My Winter Mix

Now I'm going to begin a series of Mix CD's devoted to different subjects. The first one is a 2 disc compilation of all my favorite winter music. I tend to associate music with different seasons. It all gets arranged in my head autobiographically (see High Fidelity). Hearing certain songs reminds me a of a season in a specific year, people I was with, places I went, feelings I experienced. This list is arranged into two main themes. The first theme is what I think of as fireside music. These are tracks I would put on if I had a warm fireplace, a glass of wine, and someone to cuddle with in the dead calm of a snowy, winter evening. This first disc starts off with British rock, then works in some American artists (including a quick waltz), and finishes with some spacey sounds. The second theme is more like outdoors, ski/snowboard music. This is indie rock, dream pop, electronica...and then some jazz cuts squeezed in at the end (which don't fit thematically, but are necessary in winter). This is all tied together by some Jon Brion tracks from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

This is actually a second coming of this compilation, with a few minor changes. Regardless, this music is very special to me, and I hope that it gives you something to be excited about during these cold, cloudy days. I know that you won't have the same memory associations (like laying on my roof looking at the stars, sitting in my MSU dorm room watching snow fall outside, or skiing in the Colorado mountains), but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

If anyone is interested in having these compilations on CD, all I ask is that you send me blank CD-R's (email me for my address) and I would be happy to burn them for you. (That's legal...right?). So here it is...

Winter Mix

Disc 1

1. jon brion – eternal sunshine theme
2. doves - rise
3. coldplay - sparks
4. radiohead – knives out
5. the shins – pink bullets
6. supergrass – late in the day
7. badly drawn boy – once around the block
8. nick drake – at the chime of a city clock
9. john mayer – 3x5
10. iron and wine – sunset soon forgotten
11. the decemberists – the engine driver
12. dave matthews/tim Reynolds - granny
13. cat stevens – the wind
14. …and you will know us by the trail of dead – to Russia my homeland
15. the smiths – asleep
16. bjork - aurora
    
17. sigur ros – staralfur

Disc 2

1. jon brion – phone call
2. yo la tengo – Madeline
3. my bloody valentine – come in alone
4. sea ray – revelry
5. aloha – with the lights out, we sing
6. the American analog set – the kindness of strangers
7. death cab for cutie – title and registration
8. Sunday’s best – don’t let it fade
9. Copeland – coffee
10. pinback – sender
11. the flaming lips – one more robot/sympathy 3000-21
12. the album leaf – the audio pool
13. air – mike mills
14. jon brion – elephant parade
15. ben folds five – selfless, cold, and composed
16. dave Brubeck quartet – take five
17. charles mingus – jelly roll
18. john Coltrane - spiral