Ratatat - Ratatat

Mixes of electronic and rock rarely end up being as fun as this album was. The mix of electronically produced bass and guitars gives the band a lot of flexibility. The way Ratatat present their guitars just makes them sound so different then many other bands. Even though the album lacks vocals and really never picks up any hooks to speak of it still has many pop sensibilities that will make the songs get stuck in your head in no time. It provides a really awesome workout experience and is just a really enjoyable album all around.

Calories: 353.8
Distance: 2.87mi

Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye

So This Is Goodbye continues what Junior Boys had began on Last Exit, which is to say beautifully composed minimalist electropop. While I came away from this album slightly mixed fitness-wise, I definitely loved the sound this album presented me. Most of the songs never pass 110bpm, but that isn't a bad thing in the context of the album. The slowness of the album almost made it a point for me to never want to break pace, because the album itself almost never did.

If you know what you're getting yourself into with this album, expect to come out loving it.

Calories: 363.9
Distance: 3.00mi

Caribou - Andorra

I have always enjoyed Snaith's work, and this album is no exception. Andorra provides a mix of psychedelic folk with electronic beat structures, and for the most part it works well in a fitness sense and a musical sense. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with just how well this album made me feel while working out.

Calories: 284.2
Distance: 2.58mi

Deerhunter - Microcastle

Microcastle is my second album experience with Deerhunter, a sort of indie rock and shoegaze band. This album leans back to their more shoegazey roots and provides a lot of beautifully arranged songs that are for the most part very mellow. This doesn't particularly lend itself too well to exercise as I had hoped it would. One song though really stands out as a great workout song. "Nothing Ever Happened" is almost a preview for what you would hear on their next album, Halcyon Digest. It was really the only song I would recommend for such a setting.

I would suggest Halcyon Digest to anyone wanting to get into Deerhunter, as I think it is a brilliant album.

Calories: 290.0
Distance: 2.54mi

The National - Boxer

Boxer blasts out of the gate with some really great post-punk songs that really got me to run consistently fast and has so far provided me with my best one mile run time. Unfortunately after the first 4 songs, the album ended up falling back on The National's indie rock roots. Even though the later songs are very well orchestrated, I couldn't help but feel disappointed with the slow down. I was hoping Boxer might at least go out with a bang like on their previous album, Alligator, but sadly it did not.

Though I was left disappointed, the album still gave me a good workout.

Calories: 342.3
Distance: 2.78mi

The Strokes - Room On Fire

Room On Fire does what I expected it to do. Having already listened to their previous album, Is This It, I knew pretty much what I was getting myself into. What I did not expect was that it would do a really good job at providing both a sonically pleasing album and an album I could easily workout to. Even if it isn't the flawless gem its predecessor is, it's still a great album.

Calories: 275.0
Distance: 2.15mi

Girls - Broken Dreams Club

I sort of lazily walked through this EP, I have to admit. I don't really know what I expected to be honest. I know that Girls can perform more uptempo songs, but this EP definitely does not show that. It has a lot of twangy guitar and it is quite soothing. Soothing doesn't really work for running though. It wasn't a horrible workout experience, but definitely not a perfect one either. Left me feeling really mixed.

Calories: 166.0
Distance: 1.73mi