Thursday 30 May 2013

Hardcore Karaoke

I've only once done karaoke. I did a screamy riot girl version of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On.  I had fun, but I am not sure the audience was so into it.  But who the fuck could do Celine Dion straight?  Well if I organised a karaoke evening, I'd have to seriously think about including the following lovely songs.

As usual all tracks are freely available for download from the amazing music site Epitonic. To download the song, click on the name of the song.  The band name links to the Epitonic page about the band.  They all are close to 90 BPM so work for a 180 SPM (strides per minute) run.


Cracked by OFF! 89bpm
The band members have impressive resumes, that include playing in Black Flag and Circle Jerks among others.  Sounds super classic although it is new, they formed in 2009, and this track is off their first album which came out in 2012, which by the way is excellent. 

King Kong Brigade by OFF! 90bpm
Another one from the amazing OFF!

We're Gonna Fight by 7 Seconds 89 bpm
This is classic punk from the 80s.  7 Seconds are from Washington, D.C.  A good reminder to fight to live life as you want.

Cheap Beer by FIDLAR 93 bpm
Fidlar, from L.A. California, drink cheap bear, none of this microbrewery hipster bullshit for these guys. What a fucking relief! I drink cheap wine, doesn't quite sound so cool, but I live in France.

Remedy by Hot Water Music  88bpm
From Gainsville, Florida.  This track really has a good melody.

Absolute Worst by The Tired And True 93bpm
From Connecticut, but don't really sound like it.  Very catchy.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Don't Run Barefoot on Broken Glass

This list is a mix of American indie pop/rock. All tracks are freely available for download from the amazing music site Epitonic. To download the song, click on the name of the song.  The band name links to the Epitonic page about the band.  They all are close to 90 BPM so work for a 180 SPM (strides per minute) run.

Broken Glass by The Baptist Generals 91bpm
From Texas. this track is super pretty and melodic. 

Dots on Maps by Say Hi 90bpm
Pacific northwest. Very melodic and catchy.  

Sick Days by Yourself and The Air 91bpm
Chicago. A little bit more of an edge than the last two, but not much.

Lovesick Teenagers by Bear In Heaven 90bpm
Brooklyn.  Hip. 

Of Pressure by Mirah 94bpm
Washington State.  Might be a bit fast for some, but I like this bpm. I downloaded this song many years ago, before Epitonic hibernated for several years.  Its a super sweet pop song.

Universe Or Worse by Braid 90bpm
Chicago.  A little more rock than pop.  

Tuesday 30 April 2013

Stars So Pretty

This list is a mix of American pop and  folk-pop. All tracks are freely available for download from the amazing music site Epitonic. To download the song, click on the name of the song.  The band name links to the Epitonic page about the band.  They all are close to 90 BPM so work for a 180 SPM (strides per minute) run. Enjoy spring running with some happy music. 


Out In The Country by Future Hits 93bpm
Very cute song, only outdone by the cheeky band name. From San Francisco.

A Million Years by Alexander 91 bpm
Alexander is the singer from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, who has appeared in two of my other posts; here and here. Very sweet love song.

We the common by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down 90bpm
This is the same Thao from Mirah and Thao so if you like this you may want to go listen to them too.

A Movie Script Ending by Death Cab for Cutie 92bpm
Death Cab for Cutie are from Washington.

Rich Hum Of air by Shannon Wright 89bpm
Shannon Wright is from Atlanta, Georgia.  I love this song, it has a sort of odd sound to it.  Well her voice sort of stands out; she's intense.

Shine by The Album Leaf 92bpm
From San Diego. Instrumental, pretty.




Monday 1 April 2013

Come Run With Me

It's april and it's sunny!  So lets have something happy. I have already recommended a song by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros but here's another one, Man On Fire. It's available for free download on Epitonic,
->click here<-
to start the download. I've also included a video.  The video is very sweet.

