I’ve been thinking a lot about music and exercise lately.  I’ve accumulated about 90 minutes of exercises (much of it from physical therapy as I’ve hurt various body-parts playing soccer, or softball, or working on the house); and I do these at home, before anyone else in the house is up, and therefore in silence.  Fine.  But then I swim a mile, in a 25-yard pool, which may be great exercise but can also be quite tedious. 

So I was glad to receive a waterproof mp3 player for Christmas.  The question now is: what to put on it?  Looking at various playlists I’ve created for my iPod, I see that a lot of my favorite songs aren’t suited to the purpose of synchronizing and perhaps enhancing my swimming.  So I’ve made a first pass through my iTunes and come up with the following playlist. 

Track               time      artist                             album

Mea Culpa      4:58     David Byrne & Brian Eno         My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Shakes          3:18      Yo La Tengo                         Prisoners Of Love                                           

Wolf Like Me   4:41     TV On The Radio                   Return To Cookie Mountain    

Violet             3:24      Hole                                    Live Through This        

The Crystal Cat3:53     Dan Deacon                          Spiderman of the Rings                        

Constructive Summer    2:56     The Hold Steady        Stay Positive    

Stronger         5:14      Kanye West                          Graduation      

99 Problems   4:07      Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse       The Grey Album          

Ike & Tina      3:39      Jamie T                                 Panic Prevention          

Salt, Peppa And Spinderella     3:06     Johnny Foreigner          Single              

Galang           3:35      M.I.A.                                   Arular  

Humdrum Town 3:31    Theophilus London                  Green Label Sound      

Mr. November   3:57     The National                           Alligator          

Cumbion de las aves  4:45  Chancha via Circuito         Rio Arriba       

I haven’t had a chance to test it, since my pool was closed last week, but I’ll try it this week and report back.  I know it's too long; and I suspect that songs like Kanye West’s “Stronger,” which I’d normally not dial up on the old iPod, will work really well here.  Whereas the first four tracks may end up being too similar rhuthmically… I also suspect the Columbian sounds of the Argentine DJ Chancha via Circuito might want to lead in a whole different direction, but let’s see what happens. 

All I can say is, I’m looking forward to a new kind of synchronized swimming. 

What music pushes you through your workout?  Leave a comment.