Comments on: Slow songs with fast spurts (and vice versa)

Question: Slow songs with fast spurts (and vice versa)

yankeefog — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:31:05 -0800

What (preferably good) songs shift back and forth between fast and slow? I'm trying to put together an iPod playlist for a workout that goes back and forth between slow, steady jogging and spurts of sprinting. (Yeah, I know--I could just alternate slow songs and fast songs--but then the tempo would only shift every 3 minutes or so.) All genres are welcome, although I have a slight bias towards either jazz/swing or indie rock for this particular mix.

By: knave

knave — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:34:45 -0800

Radiohead's Paranoid Android.

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:45:48 -0800

Maybe not ideal, but it truly is a funny song that pokes fun at songs that shift tempo: The Grunge Song by Radio Free Vestibule. Worth a download if you can find it... (or, of course, a purchase)

By: samh23

samh23 — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:46:28 -0800

This is in neither of your genre choices, but Deee-Lite's Bring Me Your Love is very groovy.

By: arco

arco — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:46:41 -0800

It's not jazz or indie rock, but Underworld's "Born Slippy" comes to mind.

By: tristeza

tristeza — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:46:47 -0800

"Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" by Modest Mouse

By: ldenneau

ldenneau — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:48:40 -0800

"Fly" by Groove Collective.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:53:22 -0800

"Your Cover's Blown" by Belle and Sebastian. It's always on my mp3 player for gym use.

By: googly

googly — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:55:55 -0800

"Angel of Death" by Slayer.

"Unchallenged Hate" by Napalm Death.

Sure, they are nowhere near your preferred genres, and you'll probably laugh so hard from the captain caveman vocals that you can't run at all. But you really can't beat grindcore for abrupt changes from slow to fast. (Really, really fast in the case of Napalm Death).

By: togdon

togdon — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:57:47 -0800

Outside of a mix... Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place is 45 minutes of instrumental music that describes exactly what you're looking for. I've worked out to it a few times with varied results.

I find that I get too aggressive when I work out to anything that's not Hip-Hop/Funky/Electronic. Guitars make me work out the demons.

By: stevil

stevil — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:58:04 -0800

Songs from grade 7 dances included "Come Sail Away" by Styx and "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zep and perhaps "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf. Did you slow dance or did you fast dance?

This awkward challenge (weren't they all?) of pre-pubescent clutching was given a nice tribute, by the way, in the first episode of Freaks and Geeks.

By: nitsuj

nitsuj — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:01:11 -0800

Anything by the now defunct Sweep The Leg Johnny - lots of odd tempos. A good mix of jazz and indie rock. (also see ZZZZ.)

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:01:12 -0800

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Also Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meatloaf. It doesn't have a rapid switch but rather a slow rise then rapid drop off.

Both are wicked long tough so if your looking for variety they may not fit the bill.

By: lalalana

lalalana — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:09:47 -0800

I like to jog to Elvis Costello and The Pixies. Quite a few of those songs meet your criteria.

By: cmyk

cmyk — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:15:17 -0800

Afro-Celt Soundsystem's 'Rise Above It.' Starts out trancey, ends with an energetic mess of violins and African chanting.

I can't imagine anyone working out to 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Halfway through they'd stop whatever they were doing to sing along. Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango!

By: rkent

rkent — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:17:16 -0800

"Bubblehouse," by Medeski Martin and Wood.

By: mdn

mdn — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:20:25 -0800

Arcade Fire's Wake Up kinda has that goin' on, though I dunno if it'd be a good workout song... prob not enough of the high energy side. I feel like there's an Arab Strap song that fits that bill too but apparently I didn't make a note of it in my iTunes (I have a folder for uppers and downers, but not one for speedballs :) - but I remember rejecting songs that otherwise woulda been in the fast or slow lists if not for the part where they switch gears...)

By: pwb503

pwb503 — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:22:26 -0800

Pretty much anything by Mogwai should satisfy what you're looking for.

