Instead, put on one of these albums that our experts, through trial, error and at least one knee injury, have shown to help you actually finish that lap around the park.
T. Rex - Electric Warrior
Any glam rock joggers out there? Anyone doing laps in sequined jogging shorts and platform Asics? Slightly lesser-known (but in no way less fun) glam rocker Marc Bolan led T-rex to prominence decades ago, but the music's still got kick. No human being can listen to slick tracks like “Mambo Sun” and stand still at the same time, so why not give that rocking out some forward momentum?
Metronomy- Nights Out
Quirky electronic dance-pop fiends Metronomy pick up where bands like Ratatat left off and added a pinch of goofy. A friend and I once devised a first-date litmus test utilizing the band's debut album, the succinctly-named Pip Pane: Pay the £5000 you owe. The test had three possible outcomes: a) she wrinkles her nose a little and asks “wha- what is this?” at which point said first date promptly ends, b) she's all, “ohmygod, this is so much fun!” at which point you know you're good for at least a couple of weeks, or c) she begins dancing like a drunken rubber robot and you start wondering what she'll look like when she's old. Metronomy's high-energy Nights Out drives people to do such things as only distinctive and interesting electronic music can. Prescription-grade hooks multiply exponentially over the course of these tracks as one catchy line slips into the next: you'll be doing extra miles just to finish the album.
Kaada- Thank you for giving me your valuable time
Nothing says “workout mix” like Norwegian electro-pop. By moving between high octane tracks like “Black California” and heady trip-hop grooves like “No you don't,” the album forces second and third winds on a runner. Like Nights Out, it's quirky enough to keep you interested and energized for the duration.
The Troggs Hit Single Anthology
Okay, yeah, so they're the guys who did “Wild Thing,” a song sadly overplayed well into cliche-dom. But if you skip it (track #1, obviously), you'll find the Dark Side of the British Invasion. Sure, they sing saccharin little love songs like “With a Girl Like You,” but balanced with the loud and frantic “From Home” or “6 5 4 3 2 1,” it's a great collection to queue up for a quick couple of miles (and I do mean quick- after about thirty minutes, you'll find yourself slipping deep into late-sixties sap; which I guess means it's not a good running album at all. Whatever. More people should listen to the Troggs).
More The Troggs music on iLike
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble- S/T
Compensating for a list dominated entirely by the other side of the Atlantic, Chicago's own Hypnotic Brass Ensemble make music appropriate for doing pretty much anything. Cleaning the bathroom? Try “Mushallah.” Up working late? Blast “Sri Nerodi.” The most accurately-named jazz/hip-hop group I know (They play horns. In a group. It's mesmerizing), and a solid addition to any playlist.
Noted Disqualifications: LCD Soundsystem's 45'33 (a somewhat misplaced - John Cage reference, disqualified as being way less listenable than Sound of Silver) and RJD2 (because that's just too obvious)
