Friday 24 August 2012

6 Free Running Songs for August 2012

Its that time again, time for some freely downloadable running music from 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.  Just in case this isn't obvious why, 90x2=180 and honestly I can't really even tell the difference, between a song MixMeister classifies as 90 or 180.  

Cry for Judas by The Mountain Goats  91 BPM
Clever indie folk rock, melodic and I don't know what's the word for the opposite of annoying?  The Mountain Goats are that. They are also are American.  

90 by Pompeya 90 BPM
Summery indie pop from these Moscowites!  I didn't know it gets this hot in Moscow. Very fluid pretty pop.  Plus the name of the song just has to be a reference to the BPM, no? Anything that takes BPM seriously like this is worth a listen.  

Dear Believer (Timmy The Terror Remix) by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros 92 BPM
Indie folk from Los Angeles. I like the lyrics "reaching for heaven", well isn't that what running is all about?  

Afternoons by Papier Tigre 92 BPM
Frenchies, Epitonic describe them as danceable despite their brooding, mathy aggression. I like this sound a lot. This is my favourite song on this list.

Séance On A Wet Afternoon by Girls Names 89 BPM
These guys are from Northern Ireland, which to me makes more sense to call Irish than British. They are noisy pop.  

Pure Imagination (Epitonic saki Sessions) by Faux Fix 179 BPM
This is a cover of the song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I love that song, so this cover just totally gets me. I don't like covers that sound like the originals, what's the point, but they have taken the basic melody and text and done something really different. American.

Not enough free running music for you?  Click on the free download label below and see all my posts with free music.   




Friday 17 August 2012

Sweet


I've fallen down the 8-bit rabbit hole. It all started with my post on Uoki-Toki and now several days later I have listened to nothing else.  First off I just love the sound, second the bands are from all over the place.  Uoki-Toki are Russian, today's suggestion, Sulumi, is Chinese.  But anther big reason is that tons of this shit is around 90 BPM.  Rap music is also very often at 90, but I just don't usually like it, its too self-referential and well stupid, so I am so happy to find an amazing electronic genre that seems to consistently clock in at 90 BPM or there about.  I can't find this track, Sweetly, on YouTube.  Its available at Amazon USUKFRDEJP or follow the link below for a 30 second sample on last.fm.  I'm getting the BPM at 92 using the Tap for BPM tool (so works for a 180 Steps Per Minute run).


Tuesday 14 August 2012

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.

Monday 13 August 2012

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.