCRW Eclectic 24 or SiriusXM The Spectrum.
The black keys or Bo Diddley!
Podcasts (A Splendid Table) or audio books. Sometimes if the audio book is really good and I can't wait to know what happens next, the cleaning continues into the bathroom. Win-Win!
The Misfits best of collection #1
If you put on The Who's Greatest Hits, my husband will scrub the kitchen within an inch of it's life.
I like listening to the radio - CBC no ads, lots of talk, interesting music. It keeps me company
Waka Flocka Flame
James Brown has never failed to deliver the funk when I clean.
Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros or Fleetwood Mac.
Podcasts: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Radiolab.
Girl Talk!
lady gaga... janet jackson... garth brooks
i like Van Morrison, OK GO or Mumford and Sons - that being said... a good shuffle mix never hurt either
DJ Shadow, Sunny King Ade, Ennio Morricone, Tom Waits, Jason Webley, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Also Irish Drinking Songs and Van Morrison and the Chieftans.
Wow... I do them in the deepest silence, as if I were meditating. Sometimes when husband talks to me, or the phone rings, I get off the trance with a jump - and that's how a glass or two have met their end.
I put on my "pop trash" Pandora station (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Beyonce, etc.) or our local alt-rock radio station (Foo Fighters, Beasties, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Foster the People, etc.)... I have to sing and/or dance to make it go by! Same goes for any kind of cleaning, really. Mostly I cook and my hubby washes dishes so I just have to deal with drying :)
Whatever album is being featured in NPR's Music site's First Listen.
My Young MC "Bust a Move" Pandora station lets me get the jams out and tidy.
Something I can bounce around and sing along to! The Magic Numbers, Beach Boys, Louis Prima... Ben Folds Five!
We have a touch screen computer in the kitchen. So I either play a show I'm semi interested in on Hulu or stream pandora/this american life. The only down side of playing a show in the kitchen is...every time I try to watch tv I get the urge to clean or sleep and can't focus on the show anymore.
James Brown's Greatest Hits. The perfect accompaniment to any cleaning adventure. You can sing along, shake your... hips... while you're standing and cleaning, and shimmy your way over to wherever things need to be put away.
Anything Motown!
I'm currently obsessed with French Cafe Radio on Pandora. I imagine myself cleaning my little apartment in Paris when upon completion I'll run downstairs with my honey for a walk to the local bakery for a fresh baguette.
Ah.... a girl can dream.