Music for panting, sweating and a shower after

So I've been running lately (what...you thought something else?)

And running, of course, requires tunes. Up in the headphones, if you will. Because when you're just starting to exercise after an academic year of red wine, beer and whiskey you're not doing it right unless you're in pain. Now, pain tends to be somewhat distracting, so good exercise music requires that little attention be required - subtlety is your enemy here.

So I've been listening to Clipse. Now, yes, Clipse may be as gangsta as gangsta comes, but when your lungs are on fire all that cartoon-like aggression actually starts to sound every-so-slightly reasonable. (Do note that there are naughty words included in the following).

Clipse - "Numb It Down"



Ah, but then there's Flying Lotus and the new album Los Angeles, which has the pleasant quality of sounding good on many levels - ie, in pain, and not in pain. In general, it's got a nice solid beat through it as well as not requiring much attention - rewarding, yes, but not requiring. You can hear both ambient and hip hop influences, but this works for running quite well because the basic beat tends to keep a solid, not-too-fast pace - maybe one day I'll be running to drum & bass, but not anytime soon...

Flying Lotus - "Camel"



And then, if I'm in a particularly spaced out mood, there's Lindstrom (the "o" has a little / through it but I don't have a keyboard that does that, so...) and his three song album Where you go I go too - you get your money's worth because the three tracks are 28, 10 and 15 minutes long. The subtlety works in the other way here - it actually sounds much less cheesy with a lil' agony thrown in to keep your mind occupied. I usually don't get much past the first track, but here's an edit of the last one because it's what I could find (admitted, I didn't look too hard...)

Lindstrom - "The Voyage Home - Prins Thomas Edit"



Finally, just due to its sheer awesomeness, is this mashup of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and Bon Jovi doing "Dead or Alive":

DJ Schmolli - "M.I.A. Wanted Dead or Alive"



Bon appetit!