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Underground > Radio & Music >

Basement Jaxx-esque recommendations?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

12:23 / 16.08.06

I'm don't know much about dance music (and I'm not sure that's even the right descriptor for Basement Jaxx), but a friend of mine recommended them as workout music, and by golly, he was spot-on. I spend a lot of time on a rowing machine, and my listening preferences have gone from a Ministry-heavy thudding grunting playlist to a Kish Kash/Rooty/Remedy-oriented zippy fun playlist.

Basement Jaxx has this perfect combination of driving beat foundation and bouncy pop decoration to keep me going full-tilt for an hour... enough flourish that the songs are interesting, but enough oomph for a good steady rhythm. Ideal for settling in for a 45-minute run or row.

My taste in electronic-type music usually angles towards Aphex Twin and Lassigue Bendthaus/Atom Heart/Senor Coconut and Mick Harris, so the bulk of my "synthesized" music tends to be a bit too skittery for exercise.

I've been exploring a bit, as much as budget and time allows... so far, I've found Arling & Cameron (All-In) to lack a certain gravity, and Fantastic Plastic Machine is decent but hit-and-miss. Josh Wink is too spacey. Ursula 1000 is another consistent favourite for exercise, but better for short bursts than marathons.

Based on the following: any recommendations? Bonus points if they're artists available on eMusic... I have a subscription (and am generally broke, and am not much of one for the ol' piracy game).

01:30 / 17.08.06

Hey Man! I would have thought any of Mick Harris' Scorn tracks would have been a dead cert to get the "heavy" rhythms going? "Weakener" has some great rep music, especially if you had a huge subwoofer in your workout area!!! I like working out to Autechre's Chiastic Slide or Anvil Vapre. My favs.

So I think maybe the Avalanches might help you out with some tunes to sweat by? They have an album called "Since I left You" and it goes on sometimes before or after Basement Jaxx. Failing that there is a guy who goes by the name of Manitoba or Caribou, also electronic goodness which solid beats to sweat to. Hope these recommendations help?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

09:05 / 17.08.06

I like Mick Harris (but I don't know the albums you mentioned... I have Shortcut to Connect, overloadlady and Total Station), and it's good deep thunderful music, but what really makes Jaxx/Ursula work for me is it's got a good deep rhythm AND lots of fun on top.

I actually own all of Manitoba/Caribou's albums (yay Canadian content!) but it never occured to me that they might work for said purpose. Good call.

And I'll check out the Avalanches.

Oh... Lionrock is another good 'un that I've found. "Rude Boy Rock" from City Delirious in particular.

But it's that combination of solid beat AND frothy poppy overlay that really works for me. I need the beat to keep me well-paced and moving, but without some ear candy on top my brain gets really bored after 15 minutes or so.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

09:09 / 17.08.06

Oh -- just caught that you were talking about Scorn, not Mick Harris solo/collaborative stuff, but the same applies... great Deep Thunder music (Gyral is magnificent) but not a huge amount to keep me interested when my body's aching and my brain needs interesting aural distractions to take my mind off the pain in my legs/shoulders/back.

As an aside: which of Scorn's Hymen Records releases would you recommend? eMusic's got a bunch, and I don't have anything newer than Logghi Barroghi.

11:23 / 17.08.06

What BPM do you use for rowing? I'm all about the BPM.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

11:50 / 17.08.06

My stroke rate is 24 strokes per minute for long-haul rowing, so 96 or 120 would be my best guess for optimum BPM.

12:35 / 17.08.06

I ask because I'm positively obsessive about my workout music. I need a rock-steady rhythm—left-right, pick 'em up and put 'em down—and I've got a slightly different cadence depending on whether I'm on the treadmill, the ellipticals, or step-trainer. I've got all my MP3s organized by BPM (using this handy free tool, and have cobbled together a bunch of mixes using Audacity, another free/open-source program—40 minutes of of seamless 144 bpm (or whatever), followed by a 5-minute cooldown. I tend towards a mix of white guitar rock and poppy electro, but only because that's what works for exercising: I can't run to anything that swings, or anything in odd meters—it's gotta be straight four-on-the-floor.

It might be worth running MixMeister on your own MP3 collection and seeing what you've got that might suit. It can actually be pretty eye-opening: I've found myself working out to stuff that I didn't even think I liked very much, until I heard it in that context.

For everybody else: 96 bpm sounds like this (e.g., Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers").

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

12:44 / 17.08.06

I've found myself working out to stuff that I didn't even think I liked very much, until I heard it in that context.

That's been exactly my experience with Basement Jaxx... I never really cared for it until I started working out to it.

The MP3 BPM analyzer looks like a BRILLIANT tool. Downloading now. I'm an old hand at Cool Edit Pro, so making the mixes should be easy once I've figured out what goes where.

Oh: and "poppy electro" sounds good, if you have any particular recommendations for workout music in that vein.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

13:32 / 17.08.06

I should start by saying that I have never worked out in my life... but that I found a lot of industrial/hard beat stuff at around 120bpm were great for walking a set distance every day to the railway station in time to get my train in the morning.

So anything in the stomping vein would be good - Front 242 in particular, while Nitzer Ebb and D.A.F. also kick along at pretty much the same rate, as does chunks of Laibach's "WAT" album (especially "Tanz Mit Laibach") and their "NATO" set of technofied covers, and so I'd imagine would Mussolini Headkick et al. Scorn would be good too in terms of their relentlessness, but I'd have thought they would be a tad slow on the BPMs.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:38 / 17.08.06

Yeah, '90s hard beat/EBM stuff has to be the best (not that I ever exercise...) Meat Beat Manifesto's Strap Down actually had people doing pressups ON THE COVER. I still maintain that the only records you'd need to actually run a gym would be the first Meat Beat album and Nitzer Ebb's That Total Age.

22:01 / 17.08.06

I'm an old hand at Cool Edit Pro, so making the mixes should be easy once I've figured out what goes where.

Matt, you didn't own one of these did you? Cool Edit Pro was in the bundle.

Front 242! I almost forgot about them! How my memory escapes me... it's been all down hill since 33... I need to exercise more, this thread makes me feel old and fat.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

23:12 / 17.08.06

No, but I've got a Delta 44 that I'm very very happy with. CEP was a result of doing some training courses in Northern Quebec that I needed to get software for. I've never upgraded to Audition, because I've never really seen the point... it's more radio stuff I do, so voice editing and simple multitracking does the jobbo.

I can't listen to Nitzer Ebb or most MBM and 242 without having horrible spotty-teenager flashbacks and feeling awkward and misunderstood and hated by all girls, which really keeps me from getting a good exercise groove on.

23:19 / 17.08.06

i rekkun tricky's 'blowback' is a good disc to exercise by - have it on my pod cycling and it has lots of good thumping beats, but soul and intricacies to get lost in if you want. big thumbs up - try tricky, you'll like it.