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Tag: Run Hundred

No news is … laziness and/or procrastination

I’m really behind on news, so all the things I had expired. Here’s the two pieces of info I acquired recently that should be of interest.

Dear Blanca’s Talker, which I stated has “clever arrangements of intriguing sounds” earlier this year, is now a pay-what-you-want download. If you’re into alt-country, saxophones, being surprised, or howling vocals, you’ll love it. Seriously.

And now, for the Run Hundred Top 10 songs of the month! —Stephen Carradini

This month’s top 10 is dominated by duos. There are two songs by M83 and Imagine Dragons that have been out awhile but are just now getting their due from gym-goers. There are a couple tracks by Capital Cities and Bruno Mars that cracked the top 10 already and are re-entering in remixed form. Lastly, there’s a pair of dueling singles from Lady GaGa and Katy Perry’s forthcoming albums.

Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at Run Hundred–the web’s most popular workout music blog.

Lady GaGa – Applause – 140 BPM

Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven (The M Machine Remix) – 85 BPM

Lana Del Rey & Cedric Gervais – Summertime Sadness – 125 BPM

Rihanna & David Guetta – Right Now – 130 BPM

Imagine Dragons – Radioactive – 137 BPM

Krewella – Live for the Night – 127 BPM

M83 – Midnight City – 105 BPM

Capital Cities – Safe and Sound (RAC Mix) – 118 BPM

Katy Perry – Roar – 90 BPM

Pink & Lily Allen – True Love – 95 BPM

To find more workout songs, folks can check out the free database at RunHundred.com. Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine.  —Chris Lawhorn 

Never forget that physical things are awesome

Robert Deeble, whose Heart Like Feathers I very much enjoyed, has just released a deluxe version of the album that comes in a gorgeous hardback packaging and includes a bunch of awesome extras. The physical extras include photo prints and a little art book; the media extras include 5 acoustic tracks and 12 videos (which he lovingly calls “films”). I’ve transitioned almost entirely to digital music, because artists on the whole put little care into physical copies. But this? This is gorgeous, carefully made, and excellently crafted. I highly recommend picking up the limited edition of Heart Like Feathers.

While we’re on the topic of physical things that are incredibly awesome, I’d like to announce that Post-Echo (you know, the record label that I said yesterday “has my attention”?) is releasing what they call “future-proof records,” which are on-demand 10″ vinyl records made of songs from the Post-Echo catalog chosen by you, for you. This is astoundingly wonderful. Someday soon I’ll be able to get Pan songs backed by Dear Blanca songs, and all will be right in my little music-y corner of the world. If you’re into vinyl, this is something that you’ve probably never had (unless you’ve been to Third Man Records recently). Totally thumbs up over here. Pick up your own future-proof here.

I do this thing I call circling when I’m avoiding a particular piece of writing: I’ll think about it for a bit, then purposefully think about something else; I’ll do a tiny bit, then walk away; I’ll talk about it with someone, then change the subject. I count these as part of the writing process, a sort of evidence-gathering for the work about to be done. It helps me feel less unproductive and get rid of writer guilt, being able to say honestly that I’ve already started to work on a piece even if no words are on a page anywhere. With that logic in mind, I’m here to say that checking RunHundred every month is now part of my running process. –Stephen Carradini

The Top 10 Workout Songs For June

With summer approaching, the mood–both on the radio and in the gym–has changed. While winter brought with it an eclectic bunch of workout tracks, this new batch is all about fun. As evidence, consider David Guetta’s latest (“Play Hard”), Fergie’s contribution to The Great Gatsby (“A Little Party Never Killed Nobody”), and the collaboration that J. Lo and Mr. 305 debuted on the finale of American Idol (“Live It Up”).

Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at Run Hundred–the web’s most popular workout music blog.

David Guetta, Ne-Yo & Akon – Play Hard – 130 BPM

Jason Derulo – The Other Side – 128 BPM

Jennifer Lopez & Pitbull – Live It Up – 128 BPM

Robin Thicke, T.I. & Pharrell – Blurred Lines – 121 BPM

Emeli Sande – Next to Me – 95 BPM

Taylor Swift – 22 – 105 BPM

Porter Robinson & Mat Zo – Easy (Radio Edit) – 128 BPM

Maroon 5 – Love Somebody – 121 BPM

Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock – A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) – 130 BPM

Carly Rae Jepsen & Nicki Minaj – Tonight I’m Getting Over You (Remix) – 126 BPM

To find more workout songs, folks can check out the free database at RunHundred.com. Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine. –Chris Lawhorn

Singles love

Zula’s “Technocrat Motorist Coping” is all the weirdest moments of Death Cab for Cutie’s work jammed into one song. The slightly psychedelic indie-pop track is oddly endearing and engrossing, as all the parts come together incredibly well. I like!

