Wintry Mix: Music To Get You Through January Doldrums
| Chris Gerard, DC Scene Contributor Winter has taken hold of the D.C. area. January has arrived, and so has that familiar windy and frigid weather that some folks love and some folks loathe. The holidays are done, it’s a new year (Hello 2008!), and just about everybody is sick of “Jingle Bells.” January is also traditionally one of the slowest months of the year for new CD releases, as most artists and record labels try and get their new product into stores before the Christmas rush. So, what’s a music fan to do now that Santa has packed up his sleigh, and the summer touring season is as distant as a warm Caribbean beach? Time to discover, or re-discover, some songs of the season that have nothing to do with presents, reindeer, mangers or shepherds. The songs below are all widely available on various legal download sites and fit neatly onto one CD. Download ‘em, sequence them the way you like, drop ‘em in your CD player or mp3 player, and enjoy the cold weather. We’ll be complaining about the oppressive heat of a D.C. summer soon enough. |  |
 The Bangles – “Hazy Shade of Winter” At the height of their success in the '80s, The Bangles recorded this Simon & Garfunkel classic for the film “Less Than Zero.” With haunting harmony vocals and a driving guitar riff, their version is arguably better than the original. The cover became a smash hit for the group, reaching #2 on the pop charts. Despite being 20 years old, the song sounds fresh and vital today as it did when originally released. “Seasons change with their scenery, weaving time in a tapestry… Won't you stop and remember me?” Tori Amos – “Winter” “Little Earthquakes” established Tori Amos as a major songwriting force in the '90s, and one of the high points of that record is the poignant ballad “Winter.” It’s a nostalgic tune about a father and daughter, with beautiful imagery and a stunning vocal performance. With the crisp piano and lovely string arrangement, the song evokes feelings of a beautiful, cold, wintry day remembered from youth. “Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens…Wipe my nose, get my new boots on. I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter… I put my hand in my father's glove.” a-ha – “Angel in the Snow” Although they are mostly known in the U.S. for the iconic '80s smash “Take On Me,” the Norwegian trio a-ha have had a long run of success around the world. One of their most beautiful singles is undoubtedly “Angel in the Snow.” Lead vocalist Morten Harket’s pure tenor vocals are lovely, with gorgeous harmonies over a dreamy acoustic-rock backdrop. From the album “Memorial Beach.” “I’ll follow, and always will I be there… Shake worries from your hair.” Eels – “Dead of Winter” The “Electro-Shock Blues” album is a document of heartbreak and pain, detailing a family member’s battle with terminal cancer. “Dead of Winter” is the heart of the album; it's a stark vision of staring at a house from outside in the cold, of enduring the pain of watching a loved one in agony and fading away, while realizing the rest of the world keeps moving forward obliviously. “Dead of Winter” is a moment of reflection, an astonishingly beautiful song of bare-bones emotion. “Standing in the dark outside the house… Breathing the cold and sterile air.” The Ocean Blue – “Frigid Winter Days” Upping the mood a little bit is the jangly pop-rock of The Ocean Blue’s “Frigid Winter Days.” A song of nostalgia and shared remembrances, it’s like a musical scrapbook. “I love the blue of night on frigid winter days, I love the crystal light of frigid winter days…” The Cure – “I’m Cold” “I’m Cold” is an obscure B-side from legendary titans of alternative rock, The Cure, but it can be found on their stellar box set “Join the Dots.” It’s a ragged slice of anger and rage, and speaks to coldness of the heart and soul rather than a cold temperature outside. It’s a unique track in The Cure’s catalog, and is about as raw and as close to punk as the band ever got. “My body may be made of fire, but my soul is made of ice….” Kate Bush – “Under Ice” This beautiful and harrowing song about a woman who falls through the ice while skating is from the landmark “Hounds of Love” album, and is at the center of the album’s thematic second half. Ominous strings, multi-layered vocals, subtle sound effects and increasing urgency as it reaches its climax… sheer brilliance. You can almost feel the icy water. “It’s wonderful. Everywhere, so white. The river has frozen over. Not a soul on the ice. Only me, skating fast…” Arcade Fire – “Winter for a Year” Indie-rock darlings Arcade Fire