Run & Bass Anyone?
Yes, you read it correctly. I am about to tell you to check out a little sample Drum & Bass playlist I made recently and no, I am not currently on a molly binge and going to underground herd immunity raves. The true story is far lamer. I simply started jogging and… I hate jogging. But with a lot of the gyms basically being declared Corona Virus breeding grounds, I came to the conclusion that running was going to have to be the best workout that I can easily do given the unprecedented circumstances.
But like I said, I hate running. So, I started playing around with some songs in my library to see which songs would be the perfect fit to help me thru the dread of running. I first tried some “rock”. I tried some old school metal like Megadeth. BPM’s were on point and that is a huge key for me as I need some fast BPM’s to push the pace for me. The only problem is that I am already screaming at myself in my head to stop, so I don’t need a satanic overlord screaming at me as well.
So, I thought what else as high BPM’s but sounds a little less aggressive? Drum and bass. I type it in to Spotify and what do you know? Spotify has an already curated playlist called “Run & Bass”. (Now that I have deep dived, I highly recommend just using the “Drum & Bass” playlist. Has much better songs IMO). This for me was the perfect fit. But of course, as is the case with every playlist, you start to hear songs that you don’t like. So I started to curate a separate Drum & Bass playlist that suits my taste better and if your curious then check them out.
“Time To Let Go” – Metrik
This song has such an epic opening. It has great harmonious synths that lead way to an equally harmonious robot sounding singer. The BPM’s are up there and stay that way for the duration of the song. Metrik, aka Tom Mundell, is from London, the heart of the Drum & Bass scene, where he has been producing since 2007. This song can be found off his latest album released in June of 2020 entitled “Ex Machina”.
“Machina” - Wilkinson
This song starts out with a flurry of electronic fuzz and BPM’s and doesn’t let up until about the 2 min mark, where it proceeds to erupt all over again. Wilkinson also hails from London and is considered to be one of the most successful stars in dance music. “Machina” is a single that was released in 2019. Wilkinson has only 3 albums to his name but they have an unusually immense amount of tracks on each one.
“Siren” – Sub Focus
This song starts out with a sort of ominous intensity that builds up into what I would call a grinding fuzz synth that coupled with the fast BPM’s, creates the perfect intense song for running. I really liked that timbre and its what attracted to me to this song. Sub focus is another Drum & Bass DJ hailing from you guessed it, England. “Siren” is off his 2009 self-entitled album.
“If We Ever” Unglued Remix – High Contrast, Unglued
This song is what I consider to be a more “traditional” Drum & Bass song, as it has more melodic singing parts built around heavy fuzz synth and fast BPM’s. This remix enabled Unglued to burst onto the scene and is now considered one of the genre’s up and coming talents.
“Tap Ho” A.M.C Remix – TC, A.M.C
This is without a doubt one of the more intense songs on the list. It starts with a very ominous intro, complete with horns and sirens. Then proceeds to erupt with a sort of high pitch fuzz coupled with high BPM’s and immediately goes into build ups and drops rapidly. Yet another artist hailing from the Old Country, A.M.C has been around since 2007 and is considered to embody a more traditional Drum & Bass style.