Guess what! Another Australian band is fantastic! This time it’s Hey Geronimo on a return single, after conquering my psyche with “Why Don’t We Do Something” last November. “Carbon Affair” is a summery slice of hand-clappy, tom-crazy, Vampire Weekend guitar stealing, pop/rock goodness.

Only Starlings, TN could make a song called “(Tonight) I’m Just Looking To Get Laid” into a depressing tune. Combining weeping guitar, aching strings, and Steven Stubbefield’s down-and-out vocal musings, the band manages to do just that. If you’re into Americana, check it; if you’re into seeing how such a hair metal sentiment can go into “tears in my beer” song, also check it.

Bermuda Bonnie’s “Shimmer” is the sort of party jam I love: it has elements of ubiquitous hip-hop and/or house (in this case a persistent, vaguely tribal beat that sounds like you should dance to it) but it takes those things in weird directions that people don’t realize until they’re on the dance floor (in this case, flutes, weird electronic noises that kind of sound like animal/insect noises). Totally cool track.

And it’s not one track, but a bunch of tracks next: Chris Lawhorn over at Run Hundred has put together the top running songs from May. –Stephen Carradini

With summer nearly upon us, there’s a mess of new music bumping in a gym near you. The singles from Usher and Linkin Park’s new albums are out now—along with Pitbull’s contribution to the Men in Black III soundtrack. Also, on the movie tip, Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” returns to the top 10—albeit in a dark, retro remix that works the American Idol veteran into a groove straight out of the Scarface or Drive soundtrack.Lastly, the top 10 is rounded out by trio of collaborations wherein Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, and Cee Lo paired up with Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B., and Slaughterhouse.

Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at Run Hundred–the web’s most popular workout music blog.

Avicii – Levels (Skrillex Remix) – 142 BPM

Pitbull – Back in Time – 126 BPM

Maroon 5 & Wiz Khalifa – Payphone – 110 BPM

Demi Lovato – Give Your Heart a Break – 123 BPM

Usher – Scream – 129 BPM

Linkin Park – Burn It Down – 111 BPM

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (Hotline’s Miami Vice Club Remix) – 118 BPM

Slaughterhouse & Cee Lo Green – My Life – 137 BPM

B.o.B. & Taylor Swift – Both of Us – 127 BPM

Katy Perry – Part of Me (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Remix) – 130 BPM

To find more workout songs, folks can check out the free database at RunHundred.com. Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine. —Chris Lawhorn

Indie (and not indie) hip-hop

Tiny Mtns songwriter Elijah Wyman has stressed that If you like this, share it with yr friends. If you don’t, share it with yr enemies. will be a rotating mixtape, and he wasn’t kidding. In the time since we first mentioned it and now, he put another mix of “Bold as Lions,” then removed one to leave only the “Sexy Boyscout Mix.” I don’t remember which version was the “original” version, but with this sort of rotating project, that seems relatively unimportant. The hazy, herky-jerky indie-groove of “Underfence Passes” is brand new, and forges ahead in the vein of his previous tune “Local Honey.” The indie/hip-hop, organic/electronic collision is a unique and entertaining sound that I highly recommend. [Editor’s note: This album is no longer available.]

I’m a couple weeks behind on posting the Run Hundred top songs list from October, and there’s really no excuse for that. Here they are, with links!

Tim Berg – “Seek Bromance (Avicii Vocal Edit)”
Alex Gaudino & Kelly Rowland – “What A Feeling (Hardwell Remix)”
Wolfgang Gartner & Will.I.Am – “Forever”
Hot Chelle Rae – “Tonight Tonight (Goldstein Remix)”
Taio Cruz & Flo Rida – “Hangover”
Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull & The WAV.s – “I Like How It Feels”
Kaskade & Skrillex – “Lick It”
Adrian Lux – “Teenage Crime (Axwell & Henrik B Remode)”
Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
Kelly Clarkson – “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”

A large amount of odds and ends that mostly have to do with Josh Caress

So, Josh Caress and his new band Come On, Pilgrim! are making a record, and they’re funding it with a Kickstarter campaign. If you love Caress’s work as much as I do, you’ll want more tracks that sound as incredible as “The Region of the Summer Stars.” If you read this blog consistently and don’t love Josh Caress’s work yet, I have utterly failed at one of my primary goals. Support Caress and correctly-punctuated band names everywhere by contributing some dollarz.

