Part 1 of 2

Essential Sounds of Winter

"The Notwist - Pilot"

The Notwist formed in 1989 in Weilheim, Germany, moving through several musical incarnations over the years, despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup. While their early records possessed a heavy metal/krautrock/dark indie rocksound, their recent efforts, for which they have received the most attention, have been very strongly influenced by electronica. Perhaps their first true breakthrough, Neon Golden speaks volumes to the winter listener. “Atop taut, hypnotic beds made of things like acoustic guitar, banjo, meditative sax tones, and random electro-junk, vocalist Markus Acher manages to sell lines like “We are satisfied/ From Monday to Friday and on Sunday we cry” through sheer alienated absence of affect. –Joshua Love”

"Thievery Corporation - Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes"

Alright, to be honest, I chose this album for the winter list because it reminds me the most of skiing and snow capped mountains. It’s great skiing music. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give this band a shot just because you don’t ski. DC based Thievery Corporation are 2-man DJ duo that has extrapolated over the years into a huge powerful dance club production. Richest Man in Babylon is incredibly trance-like and certainly thought provoking — many of the songs like “The Outernationalist” and “The State of the Union” are deeply entrenched with a revolutionary international vibe. But other tracks like “Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes,” featuring the Icelandic beauty Emiliana Torinni, do wonders to a genre of music unique to Theievery Corporation themselves. These guys have a huge cult following (as evidenced as their recent 7-day sold out stint in DC), and for a good reason. They take every form of international music and beautifully transform it into their own style. There’s something for everyone here.

"The Antlers - Two"

Hospice doesn’t really have anything to do with winter thematically. It’s about the tragic struggle of caring for a terminally ill loved one despite their resistance to the effort and the hopelessness of the situation; a unique type of pain that Adam Silberman describes with gorgeous conviction. The blend of softly swelling instrumentation and icy ambient tones accompanied by his delicate falsetto are absolutely chilling. As a front-to-back album experience, it’s immediately captivating and doesn’t let go from “Prologue” to “Epilogue.” This isn’t about sulking; it’s about experiencing and overcoming. While there aren’t any tales Christmas trees or hot chocolate by the fire, the emotional blizzard of this album earns it a spot on our list.

"Feist - My Moon My M an"

My music-guru-sidekick-roomie thinks this song should be known as the make out song. There’s a certain sex appeal to this composition, and in the middle of winter, that’s one way to keep things interesting. While a lot of songs on The Reminder make me think of spring, “My Moon, My Man” has a certain je ne c’est quoi of nights-in with your favorite winter cuddle buddy. Also, the song ends as we hear footsteps running; maybe they’re running in from the cold. I pause to listen to the beautiful vocals of Leslie Feist, and in the lyrics I notice, “Take it slow, take it easy on me. Shed some light, shed some light on me please.” It’s February. The mostly DC-based contributors of Indie Shuffle have seen historic amounts of snow for the region. So, my letter to winter: Dear gray snowy skies, shed some light on me please! At least for now I’ve got Feist to keep me happy indoors.

"Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place"

Explosions in the Sky is like a reset button for the brain. With their three powerful guitars and one drummer, this 100%instrumental album is one of my favorites to reflect upon, something that I tend to do a lot during the winter, especially one as brutal as this. Next blizzard that comes through your town, try blasting this album from the speakers and absorbing the epic guitar battles and complex plot lines. No instrumental band is as capable of weaving such a convincing story as Explosions. I like to think of this album as a beautiufl post-rock symphony narrative of how the Earth was created, or maybe how the Earth will someday be destroyed. “It is a sad and beautiful world!”

"Bowerbirds - Crooked Lust"

I chose this album pre-snowpocolypse, but just to make sure it fit the winter criteria I took a walk outside with this album in ear. Oh yeah it works! This North Carolina troupe leaves space in their music you can fill in with your surroundings. Be it busy streets or quite forests, this is great walking music. The tree-hugging and nature-loving going on in this album could come off as preachy or wide-eyed and naïve, but their passionate delivery cuts through all the cynical bullshit and just sounds honest. I don’t know if there is a conventional “standout” track on this album cause it’s so consistently good, but “In Our Talons” has a great rollicking live sound to it.

"Minus The Bear - When We Escape"

For a band that has been known for happy-go-lucky hits like “Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse” and “Hey! Is That a Ninja Up There?”, Planet of Ice was a surprisingly serious album. Judging by the title and the cover artwork, it’s also a consciously colder album. Minus the Bear seemed to have grown up a lot here. They’ve become jaded by the life of sex, drugs and rock and roll and seemed to have grown past their wilder years. The songs are just as contagious and the subject matter doesn’t exactly change, they’re just set to a chillier mindset.