By: Monk

Monk — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:28:33 -0800

It's Oh So Quiet (alternate title: Blow A Fuse) originally by Betty Hutton in the '40s and covered by Björk. Might fit with the jazzy/swing feel.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:31:46 -0800

Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"

By: Cosine

Cosine — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:52:33 -0800

Wow, can't believe no one mentioned The Velvet Underground's 'Heroin' yet, the absolute king of the slow/fast/slow

By: bibbit

bibbit — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:53:13 -0800

Could using your iPod as a stopwatch like this work for what you want? Assuming you want to switch between fast and slow at timed intervals that are less than the length of an average song.... I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know - but it's an interesting idea.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:04:38 -0800

Along the lines of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, there's always Godspeed You Black Emperor. But let's not start the "post-rock" flamewar again....

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:38:39 -0800

"Trouble" by Pink. I know this because my spinning instructor uses it for that very purpose all the time.

By: kindall

kindall — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:45:58 -0800

Pretty obscure: "Things She Said" by Toy Matinee.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:49:37 -0800

Perfection: "I'm Not In Love" by Talking Heads, from More Songs About Buildings and Food. 30 seconds fast, 30 seconds slow, 30 fast, 30 slow, 30 fast, 30 slow, ending with 90 seconds of full-on Talking Heads jittery aggro genius.

You'll be panting by the end.

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:52:45 -0800

Tori Amos' "The Waitress" comes to mind.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:05:25 -0800

Pretty much anything by PJ Harvey after the first album. It's hardcore angry girl music with giant swings in intensity within songs, and her third album, "To Bring You My Love," is regularly cited as one of the best rock albums ever recorded.

By: Steve Simpson

Steve Simpson — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:10:05 -0800

Saucerful of Secrets - Pink Floyd (actually, a lot of Floyd suites would work; Echoes, Atom Heart Mother, Dogs, etc.)

More "jazzy":
The Ghost of Stephen Foster - Squirrel Nut Zippers

By: gfrobe

gfrobe — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:17:15 -0800

Not jazz or indie but recommend the medley on side two of Abbey Road by the Beatles.

By: dmo

dmo — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:22:23 -0800

"Mr. Pharmacist" by The Other Half (on one of Rhino's Nuggets collections), later covered by the Fall. "Crazy for you but not that crazy" by the Magnetic Fields on 69 Love Songs.

By: Dallasfilm

Dallasfilm — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:40:39 -0800

Nine Inch Nails - although that's more soft/loud.

There are some Jethro Tull songs that change tempos. Really, most prog rock bands fall in this category.

By: mullingitover

mullingitover — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 17:00:09 -0800

Nirvana - Milk It.

By: scody

scody — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 17:42:12 -0800

"Vienna" by Ultravox -- starts out all slow and atmospheric and coldly electronic, then the string section kicks in and it speeds up, then it goes back to the starting tempo, with a great crashing ultra-dramatic ending. Great fucking song.

By: aaronh

aaronh — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 17:55:32 -0800

"Fast as You Can" by Fiona Apple

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:42:00 -0800

It's not jazz or indie rock, but Underworld's "Born Slippy" comes to mind.

I don't think the tempo significantly varies in that song, but it just gets a lot softer, although the tempo is the same.

"Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple is a great suggestion, as it's quite jazzy in nature (as jazzy as alternative gets anyway).

I'd also suggest most of the Man With A Movie Camera album by the Cinematic Orchestra. It's modern jazz and there's a three-four track section with quite severe tempo changes (Odessa through Yoyo Waltz). "Work It" is an eight minute track with several tempo changes, mostly fast-slow, slow-fast.

Look towards modern jazz that has a drum'n'bass tip, they tend to have a lot of tempo changes in there. Or, well, drum'n'bass in general (the lighter side).

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:47:35 -0800

Spanish Key by Miles Davis. The tempo is rather ambiguous, and can be taken either way through most of the song. I feel it has obvious walking vs running sections, although the track is only short.

Blackjack by Tortoise. Jazz rock. Has a two-tone alternating bass line that makes it good for exercise, and a couple of shifts between regular and 16/8 time.