are constantly hyped by the hipster press, but for good reason – they are terrific. “Winter for a Year” is a sad song of failed romance set to an acoustic, rootsy shuffle. It may be one of the more difficult songs on this list to track down, but it’s well worth the effort. “I kept my life so cold, every breath just fogs up all the mirrors, the tears are frozen long, long before I ever thought of crying.” Annie Lennox – “Cold” This sumptuous ballad from the classic “Diva” album shows Ms. Lennox at her most emotional and powerful. The lyrics are some of the best she’s ever written. “Cold is the colour of crystal, the snowlight that falls from the heavenly skies…..” Duran Duran – “Winter Marches On” An often overlooked track from the “Notorious” album, “Winter Marches On” features sweeping, icy synths, a stately but somber marching rhythm, and a vibe of foreboding that is miles away from the typical Duran Duran output. “Loud is the music the crowd is bringing… out of my head as the winter marches on.” The Cult – “Rider In The Snow” “Dreamtime” is The Cult’s first album, an edgy post-punk record that sounds rawer and more urgent than their pseudo-metal albums of the later '80s. “Rider in the Snow” is a high point, a driving rocker with ambiguous and slightly mysterious lyrics and a terrific vocal by Ian Asbury. “Where no barriers hide… There's no mistake the time of change. Blow my body, blow, The four winds in the snow...” Yaz – “Winter Kills” Alison Moyet is one of the great voices of pop music. From her days with Vince Clarke in Yaz/Yazoo to her solo records, she has recorded some real gems. “Winter Kills” is a solemn tune with forlorn piano, ethereal background vocals, and Moyet’s haunting, ominous voice creating a mood of desperation and fear. “Lost in daydreams, you drove too fast and got nowhere. You rode on half-fare when you got too scared… How winter kills…” Madonna – “Frozen” The first single from “Ray of Light” was yet another massive smash hit for Madonna, and it’s also one of her finest artistic moments. If a song can sound like wintry cold, then “Frozen” would be that song… and the video is killer as well. “Love is a bird, she needs to fly, let all the hurt inside of you die… You’re frozen when your heart’s not open...” Ultravox – “Reap The Wild Wind” Midge Ure and synth-pop icons Ultravox recorded this New Wave classic in 1982, and it became a major hit in the U.K. It’s rich, melodic and evocative of a different era. It sounds like it should be a theme song for a James Bond movie set during the cold war, filled with secret missions to the snowy USSR and Eastern Europe, and – of course – a scorching romance with whatever dame in distress that he stumbles upon. “Give me an inch and I'll make the best of it. Take all you want and leave all the rest to die… Reap the wild wind.” David Bowie – “Wild Is The Wind” Bowie puts over-the-top emotion into this old torch-song, but strangely it works. It’s elegant, passionate and just a wee bit creepy. Perfect for the “Station to Station” album, one of his finest. “Like the leaf clings to the tree…Oh, my darling, cling to me, for we're like creatures of the wind, and wild is the wind….” Happy Rhodes – “Winter” Closing out the mix is Happy Rhodes, an exceptionally talented artist with an astonishingly beautiful and expressive voice. Rhodes has been releasing albums independently since 1986, and they are well-worth seeking out. “Winter” is an elegiac and beautiful song, with Rhodes’ vocally exploring the lower reaches of her range. Happy Rhodes is a brilliant artist with a long and superb body of work that deserves a wider audience. From “Many Worlds Are Born Tonight” “And how stealthily you come to me… I have loved, I have lost.” There ya have it: a “Wintry Mix” that won’t have you scraping ice off your car or inching along the highway hoping you don’t end up sliding into a ditch. Sixteen songs, clocking in at about 64 minutes total - winter music that won’t have you reaching for the eggnog and wondering when Santa will be fumbling his way down the chimney. In this day and age of play-lists and shuffles and downloading individual tracks from the various pay sites, the art of making a mixed tape (or mixed CD) seems to be fading into irrelevance, which is a shame. They are fun to make, and fun to listen to. When the music industry isn’t providing the fix you crave, and you’re sick of listening to the same old stuff, it’s time to peruse your collection and put things together in a new and different way. You’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy the results! |
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