In other Josh Caress-related news, I heard from his brother Adam (whose old band I reviewed a very long time ago, and who co-runs the blog Mule Variations) that they have TWO MORE musical siblings, who are in this band Ponychase. The song sounds like it could have been lifted from (still) my favorite Josh Caress album, Letting Go of a Dream, which means it’s been chilling in the back of my consciousness since I first heard it. Do yourself a favor and jump on this dreamy wonder.

I rep Norman, Okla., proudly and often. But even if I wasn’t from the same town as The Nghiems, I would still love this video. If you ever played side-scrolling multi-player beat-’em-up arcade games (You know you loved X-men in the arcade), this indie-pop saga will make your heart swoon.

In still further related Caress news, Adam Caress just did an interview on MV with Red Wanting Blue’s songwriter Scott Terry. Red Wanting Blue has been covered here before, and their new album From The Vanishing Point comes out in January. But because they’re awesome, they’re streaming the album, one song at a time, until it’s all up and out in the universe. If you like good ’90s pop, you’ll love this.

And, finally, it’s October, which means Chris Lawhorn of RunHundred sent over the top running tracks of September from his website. I usually let the data stand, but his commentary (below) is quite interesting. —Stephen Carradini

This month’s list brings two questions to mind:

#1. For how many consecutive months will David Guetta turn up in these top 10 lists? (His new track with Usher made the cut–and he just barely missed making it again with his recent Nicki Minaj collaboration.)

#2. Will Calvin Harris, Benny Benassi or Afrojack be the one that unseats him? (All three are making their second appearances on the charts this month. And, like Guetta, each has begun being billed as the artist on his tracks—rather than being credited as the producer/remixer, which was the case a couple years ago.)

This month’s top 10 is rounded out by a new track from LMFAO, a Britney remix, and a song by Young The Giant—brought most folks’ attention by the band’s surprise inclusion on this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at RunHundred.com–the web’s most popular workout music blog.

Rihanna & Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
Dev – “In The Dark”
Afrojack & Eva Simons – “Take Over Control”
LMFAO – “Sexy And I Know It”
Chris Brown & Benny Benassi – “Beautiful People”
Shortee & Faust – “Friday Night Special”
Kelly Rowland & Lil Wayne – “Motivation (Rebel Rock Remix)”
Britney Spears – “I Wanna Go (Oliver Remix)”
Young The Giant – “My Body”
David Guetta & Usher – “Without You”
—Chris Lawhorn

Updates: Charlie Betts/A Road to Damascus/Run Hundred

Charlie Betts, whose “unique, divisive voice” I wrote about in January, has another whole album ready for alt-country fans. It’s very similar to his previous work, so old fans and newly interested parties can check out A New World at his Bandcamp.

Many blogs cover pop-punk in great detail, which is why I’ve written about it less as of late. However, A Road to Damascus‘ brand of pop-punk/emo/screamo has been on my radar since early 2010. Their new self-titled album makes me think back fondly on the year 2003, when Tell All Your Friends/Your Favorite Weapon/War All the Time were the thing, yo. The band pulls out all the stops: pop-punk riffs, hardcore breakdowns, sky-high sung vocals, screams and melodic hooks galore. If you’re into emo/pop-punk, consider your day vastly improved. Pick it up from iTunes and/or check out this music video (which should also induce early ’00s flashbacks).

And Run Hundred released a list of top ten best songs from August to hear while running/working out. From founder Chris Lawhorn:

Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer – “Give Me Everything (Sidney Samson Remix)”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
Switchfoot – “Dark Horses”
Gym Class Heroes & Adam Levine – “Stereo Hearts”
Lady GaGa – “Edge Of Glory (Bare Noize Remix)”
Pitbull & Marc Anthony – “Rain Over Me”
Nadia Ali, Alex Kenji & Starkillers – “Pressure (Alesso Radio Edit)”
T.I. & B.o.B. – “We Don’t Get Down Like Y’all”
LMFAO, GoonRock & Lauren Bennett – “Party Rock Anthem (Russ Chimes Remix)”
Alexandra Stan – “Mr. Saxobeat”