"only one desire,
that's left in me,
I want the whole damn world,
come run with me".

Actually he sings "come dance with me", but I wish he sung come run with me.  The BPM is a perfect 90.  Genre: indie folk / americana.

PS If you like this then, the other song is here.

 

Friday 29 March 2013

ANGRY ME

Here's an angry FANTASTICALLY intelligent song by Sole. People piss me off. They piss me off too Sole and when I get too pissed off, I go running. I don't think its available yet, or I can't figure out how to download it, so I'll have to wait to run to this. Genre: rap BPM: 88. Oh and barefooters, don't you like his name?


Saturday 16 March 2013

Mixed Up

Here's another list of song from the amazing music site EpitonicAll tracks are available for free and legal download. Click on the song name to start the download, the band name to be taken to the page about the band on Epitonic. The BPM is around 90, so perfect for a 180 SPM run.

Everything on the list is American and there is no theme this month, just a mixed up list of songs I like. I've added a video when I could find one, so that you can have a listen without downloading.

No Parties by Fergus & Geronimo 87bpm
These guys are from Texas, but they sound English. This is a fun, driving, smart almost comical track. Lyrics are intelligent, or at least very timely. Genre: experimental rock.



Lasers Vs. Lizards by Blasted Canyons 92bpm
From San Francisco. Fast, hard, short. Genre: hard-rock.


Croquet by Bitch and Animal 94bpm
Bitch and Animal are, well were, signed to Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records label. I discovered them when they opened for Ani at a show in Munich, Germany in 2004. They are so adorable and funny and serious and entertaining. I was charmed. In this song I think they are taking the piss of rap songs. I fucking love that! Genre: queercore.

Cold Feet by Lost Lander 93bpm
American from the Pacific Northwest totally sound like they do, well in the folk-rock sense not the grunge sense. Sweet song, lyrics will appeal to introverts. Genre: indie-folk.


Highest Echo by Pontiak 88bpm
Pontiak are brothers from Warrenton, Virgina, USA. The track has a bit of a long intro, it really kicks in at 38secs, so might be interesting to trim. Genre: rock

The Breathing Machine by Greenhorse 87bpm
Like dark grey clouds on the horizon, this track feels like it is ushering in some gloom. They are in the L.A. scene, but according to Epitonic also have connections to London and South Africa. Genre: electronic rock. During my search for more info on this band I discovered that they did a cover of the Ellie Goulding song Lights. It is really different from the original. Even though Ellie's in the same category of stuff I don't like (Ke$ha, ...) she is a runner and so I'm allowed to like her and still be cool. Here's the video of that cover, its not runnable but worth a listen.




Wednesday 13 March 2013

Hardwired at 94 BPM

Just wanted to give a heads up on a recent episode of Radiolab that I found really, really interesting: Speedy Beat.

In the episode they talk about music and BPM. It turns out tests have shown that our brains try to speed up slow music and slow down fast music.  The experiement went something like this.  They had people listen to a short sample of music at a certain BPM telling them to hit the next beat right after the sample stops.  If the BPM is slow they tend to hit that next beat just a bit too early.  If the BPM is fast the human taps the next beat a little bit too slow.  This made the researchers think that our brains are pushing towards a sort of perfect BPM.  So of course the most interesting result is the turnover point, the BPM where we finally get it just right.  Drum roll please...it's 94.  That's my favourite SPM to run to.  And very close to the SPM that maximises running efficiency.  I don't think this is a coincidence, we are 'born to run' and our evolutionary advantage is endurance running. No wonder the SPM that maximises our efficiency is deeply hardwired in our brains.

Oh and sometimes I listen to spoken word stuff while running like Radiolab!

Friday 22 February 2013

Fire makes me go

I am kind of liking giving this free download list a theme, so here's another themed list, this time with an acoustic indie feel.  All tracks are available for free and legal download on the awesome music site Epitonic. Click on the song name to start the download, the band name to be taken to the page about the band on Epitonic.  The BPM is around 90, so perfect for a 180 SPM run.

