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.

Nerd

Today I'm recommending 3 tunes from Uoki-Toki. The genre is 8-bit, being a computer scientist, I love the name of this genre.  It's also called chiptune. These 3 tracks sound electronic, with pop elements but very crunchy. No vocals. All  three are available for free download on last.fm. Also after some help from Google, I found out they are Russian. First Russian music for me.


First off Digital Love with a perfect BPM of 90. It's my current favourite of the three. Click ->here<- to download this track.




Next I <3 U with a BPM of 89. Click ->here<- to download.




And finally Simple Theory also with a BPM of 89. Click ->here<- to download.

Reward

Here's a track from a band I LOVE Autechre.  Their album Oversteps might be my favourite album of all time.  Well if I was stranded on a desert island and could only have one album it would be, without a moment of hesitation or doubt, Oversteps that I'd pick. If you haven't heard of them, they are very experimental, intelligent, ambient electro. I have run to quite a few of their tracks, but although MixMeister, identifies the BPM at something good for running, the beat wasn't strong in a way that kept my feet going at that pace. The music didn't get in the way, but it didn't help to run with a good cadence either.

But this track, rew(1), from their latest release, Move Of Ten, really does have a steady beat.  Its a little long and a little repetitive perhaps, at least in comparison to their other stuff, but it is a great track to run to.  The BPM is 93, so it might be a little on the fast side for some, but I like the 90-95 range.

Forget Who You Are

The last few songs have been new releases, but this one Utopia by Goldfrapp is an oldie, released back in 2000.  Still I am sticking to the recent theme of electronic music with female-vocals.  This track has a BPM of 91, so perfect for a 180 SPM run.

Heaven Sent

In a previous post (here) I recommended a song by the German band Monocular.  I was super excited when a month or so ago they released a new album, Pine Trees.  Pine Trees is probably as good as Somewhere On The Line, but since I was expecting it to be as good, it didn't blow my mind in quite the same way.


The track, The Street I Found, from the new album has a BPM of 92 and is very runnable. Even the lyrics of the chorus are very nice for running, "The Street I found was heaven sent". The song isn't on YouTube, or anywhere else I can find, but you can  listen to the first 30 seconds on Amazon, USA, FR, DE, UK, JP.  I like Monocular so much its hard for me to imagine that everyone wouldn't be moved by this, so just go buy it.  In fact buy the whole album.  

Stop Thinking Start Running

Here's a sweet little track from German Pea Sized.  Its electronia with female vocals.  The sound is sparse and as far as the lyrics go, they seem to be taking themselves or life a bit too seriously, or maybe its just that English isn't her native language, her voice is lovely though.  Also they let you download all their music for free or on a donation basis, which is cool.  To download this track, Stop Thinking, click here.  The BPM is 91 so perfect for a 180 strides per minute run.

Double Dose

Its been 6 months now that I've keep up my monthly '6 free running songs' post. So to celebrate this milestone this post is a list of more free songs from artists that have appeared on those posts. So if there was something you liked, maybe they'll be something here you like.

As usual the song title appears first and clicking on it will download the song from Epitonic.  Next the band name links to the Epitonic page about the band.  Then there's the BPM of each song, all are around 90 BPM which works for a 180 SPM run.  And finally just a word about the genre, which links to all my blog posts with this genre.

• Palace Chalice by Mux Mool 87 BPM electronic
• As Far As I Can See by Phantogram  90 BPM  electronic
• Load You Eyes or Load You Eyes (Star Slinger Remix) by I Break Horses both 88 BPM indie
• Lost Flight by KRAPP 91BPM electronic
• In The Middle (I Met You There) by Matthew Dear 90 BPM electronic
• I'm Aware by Clinic 88 BPM  indie
• Expecting An Answer by The Verna Cannon 91 BPM folk
• Beth/Rest (Solo Piano Version) by Bon Iver 90 BPM folk

Why not have a look at the other free download posts click here.

Evolved

Röyksopp are from Norway.  I love Norway.  Well I have never actually been there, but if the opportunity can up I'd move there for ever after. I'm a bit impulsive like that, especially about moving countries. I've always had a thing for Norway, but what really made me love Norway in a concrete way was the reaction that followed the horrific attack last July by Anders Behring Breivik.  He was hoping that his violence would result in a crack down on immigration and a sharp turn to the right.  BUT the reaction of the prime minister Jens Stoltenberg was that what Norway needed was "more democracy, more openness, but not naivety".  It seemed his people were behind him on this.  This was in such stark contrast to the reaction in the US following the 2011 terrorist attack there, and the (for me) sickening street celebrations that broke out all over the US after the announcement of Bin Laden's death.  I wish I was Norwegian.   I wish we were all Norwegian.


OK so back to the music. This track Vision One by Röyksopp features Norwegian singer Anneli Drecker.  I just love the squeaky sound in this song. It tickles!  The BPM is 92, so a bit fast, but still works for a 180 SPM run.  

I Know I Was Born

After what feels like weeks of endless rain today it is sunny and warm, almost summer time weather.  So to celebrate here's a hot track from Crystal Fighters, In The Summer.  Crystal Fighters are from Spain and they're my first Spanish band on the blog and also in life. What's weird is that my parents live in Spain, as for while did my hip little brother and his hip wife, so I really should know some cool stuff from Spain.

I'm getting the BPM to be 90 using tap for BPM, so this is perfect song to get some 180 SPM summer runs in.  Time to enjoy the summer!

