Mixing and Matching

On the same day that I discovered the Vitamin String Quartet, I also found this really fantastic workout music. They are iTunes albums comprised of dance and techno mixes by various artists. There are songs adapted from movies called Fit Flix Workout Music and pop music workout mixes categorized by year; for instance, I bought a few tracks off of the 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2 album. There are lots of different ones to choose from though, and some of them are specifically designed just for cardio, like walking and running mixes. Occasionally I’ve made my own workout mixes for walking and running, but it’s really neat that they come pre-made on iTunes. If you’re looking for new workout music, definitely check them out.

My favorite is the Fit Flix Workout Music 1 album (136-148BPM Music for Moderate-Fast Paced Walking, Jogging, Cardio) which has 8 tracks of well-known songs from movies, such as “My Heart Will Go On” from Titantic, “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky, and the closing theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl—all set to techno. I also got “Sugar Baby Love,” “Baby I Love Your Way,” and “Lay All Your Love On Me” from 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2, which are also set to techno, of course. I think these are really funny and clever and I cannot wait to put them to use in my workouts. Interesting music always makes working out more enjoyable for me; it’s almost like setting a goal of how much awesome music I can listen to before I’m exhausted or it’s time to stop.

While I am on the subject of interesting music medleys, I can also mention one of Girl Talk’s albums, Feed The Animals. This very intense and creative mix was introduced to me by a friend on the way to a Coheed and Cambria concert a few months ago. The entire album is made up of parts of rap and hip-hop songs woven together with old rock classics. I am generally not a big fan of rap or hip-hop, but I can definitely respect the effort and planning involved in creating such mixes. For example, in the track “Play Your Part (Part 2)” Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” is backed by some of the guitar parts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” and then “Pop, Lock, and Drop It” is set to Journey’s “Faithfully.” Feed The Animals made me think about what sort of songs I would mix if I had the proper software and knowledge to do so. It is really fun not to cheat by looking online for the parts, but rather to try to pick out the songs on your own and then check to see if you were right. But if you would like to see what songs the tracks are made from, you can see some fairly accurate lists on Wikipedia’s Feed The Animals page. (Found here—though I do not condone using Wikipedia as a trusted web source.)

Happy Labor Day!
Emily Noel