Child-Heart Losers by Sunset Rubdown  92bpm
Canadian from Montreal.  This song is sad and melodic and has a sort of medieval sound to it.  Let the "fire make you go"...

Winged Wicked Things by Sunset Rubdown  89bpm
OK so this is another one by Sunset Rubdown, but it doesn't sound anything like the last track, at least I would never have guessed it was the same band.  This song sounds like it was influenced by Pink Floyd's The Wall. It is a great track. "Chaos is yours and its mine"

Ghost Story by Cloud Control  91bpm
Australian.  Sounds like the theme song for an old western movie.

In The Pines by Widowspeak 93bpm
American from Brooklyn.  Reminds me of Mazzy Star.  Pretty female vocals, good guitar.

A Milion Years by Alexandre  91bpm
American from southern California.  Finally a happy song on Run to the Beat - enjoy it, who knows when I'll like a happy song again.

Drunken Tears by Quasi  87bpm
American from Portland, Oregon. A bit melodramatic, just like the title suggests.

Sunday 27 January 2013

If I was a shoe...

This track has been my favourite song for ages now and even though it isn't a free download I just have to post it. At 87bpm it's actually just a little on the slow side for running, but if you're like me and run better in the 90-95bpm range you could buy the mp3 you can up the tempo using Audacity (see the post Take Control of the BPM to see how). Or maybe the 87bpm will work for you. No matter what it has a super strong beat. So the track is Wenn ich ein Turnschuh waere by Die Goldenen Zitronen. I love everything about it, the music, the voice, the lyrics. For non German speakers he is singing about someone in Turkey trying to get in the the European Union who realises that he would have an easy time, be considered something of value, if he was a sports shoe (or a flat screen TV) rather than a human being. Certainly adds a new angle to the barefoot running debate! There is a sort of desperate sound to this song that goes so well with the story, and the story sums up so much with what is wrong with the world. After hearing this I became a huge Goldenen Zitronen fan. Die Goldenen Zitronen are officially punk, but this track is not really, well not too easy to put in a genre, experimental punk? Decide for yourselves.


Tuesday 22 January 2013

Every Day is Lighter

It is getting lighter for us folks in the northern hemisphere, but where I am there is still no vitamin-D forming strength sunlight.  2 years ago almost to this very day I got a stress fracture and I don't know if winter and vitamin-D has anything to do with it, but if you do live somewhere dark, and run, well it might be time think about taking a supplement. Actually since the fracture I take a calcium-magnesium-zinc supplement, and vitamin K2, plus I got tested for vitamin-D and was very low, so I take these mega doses of that once a month. 

So now for the music after last month's list of hardcore tracks (Forever Punk) I have swung the other way, the following 6 tracks all have a strong pop influence.  All tracks are available on the amazing music site Epitonic.  Click on the song to download.  The band name links to the Epitonic page for the band. 

Shapeshifter (Epitonic saki Sessions) by Hollows 89bpm
Lo-fi pop from Chicago.  Very melodic. 

16 Military Wives by The Decemberists 92bpm
Sweet indie rock from the pacific northwest USA.

Jaded Bones by Koda 88bpm
Downtempo electronica from Columbia, North Carolina.

Ninnyhammer by Holobody 92bpm
Synth-pop from Montreal.  Could be too cute for its own good, I'm sure I'll get sick of this quite fast, but I am currently quite enchanted.  Luckily there is oodles of great, free running music to consume.

Snap by Nosaj Thing 94bpm
Electronic hip-hop from LA. Quite melodic. Has a very slight 8-bit feel.

Boogie Down by Gramatik & Break Science 94bpm
From Portoroz, Slovenia, but doesn't sound like I'd expect.  I'm not really even sure what I expect from Slovenia?  In the same sort of spirit as the last track, electronic hip-hop.