Wintery Mix
my top 10 records for this frosty time of the year.
Happy Blue Monday, friends. The official “most depressing day of the year”. I made sure to play some New Order this morning, which had me dancing more than weeping but I get the sentiment: January is tricky. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to embrace it. But as a kid, and especially as a teen, this post-holiday month always felt too long and filled with this sense of now what? Working a corporate job in my 20s also didn’t help the case for January as anyone who has stepped into an ice puddle off a curb in New York City on the way to work can relate. But circumstances don’t change just because we all find ourselves kicked into a new year, so I’ve adapted my mindset, focusing on what I like about the first month of the year with introspection, retrospection, and of course, music.
Here are my Top 10 albums that help me ease into the year one spin at a time.
The Pentangle’s self-titled debut.
I discovered this late-60s English folk album when I lived in Olympia, WA attending Evergreen State College. On a rainy winter’s day back from the holidays, I’d accompanied a friend off-campus to visit her friend who lived in a one-story house off edge of the forest. Wood-paneled walls and a working fireplace, we sat on a warm hardwood floor drinking chai, eating ginger cookies and listening to this album that’s a mix of folk, jazz and blues supported by honeyed vocals by Jacqui McShee. Sitting there reminded me of something Kurt Cobain had once said when he lived in Olympia, WA and how sitting on a hardwood floor and in his case, eating imitation crab, made him feel sophisticated. I smiled recalling his memory and attaching it to my own, as I was doing the same thing in the same town, except my version, I suppose was the “hippie version.” Highlights: “Here My Call” and '“Bells”
Mary Timony Mountains
Haunting vocals and stark production with medieval and mystical themes, Mountains defines winter to me. I bought this CD used at Amoeba my first winter in L.A. Being it was 2003 when culture was really leaning into that ultra-photoshopped/mile-long extensions pop star look, the minimalist album art of Mountains stood out to me with the Helium-alum practically daring me to check out her solo work. For 4.99 used, I dared and in turn, I loved. That year we did get a few weeks of clouds and lower temperatures, giving the album the visuals it demands even if I was driving through the Sunset Strip with the Standard Hotel having nothing to do with the harpsichords and drop-tuned guitars of Mountains. But I made it work. Last year I bought the 20th anniversary edition on vinyl as it is now a seasonal favorite for my family, especially my son who can play the opening track on the piano. I smile reflecting on what 21-year-old me driving my 600 dollar Subaru would have thought about that. I think she would have loved it. Highlights: “Whisper from a Tree”, “Dungeon Dance”, and “Poison Moon”.
Madonna Bedtime Stories
I’m not too cool for a pop record. When pop is done in a way that doesn’t fucking insult my intelligence like rhyming rain with pain, I’m all for it. Madonna’s Bedtime Stories is a prime example of pop done correctly with elements of hip-hop, R&B and 90s-house with its deep baselines and electronic textures. It also helps that Babyface part-produced it and Björk wrote the titular track giving the record some added cool kid points as well as securing its classification of being a truly timeless album. I put this on when I just want to move in my wool socks while making soup or making a cozy Saturday night in with my family feel festive with the opening track “Survival” setting the mood. Highlights: “Survival”, “I’d Rather Be Your Lover”, “Bedtime Story”, and “Take a Bow”.
Björk Homogenic
And speaking of Björk, this leads me to my next pick, Homogenic. Admittedly, I do not own this on vinyl. Yet. I save this album for cold days not because of the Islandic songstress’s heritage or the winter goddess cover, but for its profound storytelling that is winter. It explores feelings of triumph, desperation, disenchantment and survival, which for me, evokes this image of trudging through a wintery forest only to come out the other side a stronger person. Surviving the emotions of winter, no matter where you are, always feels like an achievement and this album captures this odyssey with its uniquely Björkian fusion of sounds and imagery. Highlights: “Hunter”, “Joga”, and “Bachelorette”.
Goat Girl All Fours
Whenever a vinyl friend comes to our house and stumbles across this record, they often mistake it for something much harder than it is. Looking at the cover, I can understand the confusion. But despite the provocative cover and title, it’s actually one of the most soothing albums I own, rivaling Air in terms of music I’d describe as atmospheric. Although it sounds nothing like the French duo but when I’m looking for electronic textures that are melodically rich with dreamy harmonies, it can hold up to our friends from Versailles. I discovered this album by the the all-female English group in the weird winter 2021. I needed something new that didn’t fuel me with false hope nor exploit the uncertain, subdued energy of the time with a timely-released “sweater-weather” album. No, this album struck me as sincere, confronting hard subjects but wrapped in melodies that provided a sense of comfort, almost whispering the assurance that this too shall pass. Highlights: “Pest”, “Bang”, “Where Do We Go From Here?”