Running Is Beautiful

Here's a truly gorgeous song: Beautiful by German electro trip-hoppers Monocular (she is singing in English). I can't find a video of it on YouTube, or a track of it on Soundcloud.  But I can listen to it on last.fm, so here's the link play on last.fm. I hope that works since I am not sure if you have to be signed up for and in to last.fm to listen.  Anyway listen to this, then go buy this amazing song. Its BMP is 92 so great for a 180SPM run.

If you want to buy, here's some Amazon links, these aren't affiliate links just putting them here to save you some time, and for anyone having trouble listening on last.fm, since Amazon has a 30 sec sample to whet your appetite.

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.fr
Amazon.de

Before It's Too Soon

Here's a dreamy electronic track from the French music duo Air: Once upon a time.  You can click here to start a free download of the song, or here to go to their Epitonic page.  It has a perfect 90 BPM for a 180 SPM run.  Not too sure about their advice 'don't try to run after time',  I know we all do that, PRs are the best!

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.

Perfect Tunes

Today I'm recommending three songs from the Swedish brother and sister duo, The Knife.  Their sound is  electro pop, I love the mix of electronic, catchy pop hooks, and strange lyrics.

The first song is Marble House, which can be downloaded free and legal from the amazing Epitonic.  Click   here to download.  Its got a BPM of 89.

The second is Heartbeats, which is their 'hit' song.  It comes in  at a BPM of 176, so close enough for a 180SPM (strides per minute) run.




And finally Girl's night out with a BPM of 180.

Bring me to the Fire

In this post I'm recommending When I'm Small by Phantogram.  Using Tap for Beats Per Minute I am getting 92BPM, so just a little fast for a 180 SPM run.  But I just love it, especially the video. The boy and girl that make up Phantogram and both sooo sexy. The girl is on fire, and the boy well lets just say I have a thing for beards... But if you're not convinced check out this picture of them with the boy shaved.

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UPDATE 03/02/2012
This track is available for free and legal download on Epitonic :  click here to download it!  Oh and now I have the mp3 I ran it through MixMeister BPM Analyzer and got the BPM at 92.  So its confirmed!

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Rhythm Laws

Pray for Rain by Massive Attack has a BPM of 91, so close enough for a 180 SPM run.  I love this song, both the sound and the lyrics.  And I hope they're right that if you obey the rhythm laws you will be ushered into the dreaming.

180BPM Difficult

Finally I have a track that really is 180BPM!  I orginally downloaded this track from Epitonic under the title 180bpmDifficult, but when I went back to link to it, it seemed to have disappeared.  Well I found it again under the title, Let The Future Tell. Its by Daedelus and available for free on Epitonic. So click here to download it for free, then put it on your run playlist, and you're in for 2 minutes of dark, menacing organic beats.  Perfect for trail running in the winter.

6 Free Running Songs

I've been kind of quite recently, had a lot of crazy stuff going on. To make up for it this post contains 6 free running songs! All these songs can be freely and legally downloaded from the amazing music site Epitonic. Click on the name of the song to download it. I've linked the band name to their corresponding Wikipedia entry for hardcore music fans to get band info.

1. Excuses by Bibio 91BPM
   This song starts a bit low key and takes about half a minute to really get into the beat. But it is worth it! This is a beautiful electronic landscape - with nice lyrics too. I think it might be my favourite on the list. Oh and if the slow start doesn't work for you while running, you could always trim it.
2. R.I.P Burn Face by CocoRosie 90BPM
   Sweet tune, strange lyrics, just as I like it.
3. My Time bu Minus the Bear 92BPM
   Although its a little fast, this is a great tune to run to. A nice little indie pop rock song, hard not to like.
4. Glass Table Girls by The Weeknd 89BPM
   Warning lyrics contain bad words, otherwise super hip and cool, and is he rapping some old Siouxsie and the Banshees lyrics? "this is a happy house, we're happy here in our happy house"
5. Civilian by Wye Oak 90BPM
   According to Wikipedia, Why Oak have been described as "earnest folk-influenced indie rock with touches of noise and dream pop". Yeap.
6. Black Night by The Dodos 91BPM
   Straight up indie rock to get those feet moving.

Mon âme et mon amour

Here's a tune from frenchie Emilie Simon, who I discovered when she did the soundtrack to the film La marche de l'empereur, a beautiful documentary film about penguins. The soundtrack is great, but this song, The Devil at my Door, is from the album The Big Machine and it hits a perfect 90BPM to get those feet moving at 180SPM (strides per minute).

Got it Under Control?

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti 

ApSci have it Under Control, or do they?  I fecking love ApSci, they are about as hip-hop as I get, a sort of electro pop hip-hop.  They are a husband and wife team and their personalities, or musical personalities at least, are so different and so complimentary.  They make me believe in true love!  Yes I guess I am a romantic...  I also love the video, and I usually don't feel like the video adds anything to the music, but not here, the video is part of it.  Well you can't take the video with you on a run, but the tune at 89 BPM is just right for your running playlist.  Just don't try too hard to keep it under control, go as fast as you want, that's what running is all about.

Running in the Dark

I just love YACHT. I discovered them on Epitonic a while back, when I downloaded (for free) their amazing song Dystopia. Here's the link if your interested. Sometimes a band has one or two amazing songs, but YACHT only has amazing songs. So I listen to them a lot on Spotify and their song Love In The Dark has a BPM of 90 (measured with tap for BPM) and has a hypnotic beat that gets my feet going at 180 strides per minute.