***: Cold Weather Mix

This mixtape will be perfect for:

A. Not wanting to get out of bed

B. Seeing your breath outside

C. Lighting a backyard fire

D. Leaving your xmas lights up, despite the date

E. Ringing in a brand new year

Ah winter ... it is definitely here ... and although I was in Mobile at the time and didn't experience it personally, Birmingham had an actual white Christmas this year! Crazy! Anyway ... I'm serious concerning that bit up there about "Leaving your xmas lights up, despite the date" ... We are now in the dark, cold section of the year-wheel and I think it's absurd that folks tend to take down their lights simply because Christmas is over! Those lights are one of the few things that brighten this gloomy season and give us hope and cheer ... so leave em up til Spring arrives!!!

And concerning this particular mix, a few weeks ago on facebook I asked folks to help me come up with a list of albums and songs that they considered good "cold weather music" ... And boy did I get a list!!! Some of them I had heard / heard of ... but many listed albums I'd never laid ears on and it was quite a winter revelation finding those and giving them a listen!

I ended up making a mix of songs from a lot of the list ... and later I'm going to make a "part 2" because this one is really just the tip of the iceberg ... haha

So HERE is the 1st Cold Weather Mix ... May it warm yer ears and insides!

ENJOY!!!

and BELOW lies the list that I and many of my friends came up with:

COLD WEATHER MUSIC

me =

Radiohead - "Kid A"

Joy Division - "Unknown Pleasures"

Arcade Fire - "Funeral"

Deerhunter - "MIcrocastle"

Lisa Gerrard - "The Mirror Pool", "The Silver Tree"

Cocteau Twins - "Garlands"

The Residents - "Eskimo"

Bjork - "Vespertine"

Woodsman - "Indoor Days"

Bell Orchestre - "Recording A Tape the Colour of the Light"

Underworld - "2nd Toughest In The Infants"

The Cure - "Seventeen Seconds"

Ryan Hora =

scott walker - scott 3

nico - the marble index

beach house - beach house

Beth Ragland =

Nico - "Chelsea Girl"

Mimi Alidor =

anything Dead Can Dance

or Cocteau Twinny

Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal"

Colm Atkins =

Band of Horses

Ming Triplett =

‎"ghost tropic" songs: ohia

Jason Smith =

Swans - the burning world

Lucy Montgomery =

Nick Drake "Five Leaves Left"

talk talk "it's my life"

kate bush "hounds of love" (esp. side two/9th wave)

Eileen Kiernan =

sigur ros-takk

Steve Olson =

Grizzly bear - yellow house ...

Ladytron - light and magic

Delaine Derry Green =

India Song by Big Star

Silver trembling hands by flaming lips

Brian Rich =

The Cure's Disintigration (I can feel the icicles forming just thinking about it!)

my brightest diamond - bring me the workhorse

bjork - homogenic

portishead - self titled and third

J. Whitson =

Burzum

Johnny Gwin =

Anything by Brian Eno.

Rebecca Reynolds =

Sarah Slean "Blue Parade"

Decoder Ring- "More Than Scarlet"

Tori Amos- "Icicle"

Alex Kunzman =

Madonna's Erotica is a good one too. I don't know why I think that? Maybe b/c it was released in the winter, or b/c the sultry subject matter balances with the coldness of the electronic sounds...& frigid weather.

Laura Eason =

Depending on what kind of "cold" you're going for...Nirvana's "Bleach" comes to mind.

John Wendel =

Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding"

Midlake's "The Trials of Van Occupanther"

Galaxy 500's "Peel Sessions"

Gary Lee =

any Jandek album

Ulver's 'Blood Inside' album

Laura Ledbetter =

"This Bliss" by Pantha Du Prince

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In music news, my band Nowhere Squares is opening up for the amazing Man Or Astroman for New Year's Eve, which is THIS FRIDAY nite ...We're SOOOO excited!!!

And I dunno if you remember, but last Tuesday there was a total lunar eclipse ... and because it occurred here at 5 o'clock in the morning, I missed it ... but HEY!!! Lloyd Bricken posted this video of it (cheers!) and it's pretty astounding ... Looky! =

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Oh yeah ... On another "wintertime" note, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox recently posted this pretty awesome single called Artificial Snow.

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So, my xmas holidays were pretty fun ... The nite before xmas eve, Peter gave Ryan & I some beer and 2 bundles of firewood as gifts, so we had a lovely blazing backyard fire that evening, despite the freezing coldness! The next day I drove down to Mobile to be with my family and exchange presents and visit Elise and her family ... Pascal and his girlfriend Faye even showed up ... so did Angel ... yay! There was much game-playing and plenty of crazy karaoke singing ...

The next day I drove up to be with Ryan again and that nite we went to the theatre and saw Darren Aronofsky's new movie, "Black Swan" which was amazing and mental and truly nightmarish all at once ... I reeeeaaally enjoyed it!

Here's the trailer =