What Are the Smartest CDs to Consider Right Now?

Lately, I have been filling our home with piles and piles of CDs. I'm not alone: physical media (primarily vinyl, but also CDs) have been on an upward sales trend for the past five years. But unlike vinyl collectors or tastemakers looking for rare albums, I am listening to CDs as a parenting move because of my 8-year-old daughter. I didn't want her to listen to AI slopAs she grew out of the "Baby Shark" music of her toddlerhood and into appreciating rock, pop, hip-hop, and folk, I wanted her to have the opportunity to explore on her own and the freedom to choose what she liked. But when I put Spotify in my daughter's hands, she would scroll, listen for a few seconds, then scroll again. She would become mesmerized by the short videos that play with the music. She would try searching for "narwhal" or "axolotl" and find AI slop songs. The final straw came when dozens of playlists popped up in the search results with NC-17-looking playlist cover art. I looked down at my phone screen filled with anime seductresses, and I was done forever with trying to let my child navigate Spotify on her own. I gave my child a pile of CDsAn experiment ensued: a CD player and a pile of CDs.