Introverted, Complex and Experimental

Wikipedia says post-punk is a genre that 'retains its root in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental'.  So here's two songs that fall into the post-puck genre for all the complex introverts out there to experiment with.  Both the tracks are available for free download at Epitonic.  Click on the song name to download, or the band name to go to their page on Epitonic, so you and listen first and read up a bit on the band. To be honest I don't listen to this style of music much in normal life, but I do while running/biking/gym-ing and these two songs aren't quite as hardcore as other post-punk songs.

Waiting (Too Late) by Colisem with a 89 BPM

Plastic Bag by Evergreen at 87 BPM

Make Sure You Travel Far

This song, The Only Way, by Gotye is certainly the darkest song I have posted yet, its about death. But for me it still works, because I think it helps me be really alive to at least sometimes thinking about death.  Run, bike, swim, dance and love now, you'll be dead soon enough.  OK I'll stop pretending to be Eckhart Tolle!

The BPM is 89 so perfect for a 180 SPM run. Enjoy yourself.




UPDATE : I don't know how I missed this, but the last few days I have been thinking / reading so much about Micah True's disappearance and finally him being found dead.  It's strange to mourn someone you never met, but I am mourning him. No wonder I picked this song. RIP Caballo Blanco.

Calm down now baby
The end of the journey's in sight
You've travelled so far love
Now all of the stars are aligned
Say goodbye (I don't want to)
Don't you fight (I don't want to)
Leaving your life's no easy ride

Catch-up March 2012

Here is the catch-up list for March on Spotify, Run To The Beat March 2012 180BPM.

The two dimmed tracks aren't available on Spotify, you need to have them in you personal library for Spotify to add them, but both of them are from the 6 free songs that you can easily download them.

Calling All Freaks

I've posted a lot of singer-songwriter stuff of late. So today here's an electronic track from The Crystal Method, Name of the Game. The song is great, the video? Sort of silly, so maybe just listen  The BPM is 182, so should help you hit that sweet spot while running.

Light Up That Sky

About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All is the first tack on Dan Mangan's newish album Oh Forture. Dan Mangan is a singer-songwriter from Canada. His tunes are melodic and bitter sweet, with smart poetic lyrics. I listened to his album Nice, Nice, Very Nice on repeat all last summer. Oh Fortune took me longer to like, but it is really an amazing album.

This song is quite interesting as a running cadence song. It's a waltz! So has a 3 beat timing. Why this might work for you?  Stick with me I'll get to the point.  According to Danny Dreyer of Chi Running fame you should be running at cadence of at least 85 steps per minute per foot, and not more than 90 unless you're a sprinter or elite runner - that's 170-180 for people who count both feet. So far I mostly agree with him, although I like running at 180-185 and I am no elite runner! He also uses SPM for steps per minute like my strides per minute. I thought I invented that, but I guess my subconscious just remembered it from his book.  He suggests using a metronome, in fact he says

I would have to say that I have learned more from running with a metronome than I have from any other device, book, or coach. (Chi Running pg 112)

Well I had to try it then.  So I downloaded a metronome app on my phone and went out for a run, but I didn't get past about 30 seconds before ripping out my headphones.  It was so awful, maybe I had the volume up too loud, or maybe I just find music at the right BPM much more motivating and pleasurable while being equally effective!  Think about that for a minute, as far as Chi Running advice goes, getting the cadence right is the most important aspect of injury free running.

But one other thing he says is that you should try to set the metronome to beep every third step, so for 180 SPM that would be 60 BPM.  The reason is that the leading foot switches from left to right and you don't end up having a stronger side.  I tried to do this with songs at 60 BPM and that didn't work.  But this 92BPM song by Dan Mangan is actually a waltz, and even though I stumble a bit the first few seconds (the long intro doesn't help), I find I can run to this.  I hope this works for you and I hope that you are convinced enough to go listen to more Dan Mangan.

Exotik Schweizer Musik

I haven't been posting as frequently as usual, because after coming back from a week of vacation, my internet got mysteriously turned off and it took free.fr two weeks to turn it back on again.  I have internet access at work, but well I am supposed to be working at work, so not so many posts.  But now everything is back up.

The other reason is that I am a little depressed about not being able to run much.  Over a year ago I got a running induced stress fracture, on the cuboid of the left foot.  The fracture itself didn't hurt that much, and I ran on it for a week with my foot twisted inward just slightly, which lead to a very painful case of posterior tibial tendinitis.  The doctor said it takes about 6 months for a cuboid fracture to heal.  That was over a year ago!   My foot feels OK, and every week or two I do a test run, 4 or 5 km and the see how it feels the next few days. So far it hasn't felt good.  Mostly I stay positive, after not being able to run for a long time, even little runs feel amazing!  And I do a lot of MTB.  But this last week or two I've been feeling a little sorry for myself again.

Well time for some music.  The song in this post is Zumurud, and it is really different from what I usually recommend. Its official style is 'world'. Mich Gerber is swiss, and I'd be willing to be bet a whole lot of money his native language is German.  Germans (German speakers) are really good at getting all ethnic and into 'eastern' cultures and music, and Mich Gerber, certainly is doing a great job of channeling some oriental desert musician here.  The BPM is 90 so great for a 180 SPM run.

6 Free Running Songs for March 2012

Here's the March 6 free running songs post.  These songs are all available on Epitonic for free and legal download.  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 90BPM so work for a 180SPM (strides per minute) run.

With the exception of Clinic all the bands this month are from the US.  Hope you find something you like

Fit Against the Country by Horse Feathers  90 BPM
From Portland, Horse Feathers, fit in the indie folk genre. 

Furr by Blitzen Trapper   92 BPM

Again from Portland, again indie folk rock. I love the lyrics of this song,

The sound sent shivers down my back
But I was drawn into the pack and before long
They allowed to join in and sing their song 

Flies by The Verna Cannon  91 BPM

The Verna Cannon are from Columbia, South Carolina. This is a lovely sweet song, that I've been running to for a long time. 

Porno by Clinic 87 BPM

It is only a little pornographic. Clinic are from England, the sound is something in between pop, electro and rock.  They sound English to me.  

Headcage by Matthew Dear 93 BPM

Matthew Dear is awesome.  He's from Michigan and is electronic but with melody and lyrics.  This is a style that I love, its sweet and deep. 

Raw Gore by Mux Mool 88 BPM

Crunchy electronic from New York City based Mux Mool.