Father John Misty Chloe and the Next 20th Century
Father John Misty was the first concert I attended sober, after decades of using shows as an excuse to get semi-blitzed. Only nine weeks into my journey, I felt vulnerable approaching this event. Would I feel a pull to go to the bar? Would it be less fun? What if, what if. Walking into Salle Pleyel off the rainy streets of Paris that frosty winter’s eve, it felt like I was almost wearing my new identity, a scarlet letter if you will, as I passed the bar. But as soon as the show started, my concerns for what I now recognize as a newfound freedom, began to fade. Opening with “The Next 20th Century”, the final track from the touring album sent a chill down my arm, and still does thinking about it as it was one of the best show openers I’d ever seen. Dark, cinematic, cynical, orchestral. It was unlike anything I’d experienced. Looking around the room, I saw the vibe was shared with everyone practically hypnotized, swaying as if having an out-of-body experience to the moody melody, making me feel like we were extras in a scene at The Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. It was then I knew I didn’t need the bar; I needed music. This album marked a departure from FJM’s signature singer-songwriter sound, taking notes perhaps from The Great American Songbook. It reminds me that despite habits and identities we’ve attached ourselves to, change is always possible. Highlights: “Everything But Her Love”, “Q4” and “The Next 20th Century”.
Cate Le Bon Pompeii
Oh, this is a dreamy one. If freshly fallen snow could have a sound, it would be this. I discovered this one upon its release in the winter of 2022 and it was love-at-first listen. I don’t have an exact anecdote to the album other than this is what I listen to on my daily walks through the forest this time of year. And while we’re on the topic of The Roadhouse, this album feels akin to the club’s resident performer Julee Cruise, hitting those ethereal high notes that feel like walking into a dream sequence. In the forest. While questioning the intentions of owls. Maybe it’s just me. Highlights: “Pompeii”, “French Boys”, “Remembering Me”.
Deerhunter Halcyon Digest
While spring time typically draws me towards psych-garage (as well as Motown), Deerhunter’s Halcyon Digest stands out as a notable exception. Capturing an intimate yet expansive sound, it blends all elements I lean into which are indie rock, psychedelia, and pop. This record feels like a preview, or even a promise to brighter, sunnier days while maintaining a deeply introspective experience that’s imperative to winter. Highlights: “Revival”, “Memory”, “He Would Have Laughed”.
Phish Rift
Senior year. Driver’s license. Snow. And a guy I liked. There’s a more to the story, which I’ll share in its own post but this album was the spark of my first meaningful relationship that started with eyes at a Phish show and then a snowy day in the student parking lot. Highlights: “It’s Ice”, “Horn”, “Horse” into “Silent in the Morning”.
And now for the mother of all winter albums…
Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell
This album deserves its own post as it’s one of the most significant records I own, which is saying quite a lot considering I discovered it only five years ago. Usually, such grandiose descriptions are reserved for albums encountered during those formative, impressionable years that shape our musical journey. But every so often, an album comes along that you realize slipped through the cracks, making you wonder how that even happened. Dramatic? Yes. But fitting when the album in question is Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens, one of the most emotionally charged records out there. An intimate portrait of grief and love, it chronicles the singer-songwriter’s journey through his estranged mother’s death. Through poignant storytelling, he weaves the past with the present from summers with siblings to dismissive lovers who text, all delivered with haunting beauty and emotional depth. Tangible visuals and relatable themes makes this album feel incredibly personal to so many of us. But also, only Sufjan Stevens could turn subjects like masturbating, lemon yogurt and Holiday Inns into poetic gold. Highlights: The entire album.
And that’s a wrap. For further exploration, check out my playlist of select songs from this Top 10. Stay warm literally and emotionally, my friends.
That's an eclectic group of albums you have there. Some (Homogenic, Rift) are old friends. Others (All Fours, Chloe and the 20th Century, Carey & Lowell) may become good friends in future.
Here are a few winter favorites of mine:
...And Then There Were Three... by Genesis
This is a transitional album in the Genesis catalog. The group finally shrank down to the trio that it would become in the 1980's and began to embrace a more pop sensibility, but the album is still prog heavy; Phil Collins has yet taken to writing his first batch of real songs; and Mike Rutherford is still trying to find his way as both bassist and lead guitarist. The winter accent comes from two songs: Undertow by Tony Banks, that evokes winter imagery amid looming emotional conflict, and Snowbound by Mike Rutherford, that almost creates a Peter Bruegel The Elder winter painting in song. Another favorite is Scenes From A Night's Dream that draws on the imagery of the Little Nemo comics by Windsor McKay.
December by George Winston
This is a spare solo piano record that's always left me with feeling the cold of snowy winter. Some tracks remind me of the moody silence that comes after dark in the midst of heavy snowfall. Others point at the austerity of a white landscape blanketed in snow. Even when the album invokes melodies associated with the Christmas season (The Holly and the Ivy, Carol Of The Bells) the result is so muted and severe than one can only think of long, dark nights and cold blustery days.
Hollywood Town Hall by The Jayhawks
A country/roots rock album influenced by Gram Parsons with some Tom Petty thrown in for good measure, this is a record that recalls small towns and muddy back roads freshly dusted with snow. This is wet muddy boots and frozen breath stepping into a diner or luncheonette for eggs and coffee to shake off the cold, or stepping into a bar for a burger and a shot of whiskey. Songs like Crowded In The Wings, Wichita, and Nevada, California invoke loss and longing in a lonely rural world. The cover ensures that it's a world dusted in snow.
Pink Moon by Nick Drake
A spare acoustic album that always feels huddled close indoors and trying to keep out the cold. The warmth of Drake's guitar always evokes the warmth of wood and fire, but his singing and lyrics suggest that life and rebirth are far off.