It’s only been a month since the first blizzard of the year in NYC, and I’ve already lost track of the number of Winter Weather Advisories issued by the National Weather Service. Sure, it looks light, and fluffy and innocent, and there are many among us who are keen on taking up a pair of skis or a sled, and pretending that it’s fun to frolic and glide when it’s freezing cold outside. Suit yourselves, snow people. I’ll be here at the bottom of the mountain, keeping the home fire burning, doing what I do best: making mixtapes, or playlists, as we call them in the 21st century.
For those of us inclined to hibernate, the solitude and confinement of winter requires sounds that are soft, meditative, and soothing; music that can make the shadows seem less long as the low-hanging sun of a February afternoon expires well before dinnertime. This is a time of turning inward, realizing personal truths, and discovering new light in dark memories. These ten songs will fall lightly around you, while warming your soul.
1. “Hunting Bears,” by Radiohead, from Amnesiac (2001)
From one of their more experimental projects comes this instrumental soundscape that is both soothing and haunting at once. Johnny Greenwood’s signature ambient styling’s are prominent with what sounds like metallic rubbing over a swooshing wind. It begs to be listened to both at a distance and up close. I have often thought some of the sounds in this track were coming from outside.
2. “All Mine,” Portishead, from Portishead (1997)
This legendary electronic orchestral group always makes for good indoor listening. There is a pulsing beat to this song over a bed of swirling echoes and brass samples, with Beth Gibbons’ whispering wail piercing through.
3. “Black Dove (January),” Tori Amos, from From The Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
Once upon a time, Tori struck a perfect balance of alienating and drawing us in. This song starts of with a gentle melody on a muted piano, with Amos’ breathy vocals, and then cracks open for the wailing chorus with a full ensemble of heavy electric guitar and percussion, until bridge when the keys come full force into the foreground. It tells the story of a rural woman living in the woods who is born down by the winter, and imagines a former life as a calendar girl and the fantastical lives elsewhere.
4. “Starving Robins,” by Horsefeathers, from Thistled Spring (2010)
This melody evolves slowly, creating a forward moving trajectory, starting with a soft violin, and a finger picked acoustic guitar, then Justin Ringle chimes in, singing a what is essentially a round of the same few lines, with images of frozen woods, “where the deer ate dying grass and hear when the starving robins asked ‘ Where’s the Spring?’” Add in a cello, banjo, and a simple churning bass drum, and this song is a wintery masterpiece.
5. “January Hymn,” by The Decemberists, from The King is Dead (2011)
Alongside Horsefeathers’ ‘Starving Robins’, these two songs are a perfect winter pair. This hymn is simple in its lyrical styling, citing the cooling of warm memories and the added weight of elusive April on a shovel as we clear away the snow.
6. “When You Knew Me When,” by Emily Arin, from Patch Of Land (2011)
From her upcoming, and highly anticipated, new album, this track kicks off with what I consider the quintessential snow sound – you heard it in both the Horsefeathers and The Decemberists songs – a finger-picked guitar that echoes lightly over a smooth cello or violin that create an embracing ambience. When snowed in, we’re often forced to face our old self. The lyrics here tell the story of found memories, as Emily has discovered a box of old letters and poetry.
7. “Fade Into You,” by Mazzy Star, from So Tonight That I might See (1993)
This 90s classic never loses its luster, with its acoustic chords over steel pedal, held down by a rhythmic piano, and sweet breathy vocals. This song is eternally infectious.
8. “Lua,’by Bright Eyes,”from I’m wide awake, It’s morning
Conor Oberst at his post-punk anti-folk best, with only an acoustic guitar and lyrics that cycle from one moment to the next, telling the story of a night of painful winter meandering in NYC, with a fraught lover.
9. “Trailer Trash,” by Modest Mouse, from The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) “Eating snowflakes with plastic forks/ and a paper plate of course – you think of everything…” This is perhaps the quintessential teen-angst theme, and a Modest Mouse classic that pre-dates our mainstream notion of this band. It perfectly embraces this bands signature lo-fi melodic sound that is so intricately layered, it takes on an orchestral grandeur.
10. “How To Pass The Time,” Atlas Sound, from Bedroom Databank, Vol. 4 (2010)
So let’s replace the violin/cello with a harmonica for this tune, and again a song about bearing the weight of old memories. The vocals are a gentle echo for most of the track, until the last verse when Bradford Cox seems to sit upright and forward, in revelation “I shoved them out/I shoved so hard/Tryin’ to keep my empty heart/ beating long enough to see/ there’s nothing to a memory.”