Or all indie rock... Inertiatic ESP by The Mars Volta. Roulette Dares by The Mars Volta. Eriatarka by The Mars Volta. Heck, just the whole De-loused in the Comatorium album! Those boys sure love changing tempo.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 20:05:46 -0800

The Pogues' "Fiesta"

By: fingers_of_fire

fingers_of_fire — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 22:24:18 -0800

You rock my world, knave. We'd be remiss if we left out the inspiration for Paranoid Android, Happiness is a Warm Gun by the Beatles.

By: attercoppe

attercoppe — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 22:58:45 -0800

A quick look through the ol' basket-o-mp3s gets:
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
or for more fun:
Smash-Up Derby - Smells Like Billie Jean

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
or again:
Smash-Up Derby - Talking Franz

Notice a trend here? Really, look for any mash-up that uses one or more slow songs and one or more fast songs (SUD happens to play them live)

But just plain songs:
Liam Lynch / Sifl & Oly - My United States of Whatever (guitarguitarguitar, talk talk, repeat, repeat, chorus)
Darud - Sand Storm (This might be called trip-hop? Several sections of varying BPMs, interspersed with breathers)
System of a Down - Chop Suey (0 to 80 to 0 to 10 to 120....good luck)
Ray Charles - What'd I Say
The Fiery Furnaces - Crystal Clear (my new favorite song)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Around the World

Definitely Bjork's "Oh So Quiet" - not huge tempo changes, but it's like the big jumpy around song truck and the sleepy-time train had a collision...

There's a lot like that - they don't necessarily change tempo so much but they go from low energy to RAWK!! and back:
Puddle of Mudd - She Hates Me
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
Linkin Park - Crawling
Disturbed - Down With the Sickness
RHCP - the whole Californication album, set to random play (but especially Get On Top, Parallel Universe, Easily, Emitremmus)
Dave Matthews - Ants Marching (and others)
Also maybe try some Sublime.
How about a selection of some short ska-type songs - some of the slower reggae style, some towards the punk end.
I'll second the Medeski, Martin, and Wood - and others similar.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:35:09 -0800

Sleeping in the Flowers by They Might Be Giants (from the John Henry album)

By: hototogisu

hototogisu — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 00:16:50 -0800

for a tempo distribution of slow-->fast-->over in under a short matter of time, try and find "Speedball" by Naked City...

By: Kololo

Kololo — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 00:49:26 -0800

I can't believe no one's mentioned Weezer. The blue album is almost all fast/slow/fast/slow; but then again wasn't this a ridiculously common thing during those mid-nineties 'alternative rock' years? Anything that gets parodied (The Grunge Song) has got to be pretty common?

By: grahamspankee

grahamspankee — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 04:20:12 -0800

Have a listen to old indie favourites Throwing Muses, their style was always to mix up tempos in a given song.

By: wackybrit

wackybrit — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 09:55:04 -0800

Darud - Sand Storm (This might be called trip-hop? Several sections of varying BPMs, interspersed with breathers)

I believe it's trance music.

Seconding Bjork's "Oh So Quiet" too.

By: vito90

vito90 — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 10:17:17 -0800

Second Franz Ferdinand - the self-titled CD has a couple songs like this in it, and its a kick-ass disc to boot.

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 10:21:05 -0800

most Nirvana, and, by extension grunge, takes this approach. I've always liked to run to Husker Du...

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 11:32:16 -0800

Art Star -- YeahYeahYeahs

Though this is more bouncy pop -- Hardcore -- bouncy pop -- Hardcore...

Definitely Godspeed you black emperor, but they're more crescendo-ey than fast-slow.

Teenage Riot -- Sonic Youth

By: icetaco

icetaco — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:07:54 -0800

Michael Franti/Spearhead: "Feelin' Free" goes to a very contrasting double-time for the chorus.

By: yankeefog

yankeefog — Thu, 05 May 2005 04:46:40 -0800

Thanks, all!