Music week: Songs to sweat by

Update: I've added YouTube links to the songs, so you'll get an idea of what they sound like.

The first installment of Music Week involves the songs I listen to when I'm working out (they work as a secondary soundtrack to cleaning the apartment too).

I need loud music with a consistent beat to keep rhythm while I run, or work out in general. I can change my pace with these songs while keeping up with the beat, and still enjoy the music whether I’m outside or at the gym. It’s also one of the few times you’ll catch me listening to rap or techno.
1. List of Demands (Reparations) - Saul Williams
I first heard this song on a Nike commercial, and refused to rest until I found out who sang it. I mean, it has a fitness apparel commercial endorsement. If that's not enough to motivate you, you might be dead.

2. Hysteria - Muse
Not only does this song kick ass on Rockband, it also gives me motivation to run faster. The beat changes up a little, but the tempo always stays on track for keeping a great pace when I'm running. Awesome, gritty guitar with altered vocals.

3. I'm Me - Lil' Wayne
It’s rap. And, it’s Lil’ Wayne. Both I can only take so much of, but this guy’s arrogant, better-than-thou lyrics go along with the consistent beat to create a more-than-tolerable workout song. A little slower than some hip-hop, I find it hard to skip this song because I can sing along too.

4. Black Tongue - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen O. can rock, and she sounds like an angry bitch. On top of that, drums keep the beat with more distorted guitar.

5. Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy
Along with Daft Punk, Prodigy usually offers some pretty decent techno songs. I usually only listen to them when I feel like dancing drunk, or want to work out. I picked Prodigy because they're an old love -- Fat of the Land was the first CD I ever bought on my own (along with TLC's CrazySexyCool.)

6. Sleep Now in the Fire - Rage Against the Machine
Anything by Rage better make you angry. What better motivation than being pissed off at something – regardless if it’s a co-worker or country.

7. Heresy - NIN
GRRR. I can feel my feet pounding with every step on this song. If I heard it driving, I might start going 80 mph (highway OR side street), but this just makes me go faster on foot.

8. The Creator – Santogold
With a voice similar to Karen O. from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santogold also sounds pretty pissed off. This song’s also got a little bit of techno, a slower beat and some tribal drums. Good when you need to find a flow.

9. Till I Collapse – Eminem
This song motivates you. I was first introduced to Eminem when I heard the Marshall Mathers LP up-north at a friends cottage at the tender age of 16. I bought it immediately when I got home. For the most part, I had hung him up on the shelf, because I played out that and the other subsequent albums. I partly blame MrB for talking about Eminem a whole lot over the last month, but it helped me go back and listen to a few of the better songs I haven’t heard in awhile, including this one.

10. Stronger – Kanye West
This song made it because it incorporates a hip-hop beat along with Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” Techno can become droning with the same beat over and over, and over – but this song has an even amount of both electronic sounds. Add comprehensible lyrics (vs. DP), which usually help avoid getting sick of a song.

Runner’s Up: Fuel – Metallica; Anti Matter – N.E.R.D.; Touch It/Technologic – Daft Punk; Positive Tension – Bloc Party; No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age; Sober – Tool