Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

playlist: in da club

I’ve been starting to make regular use of the gym in my office, going at least twice a week, and I think one of the big things that keeps me going is my newly-minted “Workout” playlist on my iPod. I try to time my steps on the treadmill or elliptical to the beats in the fast-paced songs, and the result is a fairly intense workout.

I’ve also found that it’s a lot easier to mark time with the iPod than with the display on the cardio machines. Going in song-by-song increments (“Three minutes left in this song. I can do that.”) rather than watching the interminable “tick down from 25 minutes” timer on the machine is a lot less intimidating. And peppy music is so much more motivating, anyway.

The playlist: (The order of songs always changes, as the playlist is set on “shuffle.”)

• “Diggin’ Your Scene” by Smash Mouth - I’ve been starting my workouts lately with this song. It was featured in two episodes of Alias, and always gets me in the right “kick butt” frame of mind.
• “Da Funk” by Daft Punk - Awesome beat, but uber-repetitive, actually — to the point where I’m always wondering halfway through, “Is this thing over yet?”
• “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters - Featured on Dan and Vickie’s wedding playlist. Great pace, and some good interludes in the song to help break things up.
• “Song 2” by Blur
• “Unified” by G Love and Special Sauce
• “Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Goops
• “Hate to Say I Told You So” by The Hives
• “Cish Cash” by Basement Jaxx
• “Vertigo” by The Libertines
• “Out of Zone” by Marbles
• “They” by Jem
• “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes

(Note: The title of this playlist is a reference to a New York Times story about “shuffle” mode on the iPod. In a ridiculous quote, one man interviewed said that when he’s at the gym, his iPod seems to just know when he needs to hear “In Da Club” by 50 Cent so he can take his workout to the next level.)