Music Recommendations for Outdoor Adventures
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There are some albums and songs I always return to in certain moods, and my mood is highly influenced by the season, weather, scenery, or outdoor-adventure-related activity I’m engaged in. I don’t listen to music when I hike because I want to hear what’s going on around me and I believe it to be a safety and awareness concern. So, the music below isn’t broken down into playlists for specific sports. Instead, it’s broken down into environments and states of mind. These aren’t my only all-time favorite songs (you can find some of those here), but this represents some of the music that plays a part in my nomadic life.
*Albums are in italics, songs are in “quotes”.
For Driving Through Long Stretches of Desert
When I’m driving 80mph down a long, dark highway with no-one else around, particularly in deserted areas of West Texas, Northern Arizona, or Southern California, I always need a badass psychedelic soundtrack that makes me feel like I’m on a motorcycle instead (just make sure to download them ahead of time, as we all know how cell reception can be in the likes of Death Valley or Big Bend). Some of my favorite albums/tracks to achieve this fantasy:
The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream
Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf ; Era Vulgaris
Thee Oh Sees – Orc ; Carrion Crawler/The Dream
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo ; Wrong Creatures
The Dead Weather – Horehound
Dion Lunadon – Dion Lunadon
Savages – Silence Yourself
MXMS – “Gravedigger”
For a Crisp, Clear, Beautiful Winter’s Day
On days like this I’m often in a quiet, peaceful, timeless mood. Snow and crisp air make me think of eras gone by, people we keep close, and where we’re all headed. My playlists tend to get folksier by the minute.
Fleet Foxes – “Mykonos”, “White Winter Hymnal”
The Acorn – “Crooked Legs”
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest, especially “Southern Point” and “Two Weeks”
Tallest Man On Earth – “Love Is All”, “Rivers”, “The Gardener”
Maps & Atlases – “Solid Ground”
Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
Father John Misty – “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
Bad Books – II, especially “Lost Creek”
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing
Circa Survive – “In Fear And Faith”
For a Terrifying, Cold, Dark Winter’s Day
When winter stops being cozy and leans more towards brutal, it’s time to get into a little noise and black metal.
Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis ; Abyss ; Unknown Rooms
Prurient – Bermuda Drain ; Time’s Arrow
The Soft Moon – Deeper
A Place To Bury Strangers – Transfixiation
Swans – The Seer ; Holy Money/A Screw
Liturgy – Aesthetica, especially “Generation”
For A Sunny, Reflective Stroll, or Feeling that the World is Open and Full of Possibilities
When everything is glittering and the sun coming through the leaves makes patterns on the sidewalk.
The Tallest Man On Earth – “King of Spain”
of Montreal – “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games”
Amy Winehouse – “Valerie” (has to be the Live at the BBC version)
Father John Misty – “Chateau Lobby #4”, “I’m Writing a Novel”
Nina Simone – “Feeling Good”
Tame Impala – “Solitude is Bliss”
Alt-J – “Breezeblocks”, “Left Hand Free”, “Tessellate”
Maps & Atlases – “Israeli Caves”
Nurses– Dracula
Beach Vibes
I’m not a big surf-rock person, but these artists hit on that relaxed, breezy vibe without being corny.
Allah-Las – Allah-Las ; Calico Review
Los Tones – Psychotropic
Dan Auerbach – Waiting on a Song, especially “Malibu Man”
The Growlers – City Club
Feeling like an Outlaw on Some Kind of Backroad
This is similar to the desert driving category, but a little slower, a little sneakier. This isn’t when I’m busting 80mph, this is when I’m creeping through some old swamp town, population 100, definitely once a hideout for Bonnie and Clyde. I also found someone else’s playlists on Spotify that work well here, one called “Southern Gothic” and one called “Swamp Gothic“.
The Kills – Keep On Your Mean Side
Tom Waits – “How’s It Gonna End”, “Clap Hands”
Nick Cave – “Red Right Hand”
Black Lips – “Interlude: Got Me All Alone”
Colter Wall – “Sleeping on the Blacktop”
Me And That Man – “My Church is Black”
Steve Earle – “Meet Me In The Alleyway”
Caught A Ghost – “No Sugar in my Coffee”
The Dead Weather – “No Horse”, “Mile Markers”
Rocco de Luca – “Dope”
Gin Wigmore – “Written in the Water”
Phantogram – “Cruel World”
For Running
I pick my running playlists based on BPM. Many of these are at about the pace I tend to run, or they have a breakdown somewhere towards the end where it speeds up and encourages me to jack up the pace. Sometimes it’s about the motivational sentiment (for instance, I Feel Love Every Million Miles reminds me every step isn’t going to be rewarding, sometimes it takes a few miles to reach a pay off).
Man Man – “Piranhas Club”, “Knuckle Down”
Kendrick Lamar – “DNA”, “Alright”, “Humble”
The Mars Volta – “Drunkship of Lanterns”
IDLES – Brutalism (the entire album), plus the tracks “Never Fight a Man with a Perm”, “Colossus”, and “I’m Scum” from Joy As An Act of Resistance
Brockhampton – “Sister/Nation”, “Alaska”, “Stupid”, “Hottie”, “Rental”
Tame Impala – “The Bold Arrow of Time”
Smashing Pumpkins – “X.Y.U.”
Dillinger Escape Plan – “Prancer”, “When I Lost My Bet”, “Hero of the Soviet Union”
My Chemical Romance – “Headfirst for Halos (Live)”, “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us”
HEALTH – Get Color ; “Hard To Be A God”
The Growlers – “I’ll Be Around”
The Dead Weather – “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)”
Bear Vs. Shark – “Catamaran”
Temples – Sun Structures
When You Didn’t Make the Summit or Hit a New PR
Who cares, you rule anyway. Get cocky.
Edith Piaf – “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”
Lizzo – “Good As Hell”
Santigold – “Can’t Get Enough of Myself”
M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”
Rihanna – “Bitch Better Have My Money”
Big Sean – “I Don’t F*ck With You”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Thrift Shop”
The White Stripes – “Ball and Biscuit”
My Chemical Romance – “Give Em Hell, Kid”, “Thank You For The Venom”
Anything by Beyonce
On a Plane or Train Ride, Unsure of Why
Looking blankly out the window, neither here nor there, as the trees fly by.
Jack Kerouac or other spoken word poetry
Who are your favorite artists to listen to while traveling or enjoying the outdoors? Do you listen to something specific to get you pumped for your sport, or to play in the background as you settle in for a cozy mountain evening?
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Was looking for new music, so I read this just in time!
What a cool idea! I’ve always wanted to organize my playlists like this… Now I don’t have to!
Hope you find some new favorites!
Love this post! I want to go and check out all the tunes…love the idea of creeping through a backtown to The Kills!
It is my belief that The Kills were not born like we mere humans, but materialized out of the ether to answer their calling to be the physical embodiment of this vibe
Love these lists! But, gotta be honest, my fave is "when you didn’t make the summit or hit a new PR" 🙂 Could’ve used that when I forgot my crampons for winter hiking in Norway. Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh noooo, the worst! Hope you were able to buy some once you got there haha
Okay, so these are all awesome. I just popped the if you don’t make the summit list on while I was cleaning the kitchen. It works well as a "get this boring housework done" list!
I have to admit, though, I don’t think I could listen to cold, dark winters day songs on a terrifying day – it would make it even more scary. I think I’d hide in some sunnier music! 😉
Lol yeah, noise and black metal are rarely known to lift anyone’s spirits! Unless it’s Deafheaven maybe, the album Sunbather has some sparkle