Flex Your Adrenaline
music to flex your adrenaline with hugh
featuring artists like
Tourist • Four Tet • Floating Points • Aphex Twin • Boards of Canada • Jon Hopkins • LCD Soundsystem
I felt a huge connection with this style of music when around 18 months ago, I made the jaw-dropping realisation that maybe I should start exercising. I signed up for a half-marathon with three months left to train having not run for roughly 10 years. This proved to be perhaps the best decision I have made in recent memory. I instantly fell in love with running, and before long, took to road cycling as well. Within a few months of signing up for this half-marathon whilst nursing a hangover in my student bedroom in Glasgow, I became a cardio addict.
With one small caveat. Regardless of where I was, how stunning the route was or how far I was pushing myself, I could barely move a yard without music in my ears. Finding the right music was an initial struggle. I was essentially raised on a steady diet of music which pushes the listener to ‘think’ – from Dylan to Debussy. One thing that seems to encapsulate all of these songs is the feeling of absence of thought; almost a feeling of being able to switch off one’s brain. This lack of distraction proved to be the perfect catalyst for tackling whatever cardio-related obstacle I had in front of me.
I soon came to the realisation that switching off your brain from time to time can sometimes be the sweetest remedy to whatever adversities one is faced with. I hope this playlist helps you do exactly that.
Opal (Four Tet Remix) – Bicep
20 January 2021
I absolutely love this song and, perhaps more so, the memories that come with it. It sends me back to some of the best days of my life, living in my student flat in Glasgow. Isn’t that such a great quality about music? I guess that’s what helped grow my profound love for this song.
Turnmills – Maribou State
13 January 2021
Whilst much of this album, Kingdoms In Colour, relies on featured artists for their vocal chops, it’s the instrumental interludes which got me hooked. ‘Turnmills’ is a fantastic example of how you can make a track sound electronic without the staple electronic instruments such as synths and drum machines.
Krack – Soulwax
30 November 2020
‘Krack’ is a great example of what Soulwax are all about – a unique combination of rock and electronica laden with pounding baselines and minimalistic vocal chops.
Let’s Just – Tommy Farrow
24 November 2020
The track moves along with a Frankie Knuckles-esque break beat, whilst cutting between synth pads and chopped vocal hooks which creates an atmosphere completely new to me.
Together We Stand (Wuh Oh Remix) – Wuh Oh
23 November 2020
Having been part of the Glasgow music scene over the past few years, it has been hard to look past the prodigious talent of electronic producer Peter Ferguson who performs under the moniker Wuh Oh. I first came across their work in the form of a track called ‘Stay Tuned’ – a piano led instrumental track with clear leanings towards jazz and funk, whilst still maintaining a perfect combination of lo-fi electronic and hip-hop…
Elixir – Tourist
3 November 2020
Perhaps my favourite artist of all time? Maybe? It is usually the answer I tend to give when I get asked that eternally annoying question.
Bloodflow – Grandbrothers
3 November 2020
Whilst combining acoustic elements like pianos and vocals is far from a new thing in electronic music, Grandbrothers do it with such finesse and balance that it feels like an entirely new breed.
